Mika Vainio – Life (… it eats you up)
To be honest Mika Vainio and Pan Sonic always had a big spot in my heart. From the raw and minimal works such as “A” or “Vakio” to the abstract and multileveled material of his last solo works such as “Black Telephone of Matter” – the releases always absolutely fascinated me. There was such an intense world to discover, as if they made electricity audible.
“Life (… it eats you up) is a little different. It’s the first time that he uses a guitar as the primary sound source. Although it is still a typical Mika Vainio record with its grungy edges and huge distorted rooms, there is something quite different with the album. It feels like a reminiscence to 70s and early 80s noise and industrial music. Not that this references wasn’t always there with Pan Sonic and Mika Vainio – but this time it is even more obvious. This is one piece of a noisy, muddy and thick record. It’s like Metal Machine Music meets early SPK meets Glenn Branca meets …
Guitar noises clank against each other, heavy drum(-machine) patterns stoically marching forward, abrasive distortion reeks its ugly head. At the same time, there’s this great sense for space and pace: The way Vainio works with (close to) silence passages is just amazing. There are no more words needed from me side.
Seriously –this is essential.
