KIILTOMATO, KYNTTILÄNLIEKKI, KUU JA AURINKO

This is probably the most romantically oriented of ex-WIGWAM Jukka Gustavson's solo albums, the title meaning Glow-worm, Flame of the Candle, the Moon and the Sun ("romantic lights every one"). And as on several JG albums, there are beautiful nature photography in the leaflet. I'll take the track-by-track approach, using the English titles for your convenience, even though this time all vocals are in Finnish.

'Oh Moon-Beams, Skip About Softly' (a reference to a Procol Harum song title, see?) is a soft, dreamy instrumental in a melancholically slow tempo. Flute is the main instrument for the beautiful melody. 'Two Lonely Planets' is also a calm instrumental for the most part, introspective, almost New Agey mood-painting. The speech in the end turns the sad metaphor of human being as lonely planets into a happier one, concentrating on all the lovely things. Yes, that's pure JG philosophy - not very different from the likes of Jon Anderson or Mike Pinder. Vocal song 'Yearnie and Hope - Together Forever' continues in the relaxed, peaceful mood. Nice, but a bit mild and forgettable among JG compositions.

'Delicate' is a serene instrumental, again with flute in the centre. If you like also minor art music pieces by composers such as Delius, Satie, etc., you'll enjoy this tune. Then comes the first "BLAH, this sounds stupid" thought: 'Robust' could be listenable without the distorted mumble, though the music is clearly just backing-up, meaningless in itself. Every now and then Jukka delivers his literary ideas in not-so-succesful form, musically speaking. Instrumental 'Grey Motion on Wheels' is the most restless track that wanders between free jazz and groovy jazz. In the end it has a short telephone conversation, a bit out of place actually.

'Beautiful Things' is an average track with typical JG mannerism, ie. emphasis on text (spoken, not sung) and a jazz groove that tastes more like backing-up, but e.g. organ and bass sound good. 'Lovers in Science Fiction' has the speech part (blah, again!) in the beginning, but the instrumental part is rather schizophrenic; piano sounds as if a heavy cat was walking on keys. 10-minute instrumental 'Light Bright Sight' wanders at first quite aimlessly, in fact momentarily reminding of Claude Debussy's impressionism on solo piano. A good piece with the needed progression, as there's more solid jazz ensemble playing in the latter half.

'Do You Remember, My Love' returns to the soft, romantic mood with silky sounds. The vocals are again spoken, but not in an irritating way. The serene mood is continued by the final slow instrumental that has emphasis on piano and organ.

Like the following album Toinen Maisema (2006) which has more blues flavour and is less romantic, this album is slightly uneven. Especially for the romantic-minded listeners such as me it offers a lot to enjoy, but may be less succesful as a whole for those who want edgier and livelier Fusion. And now that I think of it, the vocals on this album are all too oriented towards speech instead of singing. Make it 3½ stars then...