Aaltopiiri

Amazon.com
Stark, and stretched out like the frozen tundra of Pan Sonic's native Finland, Aaltopiiri journeys along the strange, twisting paths of a minimalist and intensely ambiguous digital landscape. The band's approach, like on 1999's A, has few connections with traditional concepts of rhythm, instead luxuriating in the ambient netherworlds inhabited by Aphex Twin on sparse records like Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2, or the music of composer Philip Glass. In seeking out the furthest abyssal reaches of what we call techno, the band sheds all pretense of cohesiveness, reveling in the cold mystery at the heart of ambient music. It is left up to you to fill in the blanks, and that makes this record as good, or as bad, as your own imagination will allow. --Matthew Cooke

Tracks:

Ensi
Vaihtovirta
Toisaalta
Johdin
Kuu
Aanipaa
Arvio
Liuos
Ulottuvuus
Hallapyydys
Reuna-Alue
Valli
Kone
Johto 3
Murskaus
Rasite
Kierto

Amazon.com

Stark, and stretched out like the frozen tundra of Pan Sonic's native Finland, Aaltopiiri journeys along the strange, twisting paths of a minimalist and intensely ambiguous digital landscape. The band's approach, like on 1999's A, has few connections with traditional concepts of rhythm, instead luxuriating in the ambient netherworlds inhabited by Aphex Twin on sparse records like Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2, or the music of composer Philip Glass. In seeking out the furthest abyssal reaches of what we call techno, the band sheds all pretense of cohesiveness, reveling in the cold mystery at the heart of ambient music. It is left up to you to fill in the blanks, and that makes this record as good, or as bad, as your own imagination will allow. --Matthew Cooke

Customer Reviews:

A curious release.......2005-02-03

This was my second purchase and this I have to say this was an interesting listen. It was like going on some small journey. Excuse me if I sound like I'm being really pretentious but while listening to this album I kinda felt there was this mini-movie running in my head that would probably be interesting only to myself. Seeing snow-blizzard like conditions, strange new things that I had never seen before and it felt strange, voyeuristic and above all new. Amazing how modern technology/machinery can make you feel such emotions. One for the most adventurous of listeners.

Tokyo/Detroit hybrid ..........2004-01-20

The more I listen to Pan sonic, the more it occurs to me that their sound is essentially nothing more than a cross between Japanese noise artists of the late '80s and Detroit techno musicians of the same period.

And the more I think about that match, the more interesting and unique that potential appears.

Hypnotic minimalist opulence.......2001-10-06

Pan Sonic, unique, experimental, and engrossing. Their latest album, "Aaltopiiri" is the usual amalgamation of analog frequency collision and washes of sound. Low frequency jags of rhythmic noise blend with, or occasionally offset, high pitch percussive resonance, interspersed with undulating bass and some opaque clamor, all combining to create stark and hypnotic soundscapes. The bass in some instances can sweep through the body with blunt and mesmerizing effect. As often as Pan Sonic can blast to a deafening sonic crescendo, they can also bring the tone down to a lulling ebb and flow. Toward the end of the CD, pounding tracks such as "Kone" and "Kierto" provide an energetic antithesis to those more subtle, lulling numbers. "Aaltopiiri" is the followup to "A" (1999), and a slightly superior album. It seems that with this latest release, Pan Sonic has found their groove. Listening to their four major releases, beginning with "Vakio," and hearing the evolution of their sound, proves quite interesting. "Aaltopiiri" meshes its songs to create a masterfully cohesive experimental music soundtrack.
To anyone only slightly familiar with the electro-ambient musical genre, the simplest description would be to say Pan Sonic's sound is a cross between experimental techno and analog electronic noise. Anyone going into a Pan Sonic album expecting "soul" or deep emotional context may end up being disappointed. Their music is fascinating and often inspiring, and even soothing at times, but it is thankfully not what is going to be big on the charts because of any overt emotional subtext. The lyricism and beauty of Pan Sonic lies within the realms of the sounds they manipulate, explore, and create.

Reverb as a living entity.......2001-08-31

I would not advise anyone to do what I did, which was to plug this album into my ears and drift away to sleep on an airplane. Not only did I get weird dreams about being stranded on some automated supply base in the polar regions, but I was awakened near the end of the album by tremendous shrieking blasts of unattenuated feedback. Overall, I like the album a lot. It's not something I need to listen to daily, but I can definetely appreciate it as a work of music. I suppose there are people out there whose musical sensibilities are either so assaulted by conventional stuff or so advanced that this is like the soothing voice of the creator; but to me it's just nothing more or less than good. It reminds me of the pinging and thrumming of some as-yet-undeveloped intelligent tracking system, hijacked by missionaries who have just been to their first rave and who are trying to re-create the experience at a more "appropriate" tempo.

Again and again and..........2001-05-15

Being a big fan of Autechre and Biosphere and the like I tried this cd out.

Some of the tracks start out promising and made me listen closer. But then it turns out they stay that way. If there is any feeling in these tracks (as is the case with Autechre) I have been unable to locate it.