Friday, October 27, 2006

Tuomas Rantanen Joins MySpace, Too




Tuomas Rantanen has a brand new MySpace site.

Tuomas Rantanen is the philosopher king of hard Tampere techno monotrax, an all-round nice guy, avid conversationalist and chess enthusiast who has saved many a boring night for me at Yo-Talo! Our Kompleksi project did with Tuomas a remix of Maxx Klaxon's 'Internationale 2000' (still unreleased).


Tuomas Rantanen comes from Finland and his musical style is dark industrial techno. He has created a very unique music expression where strong driving percussion techno combines to cold and dark atmosphere and ambience elements. Prior to his own techno music productions he studied classical guitar and theory of music at Tampere Conservatory, and in 1995 he also started to make his own music productions. In 1999 he released his first release on Template Records (England) with support by British techno producer Glenn Wilson. After that Tuomas Rantanen has released several techno releases also on other labels including Fresh Grind (England), Audio Assault (The Netherlands), Submissions (The Netherlands), Unknown Forces (England), Electracom (England), KK Traxx (Belgium), Definition Records (Germany), Maracas Records (Sweden), Emergence Records (Sweden) and Fak Records (Finland). Tuomas Rantanen has studied Philosophy at Tampere University. He wrote his Master's Thesis about the philosophy of Martin Heidegger; especially Heidegger's concept of understanding, language and art.


Tuomas Rantanen @ pHinnWeb

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Kompleksi Collaborators: Citizen Omega @ MySpace





A Kompleksi collaborator Citizen Omega (a.k.a. Eero Salminen of Vaasa, Finland) has now his own MySpace presentation where you can hear some of his tracks. Citizen Omega is truly one of the best-kept secrets in Finnish electro scene! You can hear one of Kompleksi/Citizen Omega collaboration tracks, 'Gothic Robots', at Kompleksi's MySpace page.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Drexciya: "Fear of a Wet Planet" by Kodwo Eshun




"Fear of a Wet Planet", a 1998 article by Kodwo Eshun about the legendary African-American "aquatic electro" act Drexciya has now been archived at The Wire magazine site.

Monday, October 23, 2006

The Dire Consequences of Our Dependency on Fossil Fuels, and How Nuclear Fallout May Be Bad for Your Complexion


[large image]

"The Dire Consequences of Our Dependency on Fossil Fuels, and How Nuclear Fallout May Be Bad for Your Complexion" [21 October 2006]

© pHinn 2006

[pHinnMilk Comics] (not for children)

Friday, October 20, 2006

Save Kino-Palatsi!




Living in Tampere, it has been depressing to witness how traditional old movie theatres here have gradually vanished and been replaced by bland multiplexes running mostly mindless American popcorn blockbusters. I often wax nostalgic for such local yesteryear cinemas as Adams, Hällä, Häme, Ilves, Olympia, Petit, Pirkka and Royal, which formed an important part of my own cinematic education. These places have all now been closed and turned into nightclubs or even traditional theatres. (At the time of writing this, the demolition of the house of Petit at Hämeenkatu has begun; another office building coming to its place.)

One of these important movie theatres of my formative years was also Kino-Palatsi of Tampere, built in 1928, one of the oldest cinemas in Finland which so far has retained its original style with lavish interiors. Kino-Palatsi actually ceased its activities as cinema in 1991 but has even since worked as one of the important venues for the annual Tampere Short Film Festivals. Now Kino-Palatsi faces the threat of being transformed into another nightclub owned by club entrepreneur Sedu Koskinen. Sign the petition at http://www.adressit.com/kinopalatsi to save Kino-Palatsi and an indispensable piece of Tampere's cultural history.




One of the nude figurines by Väinö Rautalin surrounding Kino-Palatsi's silver screen. Though probably intended to give a very artistic impression, at least to this youngster with a vivid imagination (and probably to many other people, too), these naked couples frolicking in various different positions always curiously looked like some scenes from Kama Sutra...


Links:

http://www.uta.fi/festnews/fn2001/en/thu/kinopalace.htm
http://www.uta.fi/festnews/fn2000/uutiset/ke2000/engl/kinoeng.htm
http://www.uta.fi/festnews/fn2003/sunnuntai/estradien_historiaa.html (in Finnish)

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

[videos] Mr Velcro Fastener: 'Čapek'


Mr Velcro Fastener: 'Čapek'

The brand new Mr Velcro Fastener single now also as a stunning video, directed by photographer Tatu Hiltunen; some eye candy especially for all you ladies out there (Chippendales, eat your hearts out)!

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Mr Velcro Fastener interview @ pHinnWeb (sorry, Finnish only!)

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Gillo Pontecorvo In Memoriam


A disturbing excerpt from The Battle for Algiers (1966)

Italian film director Gillo Pontecorvo (November 19, 1919 — October 12, 2006) was best known for his La Battaglia di Algeri ("The Battle for Algiers", 1966), a quasi-documentary style film about the Algerian war 1954-62; the movie also including another memorable Ennio Morricone film score. The other well-known Pontecorvo film is Queimada! (a.k.a. Burn!, 1969) starring Marlon Brando, and listed by Danny Peary in one of his Cult Movies books.

Friday, October 13, 2006

[MP3] Argon: Kone kertoo






The legendary Finnish synthpop act Argon has provided its 1981 album Kone kertoo ("Machine tells") as free MP3s, which will follow after the message in Finnish from Argon's Pekka Tolonen.

[fwd]

From: pekka.tolonen [at] gmail.com
Newsgroups: sfnet.harrastus.musiikki
Subject: Kotimainen teknopioneeri Argon
Date: 11 Oct 2006 10:13:07 -0700

Kotimainen teknopioneeri Argon esittelyssä

Organ-yhteen edeltäjä Argon paljastaa nyt arkistojen kätköistä vision tulevaisuuteen - vielä toteutumattomaan, jota kohden maailma on kuitenkin matkalla.

Argonin musiikillinen visio esittäytyy nykypäivän kuuntelijalle japanilaisten eskapististen ja surrealististen manga-animaatioiden tapaan poikkitaiteellisella estetiikalla ja kielikuvilla, joiden tarinat sijoittuvat nopeasti etenevän mielikuvituksen ja tietokoneanimaation visionaariseen piirrettyyn maailmaan.

Vastakohtana kotimaisen futurismi-genren pioneeriin Organiin, jonka biitin määräsi Eppu Normaali/Mikko Saarelan pallien heilunta syvän dung-dung-dung -bassorummun ja syntikkabiitin tahdissa futurismin "kundi meikkaa"- ja "mässäävien kärpästoukkien" aspekteihin painottuvien sanoitusten kanssa, Argonin fokusointi oli sitä vastoin futurismin globaaleissa suuntaviivoissa ja toimi kirkasotsaisella nörttiakselilla, jossa elämän pääsisältö koostui low-resolution -tietokonepelien ruuduista ja teknologian suomien uusien mahdollisuuksien innoituksesta.

Juottimen ja tinan kärventyminen Zyrgo-rumpukoneen logiikkapiirien suunnittelussa, joka muodosti pohjan tulevalle Organ-yhtyeelle, oli myös pääfokuksena Argonin tuotannossa.

Futuristisen Argon-vision myötävaikuttajana toimi Pekka Tolosen ja Seppo Parkkisen - Kulosaaren eliittikoulun ensimmäinen nörttisukupolvi - ohella englantilainen tuottaja Richard Stanley, joka oli aiemmin työskennellyt Beatlesien, Santanan, Whon sekä kotimaisen Hurriganes-yhteen kanssa.

80-luvun alussa julkaistua Argon/Kone kertoo -albumia myytiin 200 kappaletta, ja se on keräilyharvinaisuus. Kuriositeettina mainittakoon, että albumi teilattiin aikakauden kriitikoiden toimesta "käsittämättöminä lastenlauluina".

Haluamme nyt kuitenkin Sir Seppo Parkkisen kanssa julkituoda Argonin teknologia-pohjaista lähestymistapaa aikakauden teknologian ylittävien sekvenssointiratkaisujen hyödyntämisessä elektronisen pop-musiikin luonnissa, ja mitä kohteliaimmin julkistaa Argon-visiomme kappaleet vapaaseen jakeluun (levitä vapaasti linkkejä).

Poissuljemme levityksestä albumille sisältyvän maailman ensimmäisen LP-levylle sisällytetyn tietokoneohjelman sen sisältämien henkilökohtaisten nörttirakkausviestien mp3-pakkauksesta aiheutuvien enkoodaus/dekoodaus-virheiden johdosta.

Ystävällisesti teidän,
Pekka Tolonen & Seppo Parkkinen
Argon/Organ

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And it tells a story .. not yet realized .. but it will ..

San Salvador

it's getting a really messed-up place here on the earth... wars all over

Zombie

and we are really all walking like zombies.. no feelings ... no friends ... no future .. no pain .. no pleasure ... no fun ... just going on ...

Kone kertoo ("Machine tells")

happily we have the computers that stimulate us.. that work ... or not ... error ...

Taksi ("Taxi")

it starts happening ... the leaders have been informed ... time is getting short ...

Hong Kong

early signs in asia, where it all originates ... and some temporary fun, too ...

Täysikuun aikaan ("In the time of full moon")

moon madness becomes epidemic ... for no apparent reason acts of madness start to rule earth ...

Kummajaislaulu ("Weirdo song")

then the children change weird to their parents ... voice inside starts talks to them ... but the life still goes on ... at the daytime ...

Videotwist

and the kids have great fun with the video games! ... they extend us ... we are global ...

Venuksesta itään ("East from Venus")

meanwhile the space technology takes huge steps forward ... satellite colonies emerge on Mars and Venus ... missing the Earth ...

Kesä 84 ("Summer '84")

the play is over ... seas start freezing ... sky fades on dark clouds ... endless snow and ice-age ... with few survivors ... and lost hearts ... loneliness ... migration begins ...

Aurinkolaulu ("The Sun song")

memories of the past forgotten, dismissed forever ... how we could have made it different ...

Takapihan kautta ("Through the backyard")

but that was not the end ... after a centuries' decay it all returns back to 18th century .. and the life goes on ... until the next interrupt from the colonies ...

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Shake That Acid Images



Here you can see some images from Shake That Acid party (Saturday 10 October 2006, Klubi, Tampere), by Sakke Karipuro.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Album Art War


Album Art War by Ugly Pictures

Magyar Posse: 'Whirlpool of Terror and Tension'


Magyar Posse: 'Whirlpool of Terror and Tension'

Magyar Posse is a Finnish instrumental postrock act which takes its cues among all from Ennio Morricone's film music and 70s progressive rock, à la Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells". This Magyar Posse video by Lauri Warsta and Jouni Karttunen was awarded the "Golden Pumpeli", the first prize at Oulu Music Video Festival of 2006.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

What Is Skweee?



Flow magazine has an article on Skweee, the new Scandinavian electronic dance music style.

Synthetik Skandinavian Funk is called Skweee.

The Synthetik Skandinavian Funk, or Skweee music, obviously origins from Scandinavia -- less obvious is that it was created by a man called Frans Carlqvist, who is also known as Pavan. He's the founder of the small independent label Flogsta Danshall that focuses on this type of music. Recently a new Skweee-label popped up in Finland, called Harmönia. The time was right to let Pavan explain.

For those that haven't heard the music, explain what Skweee is!

Skweee is instrumental, pretty primtive electronic music influenced by the rhythms of R'n'B, dancehall and funk. It usually consists of a 'dirty' sound, vibes that make you think of early electro, techno and c-64 music. When you hear it, you know what Skweee is.

For those that have heard it, but yet don't understand. Please, help them out.

Well, the tempo is pretty low around 90-110 bpm. Sometimes it contains parts of Arabic music. A lot of square waves and kind of lo-fi. Apart from a couple of Skweee-remixes that've been made, most Skweee is released on 7" vinyl."


Skweee @ Wikipedia

Monday, October 02, 2006