Okra Playground
Okra Playground is a real musical playground, which the artists from Helsinki have created in order to experiment with Finnish tradition. They do not fight with it, but rather have an admirable intuition for finding areas in which they can lose themselves. Their songs emanate the austerity and mystery of the North, and at the same time childlike joy, light and dancing exaltation.
The sextet refers to tradition by arranging Finnish folk songs and using traditional instruments, such as the kantele zither or the jouhikko string lyre. The latter is the sister of the more famous and widespread on the world music scene tagelharpa. Its three strings are made of horsehair, and the lowest one is placed in the middle of the set in an unusual way. The technique of shortening the strings using the top of the fingers is also unusual.
The hypnotic pulse and mystical energy flowing from Okra Playground's music results from the combination of Finnish folk with modernity - the use of the looping technique, the use of the bass guitar sound and electronic drums. All this makes it hard to resist their charm, while it is easy to accept an invitation to listen to their music.
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