This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. This phrase comes to mind while listening to the latest Shogun Kunitoki album. With its copious tube organs, whiff of psychedelia and special vinyl edition that requires a strobe light to be viewed correctly, Vinonaamakasio is an exuberant throwback to an earlier era. The album may as well come with a yellow smiley face button and a peace sticker. Do we need such an album? Well, why not? The world is still at war, children are still starving, and when we are overwhelmed, we are still tempted to turn on, tune in and drop out.

One might assume from the band’s name that they hail from Japan, but Shogun Kunitoki is actually a Finnish collective. The Finnish scene is surprisingly diverse, ranging from harmonic folk-pop (Varttina) to metal (Children of Bodom), but the most original acts in recent years all seem to be appearing on Fonal.Paavoharju is one such group, nearly impossible to categorize; Shogun Kunitoki is another. What these newer groups have in common is a love of experimentation, blending traditional ethnic themes with both retro and futuristic elements.

Shogun Kunitoki’s 2006 album, Tasankokaiku, was a leftfield surprise, brash in tone and confident in execution. A two-pronged organ attack led the charge and made the studio proceedings sound live and untethered. Their second effort continues in this vein, sounding wild and loose, like a mash-up of post-rock and free-range jazz being played in an outdoor cathedral. Time signatures change with reckless abandon; melodies bounce from organ to organ. While much of the album sounds improvised, the listener knows that this cannot be, because the interplay is so sharp. In order for these pieces to succeed, each performer must remain keenly aware of what the others are doing.

The album does have its liabilities. The first is obvious: those who don’t really care for the sound of organs won’t like it, because the organ is the dominant instrument in every track. And even those who do like the sound of organs may not like the way that they are played: less like church than like Emerson, Lake and Palmer gone wild. The album is without contemplative passages; no ballads, slow jams or single-instrument excursions are included. Instead, it’s “The Fast and the Furious” for 35 minutes straight. And that’s the second liability: for all its immediacy, Vinonaamakasio feels like only half an album, a sugar rush without a main meal. There’s nothing wrong with going pedal-to-the-metal, but contrast is a lovely weapon, and too many peaks in a row lose their punch.

Vinonaamakasio is recommended for those who enjoy psychedelic sounds, for those who miss the sixties (or wish they were old enough to miss the sixties), for those who enjoy hearing the organ outside of church and for those who like the loud and unrestrained. One song will probably be enough for most people to form an opinion; if you like one, you’ll like them all. And that, in a nutshell, is the album’s greatest strength and its greatest weakness. The Age of Aquarius is over, and we'll need a little more than this to draw us back.

-Richard Allen