“Hey,” a voice calls out. You thought you were alone under this bridge so you look around, surprised. A dark figure leans against a pole not five feet away from you. “Hey,” the voice repeats, “you a bridge person, too?” You don’t respond. “You know,” the voice insists, “a bridge person, a person who hangs out under bridges and does ‘under the bridge’ type stuff?” And because although you’re usually worried that you’re going to get roped into some strange drug deal or orgy or whatever when you hang out under this bridge, because sometimes you do feel like you don’t have a partner and that your only friend is the city you live in, the city of angels, you say, simply, “Yes.”
The figure visibly straightens and the voice continues, more confidently now. “Well, I’ve got something for you then, a new album by Finnish psych group Kemialliset Ystävät. The first since 2010’s Ullakkopalo (TMT Review). It’s called Alas Rattoisaa Virtaa.” When is it out, you find yourself wondering, breathlessly craving more information. As if having read your mind, the voice says, “May 12, but you can pre-order it now through the Dekorder Bandcamp.” The voice is getting more excited now and the information becomes more strident, a little harder to follow. “This album,” the voice says, “is ‘the result of chance enhancing online collaboration methods, desire to get lost in the sound archives and the high art of meticulous editing’.”
That sounds great, you think, but you ask, “What does this have to do with bridge stuff?” You’re nervous now. The voice replies, “Everything of course.” Flood lights flash on and you suddenly realize it’s not just you and the voice alone under this bridge; you’re surrounded by other bridge people in various states of undress. They’ve been quietly amassing as you’ve spoken. The strange man chuckles and says, “You see, ‘If contemporary music is a high speed train passing by then Kemialliset Ystävät’s music would be an orgy of light under a railway bridge.’ ” You look around for a moment. As the sound of a train gathers in the distance, you run into the night, catching just a glimpse of the video for “Arkistorotat” off one of the bridge people’s iPads:
Alas Rattoisaa Virtaa tracklisting:
01. Alempana Kuin Enkelit
02. Arkistorotat / Risuilla Täyteyssä Salissa
03. Nijura
04. Roiske Ruudukolla
05. Naderbux & Sundergrund
06. Vettä Yarahille
07. Hetkinen
08. Ei Millään Kielellä
09. Kun Rajat Sulaa
10. Apinatkin Laulaa
• Kemialliset Ystävät: http://www.kemiallisetystavat.com
• Dekorder: http://www.dekorder.com
More about: Kemialliset Ystävät
