{mosimage}Debut album by the band from Oulu leaded by Jarkko Somero.
Coming from northern Oulu, Noheva lets the coldness aside and introduce us a more than recommendable warm debut album. With Jarkko Somero in the vocals, Jarno Nyman in the guitar, Mika Heiskanen as bassist and Arto Ek as drummer, Pikatie offers a good dosis of rock and roll and good stories in Finnish languages for those eager to listen to honest music. As the good wines that must be tasted step by step. The beginning of the album is quite calm with Panttilainaamossa, but when advancing in the tracklist, the guitar riffs acquire a bigger dimension and Somero starts to unveil some good vocal skills in front of the micro in songs like Kaipaan Sua, the catchy Miksen mä mee or the track that puts an excellent end to the album, the homonymous Pikatie.
Songwriting, as it is traditional with the Finnish bands, is of an excellent quality. Songs about problems and feelings that soon or later we all have passed through. The melancholic Finnish spirit mixed with a warm feeling, with some compositions that could transport you into past summer days and old missed friendships; Pikatie reminds us that there is always a path to follow and the one Noheva has chosen is the correct one. Great work from the Oululaiset!
Rating 4/5
{mosimage}Third album for the Finnish Shamrain. Quite an unknown band that deserves better luck due to the high quality of their compositions.
Apart from heavy metal bands, the Finnish market has received a flood of bands trying to imitate with better or worse luck the brit-pop mainsteam groups, especially because of the action of one of the most popular independent music brands in the country. In the overwhelmed market of pop-rock Finnish bands singing in English, it is a fresh and unusual experience to find a band like Shamrain.
Maybe it is because of that “melancholic touch” that all good Finnish band must have to succeed, maybe the inspiration of the lyrics written mostly by bassist Matti Reinola and guitarist Kalle Pyyhtinen, or just due to the transparent voice of Mika Tauriainen (who is also the lead singer in Entwine, where he can explode harder registers). Clear influences from bands like Placebo or Radiohead, a very high level composition and songwriting in tracks like Shallow Delusion or Evangeline, with a Tauriainen that just for some seconds can remind you of Ville Valo like during the first part of Stars Will Fall.
We wish the best of lucks to Shamrain and hope that their new collaboration with Spikefarm Records will materialize in the success that this Goodbye to All That deserves.
Rating 4/5
{mosimage}25 years as a band deserves a celebration. Värttinä was created in 1983, and now SonyBMG thought that there could be no better moment to offer a compilation to the fans.
Obviously, after 25 years, Värttinä does not need to show anything new to the public. The ones who like the bands peculiar style, rooted in Finnish folk traditions, know perfectly what to expect. The album is offered in digipack version, and acquires the status of a big celebration. 22 tracks extracted from their 11 albums and an unreleased song as an extra: Vipinäveet. 24 page-booklet with pictures of all the band’s career and a tour of their evolution, from those pre-teen female voices of the beginning to the more mature ones of Susan Aho, Mari Kaasinen and Johanna Virtanen, the remaining and present singers. Good time to take advantage of the opportunity that the album represents, since you must know that 25 has only been released so far in Finland, so if you don’t live in this Nordic country, do not expect to find it in the music shops.
At the same time of the appearance of this compilation, Värttinä is offering several shows in central Europe, around Germany and Switzerland, and it was recently announced as well the departure of their drummer “Jaska” Lukkarinen.
Värttinä will not leave you indifferent. If you want to discover something unique in Finnish music scene, a band that adds to their vocal harmonies old Finnish poems (runo poetry) and takes influence from the Finno-Ugric tribes tradition, this is your album. But if you prefer other kind of music and get annoyed by the constant repetitiveness in the lyrics, maybe this album is not for you. Mostly recommended for those who want to explore one step farther on Finnish music than only HIM, The Rasmus or Lordi.
Rating: 3/5
Editor of a yoga publication, graphic designer, cook, politician, teacher, traveler, comic artist… Kaisa
Leka has not had an easy life. She had to take the terrible decision of getting her legs amputated due to an illness. But she has learnt and taught how to see the positive side of life and make the most of it!
Who is Kaisa Leka?
I’m a 29-year old artist, designer, teacher, and politician… a typical freelancer. I live in Porvoo in an old wooden house with my husband and our ridiculously large collection of toys, books and old typewriters.
How did you start to draw comics?
I drew comics as a child, and started again when I was 19. I fell immediately in love with how easy it is to both read and draw comics; it’s a really easily approachable art form. This enables me to deal with difficult issues such as disability and reach readers who wouldn’t otherwise pick up a book about it.
What is different in Kaisa Leka´s comic strips from other authors? Most of the times, there are some characters that appear repeated while having dialogues. Can you explain a bit more about them?
A friend of mine said that my comics are like TV’s sitcoms, and I think it’s a pretty good way of describing them. No fancy drawings, exciting car chases or pretty girls with big breasts, just simple drawings and thoughtful texts. Or at least I hope they’re thoughtful!
I suppose the amputation of your legs it is something quite dramatic and a turning point in your life. Do you want to discuss openly about it? Is your wok I
am not these feet directly aimed at that experience?
I was born with a disability that first seemed to only be a cosmetic one, but turned out seriously restricts my ability to move. I decided to have my feet amputated, with the consent of my doctors. With I am not these feet I wanted to let healthy people take a peek into the life of
disability, and also share my experiences with others who have had to spend time at a hospital. A lot of people have appreciated the way I’m breaking the tradition of silence and shame surrounding
disability and sickness.
You are active in other roles, such as politician. What things need to be improved in Finland for us, the young generations? Is Finland a country that pays a lot of attention to culture?
We have a great system of social security in Finland, but it’s built for people who have traditional 8 to 4 jobs, not for freelancers. Our generation isn’t going to have those jobs, and the system has to be adjusted to our needs. When it comes to culture, I think that the focus needs to be shifted from the masters of the 19th century to today’s artists. Culture is still often seen as something that can be supported if there’s some money left over from the "real investments", and if there is money it’s spent on projects celebrating the works of people like Sibelius
or Runeberg.
I can see that you are also very interesting in cooking and yoga.Tell us a bit more about those hobbies, and the works you havepublished about it.
I used to be the world’s lousiest cook, considering macaroni and ketchup to be a full meal. But then I met my
husband, whose food is the best I’ve ever had. Cooking has become more than just filling the belly, it’s a way of spending time with my husband and our friends, and experiencing new tastes. As a part of my
campaign for the parliamentary election this year I was able to publish a cookbook with two other Green candidates, and share some of our recipes with the Finnish public. A larger cookbook containing
more of them is one of my long-term plans.
Last year I did a book on bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion, with a friend. As you might imagine it hasn’t been a huge financial success, but as I publish my books myself I can also publish stuff that’s not
aimed at the mainstream audience. We had a lot of fun doing the book, and have gotten some enthusiastic feedback for it from other practitioners of bhakti yoga.
You also publish a magazine, Ananda, with other friends. How is that project going?
Doing a magazine means a lot of late nights by the computer and long days working for others to finance the magazine. But it seems we’re doing something right since we were just named the Quality Magazine of the Year! A lot of people are interested in yoga now, and we want to offer a deeper look into it, as it’s so much more than just plain stretching. Through our own magazine we can let people who usually are invisible in the mainstream media get their voice heard.
Now other young female comic author, Milla Paloniemi, is getting quite popular in Finland. What do you think about her work?
I’ve only read a few of her strips but, to be honest, it’s not one of my favorite comics. But of course I’m glad
that a comic by a young female author is getting so much attention and making it easier for others to get their work published. I’ve held a lot of comics’ workshops for children and students, and I’ve been happy to see so many young girls doing their own zines and taking over this art form previously reserved only for men.
One of your passions is traveling. You did a comic stripe saga about traveling for us in the past. In how many different countries have you been, and what are your favorite ones after visiting?
I’ve traveled quite a lot in Europe, and also visited USA and India. Traveling is my big weakness, even though I know it’s really un-ecological to fly around the world all the time! I do offset my carbon emissions through www.climatefriendly.com and try to minimize my emissions in my everyday life by using public
transport and saving electricity.
My favorite places are Philo in Northern California and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, India. They’re places that I’ve visited with my spiritual teacher and dear friends, and homes to many Hindu temples and monasteries.
The good thing about being a freelancer is that I can work like a madwoman for a few months and then take some time off to travel. I guess I could say that my secret to finding enough time
for everything is avoiding housework at all costs.
I have seen that some of your works can be found in French, but is it possible to find English versions (apart from the stripes you did for FREE! Magazine)?
I’ve published several comic books in English, the newest ones are On the Outside Looking in (2006, 160 pages) and Little Fish Big Fish (2007, 30 pages). I’m also planning to publish a collection of comics that have been featured in different Finnish magazines, but I’m waiting until I can put together a really big book with them. It’ll probably be in English, or at least have subtitles.
What are your future projects?
I’m currently working on a new big book about a friend who gave up his graphic design studies, left his hardcore band and became a Hindu monastic. I’m really fascinated about the way he completely changed his life. I’m also going to publish a series of short stories based on Indian mythology; Little
Fish Big Fish is the first one of them. And I just bought eight new sketchbooks (I was afraid they’d stop selling them so I decided to get a big stash) for my sketchbook blog,
so I guess I’ll also keep doing that for quite a while!
Nominated for the 2007 Finlandia Junior prize are:
> Tatun ja Patun Suomi (‘Tatu and Patu’s Finland‘) by Aino Havukainen & Sami Toivonen
> Taikuri Into Kiemura by Jukka Itkonen
> Filmi poikki (‘Film broken‘) by Hanna Marjut Marttila
> Herttuan hovissa – Elämää 1550-luvun Turussa (‘In the Duke’s Court – Life in the Turku of the 1550s‘) by Paula Moilanen & Kirsi Haapamäki
> Emilian päiväkirja – Supermarsu lentää Intiaan (‘Emily’s diary – Super Guinea Pig flies to India‘) by Paula Noronen
> Orava ja pääskynen (‘The squirrel and the swallow‘) by Maria Vuorio
The receiver of the prize, which comes with an award sum of 26,000 euros, will this year be chosen by Inkeri Näätsaari, the Director of the Turku City Library. The winner will be announced on November the 29th.
The Finlandia Junior award is one of three prestigious prizes awarded annually by the Finnish Book Foundation, the others being the Finlandia Award (Best novel, since 1984) and the Tieto-Finlandia (Best non-fiction book, since 1989).
The first ever book to win the Finlandia Junior was Gondwanan lapset (‘Children of Gondwana‘) by Iranian-born Finnish writer, documentary maker, director-producer and publisher Alexis Kouros, in 1997. Last year, the prize was awarded to Timo Parvela for his book Keinulauta (‘The seesaw‘).
Finlandia Prize – Wikipedia
Categories
Finland capital of Norway
Categories
Interview with Pintandwefall
What can a girl band do with a name about alcohol tolerance, lyrics about game consoles and a stage image full of masks and costumes? Well, just becoming the most popular band of the moment. With a funny mix of rock, garage and crazy lyrics Pintandwefall will surprise you. Guitar player and vocalist Dumb Pint tells about the band and its first album: Wow! What Was That, Baby?
What is the story of the band? How did you come up with such a name?
In the spring of 2006 after another rock band’s rehearsals, I was in a bar and I had the idea of starting a girl band which would play one gig in an school competition. The idea was that everybody would play an instrument which one would have never played.
Next day at school I was asking my friends to join me. We took the name of the band from a poor joke which was about bad tolerance of alcohol and we learned two songs in three weeks. To our wonder everybody liked us! The original plan was that we would have broken up because of musical disagreements, but because of getting extra gigs we couldn’t stop and we had to write more songs.
What about your looks and style: the masks and the names?
Image has always been important to us! Already in the first rehearsals we were planning what type of nail polish and shade of lip stick we should use. The costumes were supposed to match with each other.
In the beginning instead of masks we had huge sunglasses, but then before one gig we went to a joke shop to buy a diabolo for Cute Pint, who plays percussion and sings. At the same time we found these great disguises. We had an idea to wear them to the night’s gig and finally they kind of came our dominating element on the stage by accident. Nowadays audience would complain if we didn’t wear our masks.
We wanted also very stupid Spice Girls -type of artistic names. We should have thought them a bit better if we had known that this will go this far…
You have pretty original and funny lyrics? How do you find inspiration for them or topics like X-Box?
We don’t have any limits, so we write songs about almost any kinds of topics which inspire us. X-box had a bit different story though; the song had originally really dirty lyrics which we had to change to be called as a “family version”.
Your album is becoming very popular, how do you feel with these sudden success?
It feels really absurd! Even though since the beginning there has been small fuss around the band which has grown into new potential during the time. It’s wonderful that people like us so much!
Tell me a bit about your influences.
Since there are four song writers in the band, we are mixing everybody’s personal favorites that can be anything from Toto to The Hives. We haven’t found any great influence yet, though the reporters have invented things to compare to us.
For someone who hasn’t listened to your album or seen your shows, how would you describe your music?
It’s direct, spontaneous, dangerously sticking, wild and conquering. Even if our playing skills are not like diamond sharp, we compensate the lack of virtuosity with an intensive atmosphere and good stage show.
What is your favourite places / bars to play and to hang around in Helsinki?
So far we like as costumer and as players, places like Belly and Kuudes Linja. And we go to sing karaoke in Sweng!
Even though no final promises
have been made, the producers trust the Parliament to make the right decisions.
They base their trust on the fact that both the Education and Culture Committee
and the Audit Committee of the Parliament have expressed their opinion that the
lottery funds should be used exclusively to support the actual cultural and
sport activities of the beneficiaries, instead of to partly cover e.g. rental
costs of cultural bodies, like the government had suggested.
{mosimage}The continuation to 28 Days Later features an empty Great Britain trying to be repopulated under the control of US army. But the problems are not over…
{sidebar id=44}Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is on charge of continuing the story of 28 Days Later in his new 28 Weeks Later, featuring a new wave of raged zombies wandering the empty streets of London. Basically, that would be one of the few strongest points of the film: the excellent and unusual opportunity of watching the streets of the English capital empty. Because taking into account all the rest, the film turns to be pretty bad. The usually excellent acting skills of Catherine McCormack and Robert Carlyle are totally missed this time, and their characters look ridiculous.
The beginning looks promising, with a group of refugees trying to survive in a big mansion, but the tension soon disappears and it is replaced by the boredom of situations that have been seen one hundred times before in other films. The story does not add anything interesting to the gender neither explores a new exciting approach to the first part; just again scared human beings trying to escape from zombies, with the help (that turns into risk) of the American army. A couple of good visual moments, like the scene when the helicopter is tearing into pieces some zombies in the middle of a field, or the snipers shooting to everything that is on the move in the streets of London, but that is certainly all.
Let’s see if the incoming and awaited I am Legend with Will Smith can spice up the gender again, because Fresnadillo totally failed in his purpose. Do not waste your time watching it unless you are a real fan of the zombie gender.
Tickets for the Finnish part of the Somewhere Back In Time World Tour 08 will go on sale next Monday, the 12th of November, via Lippupalvelu.
Iron Maiden will release their double-DVD Live After Death in February (2008), as the band kicks off the Somewhere Back In Time world tour in Mumbai, India, on February 1st. After that, the tour will take the metal legends to Australia, Japan, the United States and Latin America.
Trip back in time
The world tour will be a trip back in time, as the entire set list will consist of Maiden material from the 80’s. The stage design will feature elements from that decade as well, with a specific focus on the Powerslave era. Also the group’s mascot Eddie will return and be part of the show.
During the course of their careers, Iron Maiden has sold over 70 million albums worldwide, with sales of well over 500,000 copies in Finland.
The last time the group
played in Finland was in 2006, when the band
performed in front of more than 31,600 fans during three sold-out gigs.
Update:
Second stadium concert Iron Maiden
SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME World Tour 08
– Nordic leg of the tour
16 July – Stockholm Stadium, Stockholm (SWE)
18 July – Olympic Stadium, Helsinki
22 July – Lerkendalstadium, Trondheim (NOR)
24 July – Valle Hovin, Oslo (NOR)
26 July – Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg (SWE)
27 July – Horsens Gods Bane Pladsen, Horsens (DK)
Iron Maiden – official website
Iron Maiden – MySpace
{mosimage}Meet the Robinsons is the last product that arrives in DVD from the Disney factory. Follow the adventures of the young Lewis in the future!
{sidebar id=43}Keep Moving Forward is the motto of the Robinsons family, but it could represent very well the spirit that invades Disney factory in their last experiment with animation. The old Mickey Mouse that appears at the beginning of the credits also keeps moving forward to find a world of fantasy were Lewis, the main character, is dragged in his search for identity and love. An orphan and a future genius who still has to learn how to forget the past and focus on the present. For that, he is going to count with the help of a very peculiar family, The Robinsons, but all in all, a family like any other, that shows unity and love when problems arise.
Although the beginning of the film is a bit slow, since Wilbur interferes in the destiny of Lewis everything gets better and better. Hilarious moments and splendid dialogues with that special sense of humour that the guys of Disney know how to show so well.
Director Stephen J. Anderson has really won the pools with the creation of the evil character of Bowler Hat Guy. His naïve behaviour provokes some of the best moments I have seen in animation movies during the last years, like the crazy dialogue while mentally controlling the “mafia frog”. A lot of winks to film history (Jurassic Park, Matrix, Goodfellas, Back to the Future…); proof that the creators are really cinema history lovers and some moments that look almost taken out from dreams, like if the hand of Walt Disney would be painting back some magical feelings from works like Fantasia.
The film is available in Finnish and English, with subtitles, so if you are thinking about a good present for the incoming Christmas, Meet the Robinsons is an excellent choice to enjoy all the family together.
Categories
A man with a past
{mosimage}Marko Haavisto had very clear that he wanted to
become a singer and songwriter since he was 9, when he got his first guitar.
This same determination gained the sympathy of the most famous Finnish cinema
director, Aki Kaurismäki, who has included songs and even an appearance
of Marko and his band in some of his most famous movies.
Marko, you were
a member of the Badding Rockers that was quite a popular band in Finland
a couple of decades ago. Why the decision to separate from them and start with
Poutahaukat?
Badding Rockers just came to the end in 1993. It
was my first recording group. And name of the band made honor to great Finnish
singer: Rauli “Badding” Somerjoki. After Badding
Rockers, I had another band called Geronimo,
but it didn’t got success and recorded just one cd-single (three songs). But
one of those songs, Jäätynyt sade, is
in latest Aki Kaurismäki´s film: Laitakaupungin
valot (Lights in the Dusk).
After Geronimo I worked in
traditional dance-bands, which played evergreens. I got good paid in that job,
but two years was enough for my head. I came again very hungry to write a song
and play them with my own band. So in 1997 I founded Poutahaukat.
The name
“Poutahaukat”, is it true that comes from an Aleksis Kivi´s book?
Yes, Aleksis Kivi has been the first one who has used that word to
picturing a man in a book named Nummisuutarit
(The Heath Shoemakers). But I learnt
the word “Poutahaukka” from my grandmother.
How did you get
in contact with Aki Kaurismäki, and how the collaboration to score music for
his films (and even appearing performing) happened?
I met Aki in 1990 at the film festival in Sodankylä. He had invited Badding Rockers to play there. He
collected a song from us for his film Tulitikkutehtaan
tyttö (The Match Factory Girl). There
in Sodankylä, Lapland, we shook hands for the
first time. From there our friendship began
Are you
planning to continue this collaboration with the director in the future?
I don’t know anything about that. If somebody knows, is Aki, and he won’t
tell until he is pretty sure about what he will make next. And that could be
something else than a new collaboration with me and Poutahaukat. Aki is the one who makes those decisions, not me.
Aren’t you
afraid that people can feel more curious for your band appearing in those
movies than for your music itself, or do you feel proud to collaborate with
Aki?
I am proud and thankful that Aki has chosen my songs to his films. I have
also seen that for example radio stations could say: “we can’t play your music;
it does not fit in our style.” But when
somebody like Aki takes a song for his film, those stations “start” to love the
song and suddenly it’s ok for them. It makes me sad, but I guess that it is just
the way it goes. Anyway, collaboration with Aki has brought only good things
for me and the band. There are fans who wouldn’t know anything about us without
those films.
{sidebar id=36}What can you
tell us about your new released album Hollolasta Teksasiin?
We made it in the countryside of Finland, in a small village named Sysmä, at my father’s summer place. We
took all the equipment into that cottage and recording there was nice and easy
most of the time. We played, but we also had grilling, sauna and swimming. We made
several sessions there during 2006-2007.
I was very satisfied when the album was finished.
The title, that
literally means “from Hollola to Texas”,
is it a figurative trip or did it really take place?
It’s figurative. It’s picturing our music and influences; from old Finnish
traditional music (Hollola) to American rock ‘n’ roll-, blues- and country
music (Texas), a mixture of them.
Do you have any
idols in music, Finnish or international artists?
There are many important characters for me. Here are some of my favourites:
Teddy and the Tigers, Elvis Presley, Black Sabbath, Rauli “Badding” Somerjoki,
Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Kauko Röyhkä, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash …
You have
played quite outside Finland
also, like in Germany.
And how happened that you played also in Japan? How was the experience
there?
Those all have been exciting adventures for us, something that we
couldn’t even had dreamt about it, because our songs are in Finnish. I have
only good memories, the best are from Japan. Part of the success on those
tours has been because appearing on the film Mies vailla menneisyyttä (The man without a past), but we have
been bloody good special guests for it! Our music has found many new friends.
When listening
to the album or even seeing the design of the cover and back cover, Marko Haavisto and Poutahaukat gives me
a (bit romantic) feeling of a road band, a band that spends a lot of time on
the road, traveling from bar to bar and always on the road. Does that really
happen with you, guys?
Some of the stories are just product of imagination; some are straight
from true life. But I won’t tell you which one is true and what’s just
fairytale, because that could spoil the whole thing, you know.
Photos by Nauska
www.markohaavisto.com
www.myspace.com/markohaavistopoutahaukat