Bliss Like Gold

Album review

Listen to this EP, and you would never guess that Harri Kakoulli got his start as the bass player for Squeeze. Instead, you might guess that he was a roadie for African Head Charge on their Finnish tour, or that he'd spent his early years sitting in with the Bombay Dub Orchestra. Bliss Like Gold is a rich and emotionally complex listening experience, in part because the music emerged from Kakoulli's anguish following the death of his father. But also because it brings together a broad spectrum of musical traditions -- sacred choral music, keening solo plain chants, Middle Eastern percussion, African rhythms, house, electronica -- and blends them into something that sounds both ancient and completely new. The title track takes relentless (but not overaggressive) percussion of the type one might hear on a Muslimgauze album, and pairs it with the kind of modal vocals one might hear from Dead Can Dance. "Evil Touch" fuses polyphonic choral singing with quiet Eastern percussion to absolutely gorgeous effect; "Kuzima" brings a house beat into the mix, then suddenly switches to a one-drop reggae groove. Throughout the program, there's something just slightly creepy tugging at the underside of this beautiful music, and the effect is really quite stunning. Very highly recommended.
© Rick Anderson /TiVo