Quiver

Finnish accordion daredevil Kimmo Pohjonen joins with Trey Gunn & Pat Mastelotto (of King Crimson) forming the group KTU (pronounced "K2"). This, their second album, follows their live debut, '8 Armed Monkey', and was recorded in Texas & Helsinki, Finland. It features Samuli Kosminen, of Icelandic band MuM, and three tracks mixed by Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson.

David Fricke of Rolling Stone calls them "a robust tumult of Northern Lights sparkle, white-wolf guitar wail and rolling knotted thunder." Fricke writes, "When I saw KTU play in Europe, they were as powerful and transgressive as the killer King Crimson. Pohjonen is a wonder unto himself: animating his wind song with pedals and processing; attacking the bellows with the ecstatic fury of Jimi Hendrix."

"KTU sounds like a Siberian mushroom shaman, with accordion, meets King Crimson and Cream in the world's most psychedelic power trio!"
-JUSSI NIEMI, Aamulehti

"Everything about the track "Absinthe" (on '8-Armed Monkey') is awesome. Its bludgeoning Magma-style bassline, its odd-metre riffology from Pohjonen's massive accordion are awesome. Gunn's solo, recalling Pat Metheny on 'Song X', is awesome. Mastelotto's overlapping bell patterns are awesome. But in the silence that follows, as you stare slack-jawed at your speakers and you find yourself marveling "Awesome!" in moronic wonder, you'll understand the damage that's been done."
-KEITH MOLINE, The Wire

KTU are:
Kimmo Pohjonen: accordion; voice
Trey Gunn: Warr guitar
Pat Mastelotto: rhythmic devices; beats; noises; samples