Sarah Palin, the Vice President candidate for Republicans, has inspired many spoofs, parodies and countless image manipulations spreading on the Net. Obviously there's something in this former-beauty-queen-gone-icebear-hunting-ultra-conservative which especially appeals to male fantasies. [One thing that is for sure is that our own 'Sara Pain' had nothing to do with her!]
One inevitable outcome in this booming mini-industry (something that is hard to imagine with Joseph Biden) is naturally an adult movie dedicated to her exploits called Who's Nailin' Paylin? (subtitled "Adventures of a Hockey Milf"), with the up-and-coming skin flick starlet Lisa Ann playing Governor "Serra Paylin" and the adult film veteran Nina Hartley as Hillary Clinton, and brought to us by no one else than The Hustler Video. Maybe there are alternative career prospects in sight for Ms. Palin after the current election defeat.
Michael Crichton, a prolific American bestseller novelist, film director and TV producer has died. The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park were among his best-known books, the cult sci-fi movie Westworld[trailer] (1973) one of the films he directed.
Onement is a label whose concept is to release records at ONE COPY ONLY.
Each recording is not reproduced - there is just one item.
NEW RELEASE: ONEMENT 2 ANTTI RANNISTO "Onement" Out now at one single full-length LP
Catalogue:
(0 : 0 / "4'33" (John Cage) / 100 cds / out of print) 1 : ROBERT HAMPSON / "Hearken" / one-copy 12" LP 2 : ANTTI RANNISTO / "Onement" / one-copy 12" LP (OUT NOW!)
About Antti Rannisto:
Antti Rannisto [b. 1978] is a Finnish minimalist whose ultra-spare sound was formed via a diverse background of various genres ranging from hip-hop to experimental music. He creates highly calculated music so stripped down to the basic elements that subtle shifts in panning, envelope, or phase become instruments in themselves. His palette is simple, pure, colorless, and free of any unnecessary sound or movement. It is minimalism in the truest sense. It is challenging music that demands attentive listening.
His side project Rannisto is for the more rhythmic, casual and sometimes also humorous works.
Yma Sumac (13 September 1922 - 1 November 2008), a legendary vocalist (whose memorable voice range covered five octaves) well known to the fans of 1950s exotica, lounge and "Incredibly Strange Music", has passed away.
No rest for DC Recordings, with yet another release in pipeline!
Artist: Vincent Markowski Title: Dirty Capsules Label: DC Recordings (UK) Cat. No: DCR101 Format: 12" / digital download Release Date: 8 December 2008
Tracklist: A. Dirty Capsules (5:42) B. The Number Arkiv (4:59)
Credits: Written & produced by Tom Tyler. Mastered by Guy at Electric.
Press release notes from DC Recordings:
More than two years have passed since Vincent Markowski delivered his remarkable musical debut 'The Madness of Moths'. The record itself was an ode to his obsession with butterflies and moths, and it was not out of character for these ways to lead him off into obscurity for a year or two, but little did we know how far this self-professed moth-man would drift this time.
Perhaps inspired by label cohorts The Emperor Machine, The Oscillation et al, Markowski has fixed his gaze firmly on the cosmos. Trading on his reputation as a celebrity lepidopterist he travelled to Russia in search of cosmonautical aid, the relics of the ex-Soviet space programme proving to be well within the grasp of such a famed moth-man. Quickly he was furnished with a vintage rocket and capsule, or "space-chrysalis" as he tells us it is called, and secured a launch from the cosmodrome in Baikonur. It was with great delight in August that we received the first transmission from Markowski as the orbit of his capsule came within range of DC's giant London-based parabolic ear, and with further delight we now present two excerpts from this transmission.
'Dirty Capsules' features shades of 'The Madness of Moths' with its echoing pulse, bass-driven melody, snatches of incomprehensible lyrics and haunting ambient atmospheres. 'The Number Arkiv' is an energic affair that features a rare dose of Markowski's own voice reciting numbers, part of his regime of mental calisthenics to prevent mental deterioration whilst in space. Expect more outbursts very soon as Markowski's capsule increases in velocity.
And you are always free to send your own chart contribution, too, and pHinnWeb will publish it there. Techno, electro, house, IDM, disco, rock, pop, indie, jazz, experimental, polka... anything goes. -> phinnweb [at] yahoo.com
A treat for electronic ambient fans is provided by a long-awaited CD re-release of Esa Kotilainen's Tangerine Dream/Klaus Schulze-style solo album Ajatuslapsi ("A Thought Child") from 1977, which is now out on Love/Siboney, a company specializing in CD re-releases of the legendary Finnish label Love Records, which went bankrupt in 1979, leaving behind a large legacy in Finnnish rock, jazz, folk and also political music.
The album was originally released as an edition of 500 copies, Kotilainen playing all instruments there. Alongside Tangerine Dream, Lobsang Rampa's controversial book The Third Eye is mentioned as its inspiration, Kotilainen visualising such tracks as 'Avartuva näkemys' as a journey of Tibetan monks in a cave of stalactites.
Esa Kotilainen (b. 1946) is known as a keyboard wizard and synth veteran, who provided his contributions to Wigwam's most popular album Nuclear Nightclub (1975), also as a member of the band's latest incarnation, which is still in business. Furthermore, Kotilainen has provided his services as a session musician for such as Tasavallan Presidentti, Jukka Tolonen, Hector, J. Karjalainen, Nils-Aslak Valkeapää and many more. He has also been a member of Neum.
Esa Kotilainen's career in electronic music started in 1974 when he expensively imported from Germany a MiniMoog, an instrument rarely seen in Finland those days. During this era Kotilainen was playing gigs on a ferry called Finnhansa, which sailed between Helsinki and Travemünde, and paid for the instrument 6.100 Finnish marks: the price of a small car those days. The first gig with Kotilainen's Minimoog was creating sound effects for the soundtrack of Spede Pasanen's film comedy Viu-hah-hah-taja (1974), and the first music recording was obviously for the solo album Robson of Frank Robson.
Kotilainen's new career as a synth wiz got him loads of offers for background music in commercials after which his career was guaranteed in progressive bands like Wigwam, who were after electronic sounds generally favoured by the prog genre. Kotilainen is also said to have in his collection a Mellotron (an analogue predecessor of samplers, using pre-recorded tape loops played with a keyboard), perhaps the only one in this country.
Ajatuslapsi CD features as bonus tracks two versions of 'Matkaaja' ("The Traveller"), a 1978 commissioned work from Kotilainen for the Finnish National Ballet. The CD booklet also includes English liner notes by Pekka Laine, where Esa Kotilainen shares his insights on the album's origins.
1. Unisalissa ("In a dream room") 2. Avartuva näkemys ("The mind broadens") 3. Ilmassa ("In the air")
CD bonus tracks:
4. Matkaaja (1978) ("The traveller") 5. Matkaaja (1978) Kaiutettu versio (= A version with echo, 2008)
Album credits:
Esa Kotilainen plays on the album: Mini-Moog, ARP-2600, Vox StringThing, Fender Rhodes, Kouvola Casotto, kantele, Hammond B3, Leslie 251 & 145, Binson Echo, MXR 90 Phase, MXR 100 Phase, Maestro Phase Shifter, Foxx Wah Wah pedal, Indian bells, Farfisa organ, Polymoog.
Recorded by Jukka Teittinen at Alppi-studio, mixed at Finnlevy Studios, Helsinki, summer 1976. Cover by Kari Sipilä.
CD bonus tracks recorded at Esa Kotilainen home studio. CD remastering by Pauli Saastamoinen at Finnvox Studios, April 2008. CD layout by Japa Mattila. CD liner notes by Pekka Laine.
A new album from Luomo (a.k.a. Sasu Ripatti, also known as Vladislav Delay) is out on Ripatti's own label Huume Recordings. Featuring as guest stars Cassy (Panorama Bar, Berlin), Sascha Ring (Apparat), Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters), Finnish soul singer Johanna Iivanainen, Robert Owens, Sue-C and "one anonymous singer who hides behind a name Chubbs".
You can read more on album at Luomo site; with reviews, interviews and the free 'Love you all' track featuring Sascha Ring a.k.a. Apparat.
01. Have You Ever, (8:02) w/ Cassy 02. Love You All (7:11) w/ Sascha Ring aka Apparat 03. If I Can’t (7:48) w/ Jake Shears 04. Nothing Goes Away (6:49) w/ Sue Cie & Johanna Iivanainen 05. Robert’s Reason (6:48) w/ Robert Owens 06. Slow Dying Places (8:52) w/ Johanna Iivanainen 07. Sleep Tonight (7:36) w/ Johanna Iivanainen 08. Gets Along Fine (8:09) w/ Chubbs 09. Lonely Music Co. (5:27) w/ Johanna Iivanainen
"Aikamme musiikkiin kuuluu atonaalisuus, se kumoaa käsitykset sävelten suhteista. Aton on uudistaja, aurinko, voima. Elämme atonaalista, uutta ja uudistuvaa aikaa."
This interesting curio just got into pHinnWeb's attention. A flexi disc perhaps from the late 70s or early 80s, advertising Nokia Cable Factory's Aton cables and featuring various appropriately electronic atonal sounds and some generic disco.
Ydintalvi ("Nuclear winter") is a Sonic Temple Assassins-related project, which classifies on its MySpace page as "hardcore / black metal / industrial".
Artist: Ydintalvi Title: s/t Format: 5" CDR Cat.no.: WBRCDR-02 Label: We Burn Records (Finland) Year: 2008
Tracklist:
1. I 2. II 3. III 4. IV 5. V 6. VI 7. VII 8. VIII 9. IX
NOTE: Contains two inserts; a small card containing the tracklist and an A4-sized poster of an exploding cathedral.
And yet another forthcoming DC Recordings release...
Artist: Arcadion Title: Ghost Feeder Label: DC Recordings (UK) Cat. No: DCR97 Format: 12" / digital download Release Date: 1 December 2008
Press release notes from DC Recordings:
Arcadion is the new incarnation of Alan Dobson, also known as Hungryghost (with releases coming soon on Nightmares On Wax's 'Wax On' imprint) and as an erstwhile member of scratch DJ and production team Def Tex. A resident of Norfolk and more recently London, Dobson's musical journey has taken him from a childhood of dub, blue beat records and Norfolk ditch-jumping via an obsession with computer technology and sampling to arrive at the swaggering electro boogie that you find on this debut release for DC Recordings.
The title track "Ghost Feeder" comes on like a modern take on the go-go music of Trouble Funk or Tilt, following the tradition of dancefloor music fostered by Depth Charge in his formative years and therefore fitting neatly on the DC roster. These are beats aimed squarely at your pelvis with an aim to make the party move, coming to you here in their most refined and pneumatic form.
Second track "Arc" delivers more of the same quality but utilises the motifs of electro boogie -- lilting electronic melodies riding a heavyweight percussive groove, augmented by the sound of vintage synths like the Octave Kitten and the Cheetah MS6, which bring a classic edge to this dancefloor pulse, creating flavours reminiscent of Bambaataa and early New York electro at its most futuristic!
Our debut gig (and also the official record release party) on Friday 3 October 2008 is now online -- with warts and all (as Kate Bush put it: be kind to our mistakes) -- divided into eight videofiles. The gig was filmed by Tina Ulevik of Spul Films Australia, who also created the music video for our 'Sara Pain' in 2007.
This gig took place at Lal Lal Lal Festival, organised by Lal Lal Lal record label which also released our first single back in 2005. The venue was the cellar of Kantis in Helsinki, a British-style pub/restaurant.
Artist: Kompleksi Title: Sister Longlegs Dances In The Disco Format: 12" vinyl LP (limited edition of 500) Cat.no.: VERDU-24 Label: Verdura Records (Finland) Date: 15 October 2008
Tracklist: A1. (I Ain't No) Lovechild A2. Spiders In The Sky A3. Porno Tampere A4. Gothic Robots A5. SWT NG FCK THNG A6. Metal Sky B1. Bioluminescence B2. Moscow 1980 B3. Sara Pain B4. The Only Star In My Sky
And this is what Supersounds tells about the release:
Tamperelaisen duon (Erkki "pHinn" Rautio & Mika "Mike Not" Paju) debyyttialbumi. -Yhtyeen oma kuvaus musiikista on "eclectro", eli monimuotoista ja mihinkään selkeään kategoriaan kuulumatonta konemusiikkia. -Omintakeista ja taatusti hämmentävää, tarttuvia kappaleita unohtamatta. -Laulaja Erkki pyörittää maailmanlaajuisesti tunnettua pHinnweb.org -konemusiikkisivustoa. -Lo-fi -estetiikka on kansia myöten hyvin hallussa!
I will add later on more info about the shops where to get it and also the international distribution that is in plans too. For now, you can find the album for example at If Society Shop, Pitkämies, CD-Kauppa.Fi and Levyliiga.
And the digital version (with a bit different track order and slightly longer versions of some tracks) can still be bought from Beatport.
Meanwhile, if you live outside of Finland and want to get your hands on the album now, I recommend you contact Verdura directly for more. It's a shining black vinyl with a limited edition of 500, so act while the stock lasts!
American photographer William Claxton (12 October 1927 - 11 October 2008) has passed away. Claxton was known for the book Jazz Life, featuring a series of photographs of noted jazz musicians he took from his travels around the USA in 1959 and 1960 with musicologist Joachim Berendt.
William Claxton was married to Peggy Moffitt, one of the iconic and often-imitated 1960s models in fashion photography and a muse to fashion designer Rudi Gernreich (1922 - 1985): Claxton's photographs of Moffitt in Gernreich's designs became world-famous.
It was nice seeing Jörn Donner's (a renaissance man of Finland's Swedish-speaking minority, who has worked as a writer, film-maker & producer and politician) Mustaa valkoisella ("Black on White", 1968) again last weekend on YLE Teema. Here the non-actor Donner (surely a lost Scandinavian cousin to Humphrey Bogart) plays in his laconic style Juha Holm, a 36-year old fridge salesman who gets into a relationship with a 19-year old female clerk called Maria Constanza (Kristiina Halkola) from the same company.
We see in the film's very start how a magazine has chosen Holm, his wife (Liisamaija Laaksonen) and their two children "The Family of the Year", in a tightly cut narrative where a fussy voiceover tells about their immaculate modern family life; apparently a hollow facade which gradually starts to crumble during the film. Juha Holm, going through a mid-life crisis and being stressed by his job, is warned by his doctor about drinking and smoking too much. A surprisingly romantic and literary side of Holm, often appearing in the film only cold and detached, is revealed when he recites to Maria Constanza a love poem written by Pablo Neruda (a Chilean poet very much in vogue among the leftist Finnish youth of the day), only leaving her bemused and with no comment.
Partly a drama on relationships, partly a social satire, especially juicy are the comical scenes where are followed the desperate efforts of Holm's workmates (played by other amateur actors, Jukka Virtanen, a Jack of all trades in Finnish entertainment, and crooner/songwriter/popular composer Lasse Mårtenson) to create a commercial film to sell fridges, more or less unsuccessfully using female models in leotards as accessories. The beautifully restored film copy in its bright colours (Esko Nevalainen's cinematography won Jussi, Finnish counterpart to Academy Awards) essentially captures the late-60s Finnish Zeitgeist (oops, another over-used expression). Kristiina Halkola later sued Jörn Donner over using a body-double of her in the erotic scenes of the film. Another Kristiina, Hautala, memorably sings 'Kielletyt käskyt' ("Forbidden Commandments"), a now-classic song with lyrics penned by Jukka Virtanen.
Kristiina Halkola and "Jörkka" sharing a tender moment before meeting in court.
