Tulenkantaja

Berlin-based Vladislav Delay (aka Sasu Ripatti, Luomo) releases a second techno album under his Uusitalo disguise. Each track is inspired by Finnish literature, and is a tribute to his author father and grandmother. The title of the album, Tulenkantaja (a flame bearer), is taken from the name of a radical literary group in Finland in the early '40s to which his grandmother was a part of. Delay takes the best parts of Cologne and Berlin and transforms them into a method of storytelling that incorporates organic beats and rhythms close to the heart.

On Tulenkantaja, Delay plays around with strange time signatures so subtly that you wouldn't notice if it wasn't 4-to-the floor but maybe 5 or 6 or 9-and-a-half. He creates poems with beats, telling stories with those intricate rhythms and bass lines. He invites interesting sounds that include living elements, mistakes, drums and field recordings. He synthesizes the synthesizer, and says goodbye to the drum machine looping the same loop and instead plays the loop himself. A true rhythm fanatic, on this record he searches for the patterns and rhythms more than ever -- they might be more simple or at least more straightforward and direct than on his Vladislav Delay albums. On this record he demonstrates not only his unique studio and production skills, but also the ability to speak and express himself highly in musical terms. On Tulenkantaja, he makes techno which may not be techno at all. Except that it is for him. There are excerpts from his father and grandmother in the booklet included with the CD, as well as a beautiful graphic design to enhance the experience made by long-time collaborator Kaisa Kemikoski. This time techno has a story to tell.