Sperm
Shh !
IND 039 LP
Major public service reissue of this revered and much whispered about experimental oddity that came out of Helsinki in 1970. A major rarity - I've personally only ever seen one copy - it was released on the fascinating / obscure O Records imprint. Sperm - inevitably - appeared on the Nurse With Wound list and it's certainly one of the most perfectly distilled Euro freak/out oddities to occupy such a position. Primarily a cover for the solo experiments of Pekka Airaksinen's, the LP has a deep, lost, mind-expanding feel to it, with luxurious, eerie loops and minimal tape constructs illuminated by distant chorales of guitar feedback and the kind of huge, reverberant use of folk-tinged free saxophones that touches on John Tchicai's experiments in spatial dynamics with his Cadentia Nova Danica. It's a classic oddball side, combing avant garde rigor with a hyper-focused psychedelic minimalism and a nice hands-on atmosphere. De Stijl compare it to Ju Suk Reet Meate's Do Unseen Hands Make You Dumb? but it's not quite as self-consciously crazed as much of the LAFMS stuff. There are aspects of Yoshi Wada, Nurse With Wound and - particularly - Joakim Skogsberg's amazing 1971 side Jola Rota. If oddball non-academic experimental obscurities from the fringes of consensus reality are your 'thing' (and I guess why else do you hang at VT?) then this one is sure to 'do' it. Highly recommended.
~ David Keenan
Volcanic Tongue