Spanish DJ, musician and club promoter Cocó Cielo, 40, was murdered on 28 September 2008 at his home in Madrid. His real name was Jorge Luis Revilla and he was originally from Peru, having lived in Spain for 20 years. Cocó was a well-known and loved personality in the international nu-electro scene, and among all Adult. published a tribute to Cocó on their MySpace site. Cocó Cielo was a member in Silvania who released in early 1990s five albums. In 2000 he started with partner Mario a new act called Ciëlo, which released in between 2002 and 2007 three albums, and in 2002 their own label Click New Wave was also launched. Cocó Cielo had an extensive career as a DJ and promoter, organising such clubs as Galax of Madrid, which ran in between 1995 and 1998, and many more. He also acted as a musical consultant of Spain's Benicassim festival.
I was glad to receive a promo of Ciëlo's 2002 Un Amor Mató Al Futuro sent to me by Cocó personally, which I really liked, being a combination of electro and glitchy minimal electronics, and we exchanged occasional e-mails (Cocó also contributing to pHinnWeb Chart of June 2002), though I hadn't heard from him for a couple of years now, so I was extremely shocked and sad to hear these news. Descanse en paz, Cocó.
Finnish underground legend Veli-Matti "Läjä" Äijälä celebrates his fiftieth birthday on Monday 29 September 2008. Originally hailing from Tornio in Finnish Lapland, near Swedish border, Läjä Äijälä has during his career of 30 years worked on such diverse musical areas as punkrock, avantgarde electronic music, rockabilly and the roots blues. pHinnWeb congratulates. Known from the hardcore punk act Terveet Kädet (enjoying a vast cult reputation around the world), the minimal electronic act Aavikon Kone ja Moottori (playing a British Wasp synth and paving way in the late 1970s for such later artists as Pan sonic), bands such as The Billy Boys, Leo Bugariloves and The Sultans, the prolific multitalent Läjä Äijälä is also a comic book artist, citing as his influences Elvis Presley, Suicide, Albrecht Dürer, S/M imagery, Urho Kekkonen and Egyptology. In 2004 Bad Vugum Records released a compilation album The Passions of Läjä Äijälä, getting together tracks from Äijälä's different musical projects throughout his whole career.
A Billy Boys 7" single released in Poland, with Läjä Äijälä's characteristic sleeve art
My own favourite of Newman-directed films is the curiously titled The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), a touching drama of a suburban widow (Joanne Woodward, Newman's wife) and her two daughters. They don't make films like this any more.
KOMPLEKSI: Sister Longlegs Dances in the Disco LP (October 2008)
- The future of electronic music in a way it will never happen. This two-piece from Tampere (pHinn & Mike Not) create some of the catchiest oddball "eclectro" ever produced in this country of ours. Haunting, taunting, outstandingly peculiar and most importantly - totally convincing. Classic stuff. Sister Longlegs is Kompleksi's debut full-length, recorded between 2002-2006 and released previously only as mp3 downloads on Beatport. We are proud and overtly excited to put it finally out on vinyl. - Art work, information, mp3s: http://www.phinnweb.org/kompleksi/sisterlonglegs/ - http://www.myspace.com/kompleksi - Price: 12 EUR (+postage) - There will also be a batch of Kompleksi T-shirts sometime soon - we'll provide information of those later on our website.
*** We have 100 copies of Kompleksi's Lovechild / Moscow 1980 7" single (released by Lal Lal Lal) which we are giving away (!!) for people who purchase the new LP directly from us. Please note: some shops and distributors might have copies of Sister Longlegs LP including these freebies but that's not granted. If you want to be sure that you'll get one, safest way is to buy the LP from us. Note: 7" features an alternative version of 'Moscow 1980' and 'Lovechild' is also soundwise a bit different due to the cutting/mastering of the LP ***
The long-awaited surely-to-be-a-happening debut gig of Kompleksi is at the Lal Lal Lal Festival at Helsinki's Kantis on October 3rd - hopefully we'll get the records from the pressing plant before that.
- If one would come up to me and ask "what kind of bands do you like", I could easily say "for example bands like Candy Cane." I'm not talking about any musical style in particular. It's the way that this band works that is fascinating. They've got a lot going on in the 'I respect that' section; not making the obvious moves, the constant urge to surprise and challenge the listeners, not being afraid of making people uncomfortable by being harsh but on the other hand not ashamed of bringing delightful pop elements into their songs etc. Some of you most likely know their history; they started way back in '95 as a standard indie rock/pop type of group. A few years ago the band seriously middlefingered their past and released a jaw-dropping Fay-Ra-Doowra album on Jukeboss, mixing together avant rock, black metal, hardcore, pop and quite a lot of what roams around and between those aforementioned styles. Not making it sound like uninsprired fusion crap is a merit of its own but making an album as strong as Fay-Ra-Doowra is something really worth mentioning. Thumbs up boys. We're eager to hear what's coming up next. - No release schedule yet. The band is recording the material at the moment. We'll provide more information as soon as we know more. - http://www.pyhpyh.com/candycane - http://www.myspace.com/bastoncinodizucchero
MOTHER GOOSE: tba CD
- This one has been in our 'forthcoming' list for a while but now it seems like things are finally taking some shape. Their classic old lineup is gone as Kare called it quits. He will keep on drumming in the lines of The Protestants and Freecity Mulkvists and baking the tastiest bread in Helsinki at GoodPie Bakery. Luckily for MG they've gotten a steady replacement (Jussi from Kirlian Crossing that is) and according to a couple of shows I have seen it is safe to say that they still kick ass more than anyone else and define what good music is about. My annual survey says it all, the one that I keep on doing to find out the Best Band In The Whole Wide World. So far it's always been Mother Goose. Possibly the results are not 100% reliable because I'm the only one who is justified to answer but nevertheless you can't hide from the fact that Mother Goose just happens to be the absolutely best thing you can append to guitars, mics and drums. - http://www.myspace.com/motorgoose
HETERO SKELETON: tba vinyl
- Not forgotten, a vinyl from HS will be out as soon as the band gets the material together. Which might be tomorrow or 2012. You just wait. And while you waiting - check out their newest Hasardi CD on Ikuisuus. - http://www.myspace.com/heteroskeleton
Kirlian Crossing has launched their fourth series of downloadable albums, free-of-charge as always in their case. Repeat and repeat is the title, it contains nine volumes and the first part is already out. Check them at http://www.verdurarecords.com/kirliancrossing
Magyar Posse is currently doing a soundtrack to Petri Hagner's film Aldebaran Rising. The premiere is in Pori on October 17th and 18th at Palmgren Opisto. At least on this occasion the band will perform live with the film. More information at http://www.magyarposse.com/.
A couple of gigs in Helsinki that we're somehow involved in:
- September 30th at Semifinal: Hetero Skeleton + Talibam! (US) - October 4th at Kantis (Boring as Fuck club): Drowning Nation + Pahaa Verta + Urban Unrest - October 18th at Liberte: Can Can Heads + Nazca + Lockman
1) It's interesting how the comments on Kauhajoki shootings seem to be like an exact re-run of those related to the Jokela massacre last November. Like now, tabloids were having a field day, politicians were paying a lot of lip service; there were claims of tightening the gun laws, readers' letters to newspapers expressing a concern of the well-being of children and teenagers, taking care of your neighbours, and so on, but how much had eventually changed, after the media furore and the flames of candle vigils had vanished? Judging by Tuesday's outcome, not much.
2) At the Net café that I frequent I witness daily 10-year olds playing shoot-'em-up games and planning together strategies for virtual massacres. It would be pretty horrifying to listen to these kids casually negotiate a cold-blooded murder when having a rampage through the pixellated killing fields -- how to blow this guy's head with a shotgun, or maybe just use an assault rifle there -- if I didn't know it was just a game. Boys will be boys, you know. But I just wonder. What sort of values will these kids suck up when playing these harmless(?) games; what will become of them when they grow up? If things go well, when they grow up they will properly go through the whole process of socialization and will become responsible citizens, loving husbands and fathers, who understand the distinction between a game and reality. But what if things just don't go well?
3) Finland is a cold and bleak country. So it is with Finnish society. It's a national virtue to survive alone without any outside help and just bite the bullet (just talking metaphorically), and when you are on your own, you are on your own. We don't complain, we just suffer and die alone. (On the other hand and maybe paradoxically, individualism is traditionally frowned upon here: Jante's Law is our great Scandinavian tradition.) Totalitarian societies ever since Sparta of antiquity have always admired hardness and looked down on weakness. With today's societies always boasting such things as democracy and human rights (especially in comparison to their political and economic rivals), this "might is right" ethos has found new and refined forms. Bullying is alive and well at all stages of society, from school to workplaces to reality-TV. Even some of our greatest Presidents have gone down to history as bullies. A bullied person has no other options except to submit or to fight back. It's no use waiting to get some sympathy or an intervention, because none might be coming. Both shooters of 071107 and 230908, Pekka-Eric Auvinen and Matti Saari respectively, were reportedly victims of bullying. So were their Stateside predecessors of Columbine High and Virginia Tech, Finns always being great admirers and copycats of all things 'Merkin.
"So it has been and so it always will be." - The motto from The Egyptian.
Today is the 100th anniversarsy of the birth of Mika Waltari (19 September 1908 - 26 August 1979), a Finnish writer (and national institution) best known for his extensive historical novels that are widely translated into many languages; the biggest favourite among readers continuously being Sinuhe Egyptiläinen ("The Egyptian", 1945), which is also known as less-than-successful Hollywood film version of 1954. Sinuhe was voted in April 2008 as the most loved Finnish book of all time.
Sinuhe Egyptiläinen/The Egyptian with the famous cover illustration by Björn Landström.
Telling something about the canonized position of Mika Waltari in Finland, even the domestic edition of Donald Duck dedicated its latest issue to the author's 100th anniversary.
The extremely prolific Mika Waltari was also a detective novelist, his Inspector Palmu books becoming a series of four films in the 1960s, directed by Matti Kassila and starring Joel Rinne as Palmu.
The first three films remain classics of Finnish cinema; less successful, though, was the last installment of the movie series, Vodkaa, Komisario Palmu (1969), the first to be filmed in colour and not based on any of Waltari's original books but only retaining their central characters; having as its tone campy agent comedy making fun of Finnish-Soviet relations and other phenomena of the day. An interesting curiosity, though:
After a cover version of Pink Floyd's 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun' for his Oleva album, Mika Vainio of Pan sonic goes on with some surprising cover choices, this time rendering a version of 'Running Up That Hill' by Kate Bush (originally on her excellent 1985 Hounds of Love album).
Artist: Various Artists Title: Recovery Format: 10 x 7" boxset (limited edition of 500, 45 RPM) Cat.no: FRACT 01 Label: Fractured Recordings (UK) Date: 1 September 2008
Tracklist:
1. BJ Nilsen: Heart And Soul 2. People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz: Mull Of Kintyre 3. Christian Fennesz: Hunting High And Low 4. :zoviet*france: Bomber 4. Ryoji Ikeda: Back In Black 6. Mika Vainio: Running Up That Hill 7. Robert Henke: Lucifer 8. Susan Stenger: My Sharona 9. Jenny Hoyston's Paradise Island: Dream Tree 10. Alva Noto: Planet Rock 11. Matmos: C•30 C•60 C•90 Go 12. Barbara Morgenstern: Temptation 13. Carter Tutti: Lucifer Sam 14. Robert Lippok Featuring Caroline Thorpe: Freedom! 15. Snd: Billie Jean 16. Richard Chartier & CoH: Bleak Is My Favourite Cliché 17. Momus & Germlin: Ashes To Ashes 18. Jason Forrest: Dark Love 19. J.G. Thirlwell: Warm Leatherette 20. Jóhann Jóhannsson: Souvenir
Press release notes:
"Recovery: a collector’s limited edition vinyl box set of 20 cover versions by 20 seminal electronic musicians and composers.
Release date: 1 September 2008, Fractured Recordings
Recovery is the result of an invitation to a group of leading electronic artists to create a cover version of a song from the past that holds a particular significance to them. The outcome is an extraordinary and unexpected series of tributes and appropriations of classic hits from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, recorded by artists renowned for their inimitable style and seminal contribution to contemporary musical innovation. Published as a numbered limited edition of 500, this collectors’ box set contains 10 double A side 7”s, alongside unique cover designs by artist Graham Dolphin.
Recovery presents new works by Richard Chartier and CoH, Fennesz, Jason Forrest, Robert Henke, Jenny Hoyston’s Paradise Island, Ryoji Ikeda, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Robert Lippok feat. Caroline Thorpe, Momus and Germlin, Matmos, Barbara Morgenstern, BJNilsen, Alva Noto, People Like Us and Ergo Phizmiz, snd, Susan Stenger, J.G.Thirlwell, Carter Tutti, Mika Vainio, and :Zoviet*france:
Recovery features Ryoji Ikeda paying tribute to AC/DC with his own version of 'Back in Black', Fennesz covering A-ha’s mid 80’s hit 'Hunting High and Low', alva noto revisiting 'Planet Rock' by Afrika Bambataa and Robert Lippok creating a compelling version of Wham’s unforgettable 'Freedom! ’90'. This remarkable collection of tracks reveals the surprising and seemingly incongruous relationships that often exist between these artists’ earliest musical inspirations and their own unique current practices. The project is also a genuine tribute to the tradition of vinyl, the medium upon which so many of these tracks would have originally been experienced.
The box set design by Graham Dolphin - an artist renowned for his own poignant re-appropriations of the objects and icons of the fashion and music industries - presents a unique series of covers of cover versions, incorporating playful re-workings of each of the 20 tracks’ original cover designs.
Available exclusively through www.fracturedrecordings.com
Mastered by Rashad Becker at Dubplates and Mastering, Berlin."
Best soundtracks are always inseparable from the films they are created for; as some prime examples Ennio Morricone's music for Sergio Leone, Bernard Herrmann's works for Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese, or to pick up one personal favourite, Lalo Schifrin's sounds for Don Siegel's 1971 Dirty Harry. This is also the case with Eduard Artemyev (transcribed also as "Artemiev" or "Artemjev", b. 1937), a Russian composer best known for his electronic ambient soundtracks for Andrei Tarkovsky's films such as Solaris (1972), Zerkalo ("The Mirror", 1975) and Stalker (1979). Fitting to Tarkovsky's dream-like metaphysical films, to create his eerie transcendental sounds, citing both Johann Sebastian Bach and Indian music, Artemyev worked with the rare Russian synthesizer ANS, a photoelectronic instrument using glass discs to generate the sinewaves.
Topralli (1966) might be one of the strangest Finnish film turkeys ever made. Filmed entirely without a script on a shoestring budget and being more often than not technically insipid, it's a loose collection of musical performances from some of the day's hottest pop artists in Finland (and as international guest stars, The Renegades from England; totally unknown in their own country but extremely popular here), tied together with clumsy slapstick comedy ("Hot mjölk", anyone?) of a geekish record company executive's (played by the film's director Yrjö Tähtelä) efforts to organise a big musical show extravaganza in order to celebrate the record company's anniversary. Or something like that. Though offering countless embarrassing moments to make a dumbfounded spectator just cringe, there's also something undeniably charming in the overall innocent stupidity and apparent do-it-yourself amateur spirit of the film in these more calculated and cynical times of the music business overkill; many of these performances also remaining as rare visual documents from the pre-music video days.
Especially hilarious is the performance of the up-and-coming starlet Katri-Helena (now an elder stateswoman in Finnish iskelmä scene) doing with the late Irwin Goodman some dance steps to 'Polkkis' in the wintry landscape, apparently emulating the nervous movements of a person with a full bladder anxiously waiting behind the door of an occupied bathroom. Or maybe being just two lunatics awaiting their institutionalisation. Polkkis was obviously meant as a rivalling dance craze to the extremely popular Letkajenkka (or "Letkiss", as it was internationally known). Only in the 60s Finland...
Eleonoora Rosenholm, the peculiar theme band of vocalist Noora Tommila, Pasi Salmi and Mika "Circle" Rättö on the exploits of a murderous house wife, have now released their new album Älä kysy kuolleilta, he sanoivat ("Don't ask from the dead, they said"; FR-60 CD/LP, Fonal Records) in Finland (worldwide release date: 8 October 2008). Preceding the album, digital download EP Tammen varjossa ("In the shadow of an oak") is also now available online, including one non-album track and two live tracks.
Artist: Jimi Tenor & Kabu Kabu Title: Mystery Spot/Black January Cat.no: SAHCO-002 Date: September 2008
Jimi Tenor has a new 7" out on Sähkö Recordings' sub-label Sahco, again as a collobaration with Kabu Kabu (who already collaborated with Jimi on Joystone album of 2007), representing the bespectacled Finn maestro's current Afrobeat funk style. From the forthcoming album 4th Dimension.
This clip is a trailer/teaser for the collaborative art film project Aldebaran Rising of Petri Hagner (also familiar from Circle videos) and post-rock band Magyar Posse (Verdura Records).
Aldebaran Rising will be premiered on the 17th and 18th of October at Palmgren conservatory's Valimo-Sali in Pori, Finland. The film will be accompanied by Magyar Posse's live musical presence exclusively composed for the film.
DC Recordings (UK) strikes again! On a quick listening this one features an interesting blend of post-disco, Krautrock rhythms with live drums, some psychedelic sounds and maybe a touch of IDM...
Artist: Kelpe Title: Extraquarium Label: DC Recordings Cat. No: DCR94 Format: 12" / digital download Release Date: 6 October 2008
* to be released on 12" vinyl & download ** to be released as download only
Credits:
Written & produced by Kel McKeown.
01: Remixed by Zombie Zombie. Zombie Zombie is Etienne Jaumet & Cosmic Neman. 02: Remixed by Kelpe. Original drums played by Kel McKeown, recorded by Jimmy Robertson at Schloss Gramophone. Fulgeance (courtesy of Musique Large). 04: Remixed by Scotty Coats and Wes The Mes aka Wes Coats, additional guitar by Dale Hauskins. 05: Remixed by Kelpe. Original drums played and recorded by Kel McKeown at Schloss Gramophone. Guitar by Adam Richens. 06: Remixed by Architeq. 07: Remixed by The Boats. 08: Remixed by The Oscillation.
Press release notes:
The release of Kelpe's Ex-Aquarium album back in February 2008 was met with a swathe of critical acclaim and followed by a series of incendiary live shows, all of which have unquestionably informed this wondrous cast of artists and producers, who have turned their hand to remixing various album tracks with wildly different results...
Gallic synth fetishists Zombie Zombie (Versatile) take time out from their on-going live rampage to deliver their first ever remix -- a complete remake of 'Bread Machine Bred' into a brooding and endlessly building epic. Fulgeance (Musique Large) brings the sub-bass to 'Stop Parching Yourself', creating a booty-fied, dancefloor romper that slips and slides like a frogman in the shallows.
'Shipwreck Glue' gets strung out and dosed up on Californian sunshine courtesy of Wes Coats (Rong), Balearic disco energy reminiscent of Studio or Mountain Of One washing over the ping-pong staccatos of the Kelpe original. Fellow beat mongerer Architeq (Tirk) takes on the same track, adding extra crunch and swagger to this manphibian anthem.
Kelpe himself remakes 'Shipwreck Glue' and 'Whirlwound', the latter rolling and swelling with added percussive energy, the former moving into loftier tempos from the original to make a dancefloor bomb of frenzied arrhythmia.
The Boats (Moteer) bring a mellow side to proceedings, taking the lambent tones of 'Colours Don't Leak' and swaddling them in delicate cello chords and an ebbing 303. Lastly DC label mates The Oscillation divert their gaze away from the cosmos and towards the deep, adding extra weights to the already heavy 'Cut It Upwards' and taking it to deeper depths!
