FI News August 2006 ch-ch-check it out!
- Features:
* Finnish Jazz Weekend in Helsinki, September 2-4
* Popkomm 2006 Berlin Gets Finnvaded
- Business
- Live News
- Behind the Scenes
- Behind the Numbers
Finnish Jazz Weekend in Helsinki, August 31 - September 3
The Finnish Jazz Weekend will again bring a bunch of music business professionals and journalists to Helsinki on August 31 - September 3 to get the jazziest experience of their lives. Previous events have resulted in numerous bookings of Finnish jazz artists for European festivals. When not attending concerts, the guests from all over the world will be mingling with Finnish jazz industry pros at a variety of events.
The programme represents the cream of the crop of Finnish Jazz, including Jorma Tapio, Nordic Collective, Ilmiliekki, UMO Jazz Orchestra feat. Tuomari Nurmio, Raoul Björkenheim Scorch Trio, Delirium, Alamaailman Vasarat, Kimmo Pohjonen + Eric Echampard, Samuli Mikkonen + 3 henkeä, Eero Koivistoinen Music Society feat. Redrama and Iro Haarla Quintet.
Full programme here>>>
Popkomm 2006 Berlin Gets Finnvaded
Its been a hot year for Finnish music exporters, and its about to get even hotter. Finns are to hit Berlins Popkomm, September 20-22, with 16 showcasing bands and over thirty music companies.
The continuing upsurge in Finnish bands that attract international audiences is no surprise to leading German music marketer, Deville Schober of Brainstorm Music Marketing:
Scandinavia is now a stamp of quality. When we market bands from there, people automatically think: interesting. The reason for this is the attitude of not giving up. In the music business you need to go through many deserts, maybe four or five times, and the Finnish bands are ready to do that.
The artists showcasing at Popkomm 2006 are: brightboy (HELSINKI MUSIC COMPANY), Bitch Alert (POPLANDIA MUSIC), Diablo (POPLANDIA MUSIC), Eternal Erection (EAT THIS MUSIC), The Flaming Sideburns, Iiro Rantala Trio (ROCKADILLO), No Shame (FULLSTEAM RECORDS), Lapko (FULLSTEAM RECORDS), Lenni-Kalle Taipale (WARNER MUSIC FINLAND), Lodger (92DAWN RECORDINGS), Naked (JOHANNA KUSTANNUS), Shade Empire (DYNAMIC ARTS RECORDS), Sister Flo (CLOCKWORK MUSIC MANAGEMENT), Slideshaker, UMO Jazz Orchestra (UMO) and The Winyls (SAM AGENCY).
LISTEN TO TRACKS OF SHOWCASING BANDS at www.musex.fi/popkomm2006: no down-loads or plug-ins, just click on the song titles!
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BUSINESS
Driver 8 Recordings has signed a license deal with Minty Fresh to release the Astrid Swan album, Poverina in North America. The deal is a result of Astrids showcase at this years SXSW in Austin, Texas.
Finnish metal ambassadors Nightwish (KING FOO ENTERTAINMENT) launched their video blog site this summer, and guess what? The Nightwish FanBLOG is a huge success: the video clips have been watched nearly 200,000 times!
Tune in to http://fanblog.nightwish.com and check out what all the buzz is about.
Simple Things, the acclaimed debut album from Star You Star Me (STARS-MUSIC) has been licensed to the German Forcetracks for worldwide re-release. Past Finnish highlights on Forcetracks include the Luomo (HUUME RECORDINGS) albums, which have been compared both in style & quality to Star You Star Me.
Brainstorm Germany has confirmed the signing of Bloodpit (MERCEEDEES) for a recording and publishing deal for GSA. Deville Schober, President of Brainstorm, signed the band after seeing them perform live at MUSEXPO 2006 in Los Angeles. Brainstorm has already secured Bloodpit for a national eightweek TV campaign across Germany, including the airing of over 1000 spots.
Finnish synth-pop act Reginas (NEXT BIG THING) debut album Katso maisemaa has been licensed to Philter Records in Japan, and the release is due this month. The album came out in Finland earlier this year, and was widely acclaimed by the critics and loved by indie audiences.
Tides from Finnish hard rock/metal group Leverage (ELEMENTS MUSIC) has been licensed for Asia to Marquee Avalon. The album will be out in Japan on September 21, and release dates for the other Asian countries will be announced soon. Other Marquee artists include Lacuna Coil and Finnish metal ambassadeurs Sonata Arctica.
Ricky-Tick Records are to release a compilation of diamonds of modern Scandinavian jazz from the 1960s. The compilation, titled On The Spot is one of the first of its kind, and will be distributed internationally. The Finnish artists in the compilation are Otto Donner, Esa Pethman and Christian Schwindt.
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LIVE
Armed with their hit song Hard Rock Hallelujah and their feast-for-the-eye monster costumes and pyrotechnics, Lordi (MONSTEREO MANAGEMENT) will tour Germany September 23 - October 2. The tour, its slogan Bringing Back The Balls To Germany, will visit the countrys major locations. The balls will also be brought back to the main cities of the UK, where Lordi tour October 26-31.
Electro-jazzers RinneRadio (ROCKADILLO) will give a headlining concert, with special guest Iro Haarla on harp, on the main stage at Jazzfestival Saalfelden, Austria, on August 25. Another strong-going group from the Finnish jazz scene, Ilmiliekki Quartet (TUM RECORDS), will appear at Lincoln Centre, New York, on October 9. Ilmiliekkis performance is part of the Scandinavian Innovations concert series at the larger European Dream festival.
One of the most internationally successful Finnish DJs, Darude, is on a rambling tour of the US. The tour will last at least until the end of October, and the heat is on! Tour dates here>>>
The Danish electronic-music festival Public Service is presenting an interesting variety of Finnish electronic music this year. Mr Velcro Fastener (STARS-MUSIC) performs IDM-flavoured old-school electro, while Declasse (STARS-MUSIC) bring modern club sounds together with 80s retro-feel rocking vocals. The 3rd Finnish act at the festival is Musni Beach, who combine futuristic electronica with live jazz.
The famous live venue, Klubi in Tampere, Finland, has announced a change in its showtimes. Uncommonly for Finnish live venues, from September 5, all headliners at Klubi will perform at 10PM. Before, they did not start until 11PM or midnight. The first acts to play by the new rules are Sunburned Hand of the Man (USA), Youngblood Brass Band (USA) and Die So Fluid (UK). Musex team hails hurrah and downs a pint or six to grace the change.
After finishing their summer festival rumble, Finnish punk/alternative quartet Disco Ensemble (FULLSTEAM RECORDS) will be heading abroad again. A tour of the UK has been confirmed for August 20-31, after which the punk rockers head for Italy and Germany. Check out the tour details here >>>
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Behind the Scenes
Attention! There’s a jazz revival going on in Finland. First Helsinki’s own Five Corners Quintet made people return to the dancefloor during a jazz-band’s gig. Soon after the annual Flow Festival was born with the people behind FCQ heavily involved in it. Now other bands are rising up to a similar feat, as bands such as Dalindeo also manage to attract young, dancing people to their gigs. On top of that Flow (which Great Britain’s quality Sunday-paper The Observer praised last year without restraint) isn’t the only festival featuring modern club jazz anymore, since the Solar Jazz event will start to be held annually from this year on in Turku. 
Behind the Numbers
If you were missing further proof that one of The Rasmus’ strengths is the fact that all four band members have impressive individual musical talent, look no further than the debut album of Hay & Stone (SUOMEN MUSIIKKI). The band is fronted by The Rasmus’s bass player Eero Heinonen, aka. “The Silent One”, and allows him to explore musical visions that won’t fit with The Rasmus. The first part of the name Hay & Stone refers to Eero’s surname and the second to the style the band plays: rock, which has heavy riffs and the rhythyms of blues. Debut album Making Waves is released September 20th in Finland.