Name: Pentti “UMPIO” DASSUM
Nationality: Finnish
On the front line: since ca. late 80’s punk awakening
Activities: Runs NEKOREKORDS. Multi-instrumentalist, focusing on junk metal percussion, self built nonstruments and junkstruments after many years of guitar and bass in several punk rock and experimental bands. Also a self-taught sound engineering and recording enthusiast who has recorded, mixed, and/or mastered over 100 finnish underground releases, and travelled with several bands as a FOH engineer.
Contact: http://www.umpio.com
My ‘date’ receives anonymous 6 compositions picked by me at random. He/She is supposed to discuss their artistic merits, including strengths and weaknesses of applied means of bruitist expression, structure and composing techniques.
1. CONTRASTATE In Absentia
from “English Embers” (Dirter Promotions 1994/1996) CD
This is just annoying. Horrible pastel-colored major seventh chords, painfully
slow pacing, and too much bad reverb, bad flute impro and somebody
shaking their car keys for ritual bells. If this turns out to be some
legendary kvlt artist then he/she/they sure make it impossible for me to
dig it. Argh. Maybe it was more interesting for them than it is for me.
2. MASONNA Untitled
from “Mademoiselle Anne Sanglante Ou Notre Nymphomanie Aureole” (Alchemy Records 1993) CD
Well, MASONNA. Nowadays I wish it was recorded through amps in a room
to avoid the line-in hygiene, but you can only worship the crunchy
moments when it shifts and collapses and crunches like a hippo coming
through the wall. Makes me think also of that Yamatsuka EYE video from
early 90’s where he’s alone with a 58 and a pedal on stage…. Lucas
ABELA is carrying this flag amazingly, mike muncher with fx belt!!
3. CHAOS AS SHELTER Seven Steps Towards The Rainbow
from “Devil’s Brothers” (Ignis Records 2000) CD-R
I like dark ambient stuff a lot, but, as crazy as this sounds, this
has too much reverb again to my values of grumpy old man. As with some
of my own older works, I wish there was some outside ear telling
me/everyone else too to make the ambience on a compositional niveau
instead of turning up the echo fx. The “ahlams” at the end make me think
of MUSLIMGAUZE… Also a twofold blade, cos nowadays i really hate all
this intifada-melancholy (?or whatever “etno”?) element in music, but
sometimes it’s just so necessary to listen to eastern masters like Rabih
Abou-Khalil or Nusrat Fateh Ali-Khan and forget all misery created by
humanity, which is a fuckin lot. Anyway, I like my eastern mystics
separate haha.
4. INCAPACITANTS Peony Crackers Pt. 6
from “Pariah Tapes (Eternal Paralysis Part 2)” (Freak Animal Records 2006) 5 x CD
Guitar noise…. The deepest swamp. Hmm, as a one-take-recording jam
there’s a lot going on, but I would totally recommend taking this piece,
splitting it in half and layering the parts to create wilder dialog, and
make it shorter. Look man, I started with guitar myself, but nowadays
it’s uninteresting for me. Maybe sometime next decade or so, who
knows… But as a display of wierd pedals and fx this is amusing. And
much better to have it like this than the dooooomy metal riff thing. And
what’s with the wierd military episode towards the end? Also, it’s more
fun to see what’s goin on than “just” listen.
5. ILLUSION OF SAFETY Instinct
from “Inside Agitator” (Complacency 1992) CD
Ah this started so well… The dystopian electroacoustix, the
narrative, the choice of sounds, just what the doctor ordered….
Until…. the embarassing EBM/lederhosen episode starts and flushes me
back to remember why I hated “industrial” music for so long. If this
track/album was like the beginning part, then it would be awesome! I
like much more the aspect of music that helps me forget the existence of
human beings than the elements that remind me of it.
6. TAINT Gross Postmortem Mutilation (Extract)
from VA: DUST CLAIMS DUST (Hyde Recordings 1992) cassette
Xlent lofi crumble! Here the repetition/looping is not annoying at
all, cos there is so much destruction and lunacy on top of it. Howlin at
the moooon, reminds me of ETANT DONNES…. this is really tasty stuff
and easily my favorite of the bunch. Dirty and insane disco from hell!!
The Catcher in the Noise 