Product Review
Finland's Mika Vainio and Ilpo Vaisanen create music of sorts with instruments of sorts. Pan Sonic look back to musique concrète, the most abstract adventures of pioneers such as Throbbing Gristle, and Japanese noise explorers, and go even further. Using analog tone generators, they bring out music's innards, what's left when you've taken away all the ornery garnishes such as melodies and hooks and arrangements. From "Teurastamo" and its dentist's drill to "Rutina"'s fuzzy heartbeat to "Vapina" and its frenetic Pong blips, the songs on Kulma are beautifully relentless. There's no easy point of entry, not a single tune to wave the listener in. On the other hand, the music also is very physical--you feel like you can almost caress these beeps and rasps' rough edges. Close your eyes and enjoy the ride. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Pan Sonic rarely hits the same levels as Autechre or Aphex Twin, but its albums are indeed essential to anyone with a sense of harsh electronic noise. "Kulma" is a slightly more accessible and palatable affair than PS's debut "Vakio". "Teurastamo", "Vapina", and the 10-minute "Moottori" (which ends in a roaring storm of noise) have a notably straightforward techno feel. Surprisingly, there's also a couple of rather calm and well-crafted ambient tracks. "Luotain", "Hahmo", and "-25" recall some of Brian Eno's '90s-work, particularly 1992's "Shutov Assembly" with its bell-like sounds and deep bass lines. The other pieces offer PS's typically user-unfriendly mix of polar static, crackles, and mechanical clicks. Unfortunately, my fascination with PS's music seems to diminish with each passing buy. The rhythms aren't much varied throughout their records and rarely venture beyond the tenets of 4/4 minimalism. In any case, "Kulma" is a good album and its music can be immensely powerful and disturbing when listened to on headphones and high volume. However, I think this album is not really worth buying if you already own two or three other PS items, especially "A", "B", "Osasto", and "Endless" (under the VVV name). Comment | Permalink | (Report this)