Mika Vainio: FE304 – Magnetite

I take to the stuff on Touch’s roster because I want to hear music – or more appropriately, sounds – that I’ve never heard before. And it’s with Mika Vainio’s FE304 – Magnetite that I get more than I bargained for. On the final track “Elvis’s TV Room”, this half of Pan Sonic gives me artificial tinnitus. Dogs may twitch a little bit, George Martin would think something along the lines of been-there-done-that, but it absolutely gives me the creeps. So does the remainder of the album, titles being variations on the word “Magnetite”; “Magnetia”, “Magnetotactic”, “Magnetosphere” and so on. Part noise deconstruction, part deafening electronics and part deathly silence, FE304 – Magnetite continues Vainio’s reputation as a guy who blurs art and noise to the point of great affectation. It’s not music, but it is deep listening.