VLADISLAV DELAY - Tummaa

On Tummaa, Sasu Ripatti's newest album under his Vladislav Delay guise, there's if not a frenetic, then at least a restless aspect to its performances, a gnarled element in its flattened, alien tweaks that makes it, to these ears, a cut above the comparative placidity of Moritz von Oswald's Vertical Ascent trio backed by Ripatti's processed percussion with Max Loderbauer on synth, whose debut was likewise recently released. With key contributions here from Craig Armstrong's Rhodes and piano and Lucio Capece's woodwinds, this is one fine, lively recording, in league with Mokira's Persona as this writer's personal favourite ambient/abstract electronic discs of 2009 so far.