Description
Long-awaited second pressing of Erkki Kurenniemi’s key recordings and sonic experiments made between 1963–1975.
One of the great unsung pioneers of the electronic age, Erkki Kurenniemi (1941–2017) played a central role in the development of electronic music in Finland. In the early 1960s he founded The University of Helsinki Electronic Music Studio, where the most well known of his electroacoustic recordings were realized.
“Erkki Kurenniemi, a brilliant, eccentric figure – imagine a Finnish hybrid of Stockhausen, Buckminster Fuller and Steve Jobs…” – Simon Reynolds: Retromania – Pop Culture’s Addiction to Its Own Past, (2011).
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Ektro Records proudly presents the pioneer of Finnish electronic and experimental music – Mr. Erkki Kurenniemi. The tracks released here – produced during 1963-1975 – include Kurenniemi’s focal works and previously unreleased raw material composed as solo works – as well as works in collaboration with Kari Hakala, Jukka Ruohomäki, Otto Donner and Eino Ruutsalo.
Kurenniemi’s impulsive attitude towards his art – including electronic music, films, media art, instrument design – is perfectly captured in his composition rules presented as a guide line of the release:
#1 The work has to be completed in a single day
#2 Consecutive sounds must be chosen so that they are totally inconsistent or surprising and have no rational relationship with each other
#3 ..?
Carefully chosen masterpieces are newly digitized from the original master tapes with highest possible sample rate and resolution (192 kHz, 24 bit) to preserve a pristine listening experience. Kurenniemi’s works are now heard first time as genuine as possible for no artificial restoration applied in the remastering process.
Pieces compiled on this double LP and wrapped in the astonishing gatefold cover (350 g) will be out only on vinyl.
