Thursday, February 26, 2009

Kompleksi Live @ Nurja Joukko, Bar Bulldog, Tampere, 7 March 2009




Event: Kompleksi live @ Nurja Joukko
Venue: Bar Bulldog
Address: Teiskontie 8, Tampere
Date: Saturday 7 March 2009
Showtime: After 11.30 pm
Age limit: 18

Featuring Nurja Joukko DJs:
Disco Mutant
Semi Sailor
Simius Tossavainen

electro / disco / new wave / ebm

Free entry! Kompleksi's first gig in Tampere!


Kompleksi sai alkunsa duona vuonna 2002. Perustajajäsenet Mike Not (koskettimet, miksaaminen ja tuottaminen) ja pHinn (vokaalit ja koskettimet) ovat kumpikin tehneet aikaisemmin omilla tahoillaan työtä Tampereen ja Suomen tekno-, elektro- ja underground-skenessä, Mike Not oman Noise Production -sooloprojektinsa parissa ja DJ:nä, pHinn suomalaista konemusiikkia käsittelevän verkkosivusto pHinnWeb.org:in ylläpitäjänä ja musiikkikirjoittajana, DJ:nä ja yhtenä Tampereen Club Telex -elektrotapahtuman taustavoimana. Mike Not on toiminut äänittäjänä, tuottajana ja teknisenä taustatukena niin tekno-, hip hop- kuin goottirock-projekteissakin. Suurinta listamenestystä takavuosina saavutti Nuera Possen hip hop -artisti Petri Nygård, jonka äänityksiä Mike Not oli mukana luotsaamassa.

Kompleksin kolmas jäsen Everhad (läppäri, miksaus, vocoder/taustalaulu, koskettimet) liittyi mukaan vuonna 2008. Everhadilla on vankka tausta kitaristina punkbändeissä kuten Entropia ja AVK sekä omissa, maanalaista kulttimainetta saavuttaneissa, IDM:ää ja nyrjähtäneempääkin ilmaisua edustaneissa elektronisissa projekteissaan kuten Ever Had, Melkoinen ja Kings of Kaivinkone. Everhadin tuotantoa kuullaan Kompleksin tulevilla raidoilla.

Kompleksin ensimmäinen oma julkaisu oli 7" single '(I Ain't No) Lovechild'/'Moscow 1980' Lal Lal Lal -levymerkillä. Sen ohella Kompleksin raitoja on kuultu kokoelmalevyillä, joita ovat julkaisseet legendaarinen hollantilainen elektrolevymerkki Bunker Records sekä Manchesterin Mate Recordings, ja Kompleksin raitoja ovat ehtineet suitsuttaa maineikkaat kansainväliset elektroartistit kuten Legowelt ja Luke Eargoggle. Kompleksin ensimmäinen albumi Sister Longlegs Dances In The Disco julkaistiin 500 kappaleen rajoitettuna vinyylipainoksena lokakuussa 2008 helsinkiläisellä Verdura Recordsilla. Albumi - jolla tuottajakumppaneina ovat Polytron, Unidentified Sound Objects ja Citizen Omega - sai Soundin levyarvostelussa neljä tähteä viidestä.

Kompleksi kuvaa rosoista ja kotikutoista musiikkiaan nimellä "eklektro" eli eklektinen elektro, joka ottaa vaikutteita niin 70- ja 80-luvun taitteen synapop-artisteista kuin uudemmasta elektrosta, teknosta, diskosta ja kokeellisemmasta ilmaisusta, unohtamatta psykedelia-, punk-, uusi aalto- ja dub-vaikutteitakaan: tuloksena taatusti outoa, mutta rullaavaa konesoundia.

YouTubessa voi käydä katsomassa aikaisempien keikkataltiointien ohella Kompleksin ensimmäisen musiikkivideon 'Sara Pain', jonka ohjasi vuonna 2007 australialainen Tina Ulevik. Mainitun biisin ohella kulttisuosikeiksi ovat muodostuneet synapop-henkinen 'Moscow 1980' ja tekijöiden kotikaupungille omistettu 'Porno Tampere', jotka molemmat on tehty yhteistyössä Rikos Recordsille levyttäneen Polytronin kanssa. 'Spiders In The Sky' edustaa glitch-henkistä mutanttidiskoa ja vaasalaisen Citizen Omegan kanssa tehty 'Bioluminescence' liippaa Detroit-elektron suuntaan. Uudemmista kappaleista 'Battlestar Erotica' yhdistelee 80-luvun alun homodiskosoundia jyrääviin EBM-henkisiin rytmeihin.

Kompleksin keikka Bar Bulldogissa on trion ensiesiintyminen omassa kotikaupungissaan kahden menestyksekkään Helsingin-konsertin jälkeen.


Nurja Joukko @ Bar Bulldog, Tampere, 2 August 2008

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Lucio Capece & Mika Vainio: Trahnie (CD)



Artist: Lucio Capece & Mika Vainio
Title: Trahnie
Format: CD
Cat.no.: eMEGO 098
Label: Editions Mego (Austria)
Date: 2 March 2009

Tracklist:

1. Ujellus
2. Juurake
3. Escapes
4. Hondonada
5. Valontuo
6. Hobojungle
7. Ahuyenta Temores
8. Sahalaitainen
9. Tolmavuo
10. Sigilo
11. Mañana

Length: 59:15

Credits:

Lucio Capece: Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Preparations, Mixer-Sax Feedback, Sruti Box
Mika Vainio: Electronics and Treatments, Electric Guitar, Cymbal

Recorded in Berlin 2006-2008
Artwork: Tina Frank

Press release notes from Editions Mego:


On first glance Lucio Capece and Mika Vainio seem unlikely partners. Two standard bearers at opposing poles of extremity, both sonically and geographically. Lucio from Argentina and rooted in a traditions of jazz and Improv, while Mika hailing from Finland sourced in early 90s electronic and Industrial scenes.

However, they both share an alarming attention to detail when it comes to their audio compositions, and neither are afraid of pushing boundaries of abstraction to the limit. With this in mind its with great pleasure that Editions Mego issues their first album as a duo. Recorded over a 2 year period in Berlin (their common chosen home), its as startling as it is visceral. Delicate as it is extreme. Huge blasting slabs of concrete sax geometrically oppose sonic taps of electronic sound, which bring about a fascinating sound palette.

The opening ‘Ujellus’ is both piercing and soothing; ‘Juurake’ combines pure sweat with cold emotion; tense environmental scrapes flesh out on ‘Ahuyenta Temores’. From the pounding machinist overdrive on ‘ Tolmavuo’ to the poignant melancholy of ‘Mañana’.

Its all here.


  • Album info & soundfiles @ Editions Mego
  • Friday, February 20, 2009

    Risto: 'Putoan kaivossa'


    Risto: 'Putoan kaivossa' (2009, directed by Sami Sänpäkkilä)

    From Risto's forthcoming album Sähköhäiriöön (Fonal Records, FR-63 CD/LP/download). Release date March 4th 2009.

    Directed and written by Sami Sänpäkkilä.

    Music by Risto.

    Actors: Risto Ylihärsilä, Tuomas Eriksson, Minna Kortepuro, Alina Toivanen.
    Make up: Kati Kivijärvi.

    Higher quality version: http://www.vimeo.com/3253434

    ---

    Artist: Risto
    Title: Sähköhäiriöön
    Format: CD/LP
    Cat.no.: FR-63
    Date: 4 March 2009

    Tracklist:

    1. Sähköhäiriöön
    2. Elävä ihmisjumala
    3. Ihmisen kaltainen
    4. Ilta-aurinko hymyilee
    5. Viikkoja
    6. Onko paha uni nyt päättynyt?
    7. Rokkipojan laulu
    8. Ihmeauto KITT
    9. Hiljaa, hiljaa
    10. Putoan kaivossa

    Total length: 34 minutes

    Album info & soundfiles @ Fonal

    ---

    And lest we forget, here's the latest video by another Fonal artist, Eleonoora Rosenholm:


    Eleonoora Rosenholm: 'Ambulanssikuskitar' (2008, directed by Pete Veijalainen)

    Tuesday, February 17, 2009

    Shogun Kunitoki: Vinonaamakasio (Fonal Records)


    Shogun Kunitoki: 'Riddarholmen' (directed by Sami Sänpäkkilä, 2009)

    The analogue electronic act Shogun Kunitoki will release their new album Vinonaamakasio (Fonal Records, FR-62, CD/LP) on 11 March 2009.


    Shokun Kunitoki Strobe Light Kit (soldering guide)

    From Fonal:

    "For those looking for the ultimate psychedelic experience, the Shogun Kunitoki: Vinonaamakasio (FR-62LP) will be available as a picture vinyl LP featuring two animation loops that can be viewed using this magical Shogun Kunitoki strobe light (FR-62SL).

    A true fan will buy the Shogun Kunitoki Strobe Light Kit (FR-62SLK) and build it him/herself. In this video you can see step by step instructions on how to solder the kit together. In addition to the kit you need a 9V battery which is not included in the package.

    Available directly from Shogun Kunitoki website and the Fonal Records shop upon the release date 11.3.2009."


    Artist: Shogun Kunitoki
    Title: Vinonaamakasio
    Format: CD/LP/digital download
    Label: Fonal (Finland)
    Cat.no.: FR-62
    Date: 11 March 2009 (Finland)/18 March 2009 (worldwide)

    Tracklist:

    1. Vinonaamakasio
    2. Mulberg
    3. Riddarholmen
    4. Fuzzabeth Crackleby
    5. Holvikirkko
    6. Corda
    7. Svileto
    8. Ratalintu
    9. Nebulus

    Press release notes:

    With their second album Shogun Kunitoki expand the boundaries of their self-created sonic universe with a wider array of sounds and rhythms. Where their debut, Tasankokaiku, squeezed cosmic dust into fiery balls of molten lava with gravitational push and pull and followed the planets whirring through the void on looping trajectories, Vinonaamakasio zooms in to explore the surface of newfound heavenly bodies, outlines the jagged shapes of exploding volcanoes, rolls with the moonlit waves through the cracks of sleeping, phosphorescent coral reefs, and marches in step with the six-legged insect armies making their trails through the steaming jungle. Every atom of this newborn planet of sound vibrates synchronous to the seething psychedelic stew that throbs under the surface and burns your feet if you let them stop moving.

    For those looking for the ultimate psychedelic experience, the Picture LP edition features two animation loops that can be viewed using the Magical Shogun Kunitoki Strobe Light. Please note you need both the Picture vinyl and the strobe light to see the animations.

    Kompleksi Album Review @ Rumba 2/2009

    Tee hee... From Rumba 2/2009:



  • Kompleksi: Sister Longlegs Dances In The Disco (Verdura Records, October 2008)


    From the Kompleksi gig at Pitkämies, Helsinki, Saturday 31 January 2009. Image by Christer Nuutinen.



    Kompleksi @ Pitkämies, Part 1 (courtesy of Tommi Forsström, If Society Records)


    Kompleksi @ Pitkämies, Part 2 (courtesy of Tommi Forsström, If Society Records)


    Kompleksi @ Pitkämies, Part 3 (courtesy of Tommi Forsström, If Society Records)


    Kompleksi @ Pitkämies, Part 4 (courtesy of Tommi Forsström, If Society Records)


    Kompleksi @ Pitkämies, Part 5 (courtesy of Tommi Forsström, If Society Records)


    Kompleksi @ Pitkämies, Part 6 (courtesy of Tommi Forsström, If Society Records)


    Kompleksi @ Pitkämies, Part 7 (courtesy of Tommi Forsström, If Society Records)


    Kompleksi: 'Moscow 1980' live @ Pitkämies (courtesy of Samuli Alapuranen a.k.a. O Samuli A)
  • Tuesday, February 10, 2009

    The Designers Republic Closes Down



    A design by The Designers Republic for A Word Of Science: The First And Final Chapter by Nightmares On Wax (Warp Records, 1991)

    The Designers Republic, an influential and often imitated graphic design studio of Sheffield, England, has closed down in January. tDR was among all known for the record sleeve designs for Warp Records, also based in Sheffield, that were there to define the look for the early-1990s electronic music subculture. The tDR designs -- a treasure trove for anyone into visual semantics -- have been known for their bright colours, immersing in their stylistic characteristics among all Japanese manga/anime style, the 1920s Russian Constructivism, corporate logos (with a healthy amount of anti-consumerist irony) and a bit of cyberdelia.

  • The Designers Republic Remembered @ Creative Review blog

  • The Designers Republic search results @ YouTube
  • Regina: Puutarhatrilogia (CD/LP)


    Regina: 'Tapaa minut aamulla' (directed by Iiro Hokkanen, 2009)

    Regina's third album, Puutarhatrilogia ("Garden trilogy"), is out on Wednesday.

    Artist: Regina
    Title: Puutarhatrilogia
    Format: CD/LP
    Cat.no.: RAMCD 3161
    Date: 11 February 2009
    Label: Johanna Kustannus/Pyramid

    Tracklist:

    1. Vapaus ("Freedom")
    2. Tapaa minut aamulla ("Meet me in the morning") [MP3]
    3. Totuus minusta ("The truth about me")
    4. Terveiset päiväntasaajalta ("Greetings from the Equator")
    5. Saanko jäädä yöksi? ("May I stay for the night?")
    6. Sain levyt joita et halua kuunnella ("I got the records you don't want to listen to")
    7. Tango merellä ("Tango on the sea")
    8. Olen häviöllä, Pauli ("I'm losing, Pauli")
    9. Sinun tässä salissa ("Yours in this hall")
    10. Musta musta puutarha ("Black black garden")

  • Info in Finnish @ Johanna
  • Friday, February 06, 2009

    25 Random Things About Me



    I just answered this meme that has been making rounds at Facebook, and for purely narcissistic reasons, I guess, I reprint it also here.

    Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

    (To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

    Säännöt ovat seuraavat:

    Kun sinut on merkitty, sinun olisi tarkoitus kirjoittaa muistiinpano, joka sisältää 25 satunnaista asiaa, faktaa, tapaa tai tavoitettasi. Lopuksi merkitse 25 ystävääsi. Sinun täytyy merkitä henkilö, joka merkitsi sinut. Jos minä merkitsin sinut, se tarkoittaa sitä, että haluan tietää sinusta enemmän.

    (Tehdäksesi tämän, mene muistiinpanoihin (notes) profiilisivultasi, liitä nämä ohjeet muistiinpanosi alkuun, kirjoita 25 satunnaista asiaa itsestäsi, merkitse 25 ihmistä (sovelluksen oikeassa yläkulmassa) ja julkaise.)


    ---

    1. I was born in Lapua in the Southern Ostrobothnian province in Finland and have lived in Tampere since I was one year old.

    2. My birthday is the 26th of July; the same as that of Carl Gustav Jung, Aldous Huxley, Stanley Kubrick and Mick Jagger...

    3. I'm supposedly related on father's side to Antti Rannanjärvi, one of the Ostrobothnian "häjys", notorious knife-wielding rogues terrorizing that rural area in the 19th century.

    4. On mother's side, Essi Wuorela of Rajaton accapella group is something like a second or third cousin to me.

    5. I am lefthanded.

    6. The colour of my eyes is something like in between green, brown and gray; probably green being the most dominant.

    7. My favourite colour is blue. (Sorry, this sort of trivia is so boring and teen-mag, but I'm having trouble filling in all 25 points.)

    6. When I was child, my future dream professions would be, in their respective turns: a policeman, an astronaut or an archeologist. All inspired by TV or popular culture, of course.

    7. When I was a child, I was often thinking about ontological questions and wondered if reality, as I perceived it, would only exist for me and no-one else; and if actually the "real" world (which I couldn't see myself) would be that of green and red amoebas, for example. Later on, I found out also other children have had similar ideas. Very Philip K. Dick, I guess.

    8. I was also a little bookworm, carrying all the time loads of books from a local library to home, just devouring every piece of information I could.

    9. Though I got through the basic school system OK, from primary school to high school (only dropped out after wasting nearly a decade in the cogs of academia), during my childhood and adolescence I learned to grow a certain dislike towards educational systems. Probably on my path of learning there were just too many little tyrants, hysterical people and small-scale psychopaths calling themselves teachers (though naturally also some likeable characters). I preferred self-learning and still do.

    10. I used draw comics in my childhood and teens, but probably my enthusiasm waned when I received some flak about them, being in such a tender age. Now I think it was foolish and I have regretted many times afterwards that I stopped honing my skills as an illustrator.

    11. I also dreamt of becoming a film director when I was a teenager, but apparently my dreams and reality weren't interchangeable. I went to movies several times a week, was a member of film clubs, subscribed to film magazines and generally read everything about the history and present day of cinema, and so on.

    12. I've actually never had a chance to travel any further south than Sweden and Denmark, those being as far abroad I ever was. I guess it has always been the lack of money, suitable travelling companions and so on.

    13. Before I became pHinn, I used to work in a local comics shop, some people I still associate with learning to know me from behind its desk.

    14. After that experience came to its end, gradually my enthusiasm for comic books and wasting most of my money on them was replaced by that for music and wasting most of my money on records.

    15. I started in 1996 the Website that became in time pHinnWeb.org, probably being the reason most of people have heard about me in the first place.

    16. My original DJ name was Nemo (after another childhood hero of mine, Captain Nemo of Jules Verne) but after receiving a dismayed mail from a person in Helsinki also calling himself DJ Nemo, I decided to rechristen myself as DJ pHinn, after my Website. I haven't heard about the other DJ Nemo or his activities ever since.

    17. As a DJ, I never really became technically proficient in such things as beatmatching, not owning my own set of SL-1200s, but some people seemed to like my selections anyway.

    18. After the mid-2000s my career as a DJ seemed to wane gradually, for various reasons, so I thought just concentrating on creating our own music was a better option to spinning that of the others. If provoked hard enough, I might still do a DJ set some time, but don't expect the latest flashing, banging, hippest, trendiest sounds from me then. I lived that life through already and I'm not going back.

    19. I am very much into DIY and "Outsider Art". I think being a virtuoso or an expert of your craft doesn't hurt, but when one has an urge to express, one shouldn't be hindered by the formal lack of skills or education. Of course, "dilettantism" is always frowned upon by the gatekeepers of culture worrying about their carefully secured positions, but it's important to keep creating, even if it was only for your own personal entertainment and no-one else's.

    20. The City tabloid of Tampere elected in 2001 me as "The Best Underground Man in Town". That was quite exhilarating and funny, when you start to think about it.

    21. Both my father and grandfather died in 2007. Kompleksi's first album is dedicated to them.

    22. Though never having had any problems with alcohol, I decided to quit drinking altogether after June 2008. I haven't regretted a day. I think I generally feel better, have less negative thoughts to shadow my mind, and I'm a nicer (if more quiet) person when I'm sober, less prone to "clever" remarks and boasting, even though I can't hide behind that shelter of false confidence any more.

    23. I don't really know why I answered this query. Perhaps because I'm a sucker.

    24. Using any standard economic yardstick and also considering from some social points of view, I might well be called "marginalized", but I've stayed out of the gutter so far and some things seem to be actually advancing in my life, so I guess there's still hope.

    25. I think I've got a guardian angel. Or more precisely, along my path there have been many of them.

    ---

    And another FB meme where I was tagged recently: "10 questions and answers about music".

    Answer honestly and try not to appear cool -- it doesn't work amongst friends. After answering, tag those whose musical taste you wish to know more about.

    1. What are you listening to right now?

    This week Isaac Hayes, Björk, Nick Cave and some Brazilian compilation. Next week something else.

    2. As a teenager, what was a band you were ashamed to admit to liking?

    Not a band but a solo artist: Prince. Because my AC/DC-worshipping classmates thought he was gay and kept picking me about my adoration of his music.

    3. And today?

    Nothing, really. My tastes are pretty eclectic and I can listen to anything, though I have no time for Top 40 myself.

    4. Have you met an artist you admired? How did it go?

    Sure, several of them, some of them in real life, even more only through E-mail, but I think it's better to keep my lips sealed about those encounters. More and more, I try to live by the rule of thumb: "Never meet your idols, they're bound to let you down". If I'm a fan of a certain artist, I don't want to meet him/her, because I'm always afraid s/he will turn out to be an a**hole, and I couldn't listen to his/her music again. Artists with their egos, tantrums and constant insecurities... try not to tread on the tiger's tail. (Well, to make it clear, I don't have as my FB friends any artists who I would really have a problem with - if you think it's YOU I'm talking about here ;) Of course, I've met many nice ones, too. Circle's Jussi Lehtisalo is always my prime example of a Really Nice Person Who Also Happens To Be A Musician.

    5. Have you had dreams about bands or artists? What happened?

    I once had a dream where I shook hands with Iggy Pop at a gig.

    6. What was your first gig?

    Can't remember.

    7. Which living artist you still haven't seen, but desperately want to?

    No-one, really. I don't really want to see my old heros who are still alive and past their prime, and I'm not any more into doing pilgrimages to worship some idol.

    8. Who or what band would you like to resurrect and see live?

    No-one, but I am just reading "White Bicycles - Making Music in the 1960s", the memoirs of producer Joe Boyd, responsible for the first single of Floyd, and inspired by Boyd's vivid recollections, I thought it would be nice to have a time machine and travel back to check the Syd Barrett-era (1966-67) pre-dinosaur Pink Floyd at UFO club of London.

    9. Which riff would you like to learn to play or sing 'just right'?

    Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major.

    10. How many records do you own, or how many songs do you have in your itunes/mp2 player?

    Haven't really counted, but my approximation is somewhere in between 1000 and 2000. I've always received flak from certain family members about my hobby of music and wasting money on records, so it's always a guilty pleasure. I don't own any of these fancy iTunes/MP2/whatever players and don't do filesharing or download music. The music department of Metso, Tampere's main library, is enough to fulfil my free music needs.

    Sunday, February 01, 2009