Send "Luomo " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 First you notice what's missing: gone are the gently echoing dubscapes, the shivering multi-tracked female vocals, the heartsore melodies, the insectile arrangements, the billowing evocations of desire. Finnish producer Sasu Ripatti's Luomo is nominally his "house" project (as distinct from excursions into stripped-back dub-techno or fractured ambience) but to date it has consistently flirted with an idea of house-- as feminine, gentle, lovelorn, ostentatiously emotive-- quite distinct from the often quite blunt realities of the genre. Plus, then, is Ripatti's first album of house qua house: specifically the cooler, big-room sound of tech-house circa 2006, equal parts Michael Mayer and Carl Craig.If Luomo's previous work often could feel like the sound of the "body speaking" (to steal the title of one of his best tracks), the colder and harder surfaces of Plus are positioned between the body and the dancefloor, less the sound of movement than the sounds that make you move. Song takes a backseat to groove: while most of the tracks here feature gentle "Computer Love"-style male vocals (courtesy of the Chicago Boys), they are less the music's emotional center than a framework around which Ripatti can weave his typically intricate, hypnotic arrangements. Only on the fragile, trebly new wave of "Form in Void" and the seductive schaffel of "Immaculate Motive" does Ripatti gesture toward the glittering disco-pop of his prior work. This feels like a deliberate aesthetic shift. Previously, many of Luomo's finest tracks featured late-blooming hooks that would carry the tune's second half in euphoric or melancholy new directions. By contrast, the best moments on Plus tend to turn inward, homing in on the beat until its urgency is almost too close to your ears. The effect can be like sitting in the front row at the cinema, the peripheral details of melodic color and vocals overwhelmed by the abstract throb of the hyper-percussive, multi-tiered groove. In particular, the massive climaxes of "How You Look" and especially "Make My Day" (by some distance the album's finest moment) feel designed to burn out your senses with an overload of physical intensity. These tracks stand and fall on their own robust physicality: "Happy Strong" features an inane vocal hook and almost no melody to speak of, but its immense, banging groove (all slamming snares and delectable hand-clap counter-rhythms) makes it an album highlight. Only on "Good Stuff" does Ripatti's new aesthetic veer off course entirely, spending nine minutes trying but failing to achieve lift-off through chattering Chicago-house revivalism. Here, the groove isn't compelling enough to distract from the perfunctory song it props up....full text |
| Laptoprockers |
| Finland's Sasu Ripatti (interview here) works in so many styles of music that releasing everything under one name wouldn’t make much sense. His new album Plus out this month is released under his Luomo alias. The most obvious difference between Plus and its predecessors lies in the use of vocals. Generally Luomo invites vocalist on a per track basis, but not here. On Plus, the relatively unknown Chicago Boys are the sole vocalists throughout the whole album. The all male group from Chicago, delivers with great precision and always with soulful undertone. Their timbre ranges from mysterious and hushed (Spy) to typically eighties wave (Immaculate Motive). The consistent approach with vocals makes Plus a much more coherent album than Convival, which featured eight different vocalists. The music on Plus showcases some of Luomo’s finest trademarks: the dreamy strings of Twist remind of Vocal City, whilst the disco sound of How You Look perfectly fits the mould of Present Lover. Another example of Vocal City inspired house is Medley Through which is pure bliss and almost seems suspended in time. As usual, Ripatti’s beats seem to stutter and sound quite punchy. Clever programming of additional sounds helps building an irresistible groove. For me it always has been a very interesting characteristic of Luomo’s music how the individual elements seem quite angular and a-rhythmic. But densely layered Luomo style, they produce a slightly weird but very danceable rhythm. In the hands of others, such programming would probably create one big mess. But in Luomo’s case, it becomes one big dazzling whirlpool. For example, How You Look sucks you in, makes your heads spin and spits you out disorientated as hell. His approach to constructing rhythms seems to be based on Ripatti’s interest for jazz and his background in percussion (listen to three preview tracks next page.)...full text |
| Metro |
| Finnish producer Sasu Ripatti has put out some of the best electronic music of the past decade under a variety of guises: AGF/Delay for collaborations with sound artist girlfriend Antye Greie; Uusitalo for club-focused techno; Vladislav Delay for more abstract, personal jazzy experiments; and Luomo, for his sparkling, accessible pop side. There’s plenty to enjoy about the fifth Luomo album. Twist is propelled by showers of glittery synths and drum fills, while How You Look’s echoing disco is like an icier take on Hercules And Love Affair. The rattling percussion of Good Stuff and the pealing synths of Form In Void are also highlights. But while Ripatti’s trademark micro-details still sneak under your skin, the one-note Depeche Mode-isms of guest vocalists Chicago Boys are disappointing....full text |
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