This year Finland celebrates 100 years of independence from Sweden and in honour of this, there is a three day festival of Finnish culture here in Stockholm. Lots of fine artists such as the marvelous Iiris Viljanen who you will remember made it onto Locust’s Best of 2016 list.
The big attraction for the younger audience however will be pop star Alma who is enormously popular over there on the other side of the Baltic. The song I’ve posted is very catchy. Watch out Signe! You have competition.
There will also be a performance of scenes from a new show about Tom of Finland. Famed for his gay erotica, it has now been suggested that he is now as famous as Finland’s other great export, Tove Jansson’s Moomintroll. One magazine picked up on this and produced an hilarious image of two podgy moomins cruising in leatherware.
My jazz neighbour tells me that Finland has some of the most exciting young jazz acts in Europe.
Aki Kaurismäki, Lordi, Maria Kalaniemi, Tove Jansson, Värttinä, Heavisaurus, Kimmo Pojhonen, Vasas Flora & Fauna: these are a few of my favourite Finns.
Have you any? Or do you draw a blank after Moominmamma, Sniff, the Snork Maiden and the Hattifatteners?
Kaisfatdad says
Moomin in leatherware…
https://www.hbl.fi/artikel/moomin-of-finland-roar-inte-rattighetsinnehavaren/
Gatz says
Hanoi Rocks of course. I loved them when they were in their pomp and I was in my mid teens. I saw Mike Monroe perform a year or so ago and can only assume he didn’t partake in the band’s famous drink + booze lifestyle. I had had there’s no way he would look so sharp and still be flinging himself around a stage like he does in his 50s.
Kaisfatdad says
How could I forget the immaculately coiffeured Leningrad Cowboys? The only band I know who have a combined tractor and drumkit?
Baron Harkonnen says
Lasse Artturi Virén?
Kaisfatdad says
I had to Google Virén. Long distance runner and Olympic gold medallist I imagine he must be a real national hero for the Finns.
bobness says
I’m seriously intrigued to find out if a “jazz neighbour” is anything like a jazz cigarette or a jazz magazine…
Kaisfatdad says
He would be amused to read that! My Jazz neighbor is a nice chap with a tremendous enthusiasm and encyclopsedic knowledge about jazz.
New suggestions all the time. Like this
Kaisfatdad says
Attention jazzers. Here is an article about some of the new Finnish jazz talents and a Spotify playlist so you can give them a listen. I will ask my jazz neighbour if he has any more names to add to the list.
Mike_H says
All new to me except one. I have a Jimi Tenor album, Beyond The Stars and a couple of downloaded live things. I knew he was a Scandinavian of some sort. Didn’t know he was a Finn.
There’s a strong current of daftness and twisted pop in his music, which I really like.
(I Can’t Stay With You Baby)
Vincent says
Is there a lot of this sort of thing in Finland?
CORKS!
Kaisfatdad says
Difficult to say Vincent. The graphics are all Tom of Finland stuff.
Here is another face of Finntronica. Very good too.
Le corps mince de Francoise.
Kaisfatdad says
Just got back from the Finnish event in Kungsträdgården.
Even though each of them only got 18 minutes to sing, these two made a powerful impression. Intense, personal, intimate.
Anna Järvinen
Iidris Viljanen
Kaisfatdad says
While Finland is enjoying a brief moment in the AW spotlight, I must recommend these two, very different accordionists, both of whom are constantly pushing the envelope.
Maria Kalaniemi who has her roots in folk music.
Kimmo Pohjonen who looks like a punky troll from deep in the forest and often plays his instrument like a man possessed.
But the music he produces is powerful and very exciting. I saw him live playing with a string quartet and it was sensational,
salwarpe says
My favourite Finns – a friend recorded it for me on a cassette back in the early 90s and I could only imagine what the creators of such delightful harmonies looked like. Now I know.
Kaisfatdad says
I had never heard of Angelin Tytöt (now known as Angelit) so that was quite a find.
As this article mentions, 2017 is also the 100 years anniversary of the first Same Assembly. It also names some other Same artists.
https://musicfinland.com/en/news/seven-sami-artists-you-should-know
Ulla from Angelit is now in this band: Ulda.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Mr Sfatdad, I notice you’re piling up the YouTube clips in your usual fine style, but the subject of your piece – as stated in the title – is curiously absent. Vincent’s timely reminder gets brushed aside with a clip of (yikes) “Finntronica”. For those of us who have no idea who “Tom of Finland” is, and no knowledge of his work, could you revert to topic and enlighten us, preferably with your signature trail of YouTube clips?
hubert rawlinson says
Finns you say! https://m.youtube.com/results?q=seven%20deadly%20finns&sm=1
Sorry Mr horsecraft here’s another clip. Not Tom either.
Kaisfatdad says
I did not expect Eno to show up on the thread. Thanks Hubert for a real gem from the vaults.
But Mr Saucecraft does have a point. Tom of Finland probably is not so well known outside of Scandinavia and the gay scene. No disrespect to his artistic abilities, but I’m a little surprised that his raunchy home-erotic fantasies have become so mainstream in Finland.
There are few Finnish household names but a lot of names known within their particular field.
Songlines readers and the world music crowd will have heard of Kalaniemi, Pohjonen and Värttina. The latter will also be known to Tolkien fans as they did some LOTR music.
There are several quite famous Finnish drivers.
Art house cinema visitors will maybe de fans of Kaursmäki.
But there is only one truly international household name: Nokia.
I worked in Helsinki in the mid 80s as an English teacher and it felt very much like a one company town. 80% of our work was for them.
Tom of Finland’s real name was Tuoko Laaksonen and if drawings of large, muscular men in leather with ginormous members getting intimate with each other is your thing, he is the man.
I’ll stick to Moomintroll.
H.P. Saucecraft says
“Home-erotic fantasies”?
Yikes and double yikes.
Martin Hairnet says
Chimney fires.
Kaisfatdad says
Blame IKEA. I’ve spent so much time there, I can no longer tell the difference between a dream home and a dream homo.
Continuing this theme of Finnish gay icons, it would be badly amiss not to re-mention the multi-talented Tove Jansson. A friend of mine once met her at the rehearsal for one of her plays and described her as magnificently eccentric. She scurried around energetically rather like a character from one of her books.
Along with her children’s books, Jansson also wrote novels for adults. The Summer Book is a small wonder. Set on an island in the Helsinki archipelago, it is about the relationship between an old woman and her six year old granddaughter.
Yikes! Time for some YT clips!!
This is cottage the where Jansson spent summers with her partner Tuulikki Pietilä.
And here is a documentary about her life.
slotbadger says
Tom of Finland! I just recorded a feature on him for a podcast I do. I managed to get an interview with John Waters, talking about his love of ToF, very entertaining and insightful.
Having little knowledge of ToF beforehand, discovering his work – the surprisingly nuanced subtleties and stories beneath the muscles, moustache and bulging jeans – has been rather good fun.
Kaisfatdad says
You must post a link to that when it’s ready, slotbadger.
I fear I was a little dismissive in my comments, seeing his art as simply up-market erotica. So it would be interesting to learn more.
slotbadger says
Of course! I wasn’t sure if it was OK to post here but here it is and I can remove if necessary
https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/company/blog/1060.art_on_the_edge.htm
Kaisfatdad says
Thanks a lot. A very relevant and interesting contribution to the topic of discussion. Look forward to giving it a listen.
And thanks to Mike for Jimi Tenor and Bobness for Saarinen. Two more useful pieces of the Finnish jigsaw puzzle.
Finnish names are so idiosyncratic that one can normally identify their nationality at once. Where else could someone called Pekka Pelikainen come from?
This evening’s entertainment at the FinnFest is electro-a-capella group Fork. They look rather fun.
And versatile
ruff-diamond says
The Floyd cover is actually pretty good in an electro-pop kind of way, but the metal mashup? Utter dogshit.
Kaisfatdad says
Finnish covers bands are best listened under the affluence of a great deal of inkohol.
I dread to think what you will make of this….
Or this
Neela says
If that version of The Final Countdown isn´t great, well, then nothing is.
And thus ends today´s opinion.
Kaisfatdad says
Glad you enjoyed it Neela. I have a big soft spot for Eläkäiset and their humppa sound. Their latest album cover is a parody of Tom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvIA0IbDyus
Here they are getting their teeth into Cher.
ruff-diamond says
fucking hell….
congratulations, the accordion – you have just supplanted the banjo atop my ‘most hated instrument’ list.
Kaisfatdad says
Oh dear! That misfired. I was trying to make you keen about the squeezebox. If I’d been trying to put you off, I’d have posted something like this.
There is a Gary Larson cartoon which shows one group of people entering heaven and getting a harp, and another group entering the other place and getting an accordion.
Where do you stand on roller skates, Ruff? Perhaps Die Twinnies can help change your mind?
ruff-diamond says
I wouldn’t piss on an accordionist if they were on fire.
Kaisfatdad says
Afterword T shirt!
Vincent says
I lived in Earls Court in 1978. I sometimes walked past the legendary Colherne pub on a Friday and Saturday, where my eyes were considerably opened by the sight of a lot of “Muscle Mary’s” and “leather daddies” lurking butchly outside. I had seen the occasional gay ‘clone’ in Brighton (people were not so “out” 40 years ago, even in Brighton). A gay pal took me for a drink at the pub. The guys really WERE a “bunch of sweeties”, and great company, and theyn accepted my straightness without prejudice. The “Tom of Finland” imagery reminds me of those times, and the outrageous fun the chaps were, some sadly, stricken in the first wave of AIDS deaths. I did my bit; I wore a “TRB” badge, then worked in the AIDS field for 6 years.
Kaisfatdad says
Lovely anecdote, Vincent.
I’ve just discovered that the Finnish Post Office issued TOF stamps in 1914! Times have certainly changed.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/shortcuts/2014/apr/15/homoerotic-artist-tom-of-finland-official-stamp-approval
minibreakfast says
Goodness me! Did it have the head of George V in the top corner?
ruff-diamond says
No wonder there was a world war….
Mike_H says
Daily postcards with those stamps should be sent to Westboro Baptist Church.
bobness says
Being a great fan of motorcycle racing, I’d have loved to have seen Jarno Saarinen race.
He was taken far too soon, in very dubious circumstances.
When I was in Helsinki a few years back, a set of his leathers was in a shop window.
He’s still spoken of reverentially on some FB groups I frequent. In the same breath as Roberts, Rossi, Sheene, Doohan etc.
Kaisfatdad says
We have had long distance running and motorcycle racing, but one popular Finnish sport has not yet been mentioned…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWsV6bgMIMY
It’s like a scene from a Kaurismäki film.
The same could be said of this idiosyncratic jazz video.
It sounds the Bonzo’s Big Shot visits Helsinki.
Kaisfatdad says
When it was decided to do a stage production of the Lord of the Rings, I was a little surprised that the marvelous Finnish folk, Värttinä, were called in to help with the music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg5pjQMGRvw
A little surprised perhaps but there was a certain logic to it. Their music has something mysterious and primal about it and is full of tragic folk tales.
For those who don’t know them, they were founded in 1982 and since their first album in 1987 (when there were 21 people in the band), they have been stalwarts of the Finnish folk scene. Here is an extremely vintage film of the band.
What I did not know until today was that Tolkien had a long fascination with Finland, the Finnish national epic, The Kalevela, and with the language which he even tried to learn.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34063157
Sadly, he never visited Finland or even met a native speaker of the language.
Kaisfatdad says
I’ve just been listening to Slotbadger’s podcast about TOF which fills in a lot of detail about his background (not easy being gay in 1950s Finland to put it mildly) and about how his draftsmanship just got better and better as he got older.
Another thing I learnt was about the Finnish biopic that was released recently.
Despite his skill, Tom doesn’t seem to have had pretentions about his art: he drew stuff that made him horny. The drawings were intended for “beefcake” magazines, not art galleries.
The ever-amusing John Walters makes some good points, not least that everybody in his drawings looks happy. All very life affirming.
slotbadger says
Glad you enjoyed it!
Kaisfatdad says
Once one starts digging into Finnish music on Spotify, one starts to find all kinds of interesting things.
Like Mirel Wagner
Or guitarist Jukka Tolonen
Deep Turtle : the first Finnish band to do a Peel session
Or why not a very catchy song in Finnish about Laura Palmer!
Mike_H says
I’d heard Jukka Tolonen before. A fantastic guitarist, fast, fluid and very, very melodic. The notes just flow out of his fingers. The other guitarist, Coste Apetrea, is no slouch either. Hadn’t heard of him before.
Not very keen on Deep Turtle. I only lasted about a minute on that clip.
Loved that Laura Palmer song. Fantastic epic arrangement.
hubert rawlinson says
Saw these in 1973 at Reading Festival.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasavallan_Presidentti
hubert rawlinson says
Just came across this, saippuakivikauppias a Finnish word meaning a soapstone salesman and an extremely long one word palindrome.
Apropos of nothing.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Afterword T Shirt
Kaisfatdad says
That brightened my morning. Finnish palindromes do not grow on trees!
We should not underestimate the Finnish inventiveness and sense of humour. They have some wacky ideas which somehow work. Which other country would think of entering a zombie metal band to Eurovision?
Playing Metallica on cellos
A shouting male voice choir Huutajat. I’ve seen them live and they are extremely entertaining.
Creating an imaginary Russian rock band with bizarre haircuts and idiosyncratic fashion sense and then getting in the Red Army Choir as backing vocalists
Kaisfatdad says
Jukka Tolonen is definitely one of the most interesting discoveries on this thread for me. A grand old man of Finnish rock.
His band, Tasavallan Presidentti, not only played at Reading, they even appeared on the Old Grey Whistle Test. The only Finnish band to do so?
Wigwam, another rather good Finnish prog band of the same vintage, also made some waves internationally but never achieved great success.
Yikes and and double yikes! Finland is crawling with Prog bands, old and new.
http://www.prog-sphere.com/specials/20-best-finnish-prog-bands/
The one I know most about are Circle, whose live shows are much talked about by friends who have seen them.
Kaisfatdad says
If there is one genre that Finland excels in it is metal. Calling all AW metallurgists!
Kid Dynamite, can you and your men of metal give us some examples of interesting Finnmetal, please.
I’m off to the Finnfestival to see a capella band Rajaton and excerpts from Tom Of Finland The Musical! Yes, The etchings of a lonely man, leeching after the local farmhands, doodling with one hand and boxing the Jesuit with the other has now become a song and dance spectacular at the theatre in Turku.
Who’d have guessed it?
Kaisfatdad says
The Finnish Institute’s stand at the Finnfest this afternoon, was a book by Tove Jannson which had been opened up into a series enormous pages with holes in that kids could look or even climb through. It was as though they could enter the very world of the book. I was struck by what a brilliant illustrator she was! So much humour and vitality.
And I really enjoyed the gig by Finnish a capella group, Rajaton. Sung in Finnish, Swedish and English and enormously varied and very entertaining. A shameless MOR pleasure.
Mike_H says
I’m obliged to note that the middle of the road is not where it used to be when I was an angsty young person.
In those days, this sort of thing would be pretty far out.
This doesn’t really come across to me on a video clip, but I imagine it was a much more satisfying experience when seen and heard in the flesh.
duco01 says
Unless I’m very much mistaken, the venue for that concert looks like Temppeliaukion kirkko in Helsinki. Amazing church. Absolutely incredible place. Beautiful. Worth googling images of it if you’re not familiar with it.
hubert rawlinson says
DMy introduction to the joys of Finland.
https://m.youtube.com/results?q=finland%20finland%20finland%20monty%20python&sm=1
hubert rawlinson says
Ignore above post. Tablet went mad.
Finnish joys
Locust says
When he (Michael Palin?) gets a bit excited he almost sings a bit like M A Numminen… 🙂
Kaisfatdad says
That is bizarre. I’m surprised the Finns have not adopted it as their national anthem.
On the topic of odd stuff, there is the Italian novel by Diego Marani: New Finnish Grammar. A man awakens half dead after being beaten in the port of Trieste. He is suffering from total memory loss and the only clue to his identity is a Finnish name tag. So he sets about re-learning the most difficult language in Europe.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/may/26/finnish-grammar-diego-marani-review
Marani is famous for inventing the artificial language, Europanto! Now that does sound like a fairy tale.
duco01 says
I’ve read “New Finnish Grammar” by Diego Marani. Yeah, not bad at all. An intriguing read.
Kaisfatdad says
This may interest the jazzers.
Earlier in the week, my Jazz Neighbour was telling me about an album called Pekka, in which trumpeter Verneri Pohjola performs his late father’s songs.
(the camera work on that clip is hilariously awful, but nothing wrong with the music).
The penny has now dropped. His dad played bass in Wigwam, the 70s prog group mentioned above, and then went on to have a very successful solo career. His third album was produced by Mike Oldfield and he also toured with the Tubular Bells Hitmaker. His complex compositions have been likened to Zappa. Read more here. he was a heavyweight in the European jazz world.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/remembering-pekka-pohjola-pekka-pohjola-by-anthony-shaw.php
Here is Pohjola Senior with his band in 1981.
Mike_H says
What camera work on that first clip?
Apart from the occasional lift and return of a glass of beverage, there was no camera work at all. Somebody turned the camera/phone on and recorded what was in front of it.
Very good sound and the music was most enjoyable indeed. I do like that Nordic Space-Jazz, that only Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Finns and Icelanders seem to do best.
The Pekka Pohjola clip is pretty damn good. The guy was very talented, as were the two guitarists and the keyboard player. The drummer kept it all rollicking along without drawing too much attention to himself or hampering anyone else, which is praiseworthy.
No prizes for the cinematography here either, as it just does what all other music videos seem to do. I find nearly all of them visually rather boring these days. In the same way that at quite a lot of gigs I often find it more interesting to look at the audience rather than the performers or even to shut my eyes if I happen to be seated. While keeping my ears alert, obviously.
Kaisfatdad says
I agree with you about Space Jazz, Mike. In fact any European jazz which does not just sound like a pale copy of North American artists.
Another Finnish jazz musician to watch out, according to my Jazz Neighbour is bassist Antti Lötjönen who has played on many of his favourite releases of recent years. A hard-working chap with several bands on the go.
http://jazzfinland.fi/artist/antti-lotjonen/biography
Great site! Useful if we want to dabble further.
Here’s a taste of Antti’s band Five Corners Quintet.
duco01 says
Any thread about Finnish jazz should mention yer man Edward Vesala (drums) [1945- 1999].
His catalogue includes 6 albums as a leader on ECM records, and he worked with top names like Kenny Wheeler and Tomasz Stanko.
If any Afterworder fancies dipping their toes into the music of Edward Vesala, you could try his second outing for ECM, “Satu”, which has Tomasz Stanko handling the trumpet duties. It’s well worthwhile if you’re a fan of this sort of genre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7a5Nb6vE2w
Kaisfatdad says
Thanks for that new name. “The cool dark knight of the soul” according to the Indie.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/jazz-the-cold-dark-knight-of-the-soul-edward-vesala-finlands-jazz-maverick-rages-at-the-world-and-1503113.html
He sounds like an extraordinary chap and, as the article says, very different from Garbarek who tends to be seen as the archetype of Nordic jazz.
Here he is with Stanko.
Kaisfatdad says
I met my Jazz Neighbour on the school run this afternoon and mentioned the comment made in the Indie article about Vesala (who of course he’s heard about) and Garbarek being rather opposite poles musically.
He mentioned that they had actually recorded an album together on ECM: Triptykon. He also sent me this rather fine clip of them playing live together, along with another major name, Norwegian Arild Andersen.
A bit of jazz chat greatly brightens up a school run and is a damned sight more interesting than grumbling about the school lunches.
Just stumbled over this fine Vesala track.
The notes give some interesting info about the history of ECM. The Germans were definitely very instrumental in ensuring that Nordic jazz reached a far larger audience.
There are more than a few artists in other genres (Billy Bragg and Jackie Leven spring to mind) who have benefited from having a strong, loyal fan base in Germany,
duco01 says
If you’re in the mood for a jazz mass by a Finnish composer, you simply can’t do better than Heikki Sarmanto’s “New Hope Jazz Mass” (1979).
Interestingly, the Helsinki church shown on the front cover of the LP (below), Temppeliaukion kirkko, is the same venue as that featured in the Rajaton video posted by Kaisfatdad above.
One of the tracks “Duke and Trane” pays tribute to Ellington and Coltrane. A very nice little number. Tiggerlion – and many other Afterword jazzers – think you might like this!
H.P. Saucecraft says
“If you’re in the mood for a jazz mass by a Finnish composer …” – how will I know?
Kaisfatdad says
Ripping your clothes off, flagellating your back with birch twigs, sitting on the top bench in the sauna and then jumping in an icy lake are all tell-tale signs that it’s time for some Heikki Sarmanto.
Tiggerlion says
Thank you. I always pay close attention to you, duco.
Kaisfatdad says
I was chatting to my Jazz Neighbour on the way back from the school run this morning and (unaware that you had mentioned it here @DuCo01) said that the New Hope Mass was one of his absolute Finnish favourites.
Sarmanto and his Finnish jazz colleagues made some major international waves in the 70s and the Mass was performed in New York. This article gives a lot of interesting background.
http://www.tumrecords.com/index.php?k=19994
It also mentions saxophonist Juhani Aaltonen who frequently collaborated with Sarmanto and was a founding member of prog band Tasavallan Presidentti.
When it comes to jazz, DuCo certainly knows his onions.
Kaisfatdad says
Another new name! The AW really is helping to put Nordic jazz on the map this week.
What a charming man. And fluent French speaker by the looks of things.
Here is a taste of his piano playing.
The Flame
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VILPhlDs9qM
The singer is Carola, (another new name) who was very popular in Finland.
Kaisfatdad says
DuCool and I were just having a chat on the phone and he mentioned Edward Varela’s widow, harpist, pianist and composer Ira Haarla.
Even in Finland, female jazz harpists do not grow on trees.
Kaisfatdad says
I can’t believe we’ve come this far …and not heard a single kantele: the national instrument of Finland.
Zither-like, it’s the perfect accompaniment to a song about a visit deep into the forest from Sinikka Langeland
Or a song about tits.
hubert rawlinson says
Record review in Songlines.
Maija Kauhanen solo, plays with a Finnish band called Okra Playground
Kaisfatdad says
Okra Playground is a great (and new) band name. Especially for a combo with nimble ladies’ fingers!
Kaisfatdad says
I was looking for some jazz kantele and I found Ida Ilena who does nifty kantele cover versions
Kaisfatdad says
I can’t believe we’ve come this far ….and not had an all-female, ethno-jazz choir rocking some rather natty retro frocks.
Or an Epic Male Band?
The audience are clearly having a lot of fun. But perhaps we have enough Epic Males on the AW already.
Last but not least an avant garde, punky accordionist: Johanna Juhola. (Sorry Ruff Diamond!!)
Lovely stuff but she won’t be getting any gigs in Houston with a repertoire like that.
Kaisfatdad says
Johanna Juhola has recorded a whole album of tangos. (Finnish) tango is the national dance.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18925633
Satumaa is one of the most famous Finnish tango tunes. Here it is played by Frank Zappa!! I bet the Helsinki audience were not expecting that. Neither was I!