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having been an ever-present fixture on the finnish 'demo-scene' throughout the late 1990s, as a member of several noted multimedia collectives such as orange and tpolm, helsinki's esa ruoho has been composing for years before coming to larger attention, firstly with his multiple releases on monotonik and mono211.
these online-only tracks, plus a 100-copy limited-edition CDR released by monotonik, have led to him being signed up by london's record-label focus, headed by ex-clear and rephlex honcho clair. he's already appeared on their sampler EP, released an "Untitled EP" (actually called 'FOC349'), and now just put out his debut 'proper' album, "Container" (FOC350) on CD and LP.
the focus output has already had a great response - andy weatherall (sabres of paradise/ two lone swordsmen) has been heard raving about the single, and UK music bible Muzik gave it 5/5, commenting:"Haunted by the ghosts of prime early Nineties ambient techno (A.R.T./B12), Lackluster crafts the kind of intricate electronic ambience that dances majestically on asteroid belts while you scratch your head and wonder how come such nostalgia sounds so contemporary. Elegiac stuff from Finland."
now also released is FOC354 - the 'R U Oho?' EP, with remixes from Lackluster (the Monotonik-released track '13/10/99'!), brothomStates, Sense, Bauri, and Xhale...
The vinyl/CD visual discography for lackluster tracks is done by esa himself, and you can find it via the lackluster official-site at: http://www.m3rck.net/lackluster
[monotonik/mono211/mono discography - distance/lackluster - v1.0 - 04/00.]
07/97 - 'Infinite EP' ('Grind', 'Messy Accessories', 'Pond') [.mod] [MTKMOD002]
10/97 - 'Denmark EP' ('Buu', 'Have That Cup On A Cap', 'Only My Home', 'PT30 Tribute', 'Tourists') [.mod] [MTKMOD006]
12/97 - 'Klusterpunk EP' ('Ix Pen', 'L.A. Kluster', 'A Walking Simmer', 'Soundscapes 2', 'Yea') [.mod] [MTKMOD010]
03/98 - 'Palettes EP' ('Gummy', 'Thor's Magic Bathtub', 'Why I Am What I Am Like') [.mod] [MTKMOD15]
05/98 - 'Mabo' [.mod] [MTKMOD019]
07/98 - 'Washback EP' ('Another Chappie', 'The Big Screw', 'Mm-hm') [.mod] [MTKMOD023]
02/99 - 'Gobblad' [.mp3] [MTKMP2]
02/99 - 'Starcell U.K' [.mod] [MTKMOD029]
04/99- 'Untitled Bonus Track EP' [.mod] [MONOMOD165]
05/99 - 'Sundial Jam' (with Viinikala) [.mod] [MTKMOD032]
06/99 - 'Bothersome (Mother Mix)' (from "CDR#2" album) [.mp3] [MTKMP6]
06/99 - 'CDR#2' [CDR album limited to 100] [MTKCDR001]
03/00 - '13/10/99' [.mp3] [MTKMP15]
(also try ftp://ftp.scene.org/pub/music/artists/distance for more archived tracks.)
