Kiila: Tuota Tuota

Label: Fonal

Another winner from Finland’s Fonal imprint. Kiila is a six-member outfit, except for when it numbers eight, or more, which is sometimes, when the Earth tilts into a cosmic storm just a bit. On the superb Tuota Tuota, the group floats through gloriously ramshackle folk songs comprising many instruments, coming together in tightly swirled compositions that suggest a modern, psych- and nature-loving Fairport, especially on the stirring “Kevätlaulu” and the madly caterwauling “Portaissa,” which calmly pivots in circles around repeating two-note signatures even as the music comes wildly unspun. (“Tuota tuota” translates as “well, well,” which for some reason also makes me think of Fairport — it just sounds like an album title they might’ve gone with too.) When a getting-free sax comes in on the closer, “Pöllötulkin Mietteet,” you’ll realize (if you hadn’t already) that you’re listening the one of the year’s best underground records of any provenance. (M.L. Thrope)