by John Bush
A Helsinki producer whose clicks + cuts style of ambience makes for easy comparison to countrymates Pan sonic, Vladislav Delay (real name: Sasu Ripatti) has recorded excellent work for three of Europes most challenging electronic labels: Chain Reaction, Mille Plateaux, and Thomas Brinkmanns Max.Ernst. He grew up trained in jazz and still counts Philly Joe Jones — the fiery drummer for the first Miles Davis Quintet — one of his prime influences. Also before entering the world of electronics, Delay took side trips through the music of the globe (Brazilian, Cuban, African). After a few failed experiments with fusing electronics in a band environment, he began producing on his own and grew to love the mid-90s developments by German labels Chain Reaction, A-Musik, Mille Plateaux, and others. After a series of experimentations during 1996-1997 (later released, as by Conoco, on the Kemikoski full-length), his first release was The Kind of Blue EP, released in 1998 on his Huume label. During 1999, Delay released singles on Max.Ernst and Chain Reaction, leading to his album debut, Ele, on the Australian label Sigma Editions. In early 2000, two more full-lengths followed; first, Chain Reaction released Multila, then Entain appeared on Mille Plateaux. Before the end of the year, Delay had debuted a housier incarnation, Luomo, with the Vocalcity LP for Forcetracks. Anima (2001), Demo(n) Tracks (2004), The Four Quarters (2005), and Whistleblower (2007) followed.