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Albums Music

The Wildhearts – Live in the Studio

{mosimage}Directed by Tim Smith, here you have an unusual live DVD with the English band performing alone in their recording studio. 

Usually when a new live DVD is released, you expect a crowd of fans cheering at the end of every song. In this unusual DVD, that atmosphere is replaced by a more intimate one, with the members of The Wildhearts making black jokes in the best English humor tradition at the end of every track. 

The Wildhearts is a hidden pearl in the worldwide rock scene. Internal problems, the continuous change in their formation and the excessive lack of attention by mainstream media have turned them into a kind of “cult” band with a good bunch of followers in every country, but never breaking the barrier of becoming hugely recognized. What you will find here is just 10 tracks with Ginger leading the steps of the band as usual, and with more acid comments than ever. A musical style difficult to define, drinking from thrash to pop influences. As extra, 2 more videos and the making of Destroy all monsters. No more, no less. The band does not fall in the mistake of trying a therapy in front of the camera and goes to what they know how to do best: to play angrily while sweating and smoking copiously.  

The Wildhearts visited recently Finland playing in Tampere during the Music and Media festival. If you had the chance to feel their power there in Klubi, now you will feel again at home sharing the studio with them! 

Rating 4/5.

 

Related articles:

Interview with Ginger:

http://www.freemagazine.fi/content/view/1002/152/

Categories
Cinema DVD

The Incredible Hulk

{mosimage}Our big and angry green friend is back causing destruction wherever he walks through

Edward Norton is the one chosen to incarnate The Incredible Hulk in this new adventure of our green massive friend, and alas he makes a good job. It seems that this actor was born to carry on with roles twisted and with bi-polar personality.  He is basically the best of a film with some nice touches. The beginning in the favelas of Brasil is certainly entertaining, and the cameo by Rickson Gracie slapping the face of Norton really surprised me gladly! The first half of the film is well done and directed with rhythm and keeping a great pace, although in the end it turns to be a bit predictable, and the final battle against the two monsters could have been more spectacular. Tim Roth is maybe not in his best role here, and looks a bit like a parody of himself, while Liv Tyler and William Hurt are just correct but not brilliant.

Fans of The Hulk will enjoy this, and for the other spectators who want action and not much of a twisted plot, this will work. But it left me a bitter sweet taste, because it had the ingredients to be better but the final product was just “average”.  Lovers of cameos will love this film too counting with another special one unaccredited by Robert Downey Jr. near the end.

Rating 3/5

Categories
Cinema DVD

Iron Man

{mosimage} Robert Downey Jr. faces one of the most important roles in his life as Tony Stark.

There was a big polemic around the choice of Robert Downey Jr. for this role, but finally, after watching this Iron Man, I think most have to agree that he is the right person for the job. His personality as a fallen and reborn Hollywood star matches perfectly with Tony Stark, a rich businessman dedicated to build weapons that will turn into a super hero wrapped in a power suit.  Most of us have grown up following the adventures of the Marvel super hero created by Stan Lee (who of course does his “official” cameo in the film) so there is no much need to explain who Iron man is. Director Jon Favreu takes some licenses from the original comics to identify the story with modern times, but the result is pretty plausible.

You can find together with him, a cast with luxurious names such as Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow and overall the excellent and almost unrecognizable Jeff Bridges. The interaction among the actors is certainly the best of a movie that otherwise, turns to be too much predictable. It was missed a bit of more risk in the script, which does not shine as bright as the suit of our beloved Iron Man. Just another comic adaptation with some good moments, but do not expect big surprises here, apart from the obvious big one of seeing Downey Jr. in this role.

Rating 3/5.

Categories
Antonio's blog Blogs

Hanoi R.I.P.

{mosimage}Hanoi rocks, maybe the most legendary rock band ever born in Finland, announced this week that they will not continue together in 2009, after facing their compromises that will lead them to tour still around Europe and Japan, putting the cherry on top of the cake to their long career at the mythical Tavastia club in Helsinki. The piece of news did not seem much surprising to my eyes. Some months ago they already had some problems with their drummer, and now seems that Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy will continue again walking separated paths. 

I had the pleasure to meet the members of Hanoi Rocks during an interview at Suomelinna fortress in 2007, while they were at the studio preparing their latest album. First we chatted with the Swedish Conny and A.C., having a beer in a terrace. The guys seemed surprised that we were there shooting questions at them, but after a while the conversation was pretty friendly, especially from the side of A.C. Later we entered the studio to chat with Monroe and McCoy. We met them outside, and McCoy was breathing deeply and noisily like if he would be Darth Vader himself. I must recognize I felt a bit nervous about his reactions to our questions, but they turned to be also very nice and friendly. Michael Monroe still seemed to be that naïve child who dreams about being a rock star and McCoy…he is certainly a special guy, when you think he is half slept, he can shock you with a really sharp and intelligent comment. 

We had a couple of surrealistic situations while enjoying some hours with Hanoi Rocks. At some point Andy McCoy played virtuously and unexpectedly a fabulous solo at the piano that got amazed even to the rest of the band members. There were also ironic jokes about the absence of their previous drummer, a clear symptom that something was not working out well there (for remembering him, they had stitched a drawing of his face on one wall of the studio) and it was also very funny to run with the rest of the band not to miss the last ferry that was linking Suomenlinna with Helsinki harbor. We had then another excellent opportunity to take some more pics with them on the deck of the ferry, while small children were surrounding the band looking for an autograph from their idols. I certainly wanted to be journalist to experience those kind of special evenings like the one we had with these legendary rockers. 

Many times we have had interviews with Finnish bands, we were a bit surprised about their lack of glamour; bands that go on stage at international events but seem too shy to share interesting stories with us and the audience. Hanoi Rocks certainly was, is and will be a case apart; certainly one of the few Finnish bands that exhale really glamour and 100% of rock spirit wherever they go. They will be missed! At least I will miss those Spinal Tap moments with them…

Categories
Misc News

Gandhi in Helsinki?

Categories
Cinema DVD

Drillbit Taylor

{mosimage}Being a nerd turns to be a pain in the ass when you start high school and somebody systematically bullies you. Owen Wilson will put a remedy to that!

I am a big fan of Owen Wilson and I had big expectations when I saw the cover of his new DVD: Drillbit Taylor. The role of a naïve homeless on charge of being the personal bodyguard of three funny losers who just started high school seemed to be tailored-size for his comedy sills. In a way Drillbit Wilson offers what you expected, no more no less. Owen Wilson is credible in his role of big child, and the teenagers perform correctly, but the script is not shiny enough. The jokes in general are not so funny and the action is pretty predictable from the beginning to the end. The best parts of the movie are maybe when Owen Wilson is acting as a fake substitute professor at the High School. But the relation among the main characters could have been more strongly built.

Not one of the best comedies recently released. Unless you are a real die-hard fan of Wilson, you will perfectly survive skipping this one.

Rating 2/5.

Categories
Cinema DVD

21

{mosimage}Poker is just like real life. You can bet hard and win… or lose everything. Ben Campbell will see both sides in Las Vegas casinos.

I must admit I have no idea of playing poker, but I love movies about poker. Not long time ago we had the chance to see Eric Bana´s great performance in Lucky You, and now we assist to another little masterpiece with this 21. A group of young and hyper-talented students will try to put the biggest Vegas casinos at stake led by the methodical Kevin Spacey, and Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) will have to carry a double life: a grey and shy student during the scholar week and a successful gambler at weekends.

Sturgess is credible in his performance, mastering a difficult multisided role, while the beauty of Kate Bosworth is a balsam all over the film. They are perfectly supported by two huge Hollywood names such as Laurence Fishburne and Kevin Spacey in brilliant secondary roles.

A good cocktail and an intelligent script make the movie pretty enjoyable from the beginning to the end. There is also space for a couple of small twists that enrich the plot but do not destroy it. Nice title to watch!

Rating 4/5.

Categories
Albums Music

Underwater Sleeping Society – The Dead Vegas

{mosimage}The band from Helsinki is aspiring to be the “indie pop band” of Finland. Will they achieve it? 

Indie pop seems to be living a golden age in Finland parallel to the heavy metal craziness. Underwater Sleeping Society, the band led by Okko Nieminen comes into scene with a fresh new CD full of good ideas. Starting from the artwork of the cover and the CD disc itself, that reminds in the design of an old vinyl disc, and continuing with their catchy bittersweet tunes, mixing happiness and sadness like in Saw You at my Funeral, the danceable Hurry or Worry or the introspective and semi-psychedelic Body Blues. A good effort by the Finnish boys that count with the support of one of the strongest record companies in Finland: Backstage Alliance.

USS will be touring quite extensively during the next couple of months in Finland, so you can have an easy chance to see their performance live. For the moment, they leave a good taste with this The Dead Vegas that surely will find a good bunch of fans easily.  

Rating 4/5.

Categories
Albums Music

Los Bastardos Finlandeses – Return of El Diablo

{mosimage}Those bastards are back! Yes amigos, the Finnish rockers with Spanish soul are back with a fucking good new CD!

I must confess I have always felt a special weakness for Los Bastardos Finlandeses, starting from the fact that they write their band´s name in Spanish and continuing with the fact that they perform a direct and blowing rock that sounds even better on live. Here you have their new piece of music, a very complete album with the familiar southern rock taste and lyrics that flirt with Spanish language in almost every song. Los Bastardos do not transmit the typical cold and melancholic feeling of most Finnish bands at all. Their music has a great palette of colors, it sounds warm and friendly, like a good tequila shot. Listen to the raged guitar riffs of Red Eyed Rock ´n´Roller, Houseful of Hooligans or Return of El Diablo and enjoy the broken voice of El Taff Bastardo.

Another strong point of the album is its great at work, that feels a bit dangerous but viciously close and friendly, just as the band itself.The Finnish Bastards have been able to create a rock album that certainly rocks, something not so easy to achieve nowadays. Larga vida a los Bastardos!

Rating 5/5.

 

Related articles:

Interview with Olli "Don Osmo"

http://www.freemagazine.fi/content/view/829/

Categories
Concerts Music

Mariza – the bewitching diva of destiny

{mosimage} Many countries and cultures have their dark side expressed musically that mirrors people’s sorrow and suffering. USA has its blues and old country, Argentina and Finland their tango, minorities such as some Sámi joiking or women keening at funerals. 

 

Portugal has fado – which as Mariza explained at her Helsinki concert (11 October) at Finlandia Hall means destiny. However, one of her songs Meu Fado Meu does not make it clear if it will be happy or sad, good or bad, or perhaps all and more. It was the ideal setting for anyone who has had sad news such as the untimely death of a recent romance (saudade – see below). This was reflected in the sixth number: Beijo de saudade  recalling a lost lover. Off her latest album, it was sung with Tito Paris, a Cape Verdian, and clearly harks from the West African islands' own form of desperation: the morna.  

Small and slim – she looks much taller due to her slender form and full-length black dress and arm stockings – the only colour is supplied by her hair and narrow hoops of ribbon on the garment. 

Straightaway the first few songs are sad, soul-searing and full of excruciating loss – it isn’t necessary to understand Portuguese to get the meaning as they are all delivered with total intensity, passion and utter involvement. She almost pleads with the audience to share her angst, pain and even tears. The song Tasco de Mouraria, recalls her parents’ bar when she was only five years old and the catalyst to become a singer in the eponymous Lisboa district, had teardrops filling her eyes reminiscing a childhood lost that can be only remembered, but never re-lived. Honestly portrayed and conveyed. 

As the dark clouds gather for a series of inevitably bad conclusions, the lyrics are wrung out in loud notes, long piercing soft monotones or a soulful, lilting voice. This is all combined with facial expressions, serpentine hand gestures and, of course, the eyes that glittered, glistened and glowed according to the situation being sung demanded. 

{mosimage}

A good example was Barco Negro which had a haunting percussion-only backed opening lament, which floats the listener down into the depths of the inner self, before suddenly lightening up in the middle, only to finish with another series of frighteningly worrisome notes and ending with a violent stormy crescendo.  

The backing musicians were all in tandem and equally talented, playing wooden guitars, piano and brass trumpet plus a drummer that used his hands as much as a range of sticks. They all plucked, blew and struck without sheet music – except the horizontal hand-held bassman (viola baixo). However, all was revealed by Mariza later that in fact it was where he kept his watch for some reason! She spoke a lot, mainly in English, introduced the musicians several times illustrating their harmonious rapport and gave short explanations of fado, some songs and about her life and philosophy – sometimes witty, often serious. 

But it was not all pure doom and gloom in a melancholic melodic setting. After the instrumental guitarrida (which the audience was taught to say en masse), the remaining songs became lighter in mood, even joyful at times. The last song, a Mariza favourite Primavera returns to the theme of loss and hopelessness, a Gibraltarian afficionada informs.  

Two encores followed: the first featured the Portuguese and six-string guitarists with herself – but unplugged with all three singing, assumedly, a traditional folk song. It proved that despite their stature, the sound system could have been dispensed with. The third, obviously unplanned, encore after a visible weakening on stage to the audience’s entreaties, was back to routine, but with everyone invited to stand up and dance along. 

{mosimage}By the end, most had realized they had been taken down a path where introspective Finns rarely go willingly – unless led by someone who knows what they are doing. Mariza is an artiste who does not hold back one iota, and as such the on-looker is dragged through a gamut of emotions that ends up with a flickering message of hope – perhaps to recapture that amora perdida or its mere memory. It’s a soul-searching emotion-jangling experience for all concerned. Fado is a darkish genre with a now-bright future with the youthful Mariza as its message-bearer for a long time to come. 

Mariza dos Reis Nunes – vocals

Diogo Clemente – classical guitar

Ângelo Freire – Portuguese guitar

Marino de Freitas – Portuguese bass guitar

Hugo Marques – percussion

Simon Wadsworth – piano, trumpet & synthesiser 

CDs: Fado em Mim (2002); Fado Curvo (2003); Transparente (2005) & Terra (2008). DVDs: Live in London (2005) & Concerto em Lisboa 

Fado can mean destiny or fate and derives from 1820s Portugal. It is mournful, but follows a set pattern and full of saudade – pining for something or someone such as a lost love. It plucks at the heart strings and is not for the weak-hearted or strong-willed. There are two forms: the Lisboã and Coimbra – the latter based round the university that had many Brazilian students and their modinhas songs. Fado always has a Portuguese guitar, but the Coimbra style has male singers only dressed traditionally in academic garb (traje académico). The Lisboã districts of Mouraria and Alfama, Bairro Aalto and Madragoa (bairros típicos) still have their casas de fados where the dimly-lit streets and alleys echo to dark strains of emotional suffering.

 

Categories
Albums Music

Dark Filth Fraternity – Breathe Again

{mosimage}With a very polished American rock sound, Finnish DFF are back with a new studio album that exhales good quality. 

DFF is composed by Panu Wilman on the vocals and guitars, Heikki Iso-Sipilä on the guitars and backing vocals, Henri Rasänen on the bass and Riku Wilman on the drums. I already had a good feeling towards this band when I listened some months ago to their single The Peacemaker, a feeling confirmed by this new album Breathe Again.

Dark Filfth Fraternity sounds powerful, with raw guitar riffs very present all over the album from the first track The Peacemaker, and with great vocal skills by Panu Wilman. It reminds me of some good American bands with a taste of “dessert rock”, like Queens of the Stone Age mixed with some funky flavor like Red Hot Chilly Peppers ´old material. 

For the moment DFF is trying to make a name for touring around Finland, but I really hope that the guys can have opportunities abroad to expand their horizons, because they deserve it with such a good album. Shit, I even love the album art cover, simple but classy! 

Rating 4/5.

Categories
Albums Music

Willie Basse – The Money Grind

{mosimage}After 8 long years since the release of his last studio album, this legendary American musician is back with some good old-school rock. 

Willie Basse is certainly a busy musician on and off stage. Apart from having played with the legendary band Black Sheep (that counted with infamous members like Slash or Paul Gilbert) he also enjoys the technical part of working as sound engineer. Now, Willie is back again on the road and most possibly touring also around Europe in the next few months. What you have here with this Money Grind is a collection of classic rock tunes. Topics like pretty girls, sex, danger life… 

Everything looks back to the good feelings from early 80s in tracks like (Love so) Far Away or Danger Zone: double drums, sharp riff guitars, good vocal skills and nice lyrics, this album is all you can wish about if you are a fan of bands like Aerosmith, Van Halen or Deep Purple. But at the same time, this is also the weak point of the album, Willie does not offer anything new, and we have to take into account that we are already in 2008. Certainly is a great album if you are a lover of that kind of music (as it is my case), but there is still a bunch of great material in the same genre published in all these last decades. It is difficult to make a strong comeback after so many years, and although Willie will continue being considered as a cult name for good old-school rock lovers, it does not seem plausible that a greater success is now going to knock at his door, when was denied in the past.

In any case, not everything is about selling millions of albums, but just to be able to transmit a great feeling with agood doses of rock, something that our old friend Willie achieves once more. 

Rating 3/5.

Categories
Cinema DVD

Ocean Waves (Aaltojen Kuohu)

{mosimage} Directed by one of the most interesting Japanese anime directors, Tomomi Mochizuki, here comes a tender love story between two Japanese teenagers. 

Aaltojen Kuohu was part of the films featured during the past Rakkautta & Anarkiaa festival in Helsinki. If you missed it (or otherwise you specially liked it) in the big screen, now you have an excellent option to review it again in DVD. The film narrates a simple but wonderful story that mostly happens at high school, with two friends, Matsuno and Taku falling in love with a new student coming from Tokyo: Rikako. The female role is quite complex and identifies very well with the hard times of being teenager and new in an unknown city, with a family broken by a divorce. Rikako is not the typical sweet girl, but that makes her even more fascinating, a mix of innocent girl and little devil, the typical figure that just make men lose their head. 

There are not big special effects or high doses of adrenaline exhibited here, like it is usual in many other Japanese animation films. The simplicity of the story is the weakest and the greatest point achieved by Mochizuki at the same time. It brings closer to us the life of Japanese students, their expectations, their efforts to achieve good marks to go to a good University, the rituals of their everyday life, etc.

Maybe for some other viewers the plot can turn to be a bit too simple, but in any case the duration of the movie is just around 1 hour 10 minutes, so there is not much time to feel bored. Not one of my Japanese movies, but not a bad effort though. As a negative last note, I must accuse the Finnish distributors of the same repeated mistake: there are no English subtitles available, so be ready to practice your Finnish skills if you do not understand Japanese fluently… 

Rating 3/5.

 

Categories
Cinema DVD

Bill

{mosimage}Aaron Eckhart is a loser not happy with his current life. Addicted to candies, cheated by his wife… he will find a new meaning to his life with the intervention of a young kid. 

After watching Bill, I still have not decided if I liked the movie or not. There are as many points in favor as against this movie. Aaron Eckhart´s role is certainly good, sometimes even brilliant. He is credible as a man with no personal achievements always running with the flow that the family of his wife imposes him. There are some enjoyable moments and lines in the film, and certainly you do not get bored watching it.  But after half of the movie passed, I thought that the final 20 minutes could have been better developed. The script has some flaws, and maybe the character is not everything you would expect from him.

From my point of view it was a mistake not to develop more the relation between the kid and Jessica Alba, that would have add a nice touch of transgression in the movie. I suppose the American moral does not allow to feature openly a relation between an underage guy and a young beautiful girl in her twenties, but certainly it is some more doses of transgression what is missed in the movie; the reaction of Eckhart when being cheated is not very plausible, neither the happenings after the mini “orgy” in the tent. And Alba’s appearance is pretty wasted here, not adding much to the flow of the action. 

It is a pity that the script was spoiled to give a more politically correct ending to the movie, because certainly this Bill could have turned out to be a little masterpiece. Unfortunately, it finishes as just a good comedy that could have been better. 

Rating 3/5.

Categories
Albums Music

Jann Wilde and the Neon Comets – Neon City Rockers

{mosimage}With such a name for the album I was imaging that Jann Wilde and his band would come from NY. No, these punk rockers are directly from Tampere rock city! 

Jann Wilder is a musician born in Riihimäki who has been around for a few years in the punk-rock scene with his previous band Rose Avenue. I must admit I had not much reference about what to expect before listening to this Neon City Rockers, but I got instantly hooked by the quality of its sound. I must admit that this is probably one of the biggest and nicest surprises about Finnish bands singing in English of 2008 for me. The band has released the album with Hype Records, the same company that works for example with others like Negative, and you can notice that the production has been meticulously taken care of. The album itself is a great collection of soft punk-rock songs; I would highlight some like Baby Said Yeah, Screams at the Ballet or Neon City Rockers. The style is perfect for reaching at a wide audience, from the young female teenagers to the older rockers.

 

I wish the best of luck to Jann Wilde and the Neon Comets, and hopefully they will be able to make a name for themselves step by step with his good punk-glam-rock music. If you are hungry to discover new promising Finnish bands singing in English, this album is for you. 

Rating 5/5.