"One of the most beautiful things I've heard in a while and I'm lucky enough to get lots of pretty amazing music. Subtle electronics (samples, organs, theremins) mix with acoustic string lines (some of which are played on home made instruments by the look of the cover), harmonic singing, and bells and chimes to formulate the kind of mystically infused landscape that is unreachable on any kind of purely terrestrial plane. It all feels something like a trip BETWEEN the lines of words on a page in some guilty ecstatic travelogue of a journey amongst Bon shamens in Tibet, with all the skull bowl raksi and tantric darkness extant. Sorry about my gushy employment of mystical metaphors, its just the way this music seems to have effected me. I really can't recommend the disk highly enough. Thanks to all involved." - Antony Milton/ PseudoArcana
”Now this is possibly one of the most unique things I’ve been fortunate enough to treat my ears during 2003. It’s simply impossible to place this recording in any given genre but at the same time it’s firmly rooted in the past. The past is represented through harmonic acoustic strings, medleys of bell tones and deep resonating chimes while the future shines through it all with synthetic landscapes constructed from samples, organs, theremins and computers. To stand by and see the subtle collisions between ancient Tibetian soundscapes and modern technology is not only striking it’s downright mesmerizing. Despite the modern touch there is something old and mystical about all this, as if the record had been hidden from us for some 30 years and only recently appeared in the daylight. If forced to mention someone who I could imagine doing a record in a similar ball park as Keijo Virtanen I’d say Matthew Bower of Sunroof! Fame, or maybe Neil Campbell could be a man for the task. But what Keijo does is still folkier and certainly sends a discrete nod in the direction of the so called ”New Weird America” scene. Virtanen is from the Jyväskylä area in Finland, which in some circles is said to be the center of the universe. I’ve allways commented to this with something like, ”yeah, right” before but after hearing this album I’m starting to think that there might be something to such a statement after all. Either way, this is an album that you can’t ignore, that whit its exploratory and glacial, but ever-changing qualities move like dark cosmic clouds across a dense galactic plane, or should that be around a Tibetian temple in a mountainous setting? It’s your pick.” - Mats Gustafsson / Broken Face #18
"More weirdness from Finland. That country is stewing wonderfully in its own musical juices: Pylon, Avarus, The Anaksimandros, Kemialliset Ystavat, Uton, Skullpture, Apna, Dio Daga, Oral Phase. More micro-labels than you could poke a spindle of 3” CD-Rs at.
Keijo’s music crosses some impossible divide between medieval musings and u/g electronics sploot. The liner notes hint as such, positing some tension between digital technology, tradition, and locating one’s own voice. “Yew’s harp can be imitated with a computer but it is only an imitation unless it is used as a new instrument.” Keijo’s music is at times impenetrably single-minded, like the direct streaming of one man’s consciousness into musical form. At other times he maps out complete galaxies (“One Night Again” particularly startling for this effect.) Antony Milton at Pseudo-Arcana has just released a double Keijo CD-R. Can’t wait to hear that." - Jon Dale / worldsofpossibility
"This is trans-locality, a locality with an unrestricted ideology and dimension.” Thus does Jyväskylä-based writer and musician Keijo Virtanen describe his music, where echoes of global cultures, modern technology and psychological introspection meet. The six pieces here express Virtanen’s concept as acoustic string instruments, gongs, bells, computers, and synths merge into swirling journeys. “Supper on the beach” weds a jaunty banjo and jew’s harp ostinato to massive, howling digital tones. “One night again” builds to a dizzying density as drones, blips, xylophone, wooden percussion and distant guitar shift around in movement that is more kaleidoscopic than linear. Keijo hypnotizes with its tone meditations that evoke emotions intimate and universal, times ancient and futuristic, spaces humble and grand." - Matthew Wuethrich, All About Jazz
The sole recording from this Brooklyn group, “Service” is hushed and mysterious, its artful songs defying easy categorization. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 28, 2023
A theatrical change of pace for the Australian double bassist, vocalist, and composer; neoclassical splendor with a cathartic undertow. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 18, 2023
