Pekka Airaksinen

Stunning Finnish electro-jazz-psychedelia from '78-'85 rescued from the tape archives of The Sperm's Pekka Airaksinen. This definitely isn't Harmönia's usual Skweee fayre, yet neatly contextualises their wave of quirkily futurist (often absurd) electro-fonk in line with Pekka's pioneering work experimenting with drum machines and synths, perhaps best heard on his groundbreaking 'One Point Music' LP, which was bootlegged to great acclaim in 2011 (scarce originals are over £500 2nd hand). His 1984 album 'Buddhas Of Golden Light' is acknowledged by the Harmönia staff as one of their all-time favourite records and after they learnt that there was unreleased material from the same period they obviously did the right thing and released it on vinyl. The music is no less than mind-blowing, and ranges from spiralling DX-7 synth vortices to deliciously exotic 808 drum machine poly-patter and crystal clear kosmiche hallucinations. From first listens our highlights have to be the eight minutes of heat-hazed synth flutter and lilting rhythmic cadence on 'Simha', plus the hybrid, proto-Drexciyan lounge jazz of 'Suvarnaratnakaracchatrakuta', and the mind-bendingly advanced sci-fi noir atmospheres and arrangement of 'Maitreya', but quite honestly we reckon the whole thing's going to be a firm favourite before the year's end. Maybe imagine Chris Carter, Conrad Schnitzler and Francis Bebey tripping on vodka and mushies with Circle after meditating under a midday moon and you're somewhere within grasp of the outright brilliance contained within. Right, so who going to do a whip-round and buy us an original copy of 'Buddhas Of Golden Light', then? Massively recommended! (Boomkat)