We had been experimenting with free musical improvisations for years with my friend Heikki. At the late 1990’s Arja said that she wanted to join us and do some vocal stuff. We went to our band rehearsal room. I had bought cheap horror background music for home video makers and put it to the PA and magic started to happen.
We recorded the set and as I listened to it, I noticed that we had made a Passion. Since we had been working with foxglove’s Brad with some Keijo stuff I did send the recording to him and he published it. The CD became a minor cult classic and was noticed all around the world in experiential music circles.
Brad described it as:
“foxglove120: akisa "passover" cd-r
this is one of the most bizarre things i've heard in a while, so it's fitting that it hails from finland. akisa is a trio featuring jarmo saarti (a long-time collaborator of jyväskylä king, keijo) and friends. this is free-jazz skronk of the lord. with a biblical theme present throughout (tracks like "jesus in the midst of the wolves" and "resurrection"), "passover" obliterates any notion you may have about music and christianity hand-in-hand. is this a christian record? fuck if i know, but if this is the way they preach in finland, count me in. wailing saxophones duel it out with ramshackle percussion and acid-laced bass chops. it's like rauhan orkesteri spiked with the jesus juice, and it's oh so fucking delicious.”
Noiseweek said that:
“Actually, the dichotomy of lo-fi jazz and crazed noise is so sharp it gives Passover a weirdly schizophrenic quality. I've listened to this maybe 10-15 times, and sometimes I remember it as an above average free-jazz rec in a low-rent ESP mode (even hear a few Marzette Watts-like moments here and there), other times all that sticks are the 5-to-10 abandoning moments in which choking sax, sandpapery electronics (I think), and the distorted screams of a what sounds like a half-human/half-seal create an explosion of distressed speaker-destruction. I think "Jesus in the midst of wolves" (linked below) is the best example of this oddly beguiling yin/yang, starting as an echoey piece of minimal improv, adding a few saws and creaks, and eventually building to a ear-killing din that sounds like some kind of being not having the greatest of days.
This isn't to say that the more, uh, conventional jazz passages here aren't worthy of time too - subtract the little peaks of freak-out and Passover would still be an excellent chunk of basement-locked skronk - but Passover's insane bumps jut Akisa into its own strange, toxic realm...”
Due to the very limited edition, I decided that it is only fitting to make a YouTube version of it for this Eastern. This is music to be listened to in the darkness, via high end speakers or earphones. The evil is lurking around – it is a passion play, so enjoy.
It starts with the In the beginning (I play saxophone, Heikki bass and Arja does the vocal bit):
Next comes Jesus in the midsts of the wolves (I play electric violin, Heikki bass and Arja does the vocal bit):
Third one is the Written in the stone (I play saxophone, Heikki bass and Arja electric violin):
Then Mary wept (I play electric violin, Heikki bass and Arja drums):
Fifth one is Dark night (I play bass, Heikki drums and Arja saxophone - if I remember right):
Next one is Empty tomb (I play saxophon, Heikki electric violin and Arja vocals):
And it all ends to eternal Resurrection (I play drums, Heikki electric violin and Arja vocals):
Finis.
