Kimmo Pohjonen - Kielo

The accordion player from Finland who knows no fear, no boundaries, no limits. This is a series of solo pieces, some acoustic, some manipulated, that set the standard for the new avant garde. Read an interview with Kimmo in RootsWorld.

All sounds on this album are created by Kimmo Pohjonen's accordion or voice, except track 5, harmonium.

1. Anastaja
2. Kalmukki
3. Emboli
4. Saatto
5. Kirkuna
6. Kova
7. Silmäys
8. Kielo
9. Sirpale
10. Ammoin
11. Koruna

“Occasionally, Kimmo Pohjonen does what you expect an accordion player to do there are brief bursts of sea shanty or airs that imply the grandeur of Parisian boulevards. Seconds later, he’ll be screaming absurdities into his mike, beating himself around the head and exor/exercizing the banshees that live within the 65kg instrument responsible for sounds no human could have hoped to hear while alive. Oh yes, the Finn, after years of playing folk and classical music then dropping out on Kielo (Rockadillo Records) has discovered a hotline to Hades, where every sinner is forced to play a squeezebox rather than a banjo.

He enters a stage more suited to Waiting for Godot than a gig and immediately impersonates a fog horn. His droning, shrieking and accordion-thumping are put on everlasting loops to form the rhythmic bases for whatever else he has planned, which usually involves a pick ‘n’ mix from the dozens of FX pedals at his feet. It’s like nothing your correspondent has ever heard.” - David Hutcheon in Mojo, June 2001