HELSINKI, FINLAND:-

Generation K" the 3rd in the series

Following on with the successes of last years chill out compilations, Finnish Ambient House trio Vassen return with a long awaited third album "Generation K".

They say that music is the drug and in this case Vassen's new sound is definitely Ketamine. Eschewing the current up beat trend in ambient electronica, "Generation K" juxtaposes psychedelic trance stylings with ambient house sensibilities to create a richly layered post-clubbing soundscape. This go easy feel culminates ultimately in the last single on the album "Flatliner", with its ultimate-in-blissed-out 4 beats per minute pace.

"Our challenge was to create something new, to push the envelope with traditionally accepted ambience," said band keyboardist Christian Mikkelson. "As in the title of the album we have always tried to imbue a sense of mood and feeling into the music, so for us the question was just how down tempo can we take our sound?"

The album starts as it means to finish with "K-Hole" a muted piece providing a steady groove with its drifting overlaid synth chords set to a pulsing bass line. The trend in acoustic restraint continues with the second track "Circadian Shift" a dreamy piece imbued with a distinctly Finnish vocal signature whilst holding back entirely on the snare or bass.

4 bpm chill-out anthem "Flatliner"

But ultimately the albums piece de resistance has to be "Flatliner" the albums final track. In what some Ambient House critics have hailed as the "perfect soundtrack for the drugged", the uber-chilled 4 beat per minute Flatliner will doubtlessly become a benchmark for future ambience. The track quickly sets the scene in it's minimalist approach; a lone steady bass beat which forces the listeners attention every 12 seconds.

Despite criticism from some quarters that their Spartan methodology bordered on the absurd, Mikkelson defended the group's approach. "For me the actual tempo is not so important as the songs feeling and message," he said. "It is easy to critique this track for what I would consider its audacity, but ultimately Flatliner forces a degree of acceptance from the listener. You have no choice but to be brought down to it's level. Can we get more blissed from here is now really the question."

"Generation K" available on Unterben Records, March