Sähkö Recordings / Finland / RE 2025 / 2LP
Originally released in 2006 and out of print for nearly two decades, Aste captures Mika Vainio reconnecting with his early techno foundations through a series of cold, precise machine-driven tracks that bridge Chicago house influences and Detroit minimalism. Rooted in sessions from 1992–1993, following his time organizing raves across Finland and Russia with the Hyperdelic House collective, the release reflects Vainio’s evolution from raw rave energy toward a refined, hands-on minimal aesthetic that would shape his later works as Ø and with Panasonic. Across cuts like “Spiraalit,” “Siimes,” and “Pakkasherra,” Vainio fuses Detroit pulse, glacial rhythm, and stripped 909 percussion into a unique, physical form of techno that prefigured the minimalist frameworks later pursued by artists such as Richie Hawtin, Terrence Dixon, and Sleeparchive. Reissued after 20 years, Aste stands as both a pivotal document of early ’90s European techno and a defining statement of Vainio’s influence on the sound’s evolution.