hälinää

Hälinää is a Finnish music genre that emerged in the 1990s, influenced by elements of techno, ambient, and experimental music. The term "hälinää" roughly translates to "noise music" or "static music" in English.

Characterized by its use of distortion, feedback, and other forms of sonic manipulation, hälinää often features dissonant, chaotic, and unstructured compositions. Hälinää artists typically eschew traditional notions of melody, rhythm, and harmony in favor of more avant-garde sonic explorations.

The hälinää scene is closely associated with the Karelian region in eastern Finland, where many of its practitioners are from. Hälinää music often incorporates elements of traditional Finnish music, as well as influences from European and American avant-garde and experimental music traditions.

Despite its name, hälinää is not merely noise for noise's sake. Rather, it is a highly nuanced and expressive genre that seeks to push the boundaries of what music can be. Hälinää artists often use their music as a critique of modern society, culture, and technology, employing sounds that are both jarring and thought-provoking.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the hälinää scene gained a small but devoted following in Finland and beyond. While it remains a relatively niche genre, hälinää has had a significant influence on the broader experimental music landscape, inspiring a new generation of artists to explore the sonic possibilities of dissonance and chaos.