Mika Vainio + Joachim Nordwall – Monstrance
October 8th, 2013According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, in the Roman Catholic Church, a monstrance is “an open or transparent receptacle in which the consecrated Host is exposed for veneration.” Outside of the Roman Catholic Church, Monstrance is a compact disc by Finnish electronic musician Mika Vaino, whose name sounds like a cross between Mickey Mouse and Keiji Haino, and Joachim Nordwall, a like-minded artist whose last name is not to be confused with a small Arctic whale. Kicking off the album with the perfectly titled “Alloy Ceremony,” Joachim grabs his bass and bakes a big ol’ wedding cake in the form of a slow, low-pitched pulse, accompanied by Mika, who slathers on a hefty helping of Sonic Youth-like behind-the-bridge picking and droning feedback guitar icing. Martha Stewart would be proud–even more so if she rocked out to this in JAIL (again).