Tundra Sounds is a Uralican ambient project based in Syktyvkar. It has currently recorded two studio albums.
Current Membership[]
- Jarkko Salomäki
- Marko Lehtonen (b. 17 July 1984, Jyväskylä)
- various guests
History[]
The brainchild of Marko Lehtonen, a Finn who moved to Uralica in the early days of its formation, Tundra Sounds was born when Jarkko Salomäki listened to the Finn's demo, and loved it so much that he asked if he could get involved. Since Jarkko owns a recording studio in Syktyvkar, allowing Salomäki into this project gave Marko unfettered access to it, and the music equipment contained within. The name "Tundra Sounds" actually comes from an earlier Salomäki project which was eventually scrapped.
With his ear for potentially unique ambient soundscapes, Marko dove right in to creating presets that would be used in the upcoming album. After months of trying to hammer out pieces, Tundra Sounds would finally have two or three albums' worth of material, ranging from dark ambient and IDM to ambient pop à la post-Karma Delerium.
When the first, eponymous album came out in January of 2009, it was immediately hailed as an ambient masterpiece due to the fact that there were so many different types of ambient music on the album. In the space of nine tracks, Worldbeat, IDM, minimalism, dark ambient, and ambient pop were all covered.
Shocked by their own success, the duo released nine more tracks in October of the same year under the album name Act Two. Although not as poppy as its predecessor, it still sold a decent number of records.
According to Marko, he still has eight tracks left and has started work on a ninth to fill out a third album.
Discography[]
Full Albums[]
- January 2009 - Tundra Sounds
- October 2009 - Act Two
- May 2010 (tentative) - Breadth
Singles[]
- February 2009 - Vychegda (from Tundra Sounds)
- April 2009 - Adrift (from the soundtrack to The Fear Factory: The Untold Story/Tundra Sounds)
- July 2009 - In The Ice Caves (from Tundra Sounds)
- September 2009 - Haunted (featuring Zuzana Nemtsova, from Tundra Sounds)
- November 2009 - Fever (from Act Two)
- December 2009 - Rainy Day (from Act Two)
- February 2010 - Seers (from Act Two)
- April 2010 - Friendship Eternal (from Act Two)