Laulu Laakson Kukista
by Paavoharju
  • Record Label: Fonal
  • Release Date: Jul 22, 2008
Metascore
85

Universal acclaim - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. cokemachineglow
    84
    Maybe that’s the real spiritual value of the album: rather than impress their personal convictions, the band acts as a conduit for all these forces to combine and radiate like a prism.
  2. Almost Cool
    83
    Paavoharju have put together an entrancing second release.
  3. Pitchfork
    83
    Laulu connotes this youth, motion, and playfulness in various states of repair and construction, and it does so by alternating well-formed, multi-faced pop songs with abstract head-scratchers, each component as warmly evocative and strangely necessary as the last.
  5. The A.V. Club
    83
    group functions as a collective led by two born-again Christians, but the sounds they make suggest Christians of an extraordinarily mystical sort.
  6. AllMusic
    80
    Other songs like the sea-shanty-goes-Jacques Brel 'Italialaisella Laivalla' and the more openly indie-pop 'Tytto Tanssii,' with its guitar lope and synth-horn break floating over a softly rumbling cloud of melancholic, echoing textures, further add to the understated but enjoyable variety of a fine album.
  7. PopMatters
    80
    Laulu Laakson Kukista is an almost perfect example of a band moving forward without forgetting what it was that made them loveable in the first place, of how to make music with a wider appeal without sacrificing the reason people were paying attention in the first place.
  8. Village Voice
    80
    It's chaotic, but extremely beautiful and endlessly fascinating.

Awards & Rankings

19
#19 Best Album of 2008

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 26 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 26
  3. Negative: 3 out of 26
  1. indiegalaxy10
    Sep 26, 2013
    9
    This is a beautiful album, a journey into magic forests and secret mountains, a journey into space and secret galaxies, a journey into a worldThis is a beautiful album, a journey into magic forests and secret mountains, a journey into space and secret galaxies, a journey into a world that only exists peace.… Full Review »
  2. AndreaG
    Mar 17, 2009
    10
    This album is so pure, amazing, and beautiful, the songs are so mystical and sounds like a Dead Can Dance, this is magic. Highlight Songs: This album is so pure, amazing, and beautiful, the songs are so mystical and sounds like a Dead Can Dance, this is magic. Highlight Songs: The freak folk techno from the beauty "Kevätrumpu" , the beauty violins from "Tuoksu Tarttuu Meihin", the beauty dark electro-gothic from "Kirkonväki" and the 80's pop from "Uskallan". Album's Centerpiece: The master pop folk track from "Tyttö Tanssii" ("A Girl Dances"), sounds like a sunny and beautiful more than Belle And Sebastian, lyrics like a wonderful poem, and this song its really perfect. One of the best songs from 2008, The Top 2 SONG FROM 2008!! ONE OF THE BEST ALBUM FROM 2008 SO FAR.… Full Review »
  3. GabrielC
    Feb 24, 2009
    10
    This album si so spiritual, beauty and have many diverse tastes of music, from the techno-folk song of Kevätrumpu to memorable pop songs This album si so spiritual, beauty and have many diverse tastes of music, from the techno-folk song of Kevätrumpu to memorable pop songs like Tyttö Tanssii, the best album of 2008, great.… Full Review »
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