Pihkasilmä kaarnakorva is the first solo album by bassist/composer Pekka Pohjola, who had previously made a name for himself in Wigwam.
Bass virtuoso Pekka Pohjola (1952-2008) was still playing in Wigwam at the time of the Pihkasilmä kaarnakorva. In Wigwam, Pohjola had not got (or taken) much space as a composer, although the few songs he had composed for the band had already shown that he had skills in that area too. With Pihkasilmä kaarnakorva, Pohjola’s idiosyncratic style continues to take shape, although the influence of his idol Frank Zappa is still very much in evidence on several tracks.
The fully instrumental, upbeat and often rather complex music of the bushy-eyed bark-eared eagle sounds very friendly and approachable throughout. There was also something very Finnish sounding in Pohjola’s music already on this album. But where exactly this impression of Finnishness comes from has remained a bit of a mystery to me. The clearest image that the album conjures up in my mind is a moped whizzing along at high speed on a dusty dirt road in the middle of a forest. The air is sunny and all is well. Finnish, but without the Finnish melancholy. This too was later added to Pohjola’s music, but at this stage the atmosphere is still very bright and cheerful.
Pohjola had earned a reputation as a bass player during his Wigwam years and he still had a lot to prove as an instrumentalist at this stage. Bass playing plays a very central role on the album and at times it is very close to not getting in the way of the compositions. Pohjola himself said later that less would have been enough, but he didn’t ”dare” to play more simply. For the most part, however, Pohjola’s thrilling bassism remains entertaining rather than annoying (his sense of style perhaps fails most in the ten-minute opening track ”Metsonpeliä”) and his long bass solo in the album’s almost ten-minute fine and airy closing track ”Valittaja” is a handsome listen in all its musicality.
Pohjola also plays most of the piano tracks on the album, and some organ. This is also one of the last times Pohjola played the violin he had studied at the Sibelius Academy. The violin is most prominent in the solo on ”Virtojen kiharat”. I do not find Pohjola’s violin playing particularly impressive on this album, however.
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Pohjola chose some of the best jazz musicians in Finland as his backing band. Wind players Risto Pensola (clarinet) and Pekka Pöyry (soprano saxophone, flute) and drummer Reiska Laine all do a good job on the album, leaving the main role to Pohjola himself. The brass duo is at its most delicious on one of the best songs on the album, ” Armoton idylli”, a fun and playful humorous mix of folk and jazz. The spinet played by Pohjola rattles along beautifully. Pohjola’s old Wigwam colleague Jukka Gustavson, who plays organ and piano on the album, completes the band’s line-up.
Pihkasilmä kaarnakorva sold a few thousand copies when it was released, which was considered a reasonable number for a Finnish rock album at the time. The album was also well received and was voted the second best album of the year by Musa magazine and Pohjola himself the second best musician of the year.
Pihkasilmä kaarnakorva doesn’t rank very high on my personal ”Best Pekka Pohjola albums” list, but it was an excellent start to the maestro’s high-quality solo output.
Best track: ”Armoton idylli” ja ”Nipistys”, ”Valittaja”
Kirjoittaja: JANNE YLIRUUSI
Tracks
Side A
- ”Metsonpeliä 10:38
- ”Virtojen kiharat” 5:31
Side B
- ”Armoton idylli”3:50
- ”Nipistys” 3:31
- ”Valittaja” 9:29
Musicians:
Pekka Pohjola: bass guitar, spinet, piano, violins, organ in ””Valittaja”” Pekka Pöyry: soprano saxophone, flute Risto Pensola: clarinet Jukka Gustavson: piano, organ Reiska Laine: drums, percussion
Producer: Måns Groundstroem
Label: Love Records
More reviews can be found here
Pienemmät Purot 
Well it’s a good album. To me the most Finnish sounding album Pekka Pohjola made is Visitation, but that migh perhaps be related to the fact I bought it during a vacation, in Helsinki.
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