Die Angel (Ilpo Vaisaenen & Dirk Dresselhaus)

Being a rather die-core fan of Panasonic, it was only natural that I try to keep up with everything the duo of Mika Vainio (RIP) and Ilpo Vaisaenen did on the side, either as collaborations or solo projects. While Mika's output was far more prolific, Ilpo's was very carefully selective. One of his other bands he did in tandem alongside Panasonic (and post) was a project which was originally called Angel, but re-baptised Die Angel a few years ago, a collaboration along side Dirk Dresselhaus and sometimes Hildur Gudnadottir. I managed to score a few of their albums throughout the years through no small feat, as these have limited distribution and are rarely if ever available outside the non-retail market (try finding that at your local Sunrise Records shop!!!)

As a "whole", their third album "Kalmukia" remains my favorite, not just for the great opening track, but for the overall tone of the record which feels a bit less constrained and secluded than others. If you will allow me the expression, it almost sounds as though Die Angel went on a field trip for this one and introduced these "themes" of "openess" in their sound, something their debut album "Angel" seriously lacked.


Released a few months later, the albnum "Hedonism" seems as though it could almost be their "breakthrough" record, if that were in any way possible, due to having generally shorter length tracks, except for the fascinating "Mirrorworld" which clocks just over 20 minutes. It is a great album, one which I highly recommend to anyone as a starting point if you aren't familiar with the project.

(Below) their sixth album from 2011 entitled "26000" is maybe one of their more difficult listens due to the longer pièces (the opener "Before The Rush" and the closer "Paradigm Shift") sometimes dabbling in more intense noise textures. However the remaining three tracks perfectly act out the inner layers of this album's somewhat claustrophic but expanding tone.

Anyway, if you like somewhat intense drone-like experimental atmosphères, not quite electronic and not quite pure noise, you should deffinately give these guys a try. They now have nine albums out there (some are only available on vinyl) also available as downloads (a few selected ones only) so you should be able to enjoy them for yourself!