TIP OF THE TONGUE 15 JUNE 2009


Sperm
Shh!
De Stijl No Cat
LP
OUT OF STOCK!

Major public service reissue of this revered and much whispered about experimental oddity that came out of Helsinki in 1970. A major rarity - I've personally only ever seen one copy - it was released on the fascinating/obscure O Records imprint. Sperm - inevitably - appeared on the Nurse With Wound list and it's certainly one of the most perfectly distilled Euro freak/out oddities to occupy such a position. Primarily a cover for the solo experiments of Pekka Airaksinen's, the LP has a deep, lost, mind-expanding feel to it, with luxurious, eerie loops and minimal tape constructs illuminated by distant chorales of guitar feedback and the kind of huge, reverberant use of folk-tinged free saxophones that touches on John Tchicai's experiments in spatial dynamics with his Cadentia Nova Danica. It's a classic oddball side, combing avant garde rigor with a hyper-focused psychedelic minimalism and a nice hands-on atmosphere. De Stijl compare it to Ju Suk Reet Meate's Do Unseen Hands Make You Dumb? but it's not quite as self-consciously crazed as much of the LAFMS stuff. There are aspects of Yoshi Wada, Nurse With Wound and - particularly - Joakim Skogsberg's amazing 1971 side Jola Rota. If oddball non-academic experimental obscurities from the fringes of consensus reality are your 'thing' (and I guess why else do you hang at VT?) then this one is sure to 'do' it. Highly recommended.



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