Come hear. Finland. No. 1: TIME IS NOW!
- Hottest News
* Slow, the fastest Mobile Jockey in the world
* Air guitar roaring at The (Infamous) Finnish Black Monday Party
- Artist Focus
* Jori Hulkkonen (F COMMUNICATIONS)
* Twilightning (SPINEFARM RECORDS)
* The Crash (CLOCKWORK MUSIC MANAGEMENT)
* Don Johnson Big Band (UNIVERSAL MUSIC/SAM AGENCY)
- Company Focus
- Finnish Events Schedule at Midem 2006
Slow, the fastest Mobile Jockey in the world
Slow (PLASTINKA RECORDS) will be taking his DJ set more than one step beyond the usual level when he performs on the Finnish pavilion and at the Ambassadeur on Sunday at 9.30pm and 10.30pm: Slow will be the first Mobile Jockey in the world to perform with just two Nokia N91 mobile phones! Spinning mp3s from the N91s the ultimate all-in-one music-player/mobile-phone combination and an XP10 digital audio streamcontroller, Slow is all set to deliver the coolest sounds around.
Air guitar roaring at The (Infamous) Finnish Black Monday Party
Air guitar will roar at the Finnish pavilion on January 23 when the reigning Air Guitar World Champion, Michael “The Destroyer” Heffels will kick your asses with his unforeseen, ecstatic performance at The (Infamous) Finnish Black Monday Party. The feast will start at 5.30pm and contains, in addition to the curiosity-filled programme, drinks, snacks and lots of good vibes and happy people. For your invitation, please email assistant@musex.fi
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ARTIST FOCUS
The adventurous, ambitious Jori Hulkkonen
Jori Hulkkonen has been exporting his unique blend of house and techno as both recording artist and DJ for more than a decade now. Increasingly diverse albums for the French label F Communications are balanced by dancefloor singles such as the top selling Sunglasses At Night by Tiga & Zyntherius.
The adventurous, ambitious album Dualizm features vocal contributions from the likes of original Ultravox leadsinger John Foxx, Tiga, Nick Triani, José Gonzáles and Jerry Valuri, and is musically more varied than anything he’s put out so far. “Jori takes retro-futurist chic and gives it an injection of vitality and inventiveness” -MOJO
Twilightning - the metal lightning strikes again
In their six years of existence, East-Finlands premier power-metal act Twilightning have come a long way, from demo band to a household name in Japan. Following 20,000 plus sales of their two albums in Japan and tours with Helloween and others, 2006 will see the release of Twilightnings new EP Bedlam - five brisk hard-rocking songs on their way followed by their third razor-sharp album, as well as tours in Japan and Europe. THE next Finnish metal phenomenon to conquer the world?
The Crash - crashing through all musical barriers
The Crash are one of Finland’s most successful English-singing bands, with three gold albums and releases across Europe. They have toured exhaustively, particularly in the USA, the UK, GSA and Scandinavia.
Their latest studio album Melodrama sounds like the party that would erupt if ever Van Halen, Duran Duran and The Jackson 5 met in Wonderland. The album is a glorious, unique combination of 70s dance music, 80s classic rock, and a splash of soul from 60s America. The Crash mean to have a good time and to give everyone else a good time while they are at it. New album due out in 2006!
Don Johnson Big Band, a quartet far from Miami
Don Johnson Big Band are a bona fide phenomenon in Finland, true crossover artists breaking down all genre barriers while getting rave reviews in the press. Their platinum album Breaking Daylight and the single One MC, One Delay topped the charts in Finland. Not bad for what - with only four members - might be the world’s smallest big band.
Despite spending most of 2005 in the studio, Don Johnson Big Band had audiences jumping to their beats at Chaoyang park concerts in Beijing, China, and at Popkomm City Jam 2005. New DJBB sounds due in the shops in April 2006, meanwhile, check this posse out on Sunday, January 22.
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COMPANY FOCUS
HONEST PRODUCTIONS: Sunrise Avenue, a four-piece rock group presented by Honest Productions, has just signed a record deal with Bonnier Amigo Music Finland and a promotion deal with Welldone Agency. The first single All Because of You was released in 2005 an album of honest rock by Sunrise Avenue is to follow.
JOHANNA KUSTANNUS: Since 1985, Johanna Kustannus has released a lot of Finnish music. The label has mainly focused on rock music, though its roster also includes pop tunes and childrens music, as well as traditional music. One of the busiest labels in Finland, Johanna Kustannus releases around 20 albums each year via its Megamania and Pyramid-labels.
KURU RECORDS started its journey in the music business with an instant success: their first release, ZOOK‘s Root Canal Recovery, an album full of straight rock’n'roll with a flavour of soul and blues, became immediately an airplay favourite. Kuru Records is a Finnish record label and music publishing company, and their interest is producing, publishing and releasing rhythm music that stands out from the rest and will withstand the test of time.
LOVE KUSTANNUS OY (Love Music Publishing Ltd) was founded in 1976 in parallel with the record company Love Records. The present catalogue originates in the 80’s and 90’s and consists mainly of Finnish rock and pop music. Love has also published lots of music from domestic films and soundtracks (Anssi Tikanmäki, Yari, Mauri Sumén), chansons, guitar music (Antero Jakoila) and schlager.
MUSIIKKITUOTANTO UKKOKIEKUU proudly presents: Seminaarinmäen Mieslaulajat. This all-male choir was founded in the fall of 1989, when a group of students were trying to find their own way to make music and decided to put together a completely different kind of male choir. Since then, the choir has performed all around the world with a show that is famous for music, drama, humour, lights, smoke effects and surprise.
PORE PRODUCTIONS create custom sound design and custom music production for theatre, TV, radio, film, video, websites and games. Pore has a fresh, new record label, Cymbidium. The first volume of its Helsinki Cooler compilation includes 11 fresh jazz/electronica hybrids. The album also introduces never-heard-before sounds from some very young talents; Saine, Jessielle and Säätiö Organisaatio to wet your appetite for their forthcoming albums.
SAM AGENCY: In addition to being one of the top agencies in Finland, Sam Agency is also an acclaimed artist management. One of its current successes, Poets of The Fall, is internationally known for its song Late Goodbye in the computer game Max Payne 2. The groups album Signs of Life is now in its 39th week in the Finnish charts! Sam Agencys other artists include Bomfunk MCs, Private Line, Bloodpit, The Five Corners Quintet, Redrama
TEZOMA SOLUTIONS’ goal: revolutionizing the future of media, with a more personal, more entertaining, learning and interactive mass-media concept. Tezoma is known for its intelligent, personalized internet radio concept Tezoma net radio, which creates a unique, personalized playlist for every listener, containing their favourite music, jingles, advertisements and artist interviews. The radioplayer also shows a picture of the current artist and information about the song in question, allows the listener to purchase or download the album, and displays music-related news items. Tezoma is also proudly responsible for the Moosic player at www.musex.fi/midem2006
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FINNISH EVENTS SCHEDULE AT MIDEM 2006
Sunday, January 22
2.15-2.45pm @ MidemNet Mobile, Auditorium Debussy, level 1
Keynote Speech by Anssi Vanjoki (Nokia Corporation, EVP and General Manager of Multimedia)
- Interviewed by Ted Cohen (EMI Music US, SVP Digital Development & Distribution)
3.00-4.00pm @ Blue Lounge, level 1
Press conference Music Export Finland Come hear. Finland
- Hosted by Roxanne Frias (Midem)
- Speakers: Jonas Geust (Nokia Corporation, VP Music Business Programme, Multimedia), Paulina Ahokas (Music Export Finland, Director), Mari Kiviniemi (Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development), Eicca Toppinen (Apocalyptica), Lasse Mellberg (Redrama), members of Värttinä. Other participants tbc.
8.00pm-4.00am @ Palais des Festivals
Finnish Opening Night Come hear. Finland.
- Méditerranée
8.00pm doors open
8.30pm Five Corners Quintet
9.00pm DJ Bunuel (Fat Beat Sound System)
9.30pm Don Johnson Big Band
10.00pm DJ Bunuel (FBSS)
10.30pm The 69 Eyes
11.00pm DJ Bunuel (FBSS)
11.30pm Twilightning
- Ambassadeur
8.00pm doors open
8.30pm Kimmo Pohjonen/Samuli Kosminen Kluster
9.00pm Värttinä
9.30pm Slow (DJ set)
10.00pm The Crash
10.30pm Slow (DJ set)
11.00pm Apocalyptica
- Jimmy’z
10.00pm doors open
10.30pm Darude (DJ set)
11.15pm Redrama
12.00am RinneRadio
1.00-~3.00am Jori Hulkkonen (DJ set)
Monday, January 23
5.30pm-7.00pm @ Finnish pavilion
The (Infamous) Finnish Black Monday Party
- Event hosted by MTV’s Axl Smith
- Live performance by the Reigning Air Guitar Champion of the World, Michael Destroyer Heffels* (NL)
- Party vibes by Slow (the dj)
- Sponsored by Music & Media Conference (October 27-29, Tampere Finland)
* Yes, the Air Guitar World Championships are held annually in Finland (www.omvf.net)
—> Opening Night schedule and maps available also to your Nokia phone (series 40 or 60) as the fanPOD mobile brochure:
1. Send keyword “XX MIDEM06” via sms to +358407695960 and a link will get sent to the phone (Cost = 1 standard SMS)
or
2. Go to Musex Midem 2006 Finnish Opening Night web page www.musex.fi/midem2006. Type your phone number (country code + phone number: xxxYYYYYYYYYY) without the + or any spaces in entry form.
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Check out Music Export Finland’s new web site at www.musex.fi
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6 DAYS TO “Come. hear. Finland.” MIDEM OPENING NIGHT
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