Kimmo POHJONEN, accordion, voice
Samuli KOSMINEN, accordion samples, voice samples
Trey GUNN, Warr guitar
Pat MASTELOTTO, rhythmic devices

"KTU (pronounced K2") are a quartet of devilishly integrated halves: avant-accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen and digital manipulator Samuli Kosminen from Finland, and drummer Pat Mastelotto and guitarist Trey Gunn from King Crimson. Their debut 8 Armed Monkey, recorded live in 2004, is a robust tumult of Northern Lights sparkle, white-wolf guitar wail and rolling knotted thunder. Pohjonen is a wonder unto himself: animating his wind song with pedals and processing; attacking the bellows with the ecstatic fury of Jimi Hendrix. When I saw KTU play in Europe recently, they were as powerful and transgressive as the current killer Crimson (without, of course, Robert Fripp). But I was stunned to discover, after the show, that KTU have yet to get an American gig, because, Gunn said, promoters are afraid of the word "accordion". People, look at it this way: Pohjonen plays the ultimate in air guitar. Now hit the phone." - David Fricke, Rolling Stone "Anyone who's witnessed Kimmo Pohjonen - often lazily referred top as Finland's Hendrix of the accordion - will attest to his power to shock. His performances are equal parts art installation, virtuoso showcase and shamanistic ritual: Brooding, muttering hypnotic maelstroms that conjur up Jungian memory and dread in spades. So how does this translate into the two-dimensional world of the CD? Previous recorded work, while undeniably fearsome, has tended to leave you with a feeling that only with the aid of a DVD player would you get the full picture. However KTU's 8 Armed Monkey has no such shortcomings... Working with sampler Samuli Kosminen and King Crimson rhythm buddies, Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn, it appears that a more democratic approach has broadened Kimmo's palette accordi(o)ngly. This album contains noises that no simple squeezebox was ever meant to make! Recorded in Japan, Monkey...bubbles with menace (especially on Pohjonen's solo composition ''Optikus'') while retaining a digital clarity that allows Gunn's soaring Warr guitar lines to add a new level of yearning sadness. Pohjonen's very personal brand of voodoo really benefits from such a setting. Maybe the world is finally ready for Finnish prog-folk! - Chris Jones, BBC "8 Armed Monkey is intense, engaging and ultimately satisfying, blending the best elements of experimental and progressive rock into a tangible, listenable entity. It's like nothing you've heard before." - Andrew Magilow, Splendid

About the ensemble:
Kimmo Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen (Kluster) and Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn (from King Crimson and duo TU) join forces for the double duo formation KTU (pronounced K2).

Percussionist Pat Mastelotto and guitarist Trey Gunn have enjoyed successful careers with the band King Crimson, one of the worlds most dynamic, skillful and innovative bands. Their new duo known as TU explores and highlights the well-known Gunn and Mastelotto edge, energy, humour, imagination, phenomenal playing skills and dynamism in an improvisational setting. The first TU album was released in early 2004 followed by April appearances in Moscow.

Seeds for KTU took root at SXSW in Austin Texas in March 1999 when Kimmo Pohjonen shared a billing with Mastelotto/Gunn/Fripp's Project Three at the Electric Lounge. Plans for the quartet took shape over the next five years. KTU's aim is to combine the creative energies, edge imagination and other elements of the four players to make something new, different and musically explosive. Material is mainly comprised of compositions by Pohjonen and Kosminen, plus pieces by Gunn and Mastelotto and arrangements and improvisations by all four. Surround sound design and additional effects by Heikki Iso-Ahola.