Echoing electro’s usual themes and fascinations, this Finnish project apply arch titles such as ‘Real Robots Don’t Die’, ‘Blue Screens’ and ‘Vector Graphics’ and ‘Robots 4 Life’ to their android-friendly machine music. Mr Velcro Fastener is actually a duo, Tatu Metsätähti (b. Finland) and Tatu Peltonen (b. Finland), who first met in school and began collaborating musically in the early 90s. Based in Turku, dubbed Finland’s ‘city of electronic music’, and drawing influence from Sheffield, England (Warp Records) and Detroit, USA (Kenny Larkin, Metroplex), the duo formed Mr Velcro Fastener in 1997. The name was apparently inspired by a high school friend who did not understand the English phrase ‘Velcro fastener’, believing it to be the name of a person. Peltonen and Metsätähti released two EPs on their own Tie Entertainment imprint prior to issuing 1999’s Lucky Bastards Living Up North via the German i220 label (the album was subsequently re-issued two years later on the New York, USA-based Strata label). Peltonen and Metsätähti named their follow-up Otherside because the ambience was darker and more melancholic than the cheery, old school mood of its predecessor. Mr Velcro Fastener notably contributed to Erlend Øye’s Unrest, an album on which the Kings Of Convenience singer collaborated with different electronica projects in different cities. Mr Velcro Fastener’s springy electro transpired to be the perfect accompaniment to the Norwegian’s melancholic vocals. Peltonen and Metsätähti’s music has also been used in the UK drama series Tinsel Town, about a group of Glasgow-based twenty-somethings.