Samsa Trio

Works 1968-76 (Box Set)

Genre: INDUSTRIAL / WAVE / ELECTRO

5LP Deluxe Box Set

Boomkat Product Review:

**Foil-blocked, heavyweight, rigid boxset contains five LPs plus individually numbered certificate. Edition of 400** Finnish psych maverick Pekka Airaksinen is the focus of arguably the most wigged out and far-flung V-o-D release to date. Covering vast distance between his modes and monikers, from the primordial, NWW-listed electronic regressions of The Sperm, to the hypnotic freedom of Samsa Trio, and the hieroglyphic electro-jazz of 'Golden Age' - a clear predecessor to the recently reissued opus, 'Buddhas of Golden Light' - this boxset provides many perspectives on one of the unsung heroes of European avant-garde and experimental music. In fine V-O-D tradition, it flings open the gates to a world little known beyond NWW list obsessives and fringe modern labels such as De Stijl or Harmönia, who both tuned us into Pekka's wavelength with the 'Other Power' compilation and Sperm's 'Shh! Heinäsirkat', respectively, in recent-ish years. In chronological order, the set, ahem, evolves from The Sperm's sexually-charged and improvised free-jazz, ranging from the unheard, motorik cuts of 'Music for the Play Sisyfos' (1968) thru to the serene minimalism of 'Pagoda', and the utterly alien detachment of 'Shh!' or his acclaimed 'One Point Music' in 1972. From the same year we also find him in collaboration with Antero Helander & Mattjuhani Koponen in the possessed, head-long loops and vibings of the Samsa Trio LP, whilst the cryptic arabesques in 'Golden Age (Music from the golden era of Egypt)' and pulsating, 17-minute sequencer + sax helix of 'Afrodite' on the closing disc makr the point when The Sperm broke up and he turned to Buddhism in the mid-'70s, prior to buying a Roland 808 and knocking out some of the dopest, freakiest electro-jazz found in 'Other Music' and 'Buddhas of Golden Light'. Incredible material.

5LP Deluxe Box Set (3)