Search - Pan Sonic :: Aaltopiiri

An atom of all stars

loteq | Regensburg | 03/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Despite some people being of the opinion that Pan Sonic contains a bunch of very creative, perhaps even groundbreaking musicians, I've sometimes rather thought the opposite when listening to some tracks on their early albums such as "Vakio" and "Kulma". My reservation about Pan Sonic's early work comes from the simple fact that sustained, ear-splitting noise and unfriendly test-tones without any concessions to melody (or at least some rhythms) are unfit for human consumption and cannot lead to a good listening experience. OK, so what about their latest album, the 70-minute "Aaltopiiri"? Great headache induction? According to Pan Sonic, the album was recorded at their studio in Barcelona (much closer to the sunny beach than to the Arctic Circle) without any special approach or plan; for the most part the music was even improvised and recorded straight on to tape. Given all these circumstances, it's extremely difficult for me to believe that such a meticulously crafted and varied release as "Aaltopiiri" would be the result of these jam sessions. Pan Sonic no longer betray the sibilant intrusiveness and lack of direction of their early efforts; they have kept their distinctive framework, but at the same time they have reached a new level. It's not just that "Aaltopiiri" has a much stronger cohesive glue than all previous Pan Sonic albums, it's also that even the shorter pieces are fully developed and the record itself sounds excellent due to the dynamic, minimalistic production. It does, however, not become immediately apparent that Pan Sonic have made a great leap forward. The album's first half contains some tracks which should be regarded as 'merely OK', mainly because they repeat some basic ideas of the duo's prior work. "Vaihtovirta", "Johdin", and "Liuos" (each having a running time of six minutes approx.) are three of these 'merely OK' tracks, offering hypnotic 4/4 rhythms and slight hints of synth melody coupled with Pan Sonic-typical background hums and processed feedback, but even in these fairly repetitive pieces one feels that the duo is quite concerned with creating certain atmospheres and moods this time. A highlight in the album's first half is the evocative "Aanipaa", whose intricately processed, disturbing samples are industrial in the true sense of the work: heavily crunching and textured. But it is "Ulottuvuus" where the real 'polar listening adventure' begins: Pan Sonic have not only discovered the world of echo, the have added an explicitly environmental feel and a completely new dimension to their music; it's very fascinating to listen how this metallic scratching and pounding comes and goes, how it echoes around in the distance and decays or becomes gradually replaced by other layers of sound. The 9 1/2-minute "Reuna-Alue" could be the best example of this, opening with something you might hear when you enter a huge, abandoned factory hall and soon giving away to positively entrancing polar soundscapes which are somewhat reminiscent of the stuff Biosphere has done. "Valli" is another one of these emotionally quite resonant pieces; it's perhaps even more creepy than "Reuna-Alue" due to the heavy pounding which could be taken from the soundtrack of a very good horror movie. The closing quintet of tracks heads into another direction and has a compelling dancefloor sharpness to it, along the lines of Aphex Twin's harsher output under the AFX and Caustic Window name. The 1 1/2-minute, tightly structured "Murskaus" is particularly impressive with its crunching frame drums and relentless drive, just as the 6-minute "Kierto". The latter introduces a fairly hard-hitting central beat which is joined by squalls of abrasive digital distortion and feedback. Admittedly, all the new developments in Pan Sonic's music will be noticeable for long-time followers only, but the brilliant ambient pieces on this album and the quite straightforward industrial-dance tracks ensure that there's something for everyone. I would also recommend "Aaltopiiri" as first purchase for the newly interested. Certainly this is Pan Sonic's best album so far.

"

Reverb as a living entity

Michael Ystad | 08/31/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I would not advise anyone to do what I did, which was to plug this album into my ears and drift away to sleep on an airplane. Not only did I get weird dreams about being stranded on some automated supply base in the polar regions, but I was awakened near the end of the album by tremendous shrieking blasts of unattenuated feedback. Overall, I like the album a lot. It's not something I need to listen to daily, but I can definetely appreciate it as a work of music. I suppose there are people out there whose musical sensibilities are either so assaulted by conventional stuff or so advanced that this is like the soothing voice of the creator; but to me it's just nothing more or less than good. It reminds me of the pinging and thrumming of some as-yet-undeveloped intelligent tracking system, hijacked by missionaries who have just been to their first rave and who are trying to re-create the experience at a more "appropriate" tempo."

Tokyo/Detroit hybrid ...

A. Ryder | Atlanta, Georgia | 01/19/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The more I listen to Pan sonic, the more it occurs to me that their sound is essentially nothing more than a cross between Japanese noise artists of the late '80s and Detroit techno musicians of the same period.And the more I think about that match, the more interesting and unique that potential appears."