Pan Sonic

Pan Sonic formed in 1993, releasing their first 12" was released on Sähkö Recordings. The group was originally called Panasonic but the corporation of the same name threatened legal action and the name was changed. The missing "a" lives on as the title of their 1999 album. Pan Sonic cite their main influences as eighties industrial acts such as Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten and Suicide as well as reggae, hip-hop and dub. Vainio has remarked that their music is a merger of these two schools of music, taking the harsh sounds typical of industrial techno and spacing them out into the longer, subdued soundscapes of reggae and dub. The first EP, Panasonic (Sahko, 1994), was followed by the album Vakio (Blast First, 1995), the EP Osasto (Blast First, 1996), Kulma (Blast First, 1997) and A (Blast First, 1999), further moving towards a colder, dark variety of minimal techno with every release. Vainio is also active with the more minimalist Ø project.