Vladislav Delay
(Raster-Noton)
Finland's Vladislav Delay is one of the most exciting and original voices to emerge from the electronic music field in the last decade, pulling elements of dub, ambient, glitch, microhouse and techno to create a new sound unmatched by any of his peers.
Not even six months following the release of Vladislav Delay Quartet, his excellently experimental post-jazz one-off with Damon Albarn's Honest Jons imprint, the artist otherwise known as Sasu Ripatti quickly follows up with his debut effort for Raster-Notion, the first of what promises to be "a long lasting collaboration" with the venerated German label who serves as the home to such established acts as Coil, William Basinski and Thomas Brinkmann. And with Vantaa, Ripatti proves that the minds behind Raster hedged a mighty safe bet with his Vladislav moniker, as he delivers a stirring counterpoint to Quartet with an atmospheric combination of organic and digital feels that offers a stirring dual portrait of the landscape of his motherland. So on one end, you have these cold, industrial-like shifts in repetition that recall Throbbing Gristle at their most benign, while on the other there is this calming sense of synthesized nature that emulates deep forest campfires and rolling creeks, evoking a kind of spatial nuance that recollects Brian Eno's most intricate textural compositions.
And when the two layers overlap, as they do on Vantaa's 8 ½ minute climax "Lauma", the fusion coalesces into truly unique sonic territory that must have the hard working folks at Raster-Notion giddy with anticipation over the prospects of going steady with this bona fide visionary of 21st century creative music.
DOWNLOAD: "Narri," "Vantaa," "Lauma" RON HART
