Finnish Electronic Music – A brief checklist

Finnish Electronic Music – A brief checklist



This page will be updated later.

Finnish synthesizers

In the 1960s and early 1970s Erkki Kurenniemi (1941-2017) designed and built such instruments as DIMI, DICO, Sähkökvartetti (the Electric Quartet), etc.

Otherwise Finnish composers, musicians and producers utilised mostly imported US and European hardware, such as MiniMoog, Korg’s synths, etc. One of the Finnish synth pioneers was the musician Esa Kotilainen who imported his first MiniMoog from Germany in the early 1970s. Before that, the use of musique concrète type of spliced tapes and manipulating the sounds of simple oscillators or traditional instruments through a mixing desk were a typical production technique for the early Finnish electronic composers when synthesizers were not available yet.

Composers and musicians (also avantgarde/experimental) 1950s – 1980s


  • Pekka Airaksinen (also as a member of The Sperm)
  • Åke Andersson
  • Paavo Heininen
  • Antero Honkanen
  • Bengt Johansson
  • Reijo Jyrkiäinen
  • Esa Kotilainen
  • Erkki Kurenniemi (e.g. Sähkökvartetti)
  • Osmo Lindeman
  • J.O. Mallander
  • Einojuhani Rautavaara
  • Herman Rechberger
  • Otto Romanowski
  • Jukka Ruohomäki
  • Kaija Saariaho
  • Erkki Salmenhaara
  • Jarmo Sermilä
  • Martti Vuorenjuuri


    Studios:


  • Yleisradion Kokeilustudio (Finnish Radio's Experimental Studio)
  • Helsingin Yliopiston Musiikkitieteen Laitoksen Studio (The Electronic Music Studio at Helsinki University Music Department)
  • Osmo Lindeman Kotistudio (Osmo Lindeman's private studio)
  • EMSin Tietokonemusiikin studio Tukholmassa (EMS Computer Music Studio in Stockholm)


    Synthpop/Electronic pop/Experimental (late 1970s/early 1980s) – Bands and solo artists


  • Aavikon Kone ja Moottori
  • Advanced Art
  • Argon / Organ
  • Stressi
  • Jimi Sumén
  • Jimi Tenor and His Shamans
  • Tapa Paha Tapa

    More info


    Also several chart acts or mainstream rock bands not mentioned here who utilized synths and disco sounds, etc., but were not actual electronic acts.


    1990s and onwards

  • Jori Hulkkonen
  • Mono Junk (a.k.a. Kim Rapatti and Dum Records label)
  • Pan sonic (Mika Vainio and Ilpo Väisänen – also solo works – see also: Sähkö Recordings)
  • Vladislav Delay (a.k.a. Sasu Ripatti)


    … and too many others to mention. See: Finnish electronic musicians @ Wikipedia


    1960s – 1980s:


    There aren't many full-length documentaries on Finnish electronic music. There are some interviews at YouTube, usually brief, and rarely anything with English subtitles. One exception, though, is Tulevaisuus ei ole entisensä/The Future Is Not What It Used To Be (2002, 52 min, 35 mm) by director Mika Taanila, a documentary film on Erkki Kurenniemi. Also, Konesielu/Machine Soul (2015, 65 min) by director Tero Vuorinen is an account of Finnish electronic dance music in general. (Unfortunately, no info on the international availability at the moment).


    YouTube links (Eng subs = videos with English subtitles)


    Erkki Kurenniemi


  • The Future Is Not What It Used To Be TRAILER (Eng subs, 2002)
  • Erkki Kurenniemi: "I register everything with a manic precision" (Eng subs, 2002)
  • Electronics in the World of Tomorrow (1964)
  • Erkki Kurenniemi’s Andromatic demonstrated by Jari Suominen (2022)


    Esa Kotilainen


  • Esa Kotilainen @ Tuubi, TV1 (1979)
  • Esa Kotilainen ja Suomen ensimmäinen minimoog: Freddie Are you Ready -teemaa syksyllä 2018 (2018)
  • Esa Kotilainen - Space Improvisation｜Inkoo Sessions (2020)
  • Kahvitauko Esa Kotilaisen kanssa (2022)

    Otto Romanowski

  • Syntetisaattorin demonstraatio/Synthesizer demonstration (1980s)


    Finnish Techno Music Scene


  • Machine Soul: A documentary film about Finnish electronic dance music – Trailer (Eng subs, 2015)
  • Kontula Electronic Festival 2016

    Suomen rave-kulttuurin historia/History of Finnish rave culture @ Bassoradio - Playlist (2012)


    Produced by pHinnWeb (on the scene in Tampere, Finland):

  • Joonas Toivonen, Swäg ry. (2018)
  • Kone-Suomi (2018)
  • Amuri Tekno (Eng subs, 2024)

    Record releases:


  • Various Artists - "Suomalaista Elektroakustista Musiikkia, Finnish Electro-Acoustic Music" [CP 217] (1978)

    • Kommentit

    Lähetä kommentti

    Tämän blogin suosituimmat tekstit

    Club Telex (Tampere, Finland)

    Kuva
    There’s Bonus Beats , a new compilation from Cold Blow Records that brings up quite an onslaught of memories for me. Inspired by this collection of rare tracks of Finnish electro, I decided to write a bit about what it meant personally for me, back in the day. This is not any exhaustive report of the millennial Finnish electro scene (I hope to write something more about it in the future, though), but a sort of text about our own personal contribution to it all, here where we live. Be forewarned, though: it's not purely about electro but also some other things that all bore the indistinct name "underground". Namely, it's of those times when we had our own Club Telex at Tampere’s Yo-Talo (Student Union House), and also hanging out as punters (sometimes also as guest DJs) at the electro parties in Helsinki (remember Helsinki Turbo ?) and Turku. Some of the dramatis personae (not in any order of preference): Rikos Records (the defunct cult label from Jyvä...
    Lue lisää

    J Saul Kane (1967 - 2024)

    Kuva
    The news just came in today that J Saul Kane , the pioneering British breakbeat/electro musician known for such projects as Depth Charge and the Octagon Man, has passed on. He was only 57 years old. [ J Saul Kane tribute by Carl Lorben @ DJ Magazine, 19 November 2024 ] [ Mixmag ] [ Music Week ] [ NME ] [ The Quietus ] [ Resident Advisor ] [ Tribute by Akio Nagase ] I was briefly in touch with him years ago when I kept for my own Website a sort of fanpage of his music and also the record labels, DC Recordings and Electron Industries, that he maintained. (I can’t say I knew him well, but I remember “Nutters but good nutters” was how he commented on the page.) J Saul Kane biography Jonathan Saul Kane was born on the 26th of January, 1967. He came of age in the era when the first wave of hip hop culture was just sweeping across the Atlantic from its original birthplace most historians now locate to Bronx, New York City, USA. It reached also Powis Square in the Notting Hill...
    Lue lisää

    Space: 1999 and other Gerry & Sylvia Anderson productions on Finnish TV

    Kuva
    Updated 23 August 2022 Space: 1999 and other Gerry and Sylvia Anderson productions on Finnish TV The Finnish debut of the Year One of Space: 1999 took place in July 1976. In Finland the series got the title "Avaruusasema Alfa" ("Space Station Alpha"). (The episodes were subtitled in Finnish, as in Finland only children's cartoons are dubbed in local language.) This was not the first Anderson production seen in Finland, though. Gerry Anderson's puppet series Supercar launched as early as 1963 on Tesvisio (also known as TES-TV) and Tamvisio. Both were early Finnish TV channels which were merged to Yleisradio (Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE) in 1964 and became YLE TV2 in March 1965. Stingray was the next TV production by the Andersons that had its run in Finland, as part of Mainos-TV's spring 1965 schedule. The Finnish title of the show was "Kapteeni Myrsky" (translates as "Captain Tempest"). The first episode of Thun...
    Lue lisää