Vladislav Delay has many names, almost as many as the electronic genres that he has investigated, from time to time, with great skill since the mid-nineties. An explorer who comes from the North, shy, silent and who always moves in search of some kind of new sound, not yet heard, waiting to be found. Some know him as Vladislav Delay, others as Uusitalo, Luomo or Sistol. He prefers to define himself as a "percussionist", because rhythm is the essence of his music even when it is subtle or imperceptible as in ambient or refined and experimental as in broken beat or glitch. He does not disdain house and techno but always manages to take it beyond the narrow confines of the dancefloor thanks to sophisticated arrangements and soulful vocal accompaniments. A floating musician called to collaborate with artists of the caliber of Scissor Sisters, Craig Armstrong, AGF, Black Dice, Massive Attack, Towa Tei and even Ryuichi Sakamoto. The encounter with Aki Kaurismåki’s film promises to be an intriguing event not only because it proposes the meeting of two particularly prolific Finnish artists but also for the sound trajectories that Sasu Ripatti aka Luomo/Vladislav Delay will decide to pursue. Proposed for the first time in Italy, the Delay/Kaurismåki event inaugurated the first edition of Live Soundtracks in Barcelona in the futuristic Hesperia Towers building last October.
I rented a hitman
Aki Kaurismåki, Finland 1990
Troubled by life and destiny, a French employee hires a hitman to kill him. As his time approaches, he regains his will to live. Canceling the contract will present some difficulties... The eclecticism of Aki Kaurismåki, who has become a cult author over the years, is already all in this film with a paradoxical and dazed pace, where noir meets comedy and the thriller can become romantic and ironic. Shot in a leaden London and entrusted to the acting experience of Jean-Pierre Léaud, a great example of grace and rigor. The bizarre tones of the previous Leningrad Cowboys go America give way to a high-class divertissement that digs deep.
