Intrested of music from Finland?

Kimmo Pohjonen is quite extraordinary...

Five Corners Quintet from Finland
http://www.ricky-tick.com/thefivecornersquintet



Saw them in Edinburgh several months ago....
do you know them?

Yep have seen them live also and have both of their 2 published LP's. The Five Corners Quintet is quite popular new group and can recommend them to anyone listening stylish jazz even suitable for dancing However if you liked the FCQ I advice you to check Timo Lassy. His debut album was really great achievement - Big and groove tunes with plenty of nice solos.



Heard also that he is releasing 2nd LP soon. http://www.ricky-tick.com/timolassy

Actually in Finland during the last years there has been somekind resurrection of the local jazz offerings. So plenty of new things to check out on top of the legendary old ones that have been also started to be reissued..

Shogun Kunitoki are excellent.

A mad, pulsing keyboard sound that sounds like a distorted mix of Bo Hansson and Terry Riley.

I recommend both their albums Tasankokaiku and Vinonaamakasio. Hard to type! What do they mean?

Their Myspace site

A second for Kimmo Pohjonen.

Oh, and from the old days Wigwam, Tasavallan Presidentti and Haikara.

Haikara is a legend! Their Debut album is definately one of my favourite proge releases from the finnish scene!



PS: Shogun Kunitoki album names are not actually real finnish but Tasankokaiku could mean e.g. Prairie echo and Vinonaamakasio something like Slanted Face Eightie

I remember seeing a band play in Sydney Australia about 10 years ago called "Trio Toykeat" who were a very good Finnish jazz trio. I bought their cd called "G'day". I must give it another spin soon!
Matt.

Trio Töykeät was together for far more than 10 years and was one of the most popular jazz trios in Finland. Also the most well known internationally I guess.

The "headman" Iiro Rantala is a really talented pianist and has done also some very nice composing work lately. I was really struck by the news that the Trio Töykeät was put permanently on hold after their nice last album.

http://www.rockadillo.fi/triotoykeat/

The Trio had several good albums but in my opinion the best album of Trio Töykeät is Kudos from the year 2000.



Anyways, after Trio Töykeät he formed Iiro Rantala New Trio with Marzi Nyman, one famous jazz guitarist in Finland, and in my knownledge they are doing this just as a sideproject among other things with some 3rd member. A bit newer stuff, not my cup of tea really..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bdSfmYdJ8o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu98HSG4_84

Ever heard of Kingston Wall?

This psych-rock trio inspired by the inventive guitar play of Petri Walli was formed in Helsinki Finland in 1987. After a quick change of drummer, the permanent line-up consisted of Walli on guitar and vocals, new drummer Sami Kuoppamäki and basist Jukka Jylli.

Their influences are noticeably of the LED ZEP/ JIMI HENDRIX kind but they did manage to bring something new to the "stoner rock" sound. Releasing all of their albums on their own label (Trinity), they never really made it big but had a small cult following in Finland and eastern Europe. By the end of 1994, six months after the release of their third album, it seemed they were on the verge of breaking through - their leader Walli committed suicide by jumping off a church tower. That spelled the end for the band.

Their first album is perhaps their rawest whereas "Kingston Wall II", their most accomplished album features broader, more exotic textures, even some acoustic guitar. Also, the instrumental interplay is given freer reign than on the first album, allowing the pieces to stretch out more. It treats the listener to a variety of moods: soaring guitar pieces, quiet violin, LED ZEP like blues and high-octane jamming.



With their third album "Tri-Logy", the band somewhat tried to distance themselves from hard-rock. It still features plenty of acid guitar and orient influences but also includes drum machines; an interesting concept but perhaps not quite as convincing as "KW II".
A word of caution: a fourth CD entitled "Freakout Remixes" was released in 2000. Don't expect to hear KW's fine play here: this is a kind of tribute by various artists who did a techno/trance remix of the band's material.

Even if these are not released on vinyl, please check the band anyway. In my opinion one of the most interesting proge/rock bands in Finlands history. Atleast their second album should appeal to fans of LED ZEPPELIN, PINK FLOYD, JIMI HENDRIX and JEFF BECK.

Here is a brief taste from the youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...O5b4&feature=related

Br Mika K

I have an elpee from 1980 by Juice Leskinen Slam called XV yö (Tauko III) - please click here to sing along to Viidestoista yö from that very record and and please click here for rock n roll n blues n jazz.

Juice released nearly 30 full-length albums and wrote songs for dozens of Finnish artists; he a;so written poetry books and plays. Worth checking out IMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by Gary Shaw:
A second for Kimmo Pohjonen.

And third

Another interesting slab of vinyl is the Mike Oldfield & Sally Oldfield & Pekka Pohjola elpee, which contains music composed by Jussi Pekka Pohjola who died last year. He was a Finnish multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer who played bass in Wigwam and was also a classically trained pianist and violinist.

Side One
1 The Sighted Light
Bass, Piano - Pekka Pohjola, Drums - Vesa Aaltonen, Guitar - George Wadenius, Synthesiser - Wlodek Gulgowski

2. Hands Calming The Water
Bass, Piano, Harpsichord, Synthesiser - Pekka Pohjola, Guitar - Mike Oldfield, Vocals - Sally Oldfield

3. Mathematical Air Display
Bass, Keyboards - Pekka Pohjola, Drums - Pierre Moerlen, Guitar - Mike Oldfield

Side Two
1 & 2. The Consequences Of Indecisions
Bass, Keyboards, Synthesiser - Pekka Pohjola, Guitar, Synthesiser - Mike Oldfield, Percussion - Pierre Moerlen, Drums - Vesa Aaltonen, Guitar - George Wadenius, Piano - Wlodek Gulgowski

3. False Start (1:53)
Bass, Piano, Harpsichord - Pekka Pohjola, Mandolin, Whistle - Mike Oldfield, Vocals - Sally Oldfield

ATB Rotf

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Juice released nearly 30 full-length albums and wrote songs for dozens of Finnish artists; he a;so written poetry books and plays. Worth checking out IMHO.

Juice Leskinen is still really popular artist in Finland and will be for long that is for sure. Many consider some of his lyrics especially from his later era to be one of the most finnish ones ever, reflecting nations mentality very well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...CvX8&feature=related

Many say that it was kind of shame that Juice spent most of his time within music as the poetry and plays etc are also considered to be also brilliant. He had exceptional gift for words.

Juices first band in 70's - Juice Leskinen & Coitus Int - was also known for its quite rough humor, however also those lyrics had already some serious offerings. This performance from 1975 tv-show is quite stunning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffvxwUVwaC8

Recently bought the Manogurgeil album Unirytmeja. Very good - slightly jazzy, rather influenced by the Canterbury sound.

Here's the Myspace site. Not much singing on it. Hairitseva Kaktus (which sounds as though it should mean hairy cactus) is particularly good.

I had a hard time buying it until I found Swamp Music

quote:

Originally posted by Mika K:
[This performance from 1975 tv-show is quite stunning

That's a hell of a hair-do, even for the time!

Yep. And Juice kept the hairstyle till the bitter end as it was really part of him. Bold move I must say.

Btw, I guess that Manogurgeil song is called Häiritsevä kaktus (scandinavian a with the dots) and measn more like disturbing cactus..

Not only "The son of Pekka Pohjola"



Finnish Trumpet player Verneri Pohjola has released a while back his deput album Aurora. The record has some really ambitious jazz including some very peaceful and beautiful tunes. It seems that Verneri is starting really to get some nice subtle grunt to his compositions and this is really supported by his long experience in different Quartets and other projects.
With the record there are some very experienced finnish players and support personnel, that represent the strong young voices in finnish jazz scene.

The album is available cd only.

Please check the Verneri pohjola from myspace http://www.myspace.com/verneripohjola

Long time no news..

So time to make brief update from summer holiday. Have listened lot of music and made also some new findings from the classic takes and also some new ones. More I have listened the CD from Verneri Pohjola, which I wrote in my previous post, the more I have begun to like the record. Thinking of seeing him live next weekend close to my neighbourhood..

Firstborn



As Verneri Pohjola, also Jussi Lehtonen is a young but already quite experienced jazz drummer from Finland. During the years he has been playing in several famous performing and also recording groups. Lately he has released his first album full of nice tunes. Have not yet bought the CD yet but soon will do also that. Atleat some of my friends seem to like it a lot.

Please check the musician out at http://www.myspace.com/jussilehtonen.

Have a nice summer!

Jukka Tolonen - The Legend

Jukka Tolonen is not only Finland's national guitar hero but also one of the world's most respected guitarists. For the past 4 decades, he has captivated audiences through Scandinavia and Europe with his powerful and passionate works. He remains of the the most diverse guitarists of today, being equally proficient in a blues, rock, or fusion jazz environment. I guess he is best known for his career in the bands Tasavallan Presidentti and Wigwam.

I bought last weekend one of his solo LP's from 2nd hand store. His works in LP format are usually fairly expensive so found a good deal.

Even if Jukka Tolonen is one of the greatest guitar players of my time, life has not treaded him gently. He has had a lot of problems in his personal life and has really no other possession than his guitars. Hope everything works out for him.

Please check his webpages out! http://www.jukkatolonen.com/

New release from Viima

Viima (english ~ breeze), progband from Turku has released their second album just recently both in cd and lp formats. The music is really interesting mix of old school prog/modern peaceful and airy melodies. There are some hints also from classic italoprog pieces I think..

The band has gone thru some changes after their praised debut album and seems to be quite strong in its own field. Also recording/mastering quality seems very decent. If you like legendary finnish progbands like Haikara or Piirpauke this might be worth checking out..

Some short pieces of their album available on the bands website http://www.viima.org/levy2.html

Thanks Mika. A lot of interesting posts and I will check out some of the artists you have mentioned.

A few Finnish artists from my collection

Joona Toivanen Trio - Frost Album. A very good piano trio CD.


And then the great Edward Vesala


And Iro Haarla, Edwards wife.

Thanks!

Joona Toivanen is really interesting young talent have to admit and his trio is doing excellent job also when performing live.

Iro Haarla is a new name to me, have to check that out..

CMX - CLOACA MAXIMA

CMX is a finnish rockgroup which started with hardcore-punk in the early eighties. During its impressive career the band has tried several different approaches and mixed them with good results. Usually the band is described as finnish pioneer of progressive rock.
The band has had not so much media coverage but still it has won ten times the title of best group by finnish rockmag Rumba.

One of the most interesting part of the groups style are very clever and sometimes controvercial finnish language lyrics of the band lead character and the basist A. W. Yrjänä. The lyrics has some relationships to the occultism, finnish mythology and other national heritage. A.W Yrjänä also does most of the bands composing work and is also known for his poetry.



CMX has released 12 albums during the years 1990-2007, plus 6 EPs and 3 collection albums. One of the most impressive ones has been Aura, released in 1994, that really made its mark to the finnish rockscene and also finalized the bands change from a punkrock group to its current glory with mellow but still strong presentation. In my opinion also their album Aion from the year 2003 was also one of their greatest albums even if its mood is really dark and hopeless.



The bands latest album Talvikuningas " Winter king" was released in 2007 and was instant hit. Even if CMX fans are used to wait something different and weird stuff, this enormous heavy and hardrockin spaceodyssey really was something new, even somehow a distant cousin to the albums Crimson king.

Please check the bands pages at myspace.com as there you can find pieces from several different albums from CMX career. Even if the lyrics are only in finnish I'm sure that the music can be still found very interesting indeed from the heaviest grunts to the more peaceful presentation..

http://www.myspace.com/cloacamaxima

And here is still link to their videos and presentations in Youtube..

http://www.youtube.com/view_pl...t?p=D694EAFCE11B865A

Cheers,

Mika K

Mokoma or Stam1na anyone?

Now wake up call for those that tend to like hard, heavy and melancholic sounds

As autumn is quite dark period (atleast in here), during the last few days have been listening mostly little heavier stuff like these two considerably young and loud talents, Mokoma and Stam1na.

Many says that the bands are really close to each others. Both of the bands also follow the path set by older finnish bands in same genre as Kotiteollisuus and rely on aggressive guitar riffs and simple musical solutions. However, some of their pieces really have some beautiful lyrical sections with strong moods. Atleast it strikes to mind that has a weak spot for finnish mentality (melancholy I guess). Also both of the bands are really good on stage..

Please check few samples from youtube:



Mokoma - Marras: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...PuFQ&feature=related

Mokoma - Takatalvi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...brWY&feature=related

Mokoma - Nujerra ihminen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...esjo&feature=related



Stam1na - Edessäni: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...2skc&feature=related (brilliant education video of side effects of alcohol)

Stam1na - Paha arkkitehti: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...c_Cc&feature=related



Kotiteollisuus - Minä olen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...Uzx8&feature=related

Kotiteollisuus - Iankaikkinen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...2QEU&feature=related

CMX & Kotiteollisuus - Vapaus johtaa kansaa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...5gsk&feature=related

If you like these then following bands might be worth checking out - Maj Karma, Amorphis, 51Koodia, Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus, Viikate..

Thank you for your postings Mika. Very interesting.

Do you know Finntroll ? (Something like death metal + finnish folk.)