Juho Toivonen - Kasveille ja Eläimille

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.