Sasu Ripatti, born 1976 in Oulu, Finland, has many aliases: Vladislav Delay, Sistol, Conoco and - Luomo.
Sasu's characteristic traits within his music are deep, bubbling synth-bass lines, fractured percussion - often placed freely within the music, long delay repetitions of various sounds, syncopated use of vocal samples, and complicated digital effect processing techniques. An outstanding example is his 2003 release 'Tessio'.
The music of Luomo stretches taut lines between shadowy experimentalism and shining club aspirations of the dancefloor. Full of dark chasms and dangerous sharp edges, the restless experimentation and bitter-tenderness in Luomo’s songs have shattered and reformed expectations of Pop. Tracks like 'Tessio' became the foundation of what was soon known as Microhouse.
But the tropes and vocals made it clear that Sasu is drawing on a wider range of influences: not only Glitch, but also Dub, Trip-Hop, Chicago House, Soul and Disco. Luomo presents each element — icy reverb, stuttering rhythms and brittle synth stabs with crossover Pop appeal that was picked up by major labels.
What makes Luomo different from his other release synonyms, aside from a more overt Pop orientation, is the extensive, sensitive use of vocal samples from a variety of collaborators: all Luomo albums owe much to processed feminine voices, particularly that of Finnish jazz singer Johanna Iivanainen, a vocalist renowned for her timbral and poetic singing. Pensive and polished, rich and sensual, 'The Present Lover', which is the album containing 'Tessio', uses the voice of Johanna Iivanainen, along with that of Antye Greie (AGF), his East German girlfriend.
His creative arrangements have also come to fruition in his fourth Luomo album, 'Convivial' in 2008. It sees Luomo at his most upfront and extrovert, embracing more overt Pop motives than ever, and features vocal collaborations with not only Iivanainen, but a spectrum of artists, ranging from Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, which offers a touch of glam, to Chicago House producer Robert Owens. A new Luomo album is due to be released! :-)
Luomo - Tessio (2003)
Lyrics:
I guess you turn me on,
When you're gone,
For me it didn't go wrong,
we just made another song.
Off getting it alone,
Never asking if for long,
It's just that the world ain't enough,
And it never was for the two of us.
Baby, it's ok.
I guess you made me warm,
When you do the hum,
Making everybody come,
Getting creative with your charm.
I tried to be all yours,
Over line ain't answering your calls,
Don't say it's false,
I'm only following my thoughts.
Baby it's ok,
We'll make it better,
Baby, I, I'll survive,
Without these women in my life.
I step off the train
I'm walkin' down your street again
And pass your door
But you don't live there anymore
It's years since you've been there
And now you've disappeared somewhere
Like outer space
You've found some better place
And I miss you
(Like the deserts miss the rain)
And I miss you
Oh
(Like the deserts miss the rain)
Could you be dead?
You always were two steps ahead
Of ev'ryone
We'd walk behind while you would run
I look up at your house
And I can almost hear you shout, down to me
Where I always used to be
And I miss you
(Like the deserts miss the rain)
And I miss you
(Like the deserts miss the rain)
Back on the train
I ask why did I come again
Can I confess?
I've been hangin' 'round your old address
And the years have proved
To offer nothin' since you moved
You're long gone
But I can't move on
And I miss you
Oh-oh (Like the deserts miss the rain)
And I miss you, yeah
(Like the deserts miss the rain) And I miss you
I step off the train
I'm walkin' down your street again
Pass your door
I guess you don't live there anymore
It's years since you've been there
And now you've disappeared somewhere
Like outer space
You've found some better place
And I miss you
(Like the deserts miss the rain)
And I miss you, yeah
(Like the deserts miss the rain)
And I miss you, and I miss you
(Like the deserts miss the rain)
And I miss you, yeah
(Like the deserts miss the rain)
Deserts miss the rain
(Like the deserts miss the rain) Like the deserts miss the rain
(Like the deserts miss the rain)
There is so much to say about Mylène Jeanne Gautier, a.k.a Mylène Farmer, born in 1961 in Pierrefonds, Quebec, Canada, that it is hard to narrate.
One thing is for sure: after discovering her to fit my musical taste, I would like to thank my friends Gwen, Florence and Laurent for introducing me to more of her work and making possible for me to attend the best live concert I have ever been to.
Mylène has sold more than 25 million records and is among the most successful recording artists of all time in France, so far landing ten #1s, which constitutes a record in the French Charts.
Her parents moved from France in the late 1950s as her father pursued an engineering contract on a dam. The family returned to France when she was eight, settling in the Parisian suburb of Ville d'Avray. At the age of 17 she discovered acting and took a course at a drama school in Paris. Changing her name to Mylène Farmer as a tribute to her idol, 1930s Hollywood actress Frances Farmer, she began to earn a living as a model acting in several TV ads. In 1984, Mylène met Laurent Boutonnat, a young film student, after replying to a newspaper ad for an actress for a small film he was working on. They became friends and forged a creative partnership, writing and producing the music. Boutonnat, whose ambition was to become a film director, was the force behind Mylène’s videos, which, as you will see, often become epic pieces.
Mylène gained fame with songs featuring shocking yet poetic lyrics, and explicit music videos: 'Maman a tort' was about the love of a young girl for her female hospital nurse. 'Pourvu qu'elles soient douces' contains hints of sodomy: the video, set in the 18th century, featured a caning. 'Libertine' is said to feature the first full frontal nudity appearance by a singer on a major music video. 'Que mon cœur lâche' was about love with condoms in the age of AIDS: the video for the song features a scene in which God tells Jesus he will not send him to Earth again because the last time 'it was a disaster'.
By the turn of the decade Farmer was a full-blown superstar in France, but it wasn't until the release of her third album, L'Autre..., and single 'Désenchantée' that she became iconic. The album's lead single, became a phenomenon in French pop music, striking a universal chord with its political lyrics. The song debuted at #12 in France and hit #1 two weeks later, remaining 9 weeks atop of the charts. Following the phenomenal success of 'Désenchantée', Mylène released three more singles from the album: 'Regrets', 'Je t'aime mélancolie' and 'Beyond My Control', the latter having a blood-and-sex-charged video that was banned from airplay. The success of the singles helped its album sell close to 2 million copies in France alone, having achieved Diamond status in 1992. It spent a then-record 20 weeks at #1 of the French charts, as well as topping the chart in Belgium and making top 10 in Canada. It has become Farmer's best selling studio album. On 14 November 1991 a man, who had been stalking her, entered the Polydor Records HQ in Paris and held employees at gunpoint demanding to talk to her. The man had previously written the singer some fan mail, which she did not respond to. He killed a receptionist and committed suicide. Following this occurrence Mylène shunned media attention and left France to live in Los Angeles for a few weeks.
During her time in California, Mylène started to write her fourth album, Anamorphosée, before inviting Laurent Boutonnat over there to reconcile after the bitter incidents of 1994 and to start making music together again. In summer 1996 she embarked on her second, hugely successful, concert tour, which I was lucky enough to see at Paris Bercy, the French equivalent to Wembley. The corresponding live album, is currently the best-selling French live album ever. Mylène Farmer's Discography
You can see I by now have been off sick for a week, can't you..? LOL no, not sick in the head, as you may think and spit right now - to resort to Modern Talking, of all things..., haha.
Seriously though, if this doesn't make you weep for what you have spend you precious pocket money back then, you may at perhaps shed a tear for nostalgic reasons. Those clothes, this hair, those tunes...
Modern Talking 1985
First formed at the end of 1984, Dieter Bohlen and Thomas Anders unexpectedly became immensely popular with their synthpop hit single 'You're My Heart, You're My Soul', with which they occupied the No.1 position in 35 countries including, of course, in Germany, where the single perched at the top for six consecutive weeks. Dieter Bohlen, wary of he was about to hit the world with, wrote the song under the synonym Steve Benson.
The single eventually went on to sell 8 million copies worldwide!
During their two year peak, between 1985 and 1987, Modern Talking were successful in Europe, Asia, South America, Middle East, particularly in Iran, where all Western pop music was banned after the 1979 Islamic revolution. In the United Kingdom they entered the Top5 only once with the song 'Brother Louie'. Like most European pop acts, they were almost unknown in North America, never appearing in the US charts, although they did become one hit wonders in Canada when 'Brother Louie'. They released two albums a year, while also promoting their singles on TV all over Europe, eventually selling a breathtaking 65 million records within three years!
... and better they did, because already in late 1986 people in Germany were getting increasingly fed up with the same old stuff, they started buying their singles only to roll over and destroy them with all kinds of machinery. Clearly Modern Talking had missed the boat on trends in the music industry and the success began to fizzle out. Just look at the slipping peak chart positions with every new single release.
Eventually people started bitching about Thomas Anders' fake perma-tan, his supposed-girlfriend 'Nora' (blimmin'!), which appeared to muscle in ever more into their band business. All this was a welcome reason for Dieter Bohlen to call it all off and make his own way. A bitter, very public and most times sub-intelligent media feud started, mostly to blame on Dieter Bohlen, who persistently and very openly took the mickey (to say the very least) out of Thomas Anders.
After the duo split up in 1987, Dieter formed his own project Blue System and - miraculously - enjoyed several high chart positions with tracks like 'Sorry Little Sarah' and 'My Bed Is Too Big', continuing in his commercial, out-of-touch style.
Thomas went solo and recorded some of his new pop-like material in Los Angeles and London. As a solo artist, he toured in places like Moscow, Sun City, Hong Kong and Santiago de Chile during which time he would sing songs from his pop solo albums, in the meantime keeping his fans satisfied with former Modern Talking material. He recorded five solo albums in English and one album in Spanish. Unsurprisingly, he found more success in foreign countries than at home.
Despite all the quarrels and disagreements that Dieter Bohlen and Thomas Anders experienced between themselves in the past, they began keeping in touch again after Anders moved back to Germany in 1994.
In the beginning of 1998 the duo reunited, and had their first performance together on Germany's biggest TV show 'Wetten, dass..?' They re-started things off with the re-packaged version of their single 'You're My Heart, You're My Soul', though the single no longer sounded like a Europop track, instead it was a typical up-tempo Eurodance number featuring rapper Eric Singleton on the rap vocals. Their first comeback album Back for Good which included four new tracks as well as all of the previous hits redone with modern techniques stayed at number one position in Germany for five consecutive weeks and managed to top the charts in 15 countries, eventually selling 6 million copies worldwide.
Modern Talking 2002
The duo won the award at World Music Awards for being the Best Selling German Band that year.
Bohlen and Anders followed 1980s Modern Talking pattern as they chose to release two singles from each album as in the past. A series of singles and four more albums followed.
After reaching the point where they had already collected over 400 gold and platinum awards worldwide, Modern Talking decided to split up again in 2003, just before the release of another of their album compiled of best-songs. The second break-up seemed to have again been triggered mainly from the negative portrayal of Thomas by Dieter written in his autobiographical book published at the end of 2003.
In the course of all the disputes which eventually drove the duo to its break-up, Bohlen was involved in 'Deutschland sucht den Superstar', the German edition of the UK's Pop Idol.
Modern Talking is considered as the most successful German band ever and with over 120 million albums sold in the top 30 worldwide. Only artists such as ABBA, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones or The Beatles outrank Modern Talking internationally.
Modern Talking - You're My Heart, You're My Soul (1984)
DE#1, AT#1, CH#1, BE#1, POR#1, ISR#1, TRK#1, LEB#1, ES#2, RSA#2, NOR#3, SWE#3, FR#3, NL#6, FIN#8, JPN#15, UK#56
Modern Talking - You Can Win If You Want (1985)
DE#1, AT#1, ISR#1, TRK#1, CH#2, BE#2, NL#7, FR#8, RSA#10, UK#70
Modern Talking - Cher Cheri Lady (1985)
DE#1, AT#1, CH#1, NOR#1, ISR#1, HKG#1, TRK#1, SWE#3, BE#3, NL#8, IT#10, RSA#13, FR#18, JPN#44
