Sounds like silakka!
(Dimitri Paile, Rolling Stone)
When I sit down by the only analog FM radio receiver in the office, I have no idea what to expect from Shinji Kanki’s new radio show that was recommended to me last week by a friend. Kanki hosts a half-hour slot on the Finnish Lähiradio station (Helsinki, 100.3 MHz) on Wednesdays at 5 pm.
There’s an obvious conflict between my listening gear and what I’m hearing on the air; works by Kanki’s students in experimental sound at Kuvataideakatemia (Finnish Academy of Fine Arts) dominate the program. The old stereo with poor reception hints that radio listening trends may be at a turning point in history. As the analogue, semi-tuned FM hiss challenges my listening experience, the sound pieces I’m hearing in turn seem to challenge not only me, but also the equipment I’m using. I am of course referring to the form of the medium, not the actual sound system.
The show holds a nice blend of more easily approachable works, some with humorous elements. These compositions balance out the more challenging pieces. One unconventional composition in particular, which was played on the show Wed 15th, caught my fascination. “1s4C” by Olli Piippo features a female voice, processed slowly over five minutes. It’s a single note composition, apart from the very first note sung, which immediately falls one semitone lower, where it stays for the rest of the piece. A couple of minutes into the composition I was wondering whether it wouldn’t end soon, and by the end of the piece I was almost sad it did not go on for a while longer. My memory of the vocal opening of the piece had spun across the meditative one-note, a peculiar combination slowly putting me in an almost trance-like state.
Shinji Kanki has indeed chosen a nice way of presenting music of his choice, and the works of his students. Thanks to Kanki’s relaxed hosting, this small, modest radio show feels very intimate, and easily makes the listener feel as if each piece of music is special (which, indeed, it is) and therefore must be presented, just like an intriguing person, directly to the individual listener.
If you’re interested in hearing how some of today’s aspiring sound artists challenge themselves, and if you also enjoy modern humour-oriented compositions, be sure to check out SExSEx – Silakka Experimental Sound Expression. And why not check out some other works made by Kanki’s students? The last link below will take you to a website with a few very nice pieces of experimental sound art, including 1s4C!
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“Sounds like silakka!”
(Alex Jones, Kerrang!)
Get ready for a Kerrang! exclusive! We can exclusively reveal that Shinji Kanki has a new radio programme, showcasing experimental music from both local sound artists and artists from abroad – and you read it HERE first! We’ve had the EXCLUSIVE opportunity to review the show exclusively on its maiden broadcast here in Helsinki. Although this listening experience may be a bit different than, say, Kerrang! staples Aiden or Funeral For A Friend, don’t worry! No need to figure out a new wardrobe to go with this cutting edge new sound; it’s still esoteric enough to mope about to whilst wearing a black zip up hoodie with “Revenge” written across the back. You can even continue to wear your swoopy hairdo and black eyeliner!
The show’s feet-wetting broadcast (covered exclusively by Kerrang!) included material from Kuva Academy students, which was aptly arty! We here at Kerrang! don’t know how they do it; maybe it’s something in the paint fumes!
Broadcasting from a top secret Helsinki location, we’re running an exclusive contest where 2 lucky winners will win a visit to the studio to experience next week’s broadcast IN PERSON* if they can answer the following question correctly:
“What is Shinji’s favorite type of cheese?”
Take your best guess, and you could have a shot at experiencing the thrill of next week’s LIVE studio broadcast!!!*
All in all, Shinji’s new show exclusive Kerrang! rating??
“K!K!K!K!K!”
Five out of five “K!”s!!!! YEAH!!!
Stay tuned for our next issue, including EXCLUSIVE interviews with Bonded By Blood, In Flames, and Gojira, reviews of Aiden’s recent sellout show at Islington Academy in London, and a special MP3 download code for an EXCLUSIVE sampler containing new tracks from Forever The Sickest Kids, Breed/Extinction, and more!!!
PLUS!!!! A free, EXCLUSIVE pull-out poster of Valle Valio of HIM!!!
Don’t miss it!!!!
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“sounds like silakka” (Samy Kramer , wire)
Tuning in Lähiradio 100.3 MHz Helsinki at exactly 5 pm on Wednesdays,
oops I…, where are we , tuned in the program ” seXseX ”
Yes thats radio, with all the flickers and noise waves and whistling transistors,
everything else than crystal clear on my little FM receiver but with a charming leading voice,
just cosy, listening to a live broadcast of Shinji Kanki presenting sound works
of Students of the Laboratory of Fine Arts Helsinki.
Its a great oppurtunity to be able to listen to a program dedicated to sound far from the daily commercial brainwash, so why not have an ear massage with a rather distinct noise piece by “pilvari pirtola” aka “noisfe”, which could be positioned between works of “Scanner” and “B. Eno”, or a piece that lets you hold your breath and explore the acoustics of your living room with an oscillating layered voice loop by “Olli Piippo”.
Another rather humoristic approach with a mixture of “Wendy Carlos” hyper classic esthetic and the speech synth of your neighbors Atari lets you dive into every days phone queue pain, a piece by “Pilveri Peltola”, until you are on the line and released to silence.
End of the program? Cut the line?
More !!
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“Sounds like silakka!”
(Martti Mela, Q)
Shinji Kanki is a Japanese composer and teacher in Kuvataideakatemia (Finnish Academy of Fine Arts). Kanki runs a weekly programme on Wednesdays in Lähiradio (100,3 MHz) called SExSEx (SILAKKA Experimental Sound Expression). Today the listeners are exposed to music made by Kanki’s students of Experimental Music & Sound Art classes in Kuvataideakatemia. Aroused by the show title I swallow some Cialis and tune in for the effect.
The show starts with something that turns out to be Finnish folk music. Due to the lack of an antenna I’ve wired myself as such but unfortunately I still miss both the track name and the composer. As a capital punishment I listen to Ballade pour Adeline by Richard Clayderman for an hour.
But behold! Just before the pill starts to kick in Kanki shifts to groove and surprises his listeners with some complex single note tunes by Olli Piippo. If it wasn’t for me I’d say Piippo should also experiment with some other keys of his keyboard.
Finally, when I start to be ready for a different study, we hear a work by Lauri Vuorio called Brandenburg. Brandenburg is a montage of a speech synthesizer and Wendy Carlos’ adaptation of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto. About a year ago, the text read by the synthesized female voice was chosen as the best joke ever. As a suggestion for Vuorio, he might also want to try out some Kraftwerk with Goethe and familiarize his audience with The Sorrows of Young Werther.
All in all Shinji Kanki delivers his taste in experimental music with a deliberate bias towards post-postmodernism where questions like “is this it?” or “do I need to eat this, mommy?” are futile. Instead, the listeners are supposed consider if the piece suggests “that faith, trust, dialogue, performance or sincerity can work to transcend postmodern irony” (see Wikipedia). The audience feels stupefied and asks, “why didn’t I take the blue pill?”.
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