What's up with all this music that came out in May 2007 that I apparently missed? This is one of a string that I've written about recently that must have flown under my proverbial radar. Not that Pan Sonic are anything new to me, as I've been a fan of theirs since the late 90s when they started mutating from a post-techno trio into something progressively more unique and abstract. However, I haven't followed them too much in years past, with the exception of the somewhat bloated 4xCD set Kesto from 2005 (which, admittedly, I didn't listen to more than once in its entirety).
The impulse to hear new material from my favorite musical Finns came when I was writing about Signal last week, whose music is very much cut from the same cloth. Mika Vainio and Ilpo Vaisänen after more than 10 years are still exploring the outer limits of minimal electronic music, usually combining instruments of their own creation with sequencers and samplers, and recording and assembling their music through live improvisations. While their latest full-length Katodivaihe is not a shocking development from their previous repertoire, it is enough of a shift in sound to be quite interesting, and after the excess of Kesto, it feels like a much more concise musical concept from start to finish (and able to listened to in one sitting!).
If there is a theme to be found here, it's that of abrasion and discomfort. Much more so than some of their past efforts, Katodivaihe is unafraid to emphasize noise, with several of the tracks bringing to the fore caustic, destructive rhythms that once again reveal Vainio's ties to industrial music in the past. After a more low-key opener that is more typical of the duo, "Lähetys" brings the noise in the form of mangled, distorted explosions, while "Koneistaja" is grounded with a more common drum track which provides the backbone of a wall of grinding noise over it. This is not to say that Katodivaihe is lacking in dynamics; there are several tracks that showcase the pair's ability to create chilling atmospheres, such as the icy, spacious "Laptevinmeri" or the mindfuck double-whammy of "Suhteellinen" and "Kytkennät," both of which play with extreme dynamics. "Suhteellinen" begins as an ambient exploration of cello overtones but explodes in its final moments in a sprawl of highly abrasive electronic noise, and "Kytkennät" picks up where the former leaves off with a strange undulating pattern of noise and pulse. They save the best for last, though, with several tracks in a row that focus on the most unabashedly furious and rhythmic aspects of the group's aesthetic, my favorite is which is "Leikkuri," a short but wicked track that feels more like Merzbow remixed than a proper Pan Sonic composition.
It's refreshing to hear the originators of this aesthetic still running strong and evolving in interesting ways, while staying true to their roots.
mp3s: Suhteellinen | Leikkuri
more information: Official site (Phinnweb) | Blast First Petite
buy it: Forced Exposure | Boomkat | Amazon
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