Belaboris was a Finnish all female group featuring Minna Soisalo on vocals, best known as the lead in Mika Kaurismäki's film Klaani ("The Clan - Tale of the Frogs"). The band moniker is taken from a combination of the names of the two famed horror film actors Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Belaboris was produced by famed Finnish indie producer and punk journalist Miettinen and left behind only a couple of singles released between 1982-1984 featuring, among others, a cover version of the 60's Scandinavian pop hit 'Rakkauden jälkeen' and Serge Gainsbourg's 'Babypop'.
Mad Lindell
Grandmaster Klaus (7")
KRÄKS 138
Kräk
1988
A. Grandmaster Klaus (3:32)
B. Karjala (3:04)
Written by Tommi Lindell.
Links:
N O W _ W E _ A R E _ D E A D
Toronto-based electro artists Solvent and Lowfish have been closely linked since the beginning of their respective careers, due in large part to their co-owned Suction Records label, probably the first, and certainly the weirdest, electro/IDM label to come out of Canada. Both issued their first recordings (via a split Lowfish/Solvent 12" in 1997), and later, debut full-lengths on Suction Records.
The label has remained inactive since 2003; "currently on indefinite hiatus," according to their website (suctionrecords.com). Well, that indefinite status has come to an end. NOW WE ARE DEAD. That's right, Suction Records is now officially done. But, just as they have continued to do since the label unofficially ceased operations in 2003, Solvent and Lowfish are forging ahead, with a slew of new and upcoming releases and activity.
To mark the passing of Suction Records, Solvent and Lowfish embarked on a series of live shows, together with their friends from Detroit, DJ Team Dethlab. The "Now We Are Dead" tour, took place January 19 to February 2 2008, hitting Toronto, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Hamilton, and Cleveland.
"Now We Are Dead" is also the name of a brand-new 4-track Solvent/Lowfish split 12", strictly limited to 400 copies with 2 exclusive tracks each. This will be the final Suction Records release and will be available to purchase directly from Suction Records.
Please note: Suction Records' releases are currently unavailable to purchase anywhere besides directly from us, so please be sure to check out Suction Records' Buy Direct store if you want to purchase any of our releases: http://www.suctionrecords.com. The Suction Records website will remain open, and we will continue to sell Solvent & Lowfish related releases.
S U C T I O N _ R E C O R D S
We are Suction Records, from Canada. We have been releasing our unique brand of synthesizer pop for purists since 1997. We call it robot music.
Suction Records was founded by like-minded robot music composers Lowfish (Gregory de Rocher) and Solvent (Jason Amm). Originally considered part of North America's first wave of intelligent dance music labels (as pioneered by UK labels Warp and Rephlex in the early 1990s), Suction Records has slowly but surely established itself as a strong, singular voice in the electronic music underground. Combining the best elements of vintage electropop and modern electronica, Suction Records has created a distinct musical and visual esthetic that is bold yet fuzzy, confrontational yet playful, robot yet human.
Besides releasing the debut recordings by both Solvent and Lowfish, Suction Records has also put out releases by Skanfrom, GD Luxxe, and the Mitgang Audio. Other contributors to the label (comp tracks, remixes, etc) include: ADULT., Isan, David Kristian, Perspects, Lali Puna, D'Arcangelo, Pluxus, Orgue Electronique, and more.
Underground electronica is currently witnessing a resurgence in '80s-influenced synthpop, but while Suction Records has clearly been at the forefront of synthpop's return to form, we are by no means a retro label. Acclaimed international DJ and Warp recording artist Andrew Weatherall concedes: "Suction, always a byword for quality, ransack the past and create a future that sets standards as far as electro's New Wave is concerned. In an Eighties overkill atmosphere these people are part of the elite commando division against which other units should be judged."
Organ was born when Pekka Tolonen and Seppo Parkkinen's electronic duo Argon — which had already released one of the milestones of Finnish electronic music, Kone kertoo (1981) — was joined by prog-rock bass player Tapani Lahtinen, and Mikko Saarela, previously known as the witty lyricist of popular punk/new wave band Eppu Normaali. In addition to off-the-shelf synthesisers, an important part of their instrumentation was an analogue drum machine called "Zyrgo", built by Tolonen. The year 1982 saw the release of their only album Nekrofiilis (Poko), which is, in retrospect, perhaps the best representative of the short-lived "Futu"(as synthesiser pop was called in Finland at the time) craze. The songs heard on the album were rehearsed in the electronic music studio at the University of Helsinki. The album contains a paean to Regina Linnanheimo, one the most glamorous Finnish film stars from the 1940s; in other songs, Saarela's socially committed lyrics examine topics such as vivisection and aid to developing countries as well as anti-war themes. Parkkinen was also one of the lyricists of their album. Unfortunately, the career of Organ was cut short by the waning of the Futu boom. Representatives of later generations of electronic music have, however, found Organ's music again, and their comeback performance is likely to receive the attention it deserves.
Organ @ Avanto/Äänen Lumo Club in Kuudes linja on Friday, 16 November from 9 pm to 4 am
I was thirty-seven
You were seventeen
You were half my age
The youth I’d never seen
Unlikely people meeting in a dream
Heaven only knows the way it should have been
Here today my tomorrow
Where you lead I will follow
All that kissing
No passion missing
Come live with me
Kiss the boys goodbye
Dinner parties followed
And all my age implies
My friends began to talk
I began to realise
If half the things they say
Are quarter true of me
Then how can I eclipse the youth
You gave to set me free
There was something in your smile
That was hard to reconcile
The time had come to testify to reason
Though years will not erase
Remembrance of those days
At least there’s no submission to heart's treason
Here today my tomorrow
No more shame only sorrow
All that kissing
There’s something missing
Come live with me
Kiss the boys goodbye
Now there’s nothing left to cry for
And there’s nowhere left to go
Just another hopeless fight
But how were we to know
The strong are sometimes wrong
But the weak are never free
The choice we made we can't evade
Don’t try to follow me
Here today my tomorrow
No more pain only sorrow
All that kissing
There’s something missing
Come live with me
Kiss the boys goodbye
Come live with me
Kiss the boys goodbye
-Heaven 17