“There's absolute freedom here to do what you think is right,” explains Vladislav Delay, referring to his home on Hailuoto, a speck of an island off Finland's northern coast, in the frigid Gulf of Bothnia. “There's no scene to bother me,” he adds, “or to remind me of the mostly negative aspects of the music business.” Delay has always been a maverick artist. But after relocating to Hailuoto in 2008, what he calls “absolute freedom” has become the de facto muse guiding his music. On 2009's Tummaa, Delay cracked open ambient dub's hermetically sealed aesthetic and ushered in elements of jazz-fusion, free improv and industrial noise. Tummaa is dark, restless and challenging. It's also a stepping stone, one that leads directly to Vladislav Delay Quartet, the musician's most radical statement to date. Though this absolute freedom is inextricably linked to the relative isolation of his Finnish home, Delay's latest record is very much a product of collective participation and multiple locales. In Derek Shirley, Lucio Capece and Mika Vainio, Delay has found three musicians more than willing to translate such a nonnegotiable concept into sound. A balance is reached between individuality and the demands of the unit. “This ensemble,” says Shirley, “functions as four individual and strong voices meeting together in the middle.” Vladislav Delay – Drums, Percussion Finnish-born Sasu Ripatti operates under a host of notable aliases: Sistol, Luomo, Uusitalo and, of course, Vladislav Delay. Since the late 1990s, he has established himself as one of electronic music's most inquisitive producers and musicians. With roots in jazz drumming, Ripatti has spent the last several years developing his unique percussion work, which can also be heard in the Moritz Von Oswald Trio. Lucio Capece – Saxophone, Bass Clarinet Over the last decade Lucio Capece has been a tireless innovator in that nebulous border crossing between free improv, modern jazz and electronic music. Born in Argentina, Capece studied classical guitar before settling on saxophone and bass clarinet. Among his ever-expanding discography is the 2009 Editions Mego release Trahnie, a collection of recordings with fellow VDQ participant Mika Vainio. Derek Shirley – Double Bass After studying jazz bass at Montreal's McGill University Faculty of Music, Derek Shirley relocated to Berlin in 2001. He has explored free improv and noise as a member of the ensembles Hotelgäste, Michael Thieke Unununium, Coal Oven and others. His recorded output can be found on numerous labels, including Schraum, Charhizma and Improvised Music From Japan. Mika Vainio – Electronics, Live Processing Mika Vanio is a giant of modern electronic exploration. The overlapping landscapes of drone, ambient music, noise, techno, minimalism and industrial would look radically different without the Finnish musician and producer's contributions. In addition to co-founding the influential, and now defunct, duo Pan Sonic, he has created music under a list of guises, among them Philus, Tekonivel.
