Vladislav Delay

Working under his primary handle of Vladislav Delay and many other pseudonyms, Sasu Ripatti has created a wealth of warm and lustrous house and dub tracks, chilly and austere experimental music, and many more releases that fit in between those two extremes in temperature. Born in Oulu, Finland, in 1976, Ripatti developed a keen awareness of rhythm, space, and texture during his youth studying percussion and immersing himself in his parents’ collection of jazz and classical music. His first full-length release as Vladislav Delay, 1999’s Ele, charted one of the many directions he would pursue over his career with its innovative fusion of dub, dance music, and minimal techno. Among the other sounds he explored on later albums are the chic and sumptuous house grooves he creates as Luomo and the more abstract yet still rigorous compositions that fill Vladislav Delay releases such as 2020’s Rakka. For his fascinating forays into avant-garde jazz and experimental music, Ripatti’s collaborators have included Moritz von Oswald and Antye Greie-Ripatti, a.k.a. AGF, his wife and fellow sculptor of sound.