Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Hertsi - Kohina (Sähkö, 2010)


"Sähkö present a pre Pan Sonic production dating back to 1993. The 'Kohina' EP features four of the earliest Sahko productions that we're aware of, time-stamped with the same year as the seminal first Ø release and predating the fateful 'Panasonic' 12". We can hear a blatant precursor to that record's brutal bleeps on 'Oodi sähkölle', an outstanding techno number crafted from skull-boring kicks and gracefully intertwining sinewave oscillations, basically setting the template for the next few years of Ø records. Elsewhere we're witness to the genesis of Pan Sonic's power electronics style with 'Rätinää' piling thunderous distortion onto rugged techno before dissolving into cone melting subbass, and on the title track we peer into the vast doom drone abyss that would be further explored in much greater detail. 'Hidas Muutos' completes the record with an uncomfortably autistic rhythm experiment with skeletal percussion buffered by blasts of noise and drowned in tarry black subbass. This must surely stand as a foundational document of techno history as should be owned by all self-respecting industrial heads - these Hardwax/Sahko pressings don't show up every day, so when they do - act sharp." (Boomkat)

I've long admired Pan Sonic's dark, analog-experimental approach to techno. I find much in their sort-of moody, spacious minimalism to be extremely cinematic. This remastered reissue of the antecedent Kohina EP (1993) sounds spot-on. Definitely recommended if you're not averse to electronic music, and such.

Download Link: Hertsi - Kohina (Sähkö, 2010) SÄHKÖ-004. 192-ish VBR, but still bumps.

A1 Rätinä
A2 Oodi Sähkölle
B1 Kohina
B2 Hidas Muutos

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