Kid Shirt On Kompleksi's Video

Kid Shirt, a UK music blog for all things underground, which did an interesting review of Kompleksi's 7", now namechecks our video at http://kidshirt.blogspot.com/2007/03/kompleksi-sara-pain.html:

"... check out their strangely melancholic travelogue-themed vid for 'Sara Pain'"

[...]

"The footage and edits remind me of the sort of homemade promos that Cabaret Voltaire used to put out on Doublevision many moons back. Trust me, the track's a real grower."


Original Kompleksi photo by Tina Ulevik; image manipulation by pHinn.

And more Kompleksi-related stuff found from the Net:

Electronic music producer Scary of Malmö, Sweden comments Kompleksi on his blog.

http://scarypages.blogspot.com/2007/02/kompleksi-finsk-underhllande.html: "... De har hållit på sedan 2002 och gör en nästan organisk elektronika. Jag gillar deras lätt skeva och svårplacerade stil mycket och hoppas verkligen att de kan få släppa det album som de gjort men inte fått ge ut än. [...] Min favorit just nu är Kompleksi vs Citizen Omega-låten 'Ghost at Noon'; het som en utbränd lägenhet."

*****

Webzine Noise.fi has recently featured some Kompleksi tracks on their Net radio shows.

Musaiikki, 31 January 2007:

Kompleksi (with Polytron) - 'Moscow 1980'

Demolition Derby, 5 March 2007:

Kompleksi - 'SWT NG FCK THNG'

Värinää, 14 March 2007:

Kompleksi - 'Gothic Robots'

Musaiikki, 28 March 2007:

Kompleksi - 'Love Missile F1-11'

*****

Musasalama show on Radio Helsinki has had Kompleksi even before on its playlists:

Musasalama 14 December 2006:

KOMPLEKSI WITH SONIC TEMPLE ASSASSINS - 'Slick Little Girl'

Musasalama 10 January 2007:

KOMPLEKSI VS. POLYTRON - 'Moscow 1980' (Javelin Remix)

*****

John Cavanagh of Glasgow, Scotland is a musician-radio show DJ-writer (among all, an author of a book on the early days of Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd and their debut Piper at the Gates of Dawn; also pHinn's personal all-time favourite album).

John Cavanagh's Soundwave @ Radio Six International

Soundwave number 107 - 28th-29th January 2007:

Kompleksi - 'Love Missile F1-11'

Soundwave number 113 - 11th - 12th March 2007:

Kompleksi remix of 'Kirkko Rakkaani' by M.A. Numminen & DJ Sane

Related:

Official Phosphene Homepage

Phosphene Soundwave @ MySpace

*****

But what is this (and the same in Japanese)...?

Bass & Beer Party, Friday 30 March 2007, Tampere

Bass & Beer Party
Friday 30 March 2007
@ Club Apple, Aleksanterinkatu 29 (upstairs of Café Europa), Tampere
free entry

Dubsteppers, minimal dub, dub, even more dub

DJs:
Mesa-Vatti & Miska Immanuel (Vaasa)
Jere P
Nilk (Bass & Beer)

Bass & Beer Party has been one of the few remaining torch-bearers of electro in Tampere, including in their nights also other styles of electronic dance music, such as drum'n'bass, dubstep and hip hop.

From the introduction on Bass & Beer Party MySpace site:

"Bass & Beer got started when Squash and Bob Ryynänen wanted to organize club where people could see proper lives supported by great DJs. Jere P soon came along as well. After about one year of some parties with various names, 11 September 2004 saw the first official Bass & Beer Party in Telakka, Tampere. Since then, there has been many memorable nights with lives like Huoratron, Dos Noun, Polytron and Blamstrain and some bad ass DJ action by Rikos Records collective, Resound, Sire and Kongocrew among others. When it comes to the residents, Jere P has mainly been playing the lousy slots, driving cars and arranging some women for the afterparties, as Squash and Bob have been doing the organizing and playing the better slots. It must be said that when the afterparties have occurred, it has been Jere to take care of the gals. In the winter of 2006 Bass & Beer did a little tour in Finland, co-operating for example with Ikahu posse from Lahti. 2006 also witnessed birth of Tammerforce club, the fruit of B&B's co-project with legendary Telex.

Always struggling but still there, Bass & Beer for your entertainment."

Siniaalto: Kuolema CD Out Soon

Siniaalto: 'Hakala Part 2'


Siniaalto: 'Matka alkaa taas' ("Journey begins again")

Siniaalto ("Sinewave") -- a Helsinki act specialized in retro ambient sound à la Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze, performed with vintage synths -- will have their new CD Kuolema ("Death") (the original release date Friday 13 April 2007, which would have been so appropriate for this one, has been changed to 20 April 2007) on Verdura Records (the label site also includes some soundclips from the album).

Siniaalto downloads

Swaeg: Sounds From Tampere Underground

Swaeg is an audiovisual collective working on non-profit basis and organising clubs here in Tampere, and at their parties you can hear some of most twisted brands of underground electronic dance music from IDM/electronic listening music to break-noise-death-whatever-core (à la the notorious British freak label V/VM) to dubstep; the Swaeggers themselves describing their sound as "idm - waltz - breakcore - medley - mash up - mortar rave - worst case scenario - neurodrunk".

Mostly headed by Joonas Toivonen (b. 1981), who also creates his own hilariously demented music under the moniker Toiminto ("Function"), Swaeg has organised over 40 parties (where yours truly has also DJed a couple of times) and a few festivals (among all Australia's Casionova and Lappland's old-school computer game sound monsters Desert Planet have been heard in these) since June 2004; also promoting visual art in the form of flyers, posters and videos -- summer 2006 saw an exhibition of Swaeg art at Tampere's Huoltamo mini-gallery.

Alongside these activities, the Swaeg posse is responsible for some Net-only music releases, including SWG001 (an MP3 compilation of Finnish electronic music, featuring such artists as Blamstrain, Roger That Jr, Oreia, Videovalvontaa, Toiminto, etc.), Demonic 1's "Die!" EP (dubstep from Tampere, SWG002), Waisted Flanders' "Lost" EP ("bass-boosted lo-fi whatstep", SWG003), and "Esoteris" EP by P2 ("psy-idm-arcade-jazz-darkambient-breakcore", SWG004). Joonas Toivonen has also promised his own dubstepish longplay should be out under Swaeg soon.

See, hear, download:

Swaeg: official site
Swaeg @ MySpace
Toiminto @ MySpace

Merck Records RIP

Merck Records of Miami, Florida -- who have published among all such Finnish IDM-type artists as Blamstrain and Lackluster -- have ceased their activities:

"We are both sad and happy to announce that 2006 was the last year of Merck Records. We have released 51 cds (Merck 047 + 4 Mixes) and 50 vinyls, there will be no more new releases. We have many reasons for this, in the interest of briefness we will just say that its time to move on. During 2007 we will sell off our remaining stock and there will be no more represses. We thank EVERYONE who have supported us over the years, you made this possible."

Merck Records interview @ Igloomag

Merck Records @ Wikipedia

Krautrock @ MySpace

Listen to selected Krautrock tracks at sites found from MySpace...

Amon Düül

Amon Düul II

Ash Ra Tempel

Can

Can

Cluster

Holger Czukay

La Düsseldorf

Faust

Manuel Göttsching

Manuel Göttsching (official fansite)

Harmonia

Neu!

Neu!

Popol Vuh

Roedelius/Cluster/Harmonia

Roedelius (book)

Irmin Schmidt & Kumo

Klaus Schulze & Guenter Schickert - Rare Home Session

Tangerine Dream

Regina's New Album Out Now

Finnish synthpop/indie act Regina has their new album Oi miten suuria voimia (translation: "Oh, how large powers", perhaps) out now. Regina's debut Katso maisemaa ("Look at the landscape", 2005) raised some interest in Finnish music media (also a bit abroad, in places like Japan) and also created a domestic fanbase for this act consisting of vocalist Iisa Pajula, keyboardist/producer Mikko Pykäri and drummer Mikko Rissanen, though Iisa's vocalisations also divided opinions among some people. In any case, it will be interesting to see if Regina's popularity will stand the test of that always "difficult second album".

Artist: Regina
Title: Oi Miten Suuria Voimia!
Label: Next Big Thing
Cat.No: NEXTCD006
Format: CD/LP

Country: Finland
Released: 21 Mar 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop

Tracklisting:
1 Paras Aika Vuodesta
2 En Tiennyt Osaavani Tanssia
3 Tässä Vaiheessa Kaikki On Jo Niin Vakavaa
4 Naapurissa Puretaan Taloa
5 Kuka On Tuo Mies?
(featuring Tuomo Kuusi of Boys of Scandinavia)
6 Päivä Järvellä
7 Suuria Voimia!
8 Vesisadetta, Vaihtelevaa Pilvisyyttä
9 Soitan Sulle Sittenkin
10 Tumma Tuokio

Discogs entry

Record release tour:

Helsinki:
21.03.07 /// Kuudes linja
(tickets 7€; with DJ Halo, Dj Dallas)
Turku:
30.03.07 /// Thessalonik, Päiväkoti
Tampere:
31.03.07 /// Indie Lördag/Hang the Indie, Yo-Talo
(tickets 6€, after the gig 3€; show 22.30; with DJs Sami & Antti H.)
Helsinki:
19.04.07 /// Polte-klubi, Vanha
Helsinki:
28.04.07 /// Korjaamo
Oulu:
05.05.07 /// B-eat-z, 45 Special
Turku:
19.05.07 /// Ladyfest


Regina performing 'Katso maisemaa' @ Provinssirock 2006

Links:

Regina introduction @ Next Big Thing
Regina: Official site
Listen to Regina @ MySpace
Regina: "Suuria voimia" blog
Regina @ Discogs

New Motiivi: Tuntematon 12"

Motiivi: Tuntematon ("Motive: Unknown") are Timo Kaukolampi (And The Lefthanded, Op:l Bastards), Veikka Erkola (a.k.a. Ercola) and Antti Koivisto. You can find info on their earlier release, 1939 (Freundinnen, 2005), at Finndiscog: Curiosities @ pHinnWeb.

Artist: Motiivi: Tuntematon
Title: Speicher 46
Format: 12"
Cat.No: KOMEX46
Label: Kompakt Extra (Germany)
Date: 15 February 07

Genre: Minimal house, minimal techno and tech-house

Tracklist:
A. I Don't Feel Good (When You're Not Around) (6:14)
B. Mankind Failed (9:07)

A. written by Kaukolampi/Ercola
B. written by Kaukolampi/Ercola/Koivisto

Info & sound samples @ Juno

Info @ Discogs

More Motiivi: Tuntematon soundfiles:

T.A. Kaukolampi @ MySpace

Ercola @ MySpace

"... once you get beyond the alien probing, 'I Don't Feel Good' is actually rather perky, despite Gothic pipe organs and the downcast, vocodered refrain, like a robot swallowing sobs. They take the son clavé syncopation [...] and abuse it so thoroughly that it's hard not to find a smidgen of amusement in it all -- like 24''s tongue-in-cheek approach to torture (another sure sign of the apocalypse). 'Mankind Failed', true to its title, is more serious, wrapping dark chords around an insistently jacking house pattern, cymbals flashing like the teeth on death's mask..." - Philip Sherburne, The Wire, April 2007

Kompleksi's Video Director In Tampere

Tina with Rellu the cat. (Photo by pHinn)

Tina Ulevik, the Australian director/editor of Kompleksi's 'Sara Pain' video, just visited Tampere and spent some days here as a part of her current tour of China-Scandinavia-England. Since the entire work process of the video took place between September 2006 and March 2007 through the assistance of e-mails, DVDs and tons of rough cut video files exchanged via YouSendIt.com, this was the first time we actually met in person. Such "essential" sights here in Tampere as the Näsinneula Observation Tower, Lenin Museum, Spy Museum, Moomin Valley (a museum dedicated to Tove Jansson's Moomin characters), Yo-Talo and naturally Kompleksi's home studio at Mike Not's place in Kaukajärvi were visited during Tina's Tampere trip. (It might be added that though I've never visited this continent myself -- Oz being actually about as far from Finland as one can get -- for years I've been a bit of an Australia aficionado myself, and it also seems I've always gotten along well with all Australian people I've known. Perhaps Finns and Aussies share similar mindsets, with both countries somehow situated on the "outskirts" of (so called) civilization...?) You can read more about Tina's adventures and see her tour photos at Tina's blog.


pHinn at Yo-Talo, 16 March 2007. (Photo by Tina Ulevik)


Regina a.k.a. Rellu, pHinn's mother's cat, also seemed to have a good rapport with Tina. (Photo by Tina Ulevik)

New Imatran Voima Album + Harmönia's Skwee Compilation

Helsinki electro act Imatran Voima has a new album out on Glasgow's Might Robot Recordings; supposedly being a concept album dedicated to Finnish welfare state...

-----

Artist: Imatran Voima
Title: Welfare State Of Mind

Label: Mighty Robot Recordings
Catalogue no.: MRR 00000005 CD / MRR 00000005 LP
Format: CD / 2x12" Ltd. Edition Album

Country: UK
Released: 19 March 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Electro, Ghetto

Credits: Artwork By - Anti-Limited, Juhana Tainio
Mastered By - Ra-X
Producer - Imatran Voima
Written by - Fresh O Lex, Randy Barracuda

CD tracklisting:
1 Welfare State Of Mind (7:14)
2 Intoxication (4:56)
3 Comedown (3:30)
4 Wanna Get Hi' (5:06)
5 Nuttin' But Leechin' (5:23)
6 Lok Da Groove (4:48)
7 Paracity (10:28)

2x12" tracklisting:
A1 Welfare State Of Mind (7:14)
A2 Välisoitto (4:18)
B1 Intoxication / Comedown (8:27)
B2 Wanna Get Hi (5:06)
C1 Nuttin' But Leechin' (5:23)
C2 Lok Da Groove (4:48)
D Paracity (10:28)

Vinyl notes: 525 copies.
A-side run-out groove reads "93rd, Damn All That Eagerness".
C-side run-out groove reads "This Machine Kills Fascists".

http://www.discogs.com/release/905874
http://www.discogs.com/release/905670

Imatran Voima: official site
Randy Barracuda of Imatran Voima @ MySpace

Mighty Robot Recordings: official site
Mighty Robot Recordings @ MySpace

------

Also Imatran Voima-related is this new compilation record Skandinavian Skweee Vol.1. on Turku's Harmönia Records:

Various Artists
Skandinavian Skweee Vol.1. (LP)
HRMN-03
April 2007

tracklist:

This side:

Den Rigas Andre: Wedge
Mesak: Popkumm
Boyz of Caligula: Nazi Tiger
Claws Cousteau: Collosseummm
SLA: Symbionese Hive

That side:

Limonious: Hotel Coral Essex
Paltazar: Plong Weeeks
Randy Barracuda and the Techno Funk 5: Lajinsa Viimeinen
PJVM: Rubarb Dream

Press release notes:

The leading skwee record label in Finland does it again! The compilation album Skandinavian Skweee Vol. 1., out early April 2007, is a breathtaking sampler of the cream of Scandinavian synthesizer music. This Scandinavian music style -- also noticed in the United States and Central Europe -- will keep growing and delight the open-minded music lovers with its unadorned electronic soundscapes.

The record is opened by the retarded cosmic funk of the Uppsala nobleman Den Rigas Andre. His work called 'Wedge' is an unadorned plunge into the world of oscillator melancholy, erotically flanked by the beat of iron pulse in the background. Performing after Rigas, Mesak is known as the more boyish member of the Mr Velcro Fastener duo. 'Popkumm' found from this compilation is definitely one of the most essential works of his solo career; a piece where the Eastern pop influences are assimilated into glimpse-like memory fragments of the youth constituted by techon rave parties and game arcades. The same hit track can also be found on the skwee compilation Museum of Future Sound of Swedish Flogsta Danshall label.

On the third track of the album, Boyz of Caligula are presenting their psychedelic proto-electro. Having had their origins as the background band of Caesar, the duo has momentarily switched their traditional acid house to the clumsily funking space groove. The track 'Nazi Tiger' has also been licensed for the forthcoming Electronic Helsinki compilation featuring sleeve art designed by Paola Suhonen (she is a famous one).

The rap artist Claws Cousteau of Ronskibiitti posse is the real black horse of this compilation. 'Kolossseummm' floats in all its abstractedness through the world of antiquity like a cosmic melting ray which mercilessly turns the statues of Venus and Hellenic temples into formless plasma. Following Cousteau, the first side is finished by the track 'Symbionese Hive', courtesy of Janni Kestilä, of Memmy Posse and Imatran Voima fame. The track of Kestilä, performed under his SLA alias can with no problems be called with the unofficial term "cosmic R'n'B", including both a Vangelistic composition and a geometrically rolling rhythm pattern. It's an excellent piece!

The flipside of the compilation is started by another skweee pioneer from Uppsala, called Limonious, also remembered as the producer of the gigantic reggae group Moder Jords Massiva. Thanks to its airy calypso groove, 'Hotel Coral Essex' is fresh like a scent from the armpit of Prince in April.

After this, his own skweee knowledge is presented on the track 'Plong Weeeks' by DJ Paltazar of Turku. As a dedicated connoisseur of intelligent music, he has picked his influences from Harold Faltermayer and LFO, creating as a result some chillingly sterile Scandinavian rhythmic music! The official skweee ambassador of Helsinki and Rotterdam, Randy Barracuda dedicates his track 'Lajinsa viimeinen' ("The last of its species") to those species "shelved" by evolution. Accompanied by the epic techno of Mr. Barracuda, the master vocalist Michael Black Electro (Ceebrolistics, Helsinki Ghetto Bass Patrol) interprets the last thoughts of an extinct species. In the track, Mr. Barracuda is assisted by his new background band Techno Funk 5.

The MPC master PJVM, who recently published his debut album, finishes the album with his leftfield skwee. 'Rubarb Dream', which has also been licensed to a compilation by Flogsta Danshall, keeps fluctuating between atonal howls and "jacket funk" à la Seinfeld until finally collapsing into its own absurdity. Most important tracks of the year.

So, here's Skandinavian Skweee Vol. 1 in the nutshell. Except for some yelps and pants the album doesn't contain any lyrics but is, skweee's mainstream usually is, totally instrumental. The advantage of instrumental music for the consumer is that the living musical experience is not stiffly chained to the song lyrics, but an observing individual can always create his/her own INTERPRETATION.

"Skweee was a real enlightenment to me. There is something really new in Skweee."
–T.A. Kaukolampi/ And The Lefthanded.

Watch the music video featuring music from this compilation:

Mesak: 'Popkumm' @ YouTube

Background info on skweee:

Skweee @ Wikipedia
Nation of Skweee

Some forthcoming skwee shows:

20 April 2007 - Mesak, Tallinn, Estonia
21 April 2007 - Mesak, Tartu, Estonia
? June 2007 - Randy Barracuda + guests, Siinä Tyylissä Oli Tyyliä festival, Helsinki, Finland
1 September 2007 - Boyz of Caligula + Claws Costeau, Sähköjänis 3, Pieksämäki, Finland

Bye Bye, Supermurat

[large image]

"Bye Bye, Supermurat" [13 March 2007]

© pHinn 2007

[pHinnMilk Comics] (not for children)

Robert Anton Wilson In Memoriam

Robert Anton Wilson passed away on the 11th of January 2007, at the age of 74. For some inexplicable rupture in space-time continuum, the tidings of his death reached pHinnWeb only now. An inspiration to psychonauts everywhere, Wilson (a.k.a. RAW) is best known for his 1975 The Illuminatus Trilogy, co-authored with Robert Shea (1933-1994), an anarchistic James Joyce and Thomas Pynchon-inspired mish-mash/parody/satire of occultism, post-hippie esotericism, psychedelic culture, numerology, and most of all, conspiracy theories. The same path was followed (though not exactly sharing RAW's cosmic slapstick anarchy) by Umberto Eco in his 1989 Foucault's Pendulum (and in a far, far more ham-fisted way by Dan Brown in that bestseller turd DaVinci Code).

What is the meaning of number 23? Why a dollar bill has in it an eye in the pyramid? Who were Adam Weisshaupt and the Bavarian Illuminati? What are "fnords"? These are only some of the questions The Illuminatus raises, and manages to (un)answer in a glorious way. One of the musical luminaries influenced by the book were The KLF who took the name of their side project Justified Ancients of Mu-Mu here, and countless other artists and scenesters in electronic music underground and rave culture have been influenced by the works of Robert Anton Wilson.

In a 2003 interview with High Times magazine, RAW described himself as a "Model Agnostic" which he says "consists of never regarding any model or map of the universe with total 100% belief or total 100% denial. Following [Alfred] Korzybski, I put things in probabilities, not absolutes... My only originality lies in applying this zetetic attitude outside the hardest of the hard sciences, physics, to softer sciences and then to non-sciences like politics, ideology, jury verdicts and, of course, conspiracy theory." More simply, he claims "not to believe anything," since "belief is the death of intelligence." He has described his approach as "Maybe Logic." [Wikipedia]

RAW's published output, general influence on underground culture and legacy are all too vast to be dissected here in any even nearly satisfying way, so I just recommend you follow the links below.

Robert Anton Wilson Homepage

Robert Anton Wilson @ Wikipedia

Robert Anton Wilson @ Blogspot

RAW Memorial @ MySpace

The 8-Circuit Model of Consciousness by Timothy Leary and Robert Anton Wilson

A Funny Kompleksi Review

Googling, I just came across a funny review of Kompleksi's 7" at a British blog called Kid Shirt, which I think somehow manages to capture our essence, and I really like the comparisons to (the early) Human League and Devo. I took a liberty to reprint it here (hope you don't mind, k-wex):

Friday, November 03, 2006
KOMPLEKSI: (I AIN'T NO) LOVE CHILD

"'What the Hell are you staring at?' sneers a voice at the start of '(I Ain't No) Lovechild' by Kompleksi, wh/ pretty much sets the tone for the rest of this song: a cynical, whiney, complain-y voice (that sounds like Devo after they finally lost their virginity) over crumpled H. League/Robert Rental tape-drums and synthmooosh-bass and splatchy percussives. There's a jagged, art-punk feel to this: it's charity-shop, not cat-walk... I love the way they've hoovered all the glam out of synthpop and drawn a felt-tip sneer and a Mona Lisa moustache on its face.

It's a Tampere Porno Product, innit.

The flip-side 'Moscow Nineteen Eighty' sounds like it ought to sound like Telex, but opts instead for some sort of parallel universe rewrite of US foreign policy, aided by vocoders, clipped synthetik beats and Daniel Miller's dusty old Korg. It has a strange, twisted, shimmery beauty as it cruises the red-light district of Helsinki with a limp... imagine if Swell Maps had mugged Depeche Mode for their clothes and ended up on TOTP. Yeeeah!

What? Ever? Happened? To? Your? Dreams?" asks the vocalist, on the outro. For a moment, he sounds close to tears. Or drunk."

"[...] yeah, I think you might like this, as it has a feel that directly links back to the Sheffield pioneers, tho' it's wonderfully shamble-y too...there's sposed to be an album floating round somewhere too; maybe we should form a label and put it out for them!"

Then, there's at a French blog called Fluokids a mention of Javelin's remix of 'Moscow 1980':

Sunday, February 25, 2007
Javelin vs. Polytron vs. Kompleksi - 1980 Moscow

I need you to believe. Cette déjà vieille rengaine, botte secrète des raves en chambre pour les années qui viennent de partir, n'a jamais été aussi vraie, et le regard que tu m'adresses pétille de je suis contente d'être là, tu le tiens appuyé comme j'appuierais une touche blanche jusqu'à la crampe, sans gêne, tu te colores tout juste de plaisir à le maintenir là, sans défi ni agressivité, jusqu'à ce que l'accord cède sous le beatmasher, dissone et décède.

And I also found out today that Kompleksi's 'Sara Pain' has entered the British independent chart list Ausfahrt20 at #20!

[music videos] Kompleksi: 'Sara Pain' (2007)

Kompleksi: 'Sara Pain' (March 2007)

The Making of 'Sara Pain' Video:

Tina Ulevik, an experimental film-maker from Australia, joined as Kompleksi's MySpace friend in summer 2006. During our brief correspondence that followed and having had seen and liked the DVD of Tina's short film Xenophobic Site that was exchanged to a copy of Kompleksi's album (which was still unreleased at that point), an idea was had that maybe Tina would also be interested in creating a video clip for Kompleksi. Tina was into the idea, this being her very first music video, too, and the filming got underway in August and September 2006, both in Australia and Kompleksi's hometown Tampere; the final video combining footage from both countries, thousands of miles and oceans away from each other, on virtually opposite corners of the globe.

Different scenes around the town of Tampere were filmed by me on two early Sunday mornings in September, capturing imagery from the quiet Tampere downtown and the town's famous landmarks, such as the Orthodox Church, Wäinö Aaltonen's statues on the Hämeensilta Bridge, some ugly "Brutalist"-style apartment buildings, the desolate Särkänniemi Amusement Park, looking somewhat spooky after the tourist season was over, and naturally the Näsinneula Observation Tower, the very symbol of Tampere. I also filmed myself lip-synching at home, with a camera standing on tripod and very carefully stationed to get the right angle and position; then did some shots of Mike Not playing synths at his home studio; and the silhoutte shot of me singing at the end of video was shot by Mike through an ordinary bedsheet lighted from behind.

This sort of "no-budget" film-making, using ordinary household objects as props, turned every now and then to be quite demanding and time-consuming, but also seemed to work out well in the final cut. In her turn, Tina -- who played the song's Sara Pain character -- filmed herself at her own home, creating in process some very effective shots of Sara, "a skinny girl with a shirt and tie", walking through the dark corridors and brooding in solitude. Add to this some bleak-looking outdoors shots on the outskirts of Sydney, plus Tina's own archive footage from her trips around the world: a highway tunnel in Norway, the gloomy corridors of the Castle Suomenlinna in an island in front of Helsinki, and of a hostel in Dresden, Germany, which added to the mental moods and claustrophobia felt by Sara Pain, the ill-fated main character of the song.

Three DVDs of raw footage of material filmed in Tampere were then sent via snail mail to Australia, and after Tina had received the package, the lengthy editing process could start in earnest, lasting all through autumn 2006 and winter 2007, as Tina also had her day job to take care of, alongside the creative process of putting Kompleksi's first music video together. Ideas were constantly exchanged and thrown around in e-mails, and we received countless rough cuts sent through YouSendIt.com, which were then commented and honed again, on and on... Eventually, in early March 2007, the final cut was in our hands.

---

The video can also be seen at MySpace and pHinnWeb.

---

Feedback on the video:

"It's a great example of the way the Web can bring together people internationally to collaborate on music and art." - It's A Trap, USA

"Scary stuff!" - Huge Bass Records (Finland) @ YouTube

"Congratulations on your latest music Sara Pain and the music video made in collaboration with my cousin Tina! The video images are mesmerising and your music is so original and haunting and melancholy! Well done on a highly original and unforgettable work of art!" - Peter Fagerlind, UK

"Wow I like Sara Pain more & more... The vid fits perfectly and makes it real deeper... The track becomes better & better with the vid... Great work. Love it :-) Congratz Tampere Boyz." - aratkiLo, France

"Awesome!" - Salamandos707 (Holland) @ YouTube

"The Sarah Pain video is great! Thank you for the music and Greetings from The Hague" - Danny Wolfers a.k.a. Legowelt, Holland

"... check out their strangely melancholic travelogue-themed vid for 'Sara Pain' [...] The footage and edits remind me of the sort of homemade promos that Cabaret Voltaire used to put out on Doublevision many moons back. Trust me, the track's a real grower." - Kid Shirt music blog, UK

"yo yo, tampere represent! tosi härö video, oudon hienoa industrial vibaa." - p2, Finland

Mad Mike Banks Interview

Mad Mike Banks, the mysterious head honcho of Detroit's Underground Resistance and one of the most outspoken personalities in the world of techno speaks in this February interview for the German electronic music magazine De:Bug:

http://www.de-bug.de/texte/4639.html

pHinnWeb Chart March 2007...

... can be found here.