AGF / Delay
Bpitch Control
The headlining act in Alppipuisto features one of the most exciting couples in contemporary electronic music today. AGF or Antye Greie-Fuchs from Berlin and Finnish Sasu Ripatti, the man behind the esteemed monikers of Vladislav Delay and Luomo are bringing their enigmatic live performance to Finland for the first time.
The couple’s joint musical journey is preceded by their acclaimed solo projects. AGF is recognised as the producer behind Berlin’s techno empress Ellen Allien, an established audio-visual artist and socially coscious poet. Vladislav Delay has, during his 10-year career left an enduring mark on the history of electronic music. Sasu Ripatti, collaborator with artists like Massive Attack, Scissor Sisters and Craig Armstrong, has enchanted audiences with his performances at events ranging from international music festivals to gritty underground clubs. Sasu Ripatti has released material on labels like Force Tracks, Chain Reaction and his own Huume record label. Ripatti is know for his more abstract work as Vladislav Delay, four-to-floor house outfit Luomo and as minimalistic and bass heavy Uusitalo.
The AGF / Delay project with Greie presents the duo’s new sound on the Symptoms album having been released on BPitch Control. This catchy, but conscious album features Greie’s socially critical lyrics combined with Ripatti’s pulsating bass lines, dub reverb and lush melodies. The duo has toured the finest festivals in Europe and we’re glad to present them free of charge as the closing performance in Alppipuisto.
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Legowelt
Strangelife records, Bunker, Creme
When speaking of house music it’s often remarked that in the beginning was Jack. Jack refers to the groovy rhythms in Chicago house that were programmed to make you dance. At the end of the 80s creative minds thought of emulating the sounds of disco using cheap drum machines and bass synthezisers (Roland TB-303, TR-808 and TR-909). The 4/4 rhythm was borrowed from disco as well, creating the basis for house and a multitude of electronic music genres.
Legowelt from The Hague in Netherlands or Danny Wolfers was one of the youngsters in the 80s, raised on a steady diet of science fiction and robot fantasties. While listening to synthetic disco, house from Chicago, techno from Detroit Danny developed an eclectic and eccentric taste for the sounds he was exposed to. Through Bunker Records he came into contact with his musical mentor I-F and other synthetic disco heads. Thanks to these new contacts he was disclosed the production secrets of house, early electro and 80s Italian disco music. During his excurisions to the old school sounds and vintage gear, Legowelt has mastered the machines and developed his own eccentric take on the sounds he was so strongly influenced by.
Since his first release in 1998 he has continued to put out quality material in a steady flow of releases. In 2006 he founded his own record company, Strangelife records. Legowelt has toured the globe for over ten years. We are pleased to have such a music heavy weight and connoisseur selecting records for us. Legowelt will perform the closing set (dj+live) for Rhythm Caravan at the club event at Kuudes linja.
www.legowelt.com
www.myspace.com/legowelt
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Villa Nah
Keys of Life
The indie electro outfit Villa Nah has been enjoying phenomenal success this year. The band’s roots can be traced back to collaborations between friends Juho Paalosma and Tomi Hyyppä in projects like Breekbaar and Colors that have been featured in Hytky events earlier. These East-Helsinki boys have known eachother since they were kids and their youth spent together can be heard in their music. Their sound echoes nostalgic sounds familiar from 1980s filmscores and pop music, accompanied with catchy melodies and melancholic lyrics.
Juho and Tomi’s different personalities complement eachother in the joint project. Tomi being adept at the technical side side of production accounts for rhythm and effects while Juho sings and performs on stage. Both guys’ background in bands can be heard in their brand of warm electro pop that is founded on strong melodies and singing. Judging by the band’s harmonius sound their collaboration really works. Villa Nah has recorded for Keys of Life, a sublabel of the legendary Sähkö recordings. Previous artists having recroded on Sähkö include undeground stars from Jimi Tenor to Jori Hulkkonen. Villa Nah have released their first three song ep, VN EP, earlier this year. Pleased listeners are waiting for a follow-up on the three song ep. Tomi and Juho are spending their summer in Turku in Jori Hulkkonen’s alppIVhouz-studio working on their album. They are bringing their synths back Helsinki to perform at the Rhythm Caravan.
www.myspace.com/villanah
www.sahkorecordings.com/
Video: Villa Nah on Basso TV (in Finnish)
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Uusitalo
Huume Recordings, Finland
The multi-talented Sasu Ripatti is changing gear to dance in his performance as Uusitalo at the Rhythm Carvan’s evening club event. Uusitalo has releases on Chain Reaction and Mille Plateaux, but two latest albums have been put on his own label Huume Recordings. In Uusitalo you can hear the Finnish roots of the former Berlin-based producer. In addition to national influences and record label, tracks are named in Finnish as a tribute to his kin’s litterary accomplishments. Ripatti, alsoa a trained Jazz drummer, combines influences from techno, ambient and house in the Uusitalo productions. The rhythm and minimalistic bass lines are the bare essentials of Uusitalo’s sound. In contrast with Vladislav Delay, the material is geared towards the dance floor as well produced with analog gear. The man has last performed in Finland together with the legendary Moritz von Oswald trio at last year’s Flow-festival in Helsinki. Uusitalo is performing a live set at Hytky’s Rhythm Caravan’s evening event at Kuudes linja club. Come experience the performance of the artist for whom music is art.
www.myspace.com/uusitalomusic
Luomo vs. Uusitalo vs. Vladislav Delay
Uusitalon levyarvostelut
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Smackos Astro Unicorn Show
Intergalactic FM, Netherlands
The Astro Unicorn Radio Show is Legowelt’s (Danny Wolfers) weekly radio broadcast from the late and great Cybernetic Broadcasting System radio station. The cult radio has re-emerged as Intergalactic FM, with the Astro Unicorn show. The musically diverse show is presented under Danny’s Smackos alias. The broadcast consists of scifi film snippets, classic synth demos, and obscure space and robot mystique. Astro Unicorn is more than a mere radio show. It can be likened to a kind of radio play in the air of the War of the Worlds radio broadcast that aired the 30s inciting mass hysteria. The broadcasts are pieces of sound art that present 1980 aesthetics and sound ambience in a dramatic sense. The show is musically diverse ranging from synth pop, old school techno, new wave, romantic electro, prog rock and baroque music. An essential part of the broadcast is Danny Wolfers’ eccentric persona, inside commentary on the music and artists and the interesting guest interviews. At the Rhythm Caravan Danny Wolfers will investigate the meeting of machines and nature in his Astro Unicorn show at Alppipuisto park. The Astro Unicorn is rarely presented outside the studio, so we are in for a treat. At the Rhythm Caravan Danny Wolfers will investigate the meeting of machines and nature in his Astro Unicorn show at Alppipuisto park. The Astro Unicorn is rarely presented outside the studio, so we are in for a treat. Heads up for 1980s children and child-minded - this is for you!
Visit Robotdj.net for archives of past Astro Unicorn Broadcasts. Listen to Astro Unicorn Radio Show #108, with guest Perttu Häkkinen (aka. Randy Barracuda) from Finnish electro duo Imatran Voima
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Sarana
Akashic Records, HYTKY, Finland
Sarana promises to take listeners on a journey in space and emotion. He delivers subtle living sound installations beginning from silence as a prelude to opening the Rhythm Caravan event in Alppipuisto. Sarana is the intuitive, meditative and progressive dimension of sound engineer and producer Janne Särkelä. Each performance is an improvisation fitted to the ambience and character of the venue to which Janne tunes in with his instruments.
Sarana has one album release on Chicago record label Atmoworks. His second album is scheduled for release on Atmoworks in August. Sarana has also been featured on many compilations. Hytky is pleased to present one of its own memebers and an interesting artist. Immerse yourself into the hypnotic sounds and let Sarana tune your mind for the rest of the event.
www.sarana.biz
www.myspace.com/3sarana
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KinoSport
Red Antenna, USA
James A. Reeves is a writer, teacher, and designer. He’s taught courses in design, visual culture, and the history of education at Parsons and the Pratt Institute, and he co-founded Red Antenna, a creative studio in New York City. James also writes about chivalry, typography, and techno music at kinosport.tv. His work has recently appeared in Resident Advisor, The Architectural League of New York’s Urban Omnibus, and What Happened to Us? An Anthology of the Bush Years. He currently lives in Helsinki where he’s working on a big book about America called The Awful Making of an Optimist.
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Introvert
Night Vision / Team Records, Finland
Jukka Varis aka Introvert started doing music more seriously in year 2000. Around the same time he was really into electronic music, first influenced by The Prodigy and Orbital. After doing a bootleg remix of Björk’s “Joga” just for fun, it suddenly became bigger after James Zabiela spinned it in his Essential Mix in 2004. After this Introvert became interested in doing more music (progressive house at the time) and got his first release on Aurium Records. In about six years Introvert’s tracks have been supported by variety of different dj’s: John Digweed, Darren Emerson and Funk ‘D Void for example. Lately, long time (detroit) techno producer Orlando Voorn became interested in Introvert’s tracks and some of them got signed to his label Night vision which originally started running in the early 90’s. The “Lemon Days / Times We Live” ep was released in summer 2008 and Introvert’s first artist album is going to be released on the same label in the near future. “Hero Tracks Ep” got released on Holland based TEAMtomorrow in early 2009 and it got support from Four Tet and Orlando Voorn for example. After moving to Helsinki from a small village in Northern Finland Introvert got mainly into techno. Also idm and more experimental electronic music have been to his taste. Today Introvert finds melodic techno to be most interesting to produce which contains a bit from both genres.
Now as he has been influenced by many kinds of music genres he finds also nature, art, the four seasons, films, nightlife, different people, different places and everything else happening in personal life as an inspiration in music making. His continuous quest for new intriguing sounds is inspired by the will not to get bored by music and producing. One of the main ideas in Introvert’s music for now is to break the genre limit and keep music interesting for different kinds of listeners. This can also be heard in his dj sets - everything from melodic techno to ambient and idm is present in his mixes. Jukka is performing the closing act for the terrace program. He’s going to take us from ambient to IDM and shoegaze, perhaps with some deep techno to spice the mix.
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Kasiseisk & Yavi
Disko Tekno Kollektiv, Finland
The terrace sound is kicked off by djs Kasiseisk ja Yavi from Disko Tekno Kollektiv, a local club organisation focusing on techno, house and elektro. The DTK posse has during it’s four years of existence put on events in Finnish major techno cities Helsinki, Tampere and Vaasa. The collective hosts it’s own web radio - “DTK Radio” that broadcasts scene updates, dj mixes, interesting interviews and party reports.
www.disko.fi/
www.disko.fi/radio/
www.disko.fi/kasiseisk/
www.myspace.com/yavian
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Snoxn
HYTKY, Finland
Hytky’s own boy Mikko Halmkrona is spinning records first at the evening club event. Mikko, hailing from Tornio in the North of Finland, pics his records carefully and delivers a selection of eclectic and melodic techno cuts.
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Huhtis & Ko
Entropy, Finland
Huhtis and Ko from Hytky’s sister organisation Entropy have become lazier since their most active party organizing days. The pair will deliver deep and easy house and techno to chill by at the Kuudes linja terrace. Entropy and Hytky go back a long way, having Entropy take part in our “Hytky Friends” terrace is a mutual pleasure!
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Visualisations by Random Doctors
VJFinland
Founded in Helsinki 2004, vj-collective Random Doctors is now one of the most active vj-groups in Finland. Their energetic live performances are combination of wild improvisation and professional attitude. Mixing up film and still footage, motion graphics and live camera footage they explore the depths of our cultural subconscious fearlessly challenging dj..s and musicians to push their limits. From festivals to smallest underground clubs and art events Random Doctors stay true to their mission, to seek the magical moment where music, visuals and audience become one. ART IS PIRACY IS ART
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Videoinstallation by Paula Saraste
Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Art School MAA
In her new video installation, Paula Saraste from the Academy of Fine arts and Art School MAA investigates the meeting of urban landscape and nature in the city of Berlin.
