As with my previous review of Vromb's "Jeux De Terre", this isn't so much a classic review format as it is a retrospective of that first initial exposure to the band via this release, in a part of my life which has greatly influenced my own musical tastes. Much like Vromb, Panasonic went on to being one of my favorite musical outfits and a great influence on me, even though I was never able to remotely even come close to their type(s) of sound save for my 2017 homage album to Mika Vainio (RIP) and two pièces to ReCyClor's second and final album, "Aborted Before Baptism",
It all began on one night in summer in the mid-90s. I was now Spike's second-in-command for his radio show Lunadic Wax on CKUT, on Tuesdays-Wednesdays 2am to 5am. He would cover the first half with more techno and beats while I would soothe and change things up for the second half, with more weird and experimental stuff. I would more often than not take the last buses and métros from the South shore (I still lived there in those days) and arrive at CKUT around midnight or so, and would spend the time either hanging out and listening to Gordon's own show from 00h00am to 2h00am, or prepare my portion of the show, or just loudge around the studios, going through their various libraries of records and CDs (and even tapes).
On this particular night, I was setting up for my portion of the show and Gordon had left me this Strange looking record. At first I thought it was some kind of stereo test record from the electronics company Panasonic, and I asked him about it just before he left. He just said "Listen to it I think you could enjoy it", not divulging any additional info about the contents of the record. I set it aside as I had to do my show, and when 5am came around and the next radio host would come in (ah Donald my man, we had our moments of chilling out didn't we?), I went into a listening booth, dead tired and red-eyes and gave this record a spin. I did not even listen to the whole thing that I knew I had to get this as soon as possible as it trully resonated with me on a level I could not verbally express at the time. And so I went back home (on the South shore), slept a few hours, and upon my wakening, I returned downtown to Montréal and went to a music store (back when we still had record shops!) and found a copy of "Osasto" on vinyl, which I picked up without a moment's hesitation. And from that moment forward, I was hooked, a dedicated fan of the band, and subsequently their solo and side projects!
Panasonic's "Osasto" EP is a very good introductory point to anyone who was not familiar with the band at the time. Released after their debut "Vakio" (when Ilpo and Mika were also with Sami Salo, who left shortly afterwards) and just before the album "Kulma", it offered four distinct pièces which captured the band's sound and would help prepare any one not already versed in their music to what was to come. Opening up with the very representative "Uranokemia", which is essentially a self-evolving piece of basic rhythm and sounds, alongside synthetic noise scrapes. Next up is "Telako", a very repetitive basic rhythm device, complete with fuzz, hums, and a generally dense and thick electronic noise wall. the B side starts off with "Parturi", a welcome change of pace with a softer approach and slightly syncopated/disjointed rhythm structure. We close off the EP with an oddly effective kicker of a track, "Murto" - It almost sounds like it could be a minimal dancefloor killer if any type of club hosting this brand of brutal beats ever existed, evolving into an increasingly intense fuzz wall until at one point someone just stops the beat, and everything return to quiet to hear the sound of the record needle on the grooves of the record. A few years ago I re-purchased this EP on CD format, but kept the record due to it's strong impact on my own musical evolution. As I said, I have been a fan ever since!
It all began on one night in summer in the mid-90s. I was now Spike's second-in-command for his radio show Lunadic Wax on CKUT, on Tuesdays-Wednesdays 2am to 5am. He would cover the first half with more techno and beats while I would soothe and change things up for the second half, with more weird and experimental stuff. I would more often than not take the last buses and métros from the South shore (I still lived there in those days) and arrive at CKUT around midnight or so, and would spend the time either hanging out and listening to Gordon's own show from 00h00am to 2h00am, or prepare my portion of the show, or just loudge around the studios, going through their various libraries of records and CDs (and even tapes).
On this particular night, I was setting up for my portion of the show and Gordon had left me this Strange looking record. At first I thought it was some kind of stereo test record from the electronics company Panasonic, and I asked him about it just before he left. He just said "Listen to it I think you could enjoy it", not divulging any additional info about the contents of the record. I set it aside as I had to do my show, and when 5am came around and the next radio host would come in (ah Donald my man, we had our moments of chilling out didn't we?), I went into a listening booth, dead tired and red-eyes and gave this record a spin. I did not even listen to the whole thing that I knew I had to get this as soon as possible as it trully resonated with me on a level I could not verbally express at the time. And so I went back home (on the South shore), slept a few hours, and upon my wakening, I returned downtown to Montréal and went to a music store (back when we still had record shops!) and found a copy of "Osasto" on vinyl, which I picked up without a moment's hesitation. And from that moment forward, I was hooked, a dedicated fan of the band, and subsequently their solo and side projects!
Panasonic's "Osasto" EP is a very good introductory point to anyone who was not familiar with the band at the time. Released after their debut "Vakio" (when Ilpo and Mika were also with Sami Salo, who left shortly afterwards) and just before the album "Kulma", it offered four distinct pièces which captured the band's sound and would help prepare any one not already versed in their music to what was to come. Opening up with the very representative "Uranokemia", which is essentially a self-evolving piece of basic rhythm and sounds, alongside synthetic noise scrapes. Next up is "Telako", a very repetitive basic rhythm device, complete with fuzz, hums, and a generally dense and thick electronic noise wall. the B side starts off with "Parturi", a welcome change of pace with a softer approach and slightly syncopated/disjointed rhythm structure. We close off the EP with an oddly effective kicker of a track, "Murto" - It almost sounds like it could be a minimal dancefloor killer if any type of club hosting this brand of brutal beats ever existed, evolving into an increasingly intense fuzz wall until at one point someone just stops the beat, and everything return to quiet to hear the sound of the record needle on the grooves of the record. A few years ago I re-purchased this EP on CD format, but kept the record due to it's strong impact on my own musical evolution. As I said, I have been a fan ever since!
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