MIKA VAINIO - Olento 2LP

A resoundingly influential blueprint for electronic minimalism since its original 1996 release, ‘Olento’ followed the more robust, 4:4 pulse of 1995’s ‘Metri’ with a sensitively expressive, if still icy, grasp of pure electrical current that has remained a definitive hallmark of Mika Vainio’s sound. Bookended by shockingly sweet passages of music box melody, the album sees Vainio at his freehand best, coaxing out a spectra of atmospheric tones and rugged rhythms resembling dancehall and techno with a mix of gauntleted gruffness and tender haptics that has become established as his signature. In terms of its melancholy melodic arrangements, it’s all perhaps best compared to Mika’s standout ’Kantamoinen’ album, while its offset sort of rhythms would patently go on to merge with Ilpo Väisänen’s pendulous patterns in Pan Sonic following their 4:4 phase, and pave the way for Mika’s later Ø classics such as ‘Aste’ and the mighty ‘Oleva’ LP.