Disco Ensemble is a Finnish

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has be ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

band, originating from the small town of Ulvila. They have been noted for their energetic sound and rhythm, original guitar riffs and electronic synthesizer sounds.

History

Early years (1996–2002)

The band was formed in 1996 by guitarist Jussi Ylikoski and drummer Mikko Hakila, who started by playing Metallica and AC/DC covers. Originally they were named simply ''DisCo.'' but they were forced to change their name to Disco Ensemble due to a Finnish electronic pop group having the same title. The band played small venues and quickly gained notoriety in the local music scene. In 2000, future singer Miikka Koivisto attended one of their shows as a fan and later joined the band, first as a guitarist and later switching to vocals. After the three band members moved to study in Helsinki, they went through a number of bass players until Lasse Lindfors joined the group as a permanent member. The band released their first EP ''Memory Three Sec'' in 2000. This was a

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

recording and it did not receive much attention. More notoriety came with their second effort ''Ghosttown Effect'', released in 2001. The band's first single "Turpentine", was released off this EP.

''Viper Ethics'' (2003–2005)

In 2003, Fullsteam Records signed Disco Ensemble and their first full-length album, '' Viper Ethics'' was released the same year. The album received critical acclaim and the single "Videotapes" was moderately successful, peaking at No. 17 on Finnish charts. This allowed the band to tour in Finland and around Europe as well.

''First Aid Kit'' (2005)

Disco Ensemble's second album, ''

First Aid Kit A first aid kit or medical kit is a collection of supplies and equipment used to give immediate medical treatment, primarily to treat injuries and other mild or moderate medical conditions. There is a wide variation in the contents of first aid ...

'' was released in 2005. It was unquestionably the band's most commercially successful release. The album peaked at No. 9 on the official Finnish chart. The singles "Black Euro" and "We Might Fall Apart" both peaked at No. 6 on the singles chart. In the spring of 2006, following the national success of the second album, Disco Ensemble and Fullsteam Records signed a worldwide distribution deal with

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and it ...

. ''First Aid Kit'' was reissued and released first in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and later in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

and

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. The band toured heavily in promotion of the album. They embarked on the Antidote Tour with

Danko Jones Danko Jones is a Canadian hard rock trio from Toronto. The band consists of Danko Jones (vocals/guitar), John 'JC' Calabrese (bass), and Rich Knox (drums).Bedouin Soundclash Bedouin Soundclash is a Canadian band based in Toronto and consisting of vocalist and guitarist Jay Malinowski, bass player Eon Sinclair and drummer Chuck Treece. Their sound has been described as a combination of reggae and ska. Bedouin Soundc ...

and Gogol Bordello They also played on

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's Most Wanted tour and in 2007 joined the

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. Songs from this album appeared on the soundtracks of two

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games—"We Might Fall Apart" was used on the game '' FIFA 08'', while "This is my Head Exploding" was used on ''

NHL 08 ''NHL 08'' is a video game released on September 11, 2007 in North America; the Xbox 360 version was supposed to be released on the same date as the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 versions, but was postponed for a day due to s ...

''. The song "Black Euro" was used on the game '' MotoGP '08''

''Magic Recoveries'' (2008)

Their third studio album '' Magic Recoveries'' was released on 5 May 2008. The band have since reached number 1 in the Finnish Album chart with their new album. EP ''Back On The MF Street'' was released in spring 2009. The song ''Golden Years'' from the EP was used in the video game ''

NHL 10 ''NHL 10'' is a video game in the NHL series developed and released by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts, and is the 19th game in the series. The game debuted at Hockey Fest '09, a three-day interactive festival celebrating the sport ...

''.

''The Island of Disco Ensemble'' (2010)

Their fourth studio album '' The Island of Disco Ensemble'' was released on May, 26th 2010. First single from the album ''White Flag For Peace'' was released and aired in the Finnish radio channel

YleX YleX (formerly known as YLEX) is one of the major radio stations of the Finnish Broadcasting Company ( Yle) featuring pop music and cultural programming. The station started as Radiomafia, and name changed to YleX in 2003. Programming targets the ...

on 15 February 2010.

''Warriors'' (2012)

Disco Ensemble announced the release of an album in 2012. The song "Your Shadow" was released ahead of the album in March. On August 20 the first single "Second Soul" premiered on YleX Radio. On August 21, the band revealed that the album was entitled ''Warriors'', with the album being released on September 21. "Second Soul" was then officially released on August 22.

''Afterlife (2017) and Farewell tour''

Disco Ensemble released their sixth album "Afterlife" on January 27, 2017, again through Fullsteam records. Their final tour, named the Last Nights Out – The Farewell Tour, was from 25 October 2018 to 8 December 2018. The final 9 dates of the tour were held at the Tavastia Klubi in Helsinki, Finland.

Gallery

Image:Jussi_Ylikoski,_Disco_Ensemble,_Bochum_2007.jpg, Jussi Ylikoski -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

Image:Lasse_Lindfors,_Disco_Ensemble,_Bochum_2007.jpg, Lasse Lindfors -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

Image:Miikka_Koivisto,_Disco_Ensemble,_Bochum_2007.jpg, Miikka Koivisto-

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production ...

, DJ

Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mu ...

Image:Mikko_Hakila,_Disco_Ensemble,_Bochum_2007.jpg, Mikko Hakila -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Discography

Albums

* '' Viper Ethics'' (2003) * ''

'' (2005) * '' Magic Recoveries'' (2008) * '' The Island of Disco Ensemble (2010)'' * '' Warriors'' (2012) * ''Afterlife'' (2017)

EPs

* ''Memory Three Sec.'' (2000) * ''Ghosttown Effect'' (2001) * ''Back On the MF Street'' (2009)

Singles

* ''Turpentine'' (2002) * ''Transatlantic'' (2002) * ''Mantra'' (2003) * ''Videotapes'' (2004) * ''We Might Fall Apart'' (2005) * ''Black Euro'' (2005) * ''Drop Dead, Casanova'' (2006) * '' Bad Luck Charm'' (2008) * ''Headphones'' (2008) * ''Back On The MF Street'' (2009) * ''Lefty'' (2010) * ''White Flag For Peace'' (2010) * ''Protector'' (2010) * ''Second Soul'' (2012) * ''Fight Forever'' (2017)

DVDs

* ''Video Vortex'' (2008)

References

External links

Disco Ensemble Official Site
at Rocklouder
Interview with Jussi Ylikoski
at Onemetal {{Authority control Finnish musical groups Post-hardcore groups Musical groups established in 1996