black telephoneFinnish electronics pioneer Mika Vainio has been in fine form of late. After the recently released Pan Sonic collaborations with Keiji Haino and SunnO))) on Blast First, he returns to the Touch label which has been home to much of his most distilled and refined works. ‘Black Telephone Of Matter’ focuses on the sculpted noise and drone aspects of his style and is devoid of his trademark beats. It follows a much closer path to his live sets that, as most of you will know, are ear crushingly intense affairs. Complex frequency clusters expand, unfold and capitulate into delicate passages of sounds whose movement suggest an abundance of textures and sources. It’s really worth cranking the volume up for tracks like ‘Bury A Horses Head’ that contains a particularly brutal ending when the mains hum threatens to spill out from the speakers and liquidate the contents of your head into a blackened pool of tar. It’s dark, simplistic stuff that is able to deliver the most complex and kaleidoscopic array of sonic weaponry from the most minimal of sources. One of his finest works from a catalogue of releases that already defines the electronics genre which I wouldn’t be surprised to see on many peoples end of year lists. Highly recommended. --simon harris
:: Mika Vainio/Black Telephone of Matter - Touch/Cargo.
