RELEASE: Suunta
ARTIST(S): Aki Latvamaki, Levon Zoltar
REMIXERS:
PUBLISHER:
MUSICAL GENRE:
RELEASE DATE: 2022-12-16
DOWNLOAD FORMAT: 774Kbps, LOSSLESS
FILE SIZE: (234.02 MB)
Suunta have 7 TOTAL TRACKS
- Aki Latvamaki – Arp Tetris (07:00) 09B, 130
- Aki Latvamaki, Levon Zoltar – Zz3 feat. Levon Zoltar (05:37) 01B, 125
- Aki Latvamaki – Nanoloop (03:20) 08B, 118
- Aki Latvamaki – Transtech (06:59) 08B, 126
- Aki Latvamaki – Collision Disco (05:28) 05B, 87
- Aki Latvamaki – Baumwolle (06:16) 08A, 91
- Aki Latvamaki – 30mag (08:19) 10B, 128
Total Playtime: 00:42:59 min
Download Suunta in 320 MP3, FLAC, and AIFF
Finnish producer Aki Latvamäki also known as Artificial Latvamäki is not a newcomer to Goldmin as he already appeared on two compilations of the label. Notably with the sensational and distinctive track called “Symphony of a Metropolis” which was one of the true highlights of the Goldmin 5 Years Compilation. Yet we were desperately hoping for a proper album of him one day, checking the very few demos he was sending to us with a lot of curiosity and interest. For those who never heard of the name, Aki has been a quite active producer between 2005 and 2010, releasing on Cocoon, Trapez, Curle, being remixed by Max Cooper and playlisted by Ellen Allien on her Fabric 34 cd mix. Then, not much releases, not much information and it isnt too hard to tell why. That emerging sound that some were calling “neo-trance” and some other “melodic techno”, headed by artists like James Holden, Nathan Fake and Jake Fairley was already coming to an end. Not exactly an end as it developed, became less personal and dozens of artists were starting making a name for themselves, doing more or less of a copy of what the originators of this sound were doing. All these artists who were once gathered by a certain era, a certain sound, and “underground” record labels were making headway. And while some would become big stars like Paul Kalkbrenner and Kollektiv Türmstrasse, sometimes making compromises and polishing their sounds, some others were getting into more experimental suff or disappeared for a while, patiently and discretely crafting a very personal sound… Until they reappeared. Aki might be one of them. Not to say Akis music belonged to that era as his early singles Mänty and It Is Not Now Either were already some kinds of trespassers, aliens in that precise musical era but it makes sense to contextuallize a little bit and show where electronic music was at that time when he started releasing records. Aki disappeared for few years too, but only from this front line as the Oulu-born artist is involved on many other ones, developing video games and doing unique field recordings through another band for example. All these fields are inspiring and probably not too distant from making electronic music, that is true. But it is also true that Aki’s one love for electronic music remained untouched and untouchable. Labels, press, promoters, and the overall scene is something you can be tired of, but music in itself is something else. We all know that playing the right track at the right time in the right place, might it be on speakers, headphone, phone is something that has nothing to do with how a scene works and evolves. It is a personal, temporary and short lived thing. This is why even if we can hear a lot of things in Aki’s music (who doesn’t believe a landscape and the place where an artist lives could be shaping his sound by the way), influences from the early and golden melodic techno day (Baumwolle’s lush pads), as well as influences from metal and acoustic play (Transtech drums!), perhaps even from video games soundtracks (Nanoloop and Collision Disco), from the close-to-north-pole area of Oulu where these tracks were made? Perhaps, perhaps… What remains certain is that wherever the influences and inspiration come from, Aki is a lifelong dedicated artist with a unique metallic and cold sound. Someone who will rather put a track in the trash that putting out something he doesn’t 100%% approve. And if he hasn’t released dozens of records since 2010, it isn’t due to a lack of passion or to some sort of idleness but rather to a persistent and stubborn requirement. Some artists are brilliant tracks factories and some other are also brilliantly picky, brilliant for releasing only the quintessential. No doubt Aki is among them and that is hearable throughout the 6 tracks of this mini-album called “Suunta”, in finnish: indication of the point toward which an object is moving, more globally direction. How not to forget all about influences and where they might come from and how not to be impressed first by Arp Tetris? Without any doubt the most straightforward bluff of electronic music history, an agressive and hyperfunky layering of lush northern light like synth lines, all on top an an undertone metallic sub-bass, driven perfectly during two and half minutes until a break… Press play, be surprised. It might not be necessary to describe all tracks these way knowing how Latvamäki’s tracks are expressive, visual, material, touchable. They can go well without it. In a way, each track is genre-defining and Aki’s music is to electronic music what rare earth is to ground. And so if his music was hardly classifiable back then, it is still today. And if trends come and go, if a new musical genre can quickly collapse into a catch-all musical totebag, an artist’s unique vision will remain steady and strong through the years. That’s why Aki never had to get rid of his old sound, nor ever had to renew it, because it was there from the start. This Suunta tracks might feel more detailed, they may sound like they have more depth and breadth than his early ones, yet his whole discography seems to be conducted by a guiding principle, something like an unstoppable appeal for the uncommon and the scarce, more than a specific genre. Using all instruments as tone colours or raw material, the artist never fails at finding them a new function, a new usage, a new position. Drums replacing synths, synths replacing drums and an anarchic drum solo replacing the boring and overused drops, climax and progressions in electronic music these days. Aki is a master at that, might it be an hyperactive electro-track or an organic deep techno ballad like “Baumwolle”, he is always transposing difficulties and trumping the constraints, making techno not only a functional music for clubs but a full member medium of expression, capable of sarcasm, irony and rebellion and so all throughout a fragile and precarious melody. Has Aki escaped from this scene? That’s all for the best, as he as also escaped from all these easy, prefabricated structures and schemas. And somehow, we should all be thankfull to the mainstream scene for making a few brave heroes walk their own way.//
