Through music, distant and isolated emotions can come very close to you.
Bogdo Ula: Olympic Blues
New Bogdo Ula track released in August 1, 2022. The basic tracks for this song were improvised in 2011. The finished song is a construction. It was edited and the guitar tracks were overdubbed in 2020. It’s not a “live” recording. Who cares? Someone might care. That’s why we are revealing the secret.
Check it out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/yMJ1eLDApno
For Lifesaving
“For Lifesaving” is a series of acoustic guitar improvisations. All tracks are instant improvisations recorded on two tracks and captured on video.
There are 19 videos on YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKbv11ltxnFcDVz7IRh1Lma-rUSpZJKjM
Bogdo Ula: Olympic Green
A leftover track from “Cult of the Harmonic Oscillation” sessions 2014, released June 8, 2022.
Check out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/s20r4Cru8_s
Bogdo Ula members gathered together again in the summer 2014. We played and recorded improvisations for our 8th album “Cult of the Harmonic Oscillation”.
There is a track from the 2014 sessions, that was left out from the album. I listened to the track recently. I was surprised. Why didn’t we accept it to the album back then in 2014? I don’t know why. Probably because it differs from the other tracks on the album. This track wouldn’t have fit in.
That’s an example of terrible discrimination.
It had to be released now. You can listen to this sincere improvisation right now.
While listening, I would like to encourage you to think about this question:
Can you hear an emotion?
Bogdo Ula: Sculpting out of Time – Part 2
A bonustrack from “Anyan Fields” -sessions.
Check out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ewLFVyNPVVY
Andrei Tarkovsky wrote an interesting book “Sculpting in Time”. It was published in 1986 (in English).
Our band Bogdo Ula played in 2008 (October 7th) an improvisation “Sculpting out of Time”. It was a duet, guitar and drums. It was released on Bogdo Ula album “Anyan Fields” (2009).
There is an alternate take of that track, that is not released before. Or is it an “alternate take”? Is it a completely different track, different improvisation? I don’t know. However, the name of the track is “Sculpting out of Time – Part 2”.
The name of the song has a clear meaning:
We are not playing “in time”. There is no steady beat going on. Instead, we are playing “out of time”.
If you make a movie, are you sculpting in time or out of time?
I’m just curious…
Guitar: Sam Kris
Drums: Ivan Horder
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Update 12.50:
The original title of Tarkovsky’s book is “запечатленная время” (zapechatlennaya vremya).
The direct translation to English could be:
“Imprinted Time” / “Captured Time”.
Actuallly, “Sculpting in Time” means something else. In my opinion, it means “being inside time and doing something there while being inside time”. Instead, “Imprinted Time” or “Captured Time” means doing something for the time itself, trying to capture the time, trying to imprint the time.
Anyway, what is “Sculpting out of Time”?
What is it, when you are making a film?
When playing music, is it something more than just playing in “free time” (out of time)?
Sam Kris plays “Maa on niin kaunis” on guitar
A guitar instrumental of a classic christmas song.
(What is the name of the song in English? My own translation: “Earth is so beautiful”.)
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/661192611
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An amateur asked an astronaut:
“Does Earth look more beautiful from space than on the ground?”
Astronaut:
“It’s more beautiful on the ground.”
Amateur:
“Why?”
Astronaut:
“You can see people on the ground.”
3-minute improvisations on guitar
A series of improvisations over a backing track, or without a backing track. I use specific scales, or go out of the scale, or there isn’t any specific scale at all. These are melodies. There are very little chord changes, if any. Continuous takes, no editing. There are 18 videos in this series.
By the way, my favourite modes are Phrygian, Dorian and Mixolydian. They are just awesome.
Youtube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKbv11ltxnFdxvQFL-U3kD2kiOHw6KQfS
I like these tracks myself:
G Mixolydian (part 005): https://youtu.be/9gJua-zxEp0
Something in E, in 5/4 time signature (part 009): https://youtu.be/WLZ_8HVHv5I
G Minor, that’s it (part 010): https://youtu.be/IBFba7o9QUM
E Dorian, oh yeah (part 011): https://youtu.be/MC7LXcE0-VA
C Lydian is absolutely necessary (part 015): https://youtu.be/aZviD4ON3ms
B Aeolian and beyond, free time (part 016): https://youtu.be/MAQRP_-TqHc
D Harmonic Minor and beyond, free time (part 018): https://youtu.be/smcRQJelYn8
E Phrygian and beyond, free time (part 019): https://youtu.be/sbfsJ3H2V90
A Dorian and beyond (part 008): https://youtu.be/HlCaxG8SKcQ
E Phrygian, (I’ve had a long and passionate love affair with Phrygian mode. Turn up the volume!) (part 006): https://youtu.be/TPjWDoy7u74
Bogdo Ula
Bogdo Ula is a trio, that uses free improvisation as a tool to convey impressions and sensations. Music with simplicity and complexity, full of meaning and emotion. Bogdo Ula has released ten albums during years 2008-2020.
Bogdo Ula musicians are: Samuli Kristian (guitar), Ivan Horder (drums), Jean Ruin (bass).
Website: https://www.bogdo-ula.com/
“Best of Bogdo Ula” playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzDqX5g4sCnyx-P0ks0gMTr53jXTguRLN
There are 12 tracks on that list. If you are in a hurry (I guess you are), please check out at least this exceptional track, that is only 5 minutes 33 seconds long:
Charge: https://youtu.be/MVcQjNoYJ-o
If you have 5 minutes more time, please check out this guitar & drums duet track too:
Blueshift: https://youtu.be/9MRGIVfQstA
If you still have as much as 8 minutes more time, please check out this intense improvisation too:
From Now On, We Move Only By Night: https://youtu.be/zPptzvqjJ6g
If you got this far, I suppose you have 6 minutes more time for a beautiful ballad:
Bygone: https://youtu.be/Ijf-O86izj4
Now, you don’t want to miss the next incredible track neither. Because it’s in flank speed, the duration of the track is not so important:
Flank Speed: https://youtu.be/M_SgoN1AKZw
And here you have reached the point of no return. I guess now you want to listen to every track Bogdo Ula has ever released. There is a lot more of them. And don’t forget to tell about Bogdo Ula to all your friends too!
Film music
I’ve made film music for Jukka-Pekka Jalovaara’s experimental short films. However, one might ask: “Are they really experimental?” What is “experimental” as a definition for some kind of art? “Poetic short films” could be a more precise categorization for these works. Actually, let’s try changing the order of the words: “Short poetic films”. Better.
K.E.R.O.S.E.N.E. poems from the planet: https://vimeo.com/112551173
Those Drawn Alive: https://vimeo.com/106846044
Tuohinen – a long range patrolman: https://vimeo.com/90872635
Aino, an elegy: https://vimeo.com/93248772
My Mother Is the Rain: https://vimeo.com/50299178
River of Light: https://vimeo.com/30554342
Colliding Continents: https://vimeo.com/31078220
Children of Water: https://vimeo.com/31214669
Sound art (= short audio works)
I’ve made many sound art works, that are based on my voice-over and music. They are not “radio plays”. They are poetry. They are stories. Or a combination of both. Spoken words in interaction with music. Is it “sound art” or what is it? It’s so confusing trying to fit artistic works in categories, that don’t sound right.
Today I’d like to give these works a name “short audio works”. Tomorrow I may have a better name for them.
“Vasten aurinkoa” -series is based on (Bogdo Ula drummer) Ivan Horder’s poems and a few of my own texts. Voice-over is in Finnish. Although you wouldn’t understand Finnish language, you can listen to the tone of my voice and music. Maybe these works can give something to you without understanding a single word of Finnish.
https://soundcloud.com/samuli-kristian/sets/vasten-aurinkoa
You can find on Soundcloud also my short audio works, that are based on Charles Baudelaire’s poems translated into Finnish by Antti Nylén.