Thursday 26 April 2012

New release: Street Biz's Lost Weight versions!













ARTIST: Lost Weight & Street Biz
RELEASE: Healthy Obsessions
FORMAT: Digital
Cat.#: PAR-013
LABEL: Pacific-Atlantic Records
RELEASE DATE: 24th April 2012
FILE UNDER: Clicks'n'Cuts, Samples, Destructive Audio Editing, Office PC

Lost Weight and Street Biz – Healthy Obsessions

Track listing:

1. Healthy Obsession 02:25
2. Crust Vibrations 04:12
3. Heavy Necking 01:39
4. Sissyfight 04:00

Total running time 12:20

For the lucky few who have witnessed Jukka Vallisto's music collection, said to be rivalling the Library of Alexandria (or Tikkurila at least) in the scope and depth of knowledge, it comes as a little surprise that his own music is so packed with layers of musical and auditive references.

A prime example, Healthy Obsession is a tour de force in rhythmic editing. Vallisto shows no fear when he's forging together original parts, fragments of found sound, dialogue subtracted to monologue, obscure (and sometimes obscene) jazz and fossilized rock music via the time-consuming methods of trial and (t)error. The result is a curious peek at an alternative universe filled with unknown pleasures.

Enter Street Biz, another soul lost to audio markers and mp3 compression. Although the real personality of this claimed Portsmouth, UK civil servant and presumed Gains Road, Southsea hermit remains to be confirmed, one thing is certain: The lad must be loaded with all the beer money he's been saving by staying at home editing music, these versions of Lost Weight's tracks among others, and thus having no life whatsoever.

Track #1 composed, recorded and mixed by Jukka Vallisto at Damp Studios, Leeds, in the year 2000. Tracks 2, 3 and 4 recorded by Street Biz at Submerged Samplers, Portsmouth, 2001.

Cat. # PAR-013

Listen and download at Bandcamp:
http://twistedkrister.bandcamp.com/album/healthy-obsessions

Friday 20 April 2012

New Silmu Release!



















ARTIST: Silmu
RELEASE: Bath Spa
FORMAT: Digital
Cat.#: PAR-012
LABEL: Pacific-Atlantic Records
RELEASE DATE: 19th April 2012
FILE UNDER: Synthesizer, Home Recording, Instrumental

SILMU – Bath Spa

Track listing:

1. Bath Spa 2:57
2. A New Low 3:53
3. Black Nancy  5:21

Total running time 12:10

The joys of hardware! Those cumbersome modes, big metal boxes with small displays, hidden control structures accessed with clicky interfaces.

This is what this record is all about. Preparing the instruments, scribbling down the buttons to press, then letting the tape run. Unleashing the automatons under the superficial control of two hands run by the soft machine of human brain.

These tracks are my personal poke at being the 'Synth Wiz' immortalized by the likes of  Keith Emerson, Jean-Michel Jarre and Howard Jones. That mysterious, octopi-like player behind stacks of classic gear, dialing in new layers of electronic sound. The recordings are all straight takes: two or three synths, a drum machine, a human and some triggered sequences.

Equipment: Casio CZ-5000 Cosmo Synthesizer, Ensoniq EPS-16+ Performance Sampler, Roland SH-101 Monophonic Synthesizer, SPD-8 Percussion Pad and MC-500 Micro Composer, Alesis MMT-8 Midi Sequencer, Yamaha CS-01 Monophonic Synthesizer, Elektron Sidstation SID Synthesis Module, Kawai K4r Digital Synthesizer Module and XD-5 Percussion Synthesizer.

Recorded and mixed at Pacific-Atlantic Mobile Studio.

Cat. # PAR-012

Listen and download at Bandcamp:
http://twistedkrister.bandcamp.com/album/bath-spa

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Social Media Meltdown



Yes, Pacific-Atlantic Records / Twisted Krister can be found also on FB with all the perks and benefits of social media!

https://www.facebook.com/twisteri 

Another Mallisto Re-Release!













ARTIST: Mallisto
RELEASE: Juhannus 3008
FORMAT: Digital
Cat.#: PAR-011
LABEL: Pacific-Atlantic Records
RELEASE DATE: 10th April 2012
FILE UNDER: Eclectic Pop, Electronic, Ambient, Synth Folk, Psychedelia, Home Recording

MALLISTO – Juhannus 3008

Track listing:

1. Laulu numero 1  [Silmu / Magda / Mitja] 03:34
2. Laulu numero 2 [Mitja / Silmu] 02:05
3. Juhannus 3008 [Silmu] 01:27
4. Halkio (Beats) [Magda / Silmu] 02:44
5. Syysjami [Silmu / Magda] 04:12
6. Juhannus 3008 (Bongo Mix by Erikoismies) 04:25

Total running time 18:30

Mallisto, founded in Helsinki by Christer Nuutinen (kb/v) and Jukka Vallisto (bg) in the mid-nineties, was active off and on for several years with slightly varying lineups, Nuutinen and Jenni Rope (kb/v) being present in most of the incarnations. Either as a duo or with Vallisto, and later with Ilja Karsikas on guitar.

A year or so of semi-active live playing (at events ranging from ordinary club gigs to art show openings and private house warming parties in tiny student flats) gradually saw the bands output evolve from childish instrumental electro pop to a peculiar lofi sound, mixing synth pop and psychedelia. The only recording to enter the public sphere during Mallisto's active phase was the self-released EP Polku, performed and produced in 2000 by Nuutinen and Rope as a duo.

Quite sadly, as the band continued to further refine its trademark sound - finally matured into their very own specific blend of Lofi Ambient Folk Pop - their active phase also seemed to slowly but firmly grind to a halt. Today, not even the members of Mallisto themselves are sure if the group still exists.

Juhannus 3008 compiles 5 tracks, originally recorded in separate sessions, during a timespan of almost 15 years, but still managing to sum up as one solid body of work. Here a charming array of old electric pianos, organs and beautiful analog synths are paired with frail lullaby vocals and the occasional hand picked guitar to a most enchanting effect. Melodies - melancholic, warm and inviting - hover mid-air, gently held afloat in the almost invisible, ethereal embrace of buzzing oscillators, reversed tape loops and a strange kind of audible silence. The bands instantly recognisable sound is simultaneously both rich and humble, intimate and spacious.

- Tom Backström, Erikoisdance

Mitja: Electric Guitar.
Magda: Casio CZ-5000, Electric Piano, vocals.
Silmu: Ensoniq EPS-16+, Roland D-50 and SH-101, Boss DR-202 & SP-202, Yamaha CS-01, programming & vocals.

Car service instructions on Laulu #1 Kari Nuutinen.
Front cover: Mallisto approx. 1998 – Rope (far right), Nuutinen and Vallisto. Photo by Maarit Hohteri.

Recorded and mixed at Pacific-Atlantic Mobile Studio except #6 composed and mixed at Erikoisdance Tower.

Original release Erikoisdance 13: Mallisto – Juhannus 3008 (CDR, 2009)
Digital re-release 10th April 2012.
Cat. # PAR-011

Listen and download at Bandcamp:
http://twistedkrister.bandcamp.com/album/juhannus-3008

Monday 9 April 2012

A New Mallisto Re-release!













ARTIST: Mallisto
RELEASE: Polku
FORMAT: Digital
Cat.#: PAR-010
LABEL: Pacific-Atlantic Records
RELEASE DATE: 9th April 2012
FILE UNDER: Eclectic Pop, Electronic, Ambient

MALLISTO – POLKU

Track listing:
Polku [Silmu / Magda] 05:05
Halkio [Magda / Silmu] 03:58
Kuoriainen [Magda / Silmu] 03:40
Kylpy [Magda / Silmu] 01:41
Lisänumero [Silmu] 02:56

Total running time 17:30

Magda: Casio CZ-5000, Electric Piano, vocals.
Silmu: Ensoniq EPS-16+, Roland D-50 and SH-101, Boss DR-202 & SP-202, Yamaha CS-01, programming & vocals.

Additional Boss DR-202 rhythm programming on Polku by Müsta Kirahvi. Live electronic percussion on Polku by PSI.

Recorded and mixed at Pacific-Atlantic Mobile Studio 1998 – 2000. First released September 2000 as a Pacific-Atlantic Records compact disc. Cover art by Jenni Rope.

Re-Released 9th April 2012
Cat. # PAR-010

Listen and download at Bandcamp:
http://twistedkrister.bandcamp.com/album/polku

Sunday 8 April 2012

A New Silmu Release













ARTIST: Silmu
RELEASE: Default Emotion
FORMAT: Digital
Cat.#: PAR-009
LABEL: Pacific-Atlantic Records
RELEASE DATE: 8th April 2012
FILE UNDER: Synth Pop, Electronic,

Melancholic sweeps, bouncy arpeggiations and interveawing analogue melodies for 2012.

Track listing:

1. Default Emotion 03:47
2. Saint Lee 04:16
3. Relevance 03:08

Total running time 11:11

Composed and mixed at Pacific-Atlantic Studios by Twisted Krister, September 1998 – April 2012.

Listen and download at Bandcamp:
http://twistedkrister.bandcamp.com/album/default-emotion

Monday 19 March 2012

Faemi Mini
















Faemi Mini, another russian instrument I had back in the day.

I found this unit at a flea market in Lahti sometime in late 90's. It came in a brown shoulder-strapped vinyl carrying bag. It was really easy to imagine how a little prodigy would be carrying her / his instrument in it on the way to the virtuoso monophonic playing class.

These imaginations are not totally unjustified, since  -despite the looks  -  there is something strangely professional about Faemi mini.

The price was 20 Finnish marks, little over 3 euros. I had it customized with power supply and audio connector which set me back about six times what I paid for the instrument itself, but it was well worth it.

Faemi mini is a curious little beast. The sounds it makes are RAW: powerful, unstable and fascinating. The organ style rocking switches give a surprisingly large variation of timbres for such a small instrument, way more than you'd think for something that looks like it is intended for children. I have never seen the mythical "Telstar" keyboard Clavioline in flesh, but it seems that these two keyboards share some tonal qualities.

Interestingly, if you open the machine you find that each key has a screw for tuning them independently. Not that this helped me in any way, I never  got Faemi to play in proper tune. I later passed this keyboard to Jari Suominen (of Shogun Kunitoki fame) who already had one and had also been using it in his band.

Here is what the very same Faemi looks like nowadays as part of Mr. Suominen's gig setup:















Faemi mini at Ruskeys.net

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Elekronika EM 26
















Going down the memory lane: Elektronika EM26, a russian string machine / vocoder I used to have.

It is solidly built in metal case and it's looks are clearly influenced by Roland SH-101, the dimensions are also about the same. The switches and sliders are not of very good quality, but functional.

It is sometimes called a synthesizer, but with full polyphony and the kind of sound it makes I would rather call it an organ with sort of string machine-y sound.

The vocoder section is more like a basic EQ, and the machine is not capable of generating decipherable words, for example.

The overall sound is somewhat spartan, sort of cold with no proper bottom. I didn't find too much use for it, but the instrument has certain industrial air to it, which someone undoubtedly might find appealing.

Elektronika EM26 at Ruskeys.net

Sunday 4 March 2012

New album release from Harmoniüm!













ARTIST: Harmoniüm
RELEASE: Optikon
FORMAT: Digital
Cat.#: PAR-008
LABEL: Pacific-Atlantic Records
RELEASE DATE: 4th March 2012
FILE UNDER: Ambient, Noise, Abstract 

HARMONIÜM – OPTIKON

Theoretically, a sonic vessel travelling to other celestial bodies such as the 55 Cancri b, could carry with them waves or other auditive artefacts ubiquitous on Earth, thus raising the possibility that we can seed music on other planetary bodies.

This is a concern among researchers who try to prevent Earth contamination from distorting data, especially in regards to finding possible extraterrestrial music.

Even the best sterilization techniques cannot guarantee that potentially invasive rhythmic or tonal materials will not be unintentionally carried along. The harsh environments encountered throughout the rest of the solar system so far do not seem to support complex terrestrial sound design.

However, material exchange in form of meteor impacts has existed and will exist in the solar system even without human intervention.

Track listing:

Earthrise 05:00
Portrait - Landscape 10:00
Difference Engine 05:00
Panspermia 09:59

Total running time 29:59

This album is composed of both purely synthesized elements and field recordings. Recording locations: Parainen, Helsinki and Hanko. 

Composed and mixed at Pacific-Atlantic Studios by Twisted Krister, July 2011 – March 2012. 

Instruments: Doepfer + Din Sync modular synthesizer, Korg Monotribe, EHX Freeze, Boss SYB-3 and DSD-2 FX pedals, PC audio edit suite.

Released 4th March 2012
Cat. # PAR-008