Finnish experimental music

[FreakAnimalFinland]

The stuff that is hardly in any ways connected to the usual "SICK" side or noise, but could be interest of some people on the forum.

KIMMO POHJONEN
pretty epic mix of accordion and lawnmover!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwjeDz8QKOw&feature=related
contemporary classical piece
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4AoyyFOAnw&feature=related

ESA KOTILAINEN
Epic mid 70's synth music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XtGfcoIWSk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mpfzwOoz6A

JANNE HANHISUANTO
the usual slow synth sweeping
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX53wsNNydI

more to come, feel free to ad related things. New or old.

[Mattias G]

SPERM-Shh ! LP (1970?) I bought this a few years ago when the re-issue was out. Have tried to listen to it a few times but it´s a tricky one. Not a grower either, just weird stuff.
Is it worth to look up the other stuff he did? 

[ddmurph]

SPERM-Shh ! LP (1970?) I bought this a few years ago when the re-issue was out. Have tried to listen to it a few times but it´s a tricky one. Not a grower either, just weird stuff.
Is it worth to look up the other stuff he did?  

i've only heard shh and one point music (reissued not too long after the sperm lp). i love them both but i know what you mean about the sperm lp, definitely not an easy listen, i still can't quite pin it down (which is a big part of the appeal for me i think). i'd be a bit reluctant to recommend one point music if you're on the fence about the sperm lp. it's cruder than shh, totally primitive sounding. i'd like to hear some of his later (non-60's/70's) stuff, seems like a very interesting guy.


i haven't heard patrick kosk but the edition rz cd has been on my wishlist for a long time now ... http://www.discogs.com/Patrick-Kosk-Mondwei%C3%9F/release/2032284

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Sperm was more of "happening" than just musical group. Style varies and I think not so much even published. I have the original "shh!" LP. I don't remember did I buy the re-issue (with crappy cover) just to see if any difference in sound, but I doubt it. I like the LP, but as said, it belongs to more of albums that operate on level of obscure curiosities.

1967 saw the birth of the notorious Helsinki ensemble The Sperm, led by Mattijuhani Koponen and Pekka Airaksinen and with such members as J.O. Mallander and Markus Heikkerö. Airaksinen had previously written some experimental pieces with the equipment provided and built by Erkki Kurenniemi for The University of Helsinki Electronic Music Studio (where also composers Henrik Otto Donner and Erkki Salmenhaara had been working).

The Sperm's performances concentrated, alongside music, on breaking sexual taboos, and Mattijuhani Koponen eventually had to spend some time at a correctional facility (the fuss was all about Koponen's alleged public copulation with an anonymous woman while lying on a grand piano at a performance), since this sort of avantgardism seemed to be too much for the establishment of time.

http://www.phinnweb.org/early/

For those who want to hear perhaps the best track of LP, check this link. It's definitely dark and gloomy in ways. Called Heinäsirkat (Locusts), from 1970.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI0YINtJKEA&feature=related

Some Pekka Airaksinen solo stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYxNE3Y6uPk

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Erkki Kurenniemi is possibly the earliest and most innovative guys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaTayHygiJA&feature=related

Ektro just put out couple weeks ago double LP of his early works. There is pretty cheap CD available easily in Finland by much bigger label.

Erkki Kurenniemi: Rules 2LP

Ektro Records proudly presents the pioneer of Finnish electronic and
experimental music - Mr. Erkki Kurenniemi. The tracks released here -
produced during 1963-1975 - include Kurenniemi's focal works and
previously unreleased raw material composed as solo works - as well as
works in collaboration with Kari Hakala, Jukka Ruohomäki, Otto Donner
and Eino Ruutsalo.

Kurenniemi's impulsive attitude towards his art - including electronic
music, films, media art, instrument design - is perfectly captured in
his composition rules presented as a guide line
of the release:

#1 The work has to be completed in a single day
#2 Consecutive sounds must be chosen so that they are totally
inconsistent or surprising and have no rational relationship with each
other
#3 ..?

Carefully chosen masterpieces are newly digitized from the original
master tapes with highest possible sample rate and resolution (192
kHz, 24 bit) to preserve a pristine listening experience. Kurenniemi's
works are now heard first time as genuine as possible for no
artificial restoration applied in the remastering process.

Pieces compiled on this double LP and wrapped in the astonishing
gatefold cover (350 g) will be out only on vinyl.

[ddmurph]

Erkki Kurenniemi is possibly the earliest and most innovative guys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaTayHygiJA&feature=related

have you seen "the future is not what it used to be", documentary from the early 2000's? ... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372001/ ... i saw it in a film festival back when it was first released but i didn't know anything anything about him beforehand. i really enjoyed it at the time but i remember very little about it now. must try and track it down again. the lp set looks amazing. d'you know if there's much crossover with the cd? did a quick google search but can't find much info on the lp set beyond what's quoted above


dunno if it's outside the sphere of interest of most folks here but the head-scratching qualities of the sperm lp got me thinking of reijo pami, not that they have a great deal in common or anything. anyway, the chocolate monk cdr, ultra eczema lp and smack music 7 collab are prime grade slabs of "what the fuck"-ness

[Johann]

i whole heartily agree, Reijo Pami is easily one of my favorites and i will second the endorsement on all three of those releases (the smack 7 collab is most accessible, as i think many might find the other two a bit to lacking) . it is total non music!

[FreakAnimalFinland]

There is interview in Special Interests #6 about Mika Taanila - director of "The Future is not what it used to be"! Worth to check out. Also his own project musiikkivyöry

Reijo Pami is not that far from the finn noise stuff. He was frequently visiting gigs (haven't seen lately) and release on Ultra Eczema label not that far from noise scene? (label puts out Pulse Emitter, Sissy Spacek, Carlos Giffoni,..)

I once talked with him how amusing it is that simply the looks of performer and aesthetics will define will you be "accepted" or not. Even if from recording, the sound can be minimalistic and fierce... it is horrid to see something like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM7K3hx5_uc

Of course the scene of "free folk", weirdo noise is relatively big.

Kemialliset Ystävät
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbSdE7RiqNc

LauLau
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_YaHgw1RA0

Guy who did those two videos was Mikko Kuorinki who used to do Hindupyöräilijä zine. Covering experimental / noise as well, but I recall very bored with the "real noise" or especially PE ? I recall the Degenerating Finland CD review from 2000 or so, and review was about how stupid is this tough guy noise and why the cool shy artists boys can't get girls. It was great review. However, during the years he appears to become pretty active artists, doing the kind of art I could care less about.

More :

KuuPuu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXBszgU4nC0


http://www.kuorinki.com/works/louis-zukofsky/
http://www.kuorinki.com/works/untitled-rock/

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Documentary of Jan Anderzen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoiPZ_aBOK0

I know plenty people probably dislike the works due being so culmination of what can be seen as "hipster", but the man is the real deal. Utterly eccentric artists.

tomutonttu (try listen sound without video and then with video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuVsL1AEIIY&feature=related
live with no costume etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWap6HL_WOI&feature=related

Maybe among his early influences has been the Finnish experimental hero KEUHKOT.
Is this his best release? My personal favorite track starts at 5 minutes point. Sometimes thought to make cover of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ArnsN67qjY&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLD753C747B7D2028A

Without lyrics, experience is only partial. Especially the track mentioned before has amazing lyrics.

[Ernpe]

ESA KOTILAINEN
Epic mid 70's synth music

Still active. Some of his recent records can be found from Spotify. Most recent, Soiva tehdas, is album recorded by old paperfactory, using the sounds of the actual factory. That is industrial, hah?

[heretogo]

i'd be a bit reluctant to recommend one point music if you're on the fence about the sperm lp. it's cruder than shh, totally primitive sounding. i'd like to hear some of his later (non-60's/70's) stuff, seems like a very interesting guy.

Actually, I've always thought that the One Point Music LP should appeal to industrial fans. There's something very rough and almost proto-industrial about it, especially the beginning of the album. Anyway, it's an amazing LP...  THE great Finnish underground experimental music artifact from the 60s/70s (not that there are very many of those...). The reissue is a bootleg, unfortunately. The Sperm LP is also very good but a bit more uneven and not as original throughout. Airaksinen's later output is much more gentle and "cosmic" (but not in the good way, imho...), at some point he started to get lots of influence from dance music. Not very interesting to my ears.

The new Kurenniemi 2LP shares quite a few tracks with the CD. I cannot check my copy right now for exact details.  He's also featured at this year's Documenta in Kassel

http://d13.documenta.de/#/participants/participants/erkki-kurenniemi/

He's a very intriguing guy, very much ahead of his time in the 60s and 70s. Started to document his whole life (on audio & video tape) with the idea that one day all that data could be digitized and his life could be recreated virtually on a computer. Unfortunately he's now seriously ill.

Probably the best Kemialliset Ystävät (Jan Anderzen) album is the last one, Ullakkopalo. Very ambitious and good.

[tiny_tove]

Could Verde fit this category?
I am very impressed from the record I own. Not the average stuff, considering also the devices implemented.

[mdtdeath]

Clay Figure?

[Jaakko V.]

Connected to Kurenniemi, Jukka Ruohomäki has done some interesting stuff.

Jukka Ruohomäki (1947) is a self-taught composer who has specialised almost entirely in electroacoustic music. He started working in 1970 at the Electronic Music Studio of Helsinki University's Department of Musicology. This studio was founded in 1961 by Erkki Kurenniemi. Kurenniemi acted as a guide and a tutor for the young beginner, giving fundamental influences. In the 1970's Ruohomäki created independent compositions as well as music for radio plays, ballet and films. In the 1980's Ruohomäki was mainly involved with computer graphics and other experimental film work but in 1994, after an almost total silence of 16 years, he started composing music again. Ruohomäki worked in his original home town Helsinki, both at the Experimental Studio of the Finnish Broadcasting Company and at the Sibelius Academy's Computer Music Studio (SACMUS). In the autumn 1997 Ruohomäki left Helsinki for northern Finland. He started working as lecturer of electronic music in the Conservatory of Oulu. This post is rather unique: the only one in the whole northern Scandinavia, and along with his composing and teaching activities Ruohomäki is developing direct nordic contacts between composers, musicians and other artists.

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Jukka+Ruohomäki

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Probably Verde & Clay Figure could be mentioned, but they have quite tight connections to "our side of noise" so to say. Clay Figure with Pekka of Sick Seed and Verde also not too far.

Mostly topic meant for bands/artists who don't really come up when discussed about "finnish noise", since they appear to belong to different "scene" so to say. But if it's not mentioned in SICK/Finnish noise -topic, I guess it can be mentioned here.