Mika Luoto and Musarra

Thanks for coming back fellow progheads!  Hopefully the loss of sixty minutes this weekend did not throw your body clock completely out of whack.  Despite the non-stop trudge toward spring, this week the Concert Closet ventured to a land where heavy winter jackets are still in fashion...can't seem to stay away from the arctic for some reason.  Since the trek north of the Arctic Circle is a long one, I thought the best "bang for the buck" would be a double review of sorts...so bundle up, hunker down, and expand your horizons as we delve into the jazz fusion sounds of solo artist Mika Luoto and the darker, heavier, metal-edged Musarra,  his alter-ego one man band...

Mika Luoto is a self-professed solo act; he plays all instruments himself while using software for drums. I can already hear the "prog purists" snorting and swallowing their collective tongues...but before I turn my nose up at something, I have to honestly and objectively give it a fair shake.  Mika's alter-ego is the prog metal Musarra, a band he fronts, middles, and ends.  The search for all things prog has allowed me to venture down many side roads and alleys, and wander into some extremely dark concert halls...but I am not sure if the Concert Closet has encountered this type of growth in the prog garden previously...let us venture deeper...

This being a two-sided buffet, I will begin with some lighter fare...I need to save room for what may lie ahead.  Perusing Mika's solo work, a serving of "Hobo Life" is an excellent aperitif.  The guitar work is tremendous and quite visual; I get a real sense of riding a boxcar across the plains...the steady thump of the rails the perfect complement to a head full of steel and dobro.  The software drums are soothing, much like a fleece blanket wrapped around all that guitar work.

Jumping to the metal side of the buffet I start with a Musarra tune called "Never Forgiven." Dark and brooding, this song stews in angry, ominous thoughts.  "Never Forgiven" is as wicked as "Hobo Life" is free spirited...Mika shows definite signs of a Jekyll and Hyde personality conflict on these two pieces.  With aromatics ranging from Mark Knopfler and Bill Nelson to Mikael Akerfeldt, Mika must take long walks through the prog garden at night, gathering top notes and influences from many different sources.

Liner Notes...the cat was let out of the bag earlier that Musarra and Mika Luoto are one and the same, so let us traverse the terrain he calls home.  Mika hails from Oulainen, Finland, and first picked up the guitar in 1987.  Mika played in numerous bands building his resume, and currently his two solo acts occupy most of his musical time.  Musarra credits Mika as guitarist, bass player, keyboardist, lead vocalist...everything. He even wears the  general manager's hat.  Either this guy has no friends, is hard to be in a band with, or just prefers to go it alone...ever the optimist, I am going with option #3.

My second choice for a solo cut from Mika is a soothing piece of music called "Forest Is Amazing Place."  The opening guitar work here is as smooth as melted caramel and spills from the headphones like honey from the hive.  There are strong top notes of The League of Crafty Guitarists floating across the top. The colors on the pallet are more pastel than bright; you can almost see the wood nymphs and centaurs roaming freely amongst the trees.  The song winds down in a surreal,
slow-motion like spin out, culminating in what sounds like a guitar being slowly dismantled...

Hopping back to the carb heavy, hot sauce drenched Musarra side of the buffet, I find a terrestrial like tune called "The Dance of Inanna."  Musarra layers guitar with keyboards nicely here; the canvas is dark--but not nearly the doom and destruction depicted earlier.  The mood and tempo pick up as the song morphs into a Hindu ritual of sorts; I find myself searching the darkness for gold columns and bright lights as I am awash in a frenzy of excitement...but the fall into the abyss does not stop there. Musarra continues down a rabbit hole of sorts, much like Alice as she passed through the looking glass.  Mika channels Steve Vai and Joe Bonamassa, hitting the notes harder each time around.

You can discover more about Mika Luoto and his alter ego on the web.  There are dueling Facebook pages; his solo artist Dr. Jekyll is at  https://www.facebook.com/musicianmikaluoto/timeline while the tenacious Mr. Hyde can be found at https://www.facebook.com/musarraband/timeline.  There are also "twin" Twitter accounts, @mikaluoto1  and @Musarraband respectively.   Mika has also set up ReverbNation, SoundCloud, and Amazon links for those wanting to purchase his music--please do.  There is even a YouTube channel, and if that doesn't slake your thirst, Mika can be found on Spotify.

I thought it best to provide the listener with an offering from both sides of the prog garden; a chance, if you will, to hear for yourself the prog duels that go on inside the head of the beast.  I chose to open with the more restrained sounds of Mika's solo credited work, a song called "Springroad Guitar." Mika seems to focus more on his prog guitar work when recording as a solo performer.  This song paints a picture reminiscent of Clint Eastwood's "spaghetti western" days; macho without the unnecessary bravado and smart enough to lock in your auditory sensors.  It is clever without being cliche...

For round two, you will want a shot of bourbon to wash down "Death of Enkidu."  Not so much because it blasts you start to finish, but rather because it is so dark while staying so cerebral.  Musarra is more than just screaming, shredding guitar, and dark ominous vocals...there is a soul buried under all that weight longing to break out.  I sense a "jazzy" feel to the tempo here...a Joe Satriani meets Al Di Meola vibe coming through the headphones.  Funky and quirky, yet still with the dark fringe...

Take the time to explore both sides of Mika Luoto and his world of prog; you just might find something worth grabbing hold of...

                  

That finalizes another seven days in the prog garden, fellow progheads.  Musarra is absolutely the Yin to Mika's Yang; the dark tunnel leading you toward the bright light.  Mika tills acreage in two distinct and separate sections of the prog garden...and yet there are moments when he seems to meld them together seamlessly.

The prog world (fortunately) breeds musicians like Mika Luoto; those who need multiple outlets for all the ideas, images, and noises rambling around inside their collective craniums.  Another reason to appreciate and savor the bounty the  prog garden yields.  Time now to air out the Concert Closet as the search for all things prog moves beyond Finland.  Knowing there is so much diverse prog awaiting discovery keeps me motivated...until next week...