Jüppala Kääpiö ‘Alpen Ocean’ LP *REDUCED PRICE!* ICR DISTRIBUTION

*REDUCED PRICE!*

ALPEN OCEAN is the final recording of Carole Kojo (Swiss) and Hitoshi Kojo (Japanese) that they left behind as Jüppala Kääpiö, whilst resident in Switzerland. The sound sources are rather familiar instruments and materials for us such as voices, handmade instruments, viola, organic materials and field recordings. However, the style has evolved to a hybrid of our early style: an intense harmonic drone music that has appeared in RAINBOW MASK, and another phase which might be termed as a cosmopolitan ethnic music, that has been archived in later recordings such as OWLORA MUSKARIA and ANIMALIA COROLLA. The overlaid harmonies of a murmuring of trees, howling skies, roarings of the ocean and the gradual transformation that is accompanied by melodies may remind you of migratory birds travelling across the sky on a lost ancient continent, or the dream of sea animals that are in eternal slumber in a ridge of mountains. This piece would be one of a high-water mark by Jüppala Kääpiö who have looked for sound which resonates throughout time and space, whilst regarding a life-size reality that is rooted on the earth. This release is a limited edition of 250 copies. Since the move to Belgium where is a foreign county for both of us in 2011, we are investigating a passage to our next chapter in the new environment. REVIEW, AQUARIUS RECORDS >> So lovely is the work of Juppala Kaapio! That said, we must sadly report that the Japanese / Swiss, husband-and-wife duo have stated that Alpen Ocean will be their final album under the guise of Juppala Kaapio. Another project is in the works, and they are planning to unveil whatever this may be sometime in 2014. Many of the drone-clad works we champion hedge their bets with the power of the darkside; but there are plenty of choice examples of rapturous, celestial tones and holy minimalism that seek to enlighten rather than darken the consumers’ mind. Juppala Kaapio’s small catalogue of lovingly crafted minimalism figures somewhere between the summer solstice nature jams of the Finnish freak-folk types and the twinkling harmonics of Terry Riley and LaMonte Young. As for Alpen Ocean, a brightly hued psychedelia of a sunburst and snowblind tableau is rendered through the wide-eyed sense of awe and wonder after calmly sipping a cup of psilocybin mushroom tea. Carole Kojo’s delicate falsettos waver into a meditative chorale through tape loops and delay amidst the slow kaleidoscopic arrangements of chiming bells, bowed gongs, glassy electronics, and a few pastoral field recordings thrown in for good measure. It all comes together into bright, rapturous drones that Juppala Kaapio’s Hitoshi Kojo describes as “overlaid harmonies of a murmuring of trees, howling skies, roarings of the ocean and the gradual transformation that are accompanied by melodies which may remind you of migratory birds travelling across the sky on a lost ancient continent, or the dream of sea animals that are in eternal slumber in a ridge of mountains.”