pHinn (a.k.a. Erkki Rautio) of Tampere, Finland is the founder and Webmaster of pHinnWeb, a WWW site dedicated to Finnish electronic music, techno music, avantgarde, experimental music, rave culture and underground culture. pHinn also works as a DJ, occasionally as a freelance writer, is an outsider artist creating surrealism/pop art-influenced collage art, and is alongside Mike Not the member of electro music act Kompleksi where he sings, writes lyrics and music. pHinn's earlier musical project was Club Telex Noise Ensemble in 2001.
pHinn has been one of the founder members and organisers of Tampere's Club Telex (with Mikko "mini" Niemelä of Polytron) and Eclectro Lounge (with Mike Not) nights for electro music and other electronic sounds. He has also a run a small CD-R label called pHinnMilk Recordings (2001-). In 1999 German De:Bug techno magazine featured pHinn in its "E-Mail Legends" series. The City magazine of Tampere chose pHinn in 2001 as "The Best Underground Man of Tampere" and in 2007 Aamulehti chose pHinn as "The Best DJ of Tampere".
pHinn has also written and co-directed, with musician Janne Perttula (Heroin and Your Veins, UltraNoir), a film noir-inspired short movie called Kirje ("The Letter", 2015).
pHinnWeb is a Finnish website that was started in April 1996 by pHinn. Its purpose is to spread information on electronic music, techno music, avantgarde, experimental music and independent music in Finland; of artists, record labels, clubs and so on. The peculiar spelling of pHinnWeb's name is a reference to acid house culture where "f" was often spelled as "ph" or "pH". pHinnWeb is also concerned with underground culture and arts in Finland and around the world. Among some of the non-Finnish artists featured at pHinnWeb one might mention, for example, Chicks on Speed and Jonathan Saul Kane. As part of its activities, pHinnWeb runs an English-language electronic mailing list on Yahoo! Groups.
pHinnMilk Recordings, a small record label publishing CD-Rs, was founded in 2001 in Tampere, Finland as the publishing outlet of pHinnWeb.
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to refer to electronic music generally.
Electronic body music (EBM) is a genre of electronic music that combines elements of industrial music and synth-punk with elements of dance music. It developed in the early 1980s in Western Europe, as an outgrowth of both the punk and the industrial music cultures. It combines sequenced repetitive basslines, programmed dance music rhythms, and mostly undistorted vocals and command-like shouts with confrontational or provocative themes.
Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mills, Kevin Saunderson, Blake Baxter, Drexciya, Mike Banks, James Pennington and Robert Hood. Artists like Terrence Parker and his lead vocalist, Nicole Gregory, set the tone for Detroit's piano techno house sound.
Ambient techno is a subgenre of techno that incorporates the atmospheric textures of ambient music with the rhythmic elements and production of techno. It was pioneered by 1990s electronic artists such as Aphex Twin, Carl Craig, The Orb, The Future Sound of London, the Black Dog, Pete Namlook and Biosphere.
Glitch is a genre of electronic music that emerged in the 1990s which is distinguished by the deliberate use of glitch-based audio media and other sonic artifacts.
Microhouse, buftech or sometimes just minimal, is a subgenre of house music strongly influenced by minimalism and 1990s techno.
The music of Finland can be roughly divided into folk music, classical and contemporary art music, and contemporary popular music.
Electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines, with an immediate origin in early hip hop and funk genres. Records in the genre typically feature heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals; if vocals are present, they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing. It palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie by being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.
Pan Sonic was a Finnish electronic music group founded in Turku in 1993. The group consisted of Mika Vainio, Ilpo Väisänen, and Sami Salo. Salo left in 1996 leaving Pan Sonic a duo. The group was originally named Panasonic until 1998. In December 2009, it was announced that Pan Sonic would disband after their concerts that month. Their final album, Gravitoni, was released by Blast First Petite in May 2010. Oksastus, a live album recorded in 2009, was released in 2014.
Kompleksi is an electro act from Tampere, Finland. It was formed in 2002, consisting of Mike Not and pHinn. Their approach is eclectic, combining influences from electro, electropop, techno music and synthpop to psychedelic and experimental music.
Club Telex Noise Ensemble was a short-lived musical side-project of the Club Telex electro night of Tampere, Finland, combining improvisation and experimental music to electro music and even lounge music. Its members were Mikko "DJ mini" Niemelä, pHinn, Antti Koivumäki and Mikko Ojanen. Also Olli Sotamaa, Kaj Mäkelä and Antti Vuorio participated in Club Telex Noise Ensemble. Club Telex Noise Ensemble did only three live performances between December 2000 and April 2001; one of them as the encore of the gig of Chicks on Speed in Tampere, March 2001. The CDR Just To Disturb You A Little Bit was compiled of these live performances. A remix compilation CTNERMX was based on these tracks, featuring such artists as Kemialliset Ystävät, Legowelt, Kompleksi, Luke Eargoggle, Massaccesi, Tuomas Rantanen and Unidentified Sound Objects. Delta Recordings, a label from London, UK, released a 4-track 12" vinyl sampler of these tracks in early 2004. The second remix compilation, CTNERMX II, is planned for 2006, featuring such artists as Maxx Klaxon.
Tuomas Rantanen from Tampere, Finland is a musician creating hard, monotonous and percussive techno music. Outside music, Tuomas Rantanen is specialized in the philosophy of Martin Heidegger.
Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and festivals. It is generally produced for playback by DJs who create seamless selections of tracks, called a DJ mix, by segueing from one recording to another. EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA. Since its inception EDM has expanded to include a wide range of subgenres.
Mies Mauri Antero Numminen is a Finnish artist who has worked in several different fields of music and culture.
German electronic music is a broad musical genre encompassing specific styles such as Electroclash, trance, krautrock and schranz. It is widely considered to have emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, becoming increasingly popular in subsequent decades. Originally minimalistic style of electronic music developed into psychedelic and prog rock aspects, techno and electronic dance music. Notable artists include Kraftwerk, Can, Tangerine Dream and Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. German electronic music contributed to a global transition of electronic music from underground art to an international phenomenon, with festivals such as Love Parade, Winterworld and MayDay gaining prominence alongside raves and clubs.
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (BPM). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat. Artists may use electronic instruments such as drum machines, sequencers, and synthesizers, as well as digital audio workstations. Drum machines from the 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro instruments are popular.
Norbergfestival is a Scandinavian electronic and experimental music festival held in Norberg, Västmanland, Sweden. The festival was started in 1999 by Michael Østerz Christiansen and Dag Celsing. The event attracts people of different ages and most visitors come from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, UK or Germany
Clubbing is the activity of visiting and gathering socially at nightclubs and festivals. That includes socializing, listening to music, dancing, drinking alcohol and using other recreational drugs. It is often done to hear new music on larger, high-end audio systems than one would usually have in one's home, or for socializing and meeting new people. Clubbing and raves have historically referred to grass-roots organized, anti-establishment and unlicensed all night dance parties, typically featuring electronically produced dance music, such as techno, house, trance and drum and bass.
Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrumentation into their music. Electronic rock acts usually fuse elements from other music styles, including punk rock, industrial rock, hip hop, techno and synth-pop, which has helped spur subgenres such as indietronica, dance-punk and electroclash.