Juho Toivonen - Kasveille Ja Eläimille

Click the image to listen on Bandcamp.

1. Kasveille

2. Siskoille

3. Eläimille

4. Hyönteisille

5. Liskoille

"First pressing co-released by Ultraääni & Futura Resistenza in an edition of 300 copies of vinyl. Repress made by Ultraääni, 400 copies. Org. 2023, repress 2025.

"This year's hardest working label in no-business are back at it again with this joint release with Ultraääni for the debut outing by Finnish experimental composer, Juho Toivonen. As debuts go, it's a remarkably poised collection, built around elegant piano pieces and long-form sustained synthesiser drones with an emotional heft that sits somewhere between alvo noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto's Summvs, classic Mille Plateaux decayed ambience and, in parts, the less dense aspects of For Those of You Who Have Never by Huerco S. It's a deeply meditative experience, rolling piano flourishes and subtly overlaid field recordings spiralling into a spiritual fog, while the title itself, translating as 'for plants and animals', plays perfectly to the wholesome 'beauty in nature' feel. I thought Futura Resistenza would have to work hard to oust the Salenta + Topu from the top of their year showreel, but they're running it very close here. A wonderful introduction to a new artist from a label hitting an unequivocally white hot streak."

- World of Echo, London

"An expert study in slow head music built around both organic instruments and technique. It evokes the type of psychedelic experience one might achieve whilst simply sitting still in a beautiful place for a long time, regardless of whether there is a lysergic element to it or not. Listening to the 5 tracks assembled here is like watching the morning sun transform a frozen field into a lilting haze of spiralling vapour. Which is to say, these deceptively simple compositions reveal immense depth and complexity if you’re patient enough to let them. It’s another impressive release for Toivonen, whose elegant output consistently plays like a lo-fi extension of drone heavyweights from Yoshi Wada to Wolfgang Voight."

- Slow Doses"