Audiopile Review: Coming in alongside two represses of albums from Oiro Pena and Ville Lähteenmäki Trio (both listed this week, scroll down for those), Ultraääni Records offer this new album from the prolific experimental artist Olli Aarni, a contemplative counterpoint to the more explosive sound of those two represses. For those keeping score, Ultraääni released an album for Aarni in 2023, a drone-folk release that centred around a pair of kanteles, a Finnish instrument comparable to the zither. Simplifying his approach this time around, Kuvioita consists entirely of improvised solo piano pieces. It’s the same sort of heartbreaking piano music you’ve likely heard from his contemporaries in the likes Goldmund, Eluvium, Nils Frahm or Otto A. Totland, but it also links back more directly to the slower paced and less methodical playing of Harold Budd or Brian Eno during their groundbreaking ambient era. Recorded with stunning clarity, the notes hang in the air with a deep resonance, ringing out long afterward in their own tonal ambience. Wildly potent and emotive considering how simplistic it is. Edition of 200, now sold out at the source.

”The world is rearranging itself. The winds sweep away our misery. We need space for simplicity and calmness. The humming synchronizes with the hissing of my nervous system. I’m breathing. There is beauty.” – Tanja Tiekso