1 year gone: MIka Vainio

A year ago today (already!) one of music's most eclectic, original, and stimulating geniuses passed away.. Yeah I know, many people will say that the passing of such greats as Bowie, Lemmy, Prince and such will be more hard-pressed to rub those big-wig names down your nose, and most will never even know about Mika Vainio. Best remembered as one of the founders of the Finnish band Panasonic (who were forced to changed their name to Pan Sonic by the electronics giant conglomerate), he was also incredibly prolific as a solo artists and collaborating with dozens upon dozens of other somewhat similarly minded artists. Perhaps Mika knew that his days were numbered, which is maybe a reason why he was so productive in his years post-Panasonic (they called it quits after a 15+ year run). Anyway, he shall never be forgotten and so sorely missed as his own brand of unique sound exploration simply can not be duplicated I even made an album myself in honour of the man:


https://www.discogs.com/Alexander-Wheill-M-Tapio-V/release/10167492


You can listen to one of the pièces from that album via the souncloud page:


https://soundcloud.com/wreckagerecs/lxw-m-taapiov-1

Just remebered Paul Vincent Raven

Yeah I know, it's sort of out of the blue, and these blues they get to me sometimes (especially when I listen to Killing Joke...)

It's been 10 years already since the passing of Paul Vincent Raven, best remembered as Killing Joke's second bass player, but who also collaborated all over the place with Prong, Mob Research, Murder Inc, and even Ministry to name a few. I discovered Killing Joke during the Raven years (NightTime era to be exact) and he was the main reason why I wanted to play bass. There was something about his sound and his style which was in no way extravagantly exagerated but was unique enough for me to notice above all else. I was sort of "out of it" 10 years ago when he passed and only realized it much later, to much chagrin, obviously. Contrary to what many would have imagined, he apparently was a very generous and loving being, what many would consider to be somewhat of a contrast to what his own outer image would project (or how the general public would perceive). In any case he is indeed sorely missed and I often stop and remember his contributions to the music world as well as how I am now at the age of his passing. He was much too young and shall never be forgotten.