Playscapes is a record that thrives in its difference and eclecticism. The fascinating sonic experience that Tuulikki Bartosik takes you through on this experimental folk pop journey is nothing short of bewitching, a strange mixture and interlude of sounds both traditional and dystopian all at once. It oscillates from robotic to barebones, a confluence that has you perplexed as much as it does grounded and intrigued for more. Playscapes tells the story of Bartosik’s inner journey from Estonia to Sweden, Finland, England and Japan. Each space becoming the home and mood for more, developing more sounds and emotions through each location. Instrumentally, the piece is a unique recording with free-bass accordion, kantele, voice and electronics. Being one of the few female accordionists, Bartosik’s sound and ambition is a seizing and stellar story to say the least.
From the opening hymn of Robertsfors alone, the subtle vocal harmonies, the ambient background noises and the richness of the arrangement, you can’t help but find yourself interested in what’s coming next. Suddenly, as you enter the second piece, there’s a heaviness to the accordion and electronic apparatus, a more ominous and threatening opening that’s starkly contrasted by the more welcoming and almost angelic opener before it. There’s a drive, an almost unrelenting and blazing motion to the instrument that just floods you with so much adrenaline. And there’s just so much to say about each piece, with the arrangements changing so much from track to track.
Playscapes is a truly differentiated piece, with really no mark to compare to in the contemporary landscape, or even the archival one for that matter. It’s banked itself on an instrumental core that’s underutilised and even forgotten amongst the larger music landscape. With the almost prayer sounding subtlety of a song like Reval to the sheer electronic blissfulness you’re left floating on in “Stockholm”, you’re never once sure which way it’s going to go.
A true treat for the ears and a delight for anyone who revels in aural experiences to whisk them away.