Eldanka - Joldanka Patrol CD (Self-Released)

Eldanka are a Finnish guitar instrumental (or rautalanka) band with a gorgeous sound captured absolutely perfectly on this 12 song CD. The guitars ring, chime and echo throughout, weaving intricate melodies over intoxicating rhythms. You’ll hear northern European melodies throughout, and while the production and performances throughout are crystal clear and perfectly captured, you can also feel the emotion in the playing. It sounds like they had a great time writing and recording these songs. The title track is where I would start - it’s a song that I kept playing over and over again. That’s not to say that any of the other 11 songs are filler - in fact, “Cesium 137”, Dance Of The Earworm” and “Descanso” are just as strong. It was entirely recorded in analogue, with no digital equipment, sounds or editing - they only used tape and spring echo units! Other thoughts on the disc include a positive, which is a spaghetti western influence on a few of the songs, and a negative, which is that the second half of the disc is filled with slower songs. I would have liked to hear at least one, maybe two more uptempo tunes. There are a couple of cover songs - “Le Parc” was originally a synth based TV theme from the 80’s, and “Cantus Arcticus” is a classical piece from a Finnish composer - so they aren’t exactly covering “Miserlou” and “Secret Agent Man” here.

Tracks: Descanso - Dance Of The Earworm - Joldanka Patrol - Cesium 137 - Country For Good Men - Outlander - Cosy Mementos - Le Parc (LA - Streethawk) - Necropolis Sidewalk - The Bog (Cantus Arcticus) - Nostalgia - A Message From Alderaan