Review: You have to hand it to Finnish musical maverick Jimi Tenor: now over 35 years and more than 25 albums into his career, the man's pretty much a genre all on his own. 'My Mind' first appeared on 1999's 'Organism' long-player, but this new recording - laid down at Philophon's Joy Sound Studios in Ghana, with backing from the 10-piece Rubato Chorus - finds him exploring the musical hinterland between high-life, broken beat and leftfield electronic pop, and is unlikely to disappoint his legions of fans. The accompanying 'Love Is The Language' is an equally hard-to-pigeonhole affair with hints of psychedelia and a singalong chorus.
Journey (That Mistook His Way For A Road) - (7:19) 117 BPM
Jori's House - (5:37) 117 BPM
Smoke & Alcohol - (5:06) 119 BPM
Are We It? (Alone In The Universe) - (7:30) 116 BPM
Review: Here's something to savour: a fresh set of collaborations between old Finnish friends Freestyle Man (AKA Klas-Henrik Linblad, otherwise known as Sasse) and Jimi Tenor, who first worked together in 1997. It's the pair's second joint effort for Studio Barnhus following 2017's unsurprisingly eccentric "Sleepover". First up is "Journey", a deep, off-kilter chunk of groovy house-pop fusion where Tenor reprises his once familiar role as a sleazy, late 20th century lounge singer. It's superb, as is the twinkling, boogie flavoured deep house bliss of "Jori's House" featuring both keys and flute solos from Tenor, while "Smoke & Alcohol" is a sun-kissed, party-friendly chunk of vocal broken beat jazziness. Arguably best of all, though, is the sub-heavy house mysticism of clonk-fired closing cut "Are We It?"
Review: Finish artists Jimi Tenor and Freestyle Man may seem unlikely bedfellows, but both have a reputation for bending musical boundaries and - to coin a clich? of the business world - thinking outside the box. Their previous collaborations for Studio Barnhus were all excellent, and their latest outing, 'Forgotten Planet Awakens', is another gem. A kind of imaginary theme to a future sci-fi B-movie, it layers gentle flute solos, easy listening choral vocals, jaunty TB-303 lines and foreboding orchestration atop a squelchy nu-disco bassline and rolling house drums. On paper it shouldn't work, but it's genuinely great. Ricardo Villalobos remixes, delivering a typically bass-heavy but surprisingly chunky version that makes much of the Finnish duo's interesting musical details.
Review: Here's something to set the pulse racing: a surprise joint EP from experienced Finnish producers Jimi Tenor (still best-known for his eccentric lounge-jazz escapades on Warp) and Klas-Henrik Lindblad (AKA Sasse and, here, Freestyle Man). Tenor's drowsy and distinctive vocals - as well as his fuzzy old synthesizer melodies - come to the fore on the first two tracks, with dusty deep house opener "Power of Love" impressing slightly more than the tongue-in-cheek "Pyjama Party" (which, incidentally, reminded us of Tenor's late '90s material). Elsewhere, Lindblad's love of Metro Area style nu-disco is explored on "Turku Airport", while "Temple of Music" sees jazz-man Tenor layering solos over a slick and sumptuous deep house groove.
My Mind Will Travel (Teen Party edit) - (4:23) 127 BPM
Review: It's a Jimi Tenor single on Philophon. That is everything that should be said. However, to give you a little more context, this is one of our favourite contemporary musicians releasing everyone's favourite contemporary psychedelia. There are few current artists who can do this better than the Finnish don, and what makes it even more wonderful is his affinity to funk even though he has been known to release copious amounts of electronic oddities for imprints like the legendary Sahko! "Quantum Connection" and "My Mind Will Travel" are instant seducers, peppered with Tenor's wild and improvisational vocal style. They are already classics. Don't miss.
Review: Brand new Finnish Sahko action for all you leftfield freaks out there - and nobody can do like these guys! With only a 7" behind them, Soft Focus are already shaping up to be serious contenders in the field; 11 tracks in total and all of the absolutely stunning, ranging from the eastern chimes of "EEG" to more improvisational and field-recording based harmonics of "Polysomnographic" or "Emergence Delirium", Soft Focus bring back the orchestral aspects of brass and string instruments to more experimental territories. "Cauchemard" with its deranged piano keys and background synth-work is another stunner but also tracks like "Hypersomnia" or "Quietus" really shine through in this incredible world of dreamy atmospherics and delicate but bizarre patterns - highly recommended.
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