Local tunes mixed with Celtic and bluegrass phrasings trickle through the sensibilities of Helsinki's Sibelius Academy, where
Ottopasuuna's members teach. Though violinist Kari Reiman also fiddles with
Värttinä, these musicians aren't exactly wild, except in a reserved sub-Arctic kind of way. Accept them as classicists, however, and the disc burst open up into a charming world view that in a subdued fashion does for Finnish folk what the
3 Mustaphas 3 do for klezmer. The same care and cleverness that go into arrangements shines on the choice of material, which in true folklorist fashion was unearthed by bandmembers from such obscure sources as a 1914 wax cylinder recording, an acetate disc from the 1930s, and an old music book dating back to the early 1800s. ~ Bob Tarte