Pekka Airaksinen
Encyclopedia
Pekka Airaksinen is a Finnish
composer of electronic music
.
Airaksinen formed his first band, The Sperm, in the 1960s. The Sperm mixed elements of avant-garde music
with free jazz
and psychedelic
pop. Their concerts featured confrontational performance art
, which resulted in two members being arrested for simulating sexual intercourse and screening pornographic
films.
Following The Sperm's breakup in the early 1970s, Airaksinen turned to Buddhism
and ceased making music. He returned to music in the mid 1980s with his album Buddhas of Golden Light, which mixed free jazz with percussion from a Roland 808 drum machine.
In the 1990s, Airaksinen founded the Dharmakustannus label, on which he released numerous CDs and CD-Rs. The music styles of these releases varies considerable, ranging from new age
, ambient
, house
, jazz
and improvisation.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
composer of electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
.
Airaksinen formed his first band, The Sperm, in the 1960s. The Sperm mixed elements of avant-garde music
Avant-garde music
Avant-garde music is a term used to characterize music which is thought to be ahead of its time, i.e. containing innovative elements or fusing different genres....
with free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
and psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
pop. Their concerts featured confrontational performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
, which resulted in two members being arrested for simulating sexual intercourse and screening pornographic
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
films.
Following The Sperm's breakup in the early 1970s, Airaksinen turned to Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and ceased making music. He returned to music in the mid 1980s with his album Buddhas of Golden Light, which mixed free jazz with percussion from a Roland 808 drum machine.
In the 1990s, Airaksinen founded the Dharmakustannus label, on which he released numerous CDs and CD-Rs. The music styles of these releases varies considerable, ranging from new age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
, ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and improvisation.
Discography
- One Point Music (1972)
- Buddhas of Golden Light (1984)
- Inner Galaxies (1996)
- Madam I'm Adam (album) (2003)
- Mahagood (2007)