3RD ERECTION

Mattijuhani Koponen described his intentions with the album as to create "freak-out" music. Most certainly succeeded attempt, and also reaching unique heights of non-commercialism from Finnish musical scene of the time of recording. The title track introduces the sound for which the whole release is practically built on, atonal lo-fi abstractions from voices generated with electric guitar and amplified vocal shrieking with poor recording quality. These tonal elements are assembled as grotesque sculptures on rattling radio signal resembling scenery. "Hero" has more recognizable gonzo-rhythm, and reminds the most ancestral krautrock rites On the B-side of the album, "Pillow" is borne from mechanical raw voices and mechanically treated reciting, and the final "Staffstaff" alienates toward very distant sounds, fast pace rolling faint signals spinning freely on tone of naivistic fanfare. As a whole, a really obscure record, not in my opinion a source for much listening enjoyment, but certainly an avant-gardist statement, which possibly contains timeless qualities of confusion.

Something happened once the floodgates of musical freedom opened when established bands like The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix gave permission to expand the musical boundaries wherever they may lead. Some bands stuck to the pop world with psychedelic frosting on their cake but other bands really went for it with free improvisation taken to unthinkable new arenas. In Canada there was the Nihilist Spasm Band, in the USA was Red Krayola, England had AMM and in far flung places like Finland was THE SPERM. No SPERM isn't a Finnish word for picnic basket or anything of the sort. It's very much the English word. You know the milky liquid your dad squirt into your mama so you could squirm into the world and listen to this stuff. This band was all about true psychedelic freedom and noisy proto-nowave and on their first offering 3RD ERECTION they dropped one of the strangest and noisiest albums in 1968.

This was only an EP and lasted a mere 11 minutes and 24 seconds but it feels much longer as your brain has a hard time comprehending just exactly what in the world is going on. The title track begins with an atonal untuned guitar chaotically strumming with deranged vocals accompanying like a zombie folk song from the grave. This is so whacked out it almost makes me wonder if this sort of stuff was the inspiration for Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" except this has no connection to traditional music whatsoever. It's also made all the weirder by the fuzzy production that makes the whole thing feel like it's happening in another dimension that is only getting partially transmitted to ours. The second track "Hero" is actually half way positioned into some kind of folk song only the guitar is quite erratically strummed and the vocals sound like a 20th century schizoid man tripping on LSD at a candy store or something. "Pillow" has spoken word story about something while random notes jangle on with it. "Staffstaff" is weirder than all the rest combined! It amounts to a bunch of noises like a buzzing sound, and i think some strange guitar abuse techniques but i'm not really sure. It sounds like nightmare music! The vocalist sounds like he's trying to chant. Sounds like a very bizarre ritual.

This is truly some of the weirdest random sounds ever laid to tape and released to the public, at least what i've heard and i've listened to lots of totally out-there music! This is only for the free improvisation and noise lovers out there. Everyone else stay away. If you want this be prepared to shell out over 1000$ USD for it. This is the rarest of the rare and was only released in limited supply once back in 1968 however it has been released on the compilation "Works 1968-1976" and is readily available on YouTube which is good enough for me! Personally i love this kind of stuff. 4 fully erect stars from me ;)