Author: Eduardo Alonso

{mosimage}Despite
the fact I consider myself a fan of Matti Johannes Koivu’s work both in his
solo career and the band Ultramariini, I am probably not the right person to
review this album. No person whose age is a two-digit number is, since Topsi ja
tohtori Koirasson is an album for children.

Children’s music has often
been criticized – and for a reason – for underestimating it’s audience. That’s
not the case here – it’s actually quite surprising, how much this sounds like
Koivu’s “adult” records. Koivu and his band perform their folk-influenced pop
songs with great passion and care, like they always do. For example, the track
Räksytän could be, at least with a bit different lyric, from one of his other
albums.

What make this suitable
for kids are, indeed, the lyrics and the story, both penned by author Juha
Itkonen, and the album is actually meant to accompany the book he has made with
his wife Maija Itkonen, also entitled Topsi ja tohtori Koirasson. Juha Itkonen
has proved himself to be a very good author with his two novels aimed at the
adult audience, and the story here – about a dog afraid of the sound of buzzing
– is genuinely touching.

The story is told both in
the songs and in the narrative parts, which works very well. Taru Kivinen’s
narration empathizes beautifully the different elements of the story, and the
same goes for the musical parts. Besides Koivu’s band, the album features many
guests, of whom the most interesting must be Jarkko Martikainen in the role of
doctor Koirasson.

There are many reasons why
an adult would like to be a kid again. Topsi ja tohtori Koirasson is certainly
one of them. And any parent looking for children’s music that treats it’s
audience with respect and integrity cannot go wrong with this album.

4/5

{mosimage}Jarkko
Martikainen has maintained surprisingly good quality in his work both in his
band YUP and his solo career. Martikainen’s latest offering, a live album
consisting of songs he’s performing accompanying himself with an acoustic
guitar, is – for the most part – no exception to the rule.

He is one
of the sharpest lyricists in the current Finnish rock scene, and a very good
also at composing songs and performing them on stage. Still, it is somewhat of
a surprise that the acoustic versions of the songs work so well, since one
would think they would need the elaborate arrangements YUP and Martikainen are
famous for.

Live albums, just like
live gigs, are very much about co-operation with the audience and the
performer(s). Hyvää yötä, hyvät ihmiset is, in a refreshing way, very different
from live albums recorded in huge arenas, where you can only hear thousands of
anonymous people screaming. Here, people shout out their comments and wishes
for songs Martikainen should play, and he answers them most usually in a very
funny way. The record is very warm and intimate. People seem to be quite drunk,
but that’s the way it usually is in Finnish rock clubs.

The only drawback of the
album is that after only two solo albums, Martikainen may not have enough of
different songs for a well balanced live album. Muovailuvahaa is a previously
unreleased track, and Elegia is Timo Rautiainen cover (although the lyrics are
penned by Martikainen as well). All the other songs are from Martikainen’s two
solo albums.

This isn’t really the same
thing as seeing Jarkko Martikainen live, but live albums can rarely replace the
real thing. However, as a live album, it is different from the norm in a nice
way, and as a proof that Jarkko Martikainen is one of the most talented Finnish
songwriters, it works rather well.

3/5 

{mosimage}Bruce Springsteen’s new album Magic arrived in stores in the U.S. on Tuesday October 2nd, and Bruce and the E-Street Band kicked off their worldtour on the same day in Hartford, Connecticut (155 km from New York City).

This is the first album by Bruce and the E-Street Band since 2002’s The Rising and their first concert since the band wrapped up their historic run at Shea Stadium in New York four years ago.

The first thing that hits you as you listen to Magic is just how damn catchy the songs on the album are. Springsteen went out of his way this time to write an album with a lot of pop elements, and it shows. From You'll BeComin' Down to Livin’ In The Future, the melodies are infectious. It’s easy to picture yourself driving down the road with the top down, singing along tothe CD, watching the Girls in Their Summer Clothes walk by.

Don’t be fooled, however. A dark and unsettling undercurrent runs justbeneath the surface of this album. Neatly packaged and disguised underneath great pop melodies and hooks are feelings of uncertainty, alienation, and malaise.

Springsteen’s album The Rising dealt with the shared loss and grief felt by an America in the weeks and months following the September 11th attacks. Magic describes an America that, in the last six years since September 11th, 2001, has lost its way. The track Long Walk Home tells the tale of someonewho returns to his hometown and finds that the place he once knew isunrecognizable. The very truths and ideals that he thought were shared by everyone are gone.

The unease becomes more apparent on the title track Magic with its ominous lyrics of trickery. The song, as Springsteen mentioned during theshow in Hartford, deals with the ability of politicians and those in power tomake their own reality. Listening to Last to Die, with its blistering chorusof “Who'll be the last to die for a mistake?”, the allusions to the Iraq War arehard to dismiss.

Tuesday’s concert in Hartford centered on a trilogy of songs that thematically summed up the last six years of American history. The Rising (a song about a NYC firefighter rushing into the Twin Towers on September 11th ) segued to Last to Die which then led into Long Walk Home.

As Bruce yelled to the Hartford crowd “It’s your country, don’t let anyone take it from you”, he finished the show with American Land from his Seeger Sessions album. He reminded us all of what we should be fighting for.

{mosimage}Among all the bands in the current Finnish
music scene, Liekki is quite unlike anybody else. On this album, their fourth,
they combine elements of folk pop, progressive rock and even old school heavy
metal, and spice it up with cryptic lyrics and a somewhat nerdy image. If that
isn’t a unique and interesting concept, I don’t know what is.

Liekki
is pretty much the band of Janne Kuusela, the group’s
singer/guitarist/songwriter, although the rest of the four-piece do a very good
job each on their own field. Kuusela’s songs are full of rural mysticism, and
his lyrics, obscure and poetic, complement them beautifully. His singing and
guitar playing has also improved a lot since the early days of the band.

At
over 75 minutes, Kalliot Leikkaa is definitely too long, but then again, being
reasonable has never been one of the progressive bands’ strengths. As a whole,
one big piece of work, it doesn’t really work as well as it should, but there
are plenty of very good individual songs.

Rating 3/5

{mosimage}Jenni Vartiainen’s main claim to fame is
that she was one of the members Gimmel, a girl trio formed as the result of the
first season of the Popstars show. Like so often with winners of music-based
reality TV contests, Gimmel’s music was catchy and kitchy, but not offering any
moments of real emotion. Yes, thousands of people bought their records, but not
many of these people thought they had lost something when Gimmel, after three
albums, split up.

In
this light, it is a huge surprise that Vartiainen’s debut solo album Ihmisten Edessä (“In Front of People” in English) is not only very good, but also quite
an elegant and stylish effort. Together with producer Jukka Immonen, Vartiainen
makes music that could be described as penthouse melancholy – music that is
very cool, modern and urban on the surface level, but that ultimately is very
emotional and fragile. At times almost ambient, at times on the verge of
trip-hop, but always first and foremost pop, the album still never feels like
someone is trying to water down cool and credible styles of music.

Besides
Vartiainen herself and Immonen, the album’s list of songwriters features such
respected Finnish musicians as Knipi (Egotrippi), Kyösti Salokorpi
(Scandinavian Music Group) and female rapper Mariska. The title track is written
by Teemu Brunila of The Crash fame, and it’s actually better than anything The
Crash have released since their Melodrama album.

Of
course, it is not like anybody is reinventing pop music here, and some of the
songs could use a little more spark in them, but really: Ihmisten Edessä is one
of the most enjoyable (and pleasantly surprising) albums of this autumn.

Rating: 4/5 

{mosimage}After more
than 20 years in the business, The Cult don’t have anything to demonstrate with
their eight album. They have delivered already their top 3 albums and we
shouldn’t expect a masterpiece from them in 2007. However, this does not mean
that they cannot record very good albums. Born into This is a great one.

This new
album is also announced a back-to-basics record for the band of Ian Astbury and
Billy Duffy. Indeed, Born into This is a hard rock album. Nothing less, nothing
more. The experiments of “the goat album” (1994) or the metal sounds of Beyond
Good and Album (2001) are put aside and the band returns to the dirty hard rock
sounds of Electric (1987) and Sonic Temple (1989) with a little bit of the dark
gothic textures of Love (1984). Four-minute songs, guitar riffs

Still, it’s
2007 and fortunately the band does not repeat itself. Always, every new The
Cult album has been different from the previous ones and Born into This is not
an exception. The new songs sound fresh and current, like the single Dirty
Little Rockstar that brings a techno bass line and effects (and a riff similar
to The Rolling Stones’ Undercover of the Night) or Diamonds that uses mild
programming into the mix.

The
production excellent production and it benefits Astbury. Ian really shines and
his voice is strong as usual. Billy Duffy delivers a good amount of typical The
Cult riffs and he even allows himself to rip off the guitar riff of The Who’s
Substitute in Illuminated, which by the way, is one of the best songs of the
set. And of course, the melodies are The Cult 100%.

The only
weak moment is the crooner type of ballad Holy Mountain. It is not an inspired
moment and it breaks the strong rocking pace of the album.

This new
album is also released as a 2-cd edition, named Savage Edition and presented in
a beautiful digipack. The second cd includes two songs not included in the
album, which are outstanding and not leftovers. It also includes the demos of the
songs I Assassin and Sound of Destruction and the extended version of Savages.

Born into
This does not top classic The Cult, but it is worthy and very enjoyable. Recommended.

Rating: 4/5

{mosimage}Although
not as popular as other contemporaries, The Black Crowes have grown up to the
status of a classic rock band. After a 4-year hiatus, brothers Chris and Rich
Robinson got together again in 2005 and offered some of the band’s most
outstanding performances ever. In 2006, besides touring with the Crowes, the
Robinson brothers also offered a few special shows as an acoustic duo .(electric sometimes) The cd / dvd
Brothers of a Feather: Live at the Roxy offers the highlights of a series of
concerts in Los Angeles.

Coming from
artists with a good amount of hits behind, one might expect an unplugged
greatest hits type of album. Not quite right. As a matter of fact, this Live at
the Roxy hardly includes Black Crowes hits or songs. The set is a very
interesting mix of few Black Crowes originals, unreleased songs, b-sides,
covers, songs from the solo albums and even two new songs.

This way the
set remains fresh and new, discovering a new side of the Robinsons’ music. They
dig deep into traditional American folk music. The covers include songs by Gene
Clark (Polly), John Martyn (Over the Hill) or David Wiffin (Driving Wheel), and
a little bit more known are Lowell George’s Roll Um Easy and Bob Dylan’s
Forever Young.

The album
keeps a laid back pace, bringing an intimate and warm feeling. There are not
loud guitar riffs by Rich or screams by Chris, but there’s no need. The music
speaks by itself and it is soulful. Both brothers deliver very good harmonies.
Even the guitarist sings a couple of songs.

If the
rarities and the covers are not enough, the brothers also present two new
songs: Cold Boy Smile and Magic Rooster Blues. These are probably the best
songs both have written together in ten years. There will be a new Black Crowes
album next year. If these new songs can be a hint, one of the best Black Crowes
can be expected.

Brothers of
a Feather is released a in cd/dvd combo. The film brings even a more intimate
feeling. Maybe it’s the bare stage in small theater, with just rack next to the
brothers to places the hat and the coat. Of course, they feel like home on
stage. The dvd includes six more songs. Some of them feature the guest
appearance of sax player Dave Ellis, who adds some nice extra sounds to the
mix. So the female backing vocalists do. They add the extra “black sound” that
The Black Crowes music needs.

Most likely
this set will not sell much, apart of the regular fan base. In spite of their
early success, the Robinson brothers have alienated themselves too much from
wide audiences. However, Brothers of a Feather is a testimony of two of the most talented rock artists to come up in the last
20 years in their most intimate space. Two grown up artists, with many shows behind and a deep love and
knowledge about music. Not just another live album, but a unique collection of songs. Superb.

Rating 5/5 

{mosimage}In 1979,
Black Sabbath fired Ozzy Osbourne and replaced him with Ronnie James Dio. As
the history has proved, this turned to be a very fortunate incident. Ozzy
started a tremendously successful solo career and Black Sabbath revitalized
itself, updating its sound and recording with Dio two studio albums (Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules) that would put the band in the front line of heavy metal
in the eighties.

{sidebar id=30}This year,
this second version of Black Sabbath reunited for the first time in more than
15 years. The Black Sabbath name was put side and Tony Iommi, Dio, Geezer
Butler and Vinny Appice have toured the world under the name of Heaven &
Hell. To testify this tour, the band has released a double cd and a dvd
recorded live in New York earlier this year.

As the
matter of fact, what we found in Heaven & Hell: Live at the Radio City
Music Hall 2007 is a good representation of the two concerts that the band
offered in Finland some months ago in Tampere at the Sauna Open Air and in
Helsinki. The setlist and show are very similar. They bring the best of the
Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules albums, as well as a few songs from the album
Dehumanizer, released in 1992 during the first reunion of this line-up.

As they
showed in Finland, the band is in a good shape and its members they wouldn’t
show its age if not for the images in the dvd. Dio, 63, still has a powerful
voice and is a great frontman. Iommi is an impressive guitar player. Usually
underrated in the lists of guitar heroes, he delivers riff after riff, strong
and heavy. So does bassist Geezer Butler. They are two masters.

The band
plays all the hits of this era of Black Sabbath: Die Young, Children of the
Sea, The Mob Rules, Neon Knights… Excellent, indeed. Although, this new live
album might not bring anything new, it is a great change to revamp these great
songs and show them in a well done dvd. They are old, but they still rock.

Rating: 4/5

Photos by Eduardo Alonso