MAGENTA SKYCODE

Though he is best known to the wider audience as court composer to the girl group PMMP, one of the most popular and widely acclaimed acts in Finland today, the musical past of Jori Sjöroos is lengthy and colourful enough even without his latest successes. His background includes such twists and turns as the mouldy doom metal of Thergothon, the drum'n'bass clatter of Fu-Tourist and the melancholic dream pop of This Empty Flow. It was the last-mentioned that actually inspired the name for Magenta Skycode with their classic EP released in 1995, at around the same time that the idea for this band first came into being. It took some time to simmer, though: Magenta Skycode became a real band and released their first album IIIII over a decade later in 2006.

IIIII sees artsy twee pop growing into Messianic melancholy and dreamy candy floss tapestries with a sense of elegance all too rarely seen. The soundscape, serene and spacious like a rowboat quietly gliding over a Finnish lake through the morning mist of early summer, stays tightly in the band's control also live, as long as they stay true to the slogan printed in the inner sleeve of IIIII: "Please, play this music loud". This is Finnish electric pop at its choicest, with melodies to die for. Do yourself a favour: learn the name and see the band. You will not regret it.

www.magentaskycode.com
myspace.com/magentaskycode

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