Ruuti
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Ruuti

Helsinki, Central Finland, Finland | INDIE

Helsinki, Central Finland, Finland | INDIE
Band Folk Acoustic

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This band has not uploaded any videos

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"String driven things"

Apparently Ruuti means gunpowder in Finnish which seems entirely appropriate given the, ahem, explosive nature of the playing on this their debut disc.

Ruuti’s top flight playing ensures the quality throughout is impeccable but the success also springs from the choice of music and its presentation. Given that Kukka Lehto’s spellbinding violin carries the majority of the tunes, it would have been all to easy and entirely understandable to focus all the attention upon her work.

Yet there’s an equitable division of heavy lifting when it comes to music’s construction. Though Lehto dazzles with her effortless, agile playing, in addition to providing acoustic bass, Ilkka Heinonen composed the majority of the music on the album.

He propels and supports with both a nimble certainty and lyrical sensibility across the record but especially on the beautifully ruminative Routajärvi. At a little over eight minutes, this is the longest track on the album and moves at a significantly slower pace than nearly everything else but it radiates an intense and unforgettable warmth.

Topi Korhonen’s guitar is capable of driven, rippling chord-work, constantly stoking the group’s engines whilst always maintain a tight control in his use of dynamics. His jittery, skittish guitar slides on Marsukka work into brittle but furious jazzy outbursts whilst on Puro his spidery melodies delicately lace themselves between Heinonen’s lilting bass with the utmost precision.

Lehto handles the vocals, adding to the checklist of pluses which seem to grow with each and every play of the album.

Ruuti’s music evokes images that combine both reflective bucolic idyls on the one hand and rousing gatherings on the other. The social, communal experience of exchanging ideas as well as smiles and admiration for each other’s work is beautifully expressed on almost every track of this joyous, uplifting record.
- sidsmith.blogspot.com


"Ruuti"

Levyt. Jos Yle Teemalla vastikään esitetty Etno is Happening -tv-sarja herätti kiinnostuksen uudempaa kotimaista kansanmusiikkia kohtaan, jatkaa voisi mainiosti vaikka Ruuti-yhtyeen debyyttilevyn parissa.

Ruuti on kolmen monissa kokoonpanoissa kouliintuneen muusikon eli Kukka Lehdon (viulu, laulu), Topi Korhosen (kitara) ja Ilkka Heinosen (kontrabasso) yhtye, joka soittaa omia sävellyksiään. Jamisessiosta syntyneen yhtyeen levyltäkin välittyy vapaan soittelun tunnelma, kekseliäisyys ja ennen muuta intensiteetti.

Esimerkiksi Vihtahousun melodia koukkailee jännittävissä maastoissa ja villiksi äityvässä Masurkassa päästään kunnon jamimeininkiin. Laulubiiseistä toinen, Muuttoauto, on pikemminkin folk- kuin pelimannihenkinen.

Erittäin vahvan debyyttilevyn sointiin tuo rikkautta se, että kaikki vievät vuorollaan tarinaa, kontrabasso myös.


"The fact that each of the instruments, including double bass, take turns in taking the story onwards brings richness to the sound of this very strong debut album" - Helsingin Sanomat, Pirkko Kotirinta


Discography

Ruuti: Ruuti (Ääniä Records, 2009)

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Bio

Ruuti's birth took place after a freeform late night jam session a few years ago in Helsinki, Finland. The music is rooted in Finnish and Scandinavian folk music, but these days it is quite evident that the flow of inspiration can come from whatever direction or source. The members of Ruuti share a love for improvisation, which has been an essential element in their music right from the beginning, making the music live and evolving in the moment, night after night. Important ideological element of the trio is also the balance in instrumentation. Fiddle, guitar and double bass are all equal in their roles, taking turns as soloists or backing up the rest in the next turn of the event. The band is known for their live acts where subtle moments can turn in to a furious groove and the rapid reactions between the members of the trio leads the tunes to unexpected dimensions, but most importantly never leaving the listeners alone or as outsiders.

The members of Ruuti- Kukka Lehto, Ilkka Heinonen and Topi Korhonen are distinguished characters in the Finnish music scene, whose curriculum includes top acts of the contemporary folk music scene as well as diverse pop and rock groups, theater and TV-productions.