The Thousands

Twenty-two-year-old Finn Olli Aarni is a lot like Girl Talk. No, really – okay, he relies far less on the generosity of Fair Use, but both men compose primarily by sitting around, listening to mountains of music. What a living! The similarities end though when you consider what each man samples for. Gregg Gillis wants you to dance, possibly like you’ve never before. Ous Mal’s Nuojuva Halava, an ambient record replete with hip hop and Finnish folk influences, wraps you in a cotton quilt and tucks you in.

The more melodic and rhythmic touches balance the amorphous ambience perfectly, giving you enough hooks to listen to actively, but Nuojuva Halava is best sampled when you’re between sleep and waking, so it can envelope you. The drony ambience and Aarni’s softly plucked kantele – the national instrument of Finland – is recorded intentionally so it’s not clear when one piece ends and another begins, again to replicate the daze of near-sleep. You could listen to audiobooks, but frankly, this is better – plus it comes with the added bonus of being able to boast to your equally pretentious friends that you’re up on the latest trends in Finnish ambient.