Addressing the potentially permanent hiatus of one of Finland’s most innovative and well-known experimental acts (Pan Sonic), founding member and generally intimidating-looking guy Mika Vainio opened his mouth, grabbed the interviewer by the shirt-collar, and emitted a cacophony of pulsating electronic sounds, immediately paralyzing the questioner opposite. This was the first evidence on record of such an advanced and dangerous form of cybernetic organism completely integrating into modern society (remember, Terminator was fictional).
Nah, what he actually said was this: “There has been no argument or bad spirit or anything like that. It’s just that after, we’ve been doing this for over 15 years, it’s time to stop and concentrate on our own solo things.” And concentrate he has, and concentrate you should, considering how downright minimal and/or inaccessible two of Vainio’s most recent solo releases have been. 2009’s Black Telephone of Matter (TMT Review) and 2011’s Life (…It Eats You Up) (TMT Review) both left me feeling woefully unqualified to listen to music.
Continuing his solo ventures, and making his (former?) partner Ilpo Väisänen seem comparatively absent, Mika Vainio will be releasing Kilo on May 6 through the imprint Blast First Petite. The album’s been deemed, according to FACT, as “the beat driven follow-up to 2011’s harrowing Life (…It Eats You Up),” which may mean a slightly welcome respite from the head-wrapping-around required for his previous releases. We’ll hear soon enough.
Kilo tracklisting:
01. Cargo
02. Cranes
03. Load
04. Docks
05. Sub-Atlantic
06. Rust
07. Wreck
08. Scale
09. Freight
10. Weight
• Mika Vainio: http://www.media-loca.com/mikavainio
• Blast First Petite: http://www.blastfirstpetite.com
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