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LP
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UTR 128LP
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Less of Everything. The title of Es's first full-length LP could be interpreted as a manifesto pledge, an outright demand or a purely literal sonic descriptor of the London quartet's glacial form of punk rock music. This tension between intent and interpretation has been a fundamental element of the group's output from their formation. Es is Maria Cecilia Tedemalm (vocals), Katy Cotterell (bass), Tamsin M. Leach (drums), and Flora Watters (keyboards). Their 2016 debut EP, Object Relations, released on influential London punk label La Vida Es Un Mus, was described as 'mutant synth-punk for our dystopian present' (Jess Skolnik, Bandcamp, Pitchfork). The band has since become a vital presence in London's underground DIY music scene, as well as having toured the UK with the Thurston Moore Group in 2017. After a period with members split between Glasgow and London, Es recorded Less of Everything with Lindsay Corstorphine (Sauna Youth, Primitive Parts) in Tottenham in 2019. As in Object Relations, the dynamic between Cotterell's bass and Watters's keyboard is at the heart of Less of Everything's sound: intertwining sub-zero melodies, gothic anarcho-punk influences (think Kukl, Malaria, X-Mal Deutschland) and some kind of entirely unlocatable aquatic component. When combined with Murray Leach's precise drumming, the outcome is original and immediately recognizable. Es are a group who know how to leave space, how to strive for minimalism without sacrificing aggression or dynamism. This dynamic provides the perfect backdrop for Tedemalm's relentless, pointed vocal style. While comparable 'cold' sounding groups might affect an impersonal, safer mode of lyrical or vocal detachment, Tedemalm's strategy is to 'push the lyrics as far as I can thematically until they become absurd -- overly dramatic ... while still being sincere in the feeling they're trying to invoke. I try to apply as much emotion as I can.' The result is something intense but nuanced, confrontational but complex." --Owen Williams, 2020 180 gram, transparent vinyl; edition of 500.
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CD
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FR 064CD
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This is Fonal label-head and filmmaker Sami Sänpäkkilä's fifth solo album under the name Es. Recorded during a 3-year period, it is a mixture of pop and sacred soundscapes with influences varying from contemporary indie-rock to ancient classical music. The name translates to "The Children Of The Summerland," and is an homage to Finnish cult folk legend Pekka Streng's album Kesämaa ("Summerland"), which is one of the artist's favorite Finnish albums ever made. Various quirky instrumentation is used on Kesämaan Lapset; from high-end analog synthesizers and upright pianos to cheap flea market Casios. A few special guests make an appearance on this record, including Laura Laurila (violin), Tuomas Eriksson (Risto) (trombone) and Elissa Määttänen (vocals). On "Ennen Oli Huonommin," squiggling, rapid-fire synth noises battle a chorus of angels against a droning and static-y backdrop. On "Haamut Sun Sydämestä," high-pitched cries ride on top of a melancholy piano line, while what seems like thousands of pitched-shifted orchestras and bleeps multiply and rise atonally. The title track is a stunning, epic drone-piece with chanting vocals in a golden forest of sound: strings and horn lines, sinuous, ethereal synths and organ mantras. Recorded at home in the bedroom and abroad on various travels, Es has crafted a haunting summer album that evokes a strange, nostalgic, visceral response, like gazing at childhood photographs.
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LP
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FR 064LP
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LP version. This is Fonal label-head and filmmaker Sami Sänpäkkilä's fifth solo album under the name Es. Recorded during a 3-year period, it is a mixture of pop and sacred soundscapes with influences varying from contemporary indie-rock to ancient classical music. The name translates to "The Children Of The Summerland," and is an homage to Finnish cult folk legend Pekka Streng's album Kesämaa ("Summerland"), which is one of the artist's favorite Finnish albums ever made. Various quirky instrumentation is used on Kesämaan Lapset; from high-end analog synthesizers and upright pianos to cheap flea market Casios. A few special guests make an appearance on this record, including Laura Laurila (violin), Tuomas Eriksson (Risto) (trombone) and Elissa Määttänen (vocals). On "Ennen Oli Huonommin," squiggling, rapid-fire synth noises battle a chorus of angels against a droning and static-y backdrop. On "Haamut Sun Sydämestä," high-pitched cries ride on top of a melancholy piano line, while what seems like thousands of pitched-shifted orchestras and bleeps multiply and rise atonally. The title track is a stunning, epic drone-piece with chanting vocals in a golden forest of sound: strings and horn lines, sinuous, ethereal synths and organ mantras. Recorded at home in the bedroom and abroad on various travels, Es has crafted a haunting summer album that evokes a strange, nostalgic, visceral response, like gazing at childhood photographs.
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2CD
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FR 052CD
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Originally released as a 2LP by the (K-RAA-K)³ label in 2005, Sateenkaarisuudelma is Fonal label-head Sami Sänpäkkilä's fourth solo album under the name Es. The 2CD release is a trilogy containing three independent parts: "Sateenkaarisuudelma," "Maailmankaari" and "Pianokaari." Sateenkaarisuudelma was conceived from live songs performed on tour with Black Forest/Black Sea's Miriam Goldberg on cello, Jeffrey Alexander on guitar and effects, and Fursaxa's Tara Burke on vocals and keyboard. "Maailmankaari" I and II were recorded at Boston's WMBR radio station. Featuring rushing piano cadences and stabs, the sounds of burbling streams and static, softly chanting vocals, spectral, psychedelic ambience, dark koan/drones and endlessly looped guitar and electronics, this double album is a contemplative journey into a sound quite beyond freak-folk or Finnish quaintness. Other musicians include members of Kemialliset Ystävät, Kiila and Lau Nau.
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CD
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FR 017CD
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2006 repress; new cover artwork and a bonus tracked added ("Suuri Hoyhen" from a K-RAA-K label sampler). The second album from Es aka Sami Sänpäkkilä. On this album, the main source of sound is three turntables bought from flea markets for $10.00 a piece. Those, and a few effects are the only sound sources that have been used. The atmosphere maintains its course of melancholy through these romantic, and at times heartbreaking sound collages. The adjacent loops that you hear begin to create new dimensions and layers of sound. And when you listen to the songs, you can almost hear those forgotten melodies that you have always searched for in your heart. Recognizable (and acknowledged) exemplariness can be heard when thinking of such artists as the loop 'n' scratch artist Philip Jeck and Terry Riley.
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CD
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FR 028CD
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This second print includes a bonus song. Kaikkeuden kauneus ja käsittämättömyys ("The Beauty and Inconceivability of Everythingness") is the third solo album by Sami Sänpäkkilä, released in 2004. Features members of Kemialliset Ystavat and Avarus. As the artist describes, "There are many sources of sound that can be interpreted as music concrete: pulsars and noise culled from my SETI-at-home processes, hammering in the apartment downstairs, C-vitamins wheeze and scissors cutting my hair. I also used many conventional instruments on this album. One of the most important was a piano which is heard on most of the songs. I do not have a piano, so I had to go to my friend's to record all the piano parts." Guest collaboration on this album includes Ville Leinonen, who wrote lyrics to the title track and who sings. The songs on this album explore the same themes heard on the previous two Es records; melancholy, pathos and hope. The overall mood is darker, gloomier and more ominous. The album is self-reflective -- it is about trying to create a better place to live in instead of explicitly judging or criticizing the world. This album is dedicated to the sad, the depressed, the insomniacs, the strayed, the fearful and the lonely.
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