Uniko
Kronos Quartet
Kimmo Pohjonen, accordion & voice
Samuli Kosminen, string & accordion samples, programming
"...takes the listener on a rare adventure both poignant and chilling." (Songlines - Top of the World)
Track listing
7 tracks · 51:48Kimmo Pohjonen & Samuli Kosminen
- Uniko 51:49
- 1 Utu 6:58
- 2 Plasma 6:16
- 3 Särmä 5:34
- 4 Kalma 11:01
- 5 Kamala 5:38
- 6 Emo 10:20
- 7 Avara 6:01
About this recording
Uniko features Grammy winning Kronos Quartet, Finnish accordion adventurer Kimmo Pohjonen and sampling guru Samuli Kosminen.
Commissioned by Kronos in 2003, Uniko is highlighted by Pohjonen's electrified and MIDI-fied accordion with Kosminen's electronic percussion devices which reproduce his own accordion samples and his samples of Kronos' instruments. These samples, together with live strings and electric accordion plus effects and manipulations create a new, multi-dimensional sound world.
Uniko received its live world première at the Helsinki Festival in 2004, with additional performances in Moscow and Molde (Norway), and three sellout concerts in New York at the 2007 BAM NEXT WAVE Festival. The album was subsequently recorded at Avatar Studios in NYC, produced by Iceland's Valgeir Sigurðsson who is known for his work with Björk and other outstanding, adventurous artists.
The New York Times reviewed the 2007 live performances in New York: "The music is sheer physicality... Uniko is like an ocean tide coming in. Big waves of sound build in complexity, animation and sometimes sheer frenzy, then abruptly retreat into small lyrical moments, amplified pizzicatos or buzzings by some huge and imaginary insect. Mr. Pohjonen, a virtuoso on an accordion wired for sound, guided things along and became so excited at the end that one worried about his well-being."
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Features
Digipak with full colour booklet in English
Press
You have to hear Uniko to believe it but imagine that Phil Spector exploded over the North Atlantic and sent a 90-foot wall of sound hurtling toward Brooklyn.
Jerry Bowles, Sequenza21, 17 April 2011
Unikoa kannatti odottaa.
Risto Nevanlinna, Suomen Kuvalehti, 1.4.2011
Olen kuunnellut tätä levyä viime viikkoina enemmän kuin mitään toista.
Jussi Niemi, Aamulehti, 25.3.2011
Faszinierend und auch ein wenig beängstigend: "Uniko" ist ein Unikat.
Stefan Franzen, Jazz thing, 23. März 2011
Far from contained within the classical, world music or pop categories - "UNIKO" highlights the exceptional talent and the courageous, exploratory spirit that makes the Kronos Quartet such an indispensable part of the musical landscape. The album is one of their most compelling recent efforts.
Ronni Reich, The New Yorker, 18 March 2011
Kimmo Pohjonen is not just one of the world's finest accordion players, he's a composer of panoramic vision, a consummate stage performer, producer and innovator. We've known all this for a long time but with UNIKO his importance in the contemporary music world is now unquestionable. (...) (Pohjonen's) trademark depth of sound and harmonies lead so naturally towards the Kronos sound on an aural journey that takes the listener on a rare adventure both poignant and chilling.
Fiona Talkington, Songlines, April/May 2011, Top of the World
Is there any style of music the Kronos Quartet will not embrace? This time, the globe-trotting group teams up with two Finnish musicians, accordion virtuoso Kimmo Pohjonen and electronics whiz and percussionist Samuli Kosminen. I feel like this music - a Kronos-commissioned seven-movement suite - could be soundtrack for a thriller set during a blizzard in Lapland. The soundscapes build to giant avalanches of strings and electronics, aided by the Finns' tricked out accordions and sampling. Then poof! We've just fallen off the cliff, floating downward in silence.
Thomas Huizenga, NPR Classical, 27.2.2011
Strings, the accordion, Pohjonen's voice (used like an instrument) and an electronic soundscape make up a coherent dynamically fasinating and thematically diverse 50-minute piece. The strings are breath-takingly beautiful and equal to all the other elements.
Riikka Hiltunen, Finnish Music Quarterly, 1/2011
Viisikymmentä minuuttia on juuri sopiva kesto tälle komeasti soivalle prosessimaiselle teokselle, joka on Pohjosen ja Kosmisen saavutuksista uniikein.
Harri Uusitorppa, Helsingin Sanomat, 19.2.2011
The artists
Kronos Quartet
For more than 30 years, San Francisco's Kronos Quartet - David Harrington, John Sherba (violins), Hank Dutt (viola) and Jeffrey Zeigler (cello) - has pursued a singular artistic vision, combining a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to expanding the range and context of the string quartet. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential ensembles of our time, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 45 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborating with many of the world's most eclectic composers and performers, and commissioning more than 700 new works and arrangements for string quartet. Kronos' work has also garnered numerous awards, including a GRAMMY for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and "Musicians of the Year" (2003) from Musical America.
Kimmo Pohjonen
Finnish accordion adventurist Kimmo Pohjonen is internationally known for revolutionizing accordion music, sound and performance. A visionary of boundless energy and creativity, Pohjonen's roots include folk, dance, classical, rock, experimental, theatre music and more.
Samuli Kosminen
Samuli Kosminen is one of Finland's top percussionists and sampling masters. As a drummer, percussionist, composer and producer, Kosminen has collaborated with a gargantuan array of Finnish and foreign rock, pop, jazz and electronic music artists such as Kronos Quartet (USA), Valgeir Sigurðsson (ICE), Jónsi (from Sigur Rós, ICE), KTU (USA-Finland), Emiliana Torrini (ICE) and many others. For the past decade his main collaborators have been Icelandic band Múm and Kimmo Pohjonen. As the Kluster duo with Pohjonen, they have performed in Europe, America and Japan including David Bowie's Meltdown festival in London and Carnegie Hall in NYC. The Pohjonen / Kosminen duo were one half of the original KTU band with Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) and they composed the award winning Jade Warrior film-score. With Múm, he has toured Europe, America, Australia and Japan and recorded four albums. Kosminen is currently working on his solo project. Originally a drummer, now an explorer of flea-market percussion, beat devices, melody-making toys, clonky/clunky machines and tuneful data processors, Kosminen has discovered strange, new dimensions of rhythm and sound.