Jori Hulkkonen feat. John Foxx - Dislocated

(F-Communications/Creative Vibes)

Given Finnish techno / house producer Jori Hulkkonen’s penchant for all things synthpop and New Romantic-tinged, it seems only inevitable that he eventually collaborate with one of the early eighties scene’s leading lights, namely John Foxx; former synth player and original vocalist for UK band Ultravox. This third single to be lifted from Hulkkonen’s recently-released ‘Dualizm’ album sees the Finnish producer fusing dramatic synth orchestration and New Romantic influences with Foxx’s dark atmospheric vocal delivery to create a distinctly gothy electro-house hybrid that occupies similar territory to the likes of Blackstrobe and The Hacker.

In it’s original album form, ‘Dislocated’ slowly unfurls from epic synthesised strings that call to mind some meeting point between Depeche Mode and A Clockwork Orange’s starkly clinical all-synthesised film score, before punching electro-house beats and icy synth chords begin to wrap themselves around Foxx’s eerie, almost whispered vocals – the entire track recalling in its icy synthesised grandeur exactly the sort of thing that could have stepped straight off the Mode’s classic ‘Black Celebration’, albeit something informed by the ghostly stylistic traces of both electroclash and European EBM.

Fellow Finnish producer Jussi Pekka’s fantastic ‘Pointed On A Map’ remix strips back some of the epic synths in favour of a dubby tech-house approach, with shimmering dub-delayed textures giving way to precisely-programmed jacking house snares and burbling analogue synth-bass, and with subtle robotic-sounding processing applied to it, Foxx’s eerily-disembodied vocal sounds more appropriate than perhaps even on the original – ‘dislocated’, indeed. ‘Pajatso’ (previously available only on the limted double-vinyl version of ‘Dualizm’) meanwhile steps away from the moody New Romantic atmospheres in favour of a deep Detroit-tinged voyage through lithe tech-house rhythms and shimmering Transmat-esque synths; and though it’s certainly more than a little indebted to the likes of May’s classic ‘Strings Of Life’, it’s certainly a gorgeously uplifting counterpoint to some of the previous tracks’ brooding darkness. An excellent single release from Hulkkonen that also showcases one of ‘Dualizm’s strongest New Wave-tinged moments, complete with a cracker of a remix on board – nice.

Check out http://www.fcom.fr and http://www.jorihulkkonen.com.

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