ELECTRONICA

A recent release reviewed

RINNERADIO
Pan
Zen Master/Rockadillo ***

Saxophonist Tapani Rinne has been a key player in Finnish electronica and jazz circles since the late 1980s and every new Rinneradio release sees him and his collective taking surer footsteps on increasingly more experimental terrain. While many acts have attempted mashing techno and jazz together, the results have rarely been pretty to observe and have alienated rather than united audiences. While it's certainly not a new or novel approach, Rinneradio's solution is to find sympathetic sonic links between the two and build on these. Like previous albums, there's a rich, lush variety of sounds out for a stroll, with everything from slinky ambient waves (Helmi) to more galloping, exuberent trance grooves (Alavuk) pushing their way to the fore. While the live Rinneradio experience is becoming more dancefloor-driven, Pan retains likeable quirks and an inquisitive edge. www.rockadillo.fi