JS16

Jaakko Salovaara's skittish Finnish house is reminiscent of high-spirited '80s electro and radio trance-pop. Leaving his spot at the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Salovaara debuted with the "Hypnosynthesis" single at 16 and attracted the attention of Tall Paul's Duty Free Recordings with his British Top Five single "Stomping System." In 1998, "Stomp to My Beat," another Top Ten hit, won Dance Track of the Year at the Finnish Dee Jay Awards and Salovaara followed it with a psychedelic jazz side-project Papa Blue as well as the release of his debut LP. But his thin, sometimes gleefully shrill party techno made the biggest impact the following year. In 1999 he received two more nominations and formed his own record label, 16 Inch Records, which quickly eclipsed everything with its debut release, Darude's "Sandstorm." Ubiquitous for over two years at dance clubs across the world, the Salovaara-produced, equally admired and despised trance 12" swelled in popularity every week, earning a platinum certificate and becoming the first Finnish single to reach number three in the U.K. charts. By 2000, the JS16 moniker had released In the Mix, a convenient collection of remixes and favorites, and Darude's anticipated full-length appeared the following year despite a not entirely unexpected river of backlash. ~ Dean Carlson, Rovi