- Features:
* Lordi Rule Over Finnish Summer Festival Nights
* The Beelzebub of the Accordion at Sonar, June 17
* Europe Jazz Network Assembly in Helsinki
- Business
- Live News - Summer Festival Special
- Behind the Scenes
- Behind the Numbers
Lordi Rule Over Finnish Summer Festival Nights
Lordi (SONYBMG), the ground-breaking, vote-magnet winners of the Eurovision Song Contest, have a busy summer ahead of them. Besides rocking around Europe, their tour calendar also includes a number of Finnish festivals, and crowds will no doubt go into an absolute frenzy at the sight and sound of their new national heroes. So heres a glimpse of the more-than-lively Finnish festival scene, which manages to attract wickedly large crowds from our 5-million-strong population and yes, you will be able to catch the Monstrous Lordi at these events:
June 22 RMJ, July 7 Ruisrock, July 12 Tammerfest and July 25 Rockoff
If that doesnt tire you out, you can also party with the crazy Finns at the following events, each of which draw 50,000-100,000 festival goers each year: Provinssirock, Tuska Open Air, Ilosaarirock, Ankkarock and Pori Jazz.
The Beelzebub of the Accordion at Sonar, June 17
The flag-bearer of Finnish music at the 13th edition of Sonar in Barcelona, June 15-17, is the accordion-wielding Kimmo Pohjonen / Samuli Kosminen Kluster (HOEDOWN). The showcase is at the SónarComplex, Saturday, June 17.
Listen to tracks from Kluster:
Ulaani - Keko - Ohimo
Finnish companies who will be glad to talk to you at Sonar:
HOEDOWN, PORE/CYMBIDIUM, STARS-MUSIC, PROTONIUM KY, ENTROPY RY, EVENLAKE STUDIOS, EXOGENIC MUSIC GROUP, IHMELEVYT, JUSTIFIED SINNERS, KATASTRO.FI, NEXT BIG THING RECORDINGS, PORE PRODUCTIONS, SEWER LEAK, THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS
Europe Jazz Network Assembly in Helsinki, August 31 - September 3
The European Jazz Network (EJN) General Assembly 2006, August 31 - September 3 gathers some 50 member organizations from a broad geographical spectrum to Helsinki. EJN is the biggest network of its kind in Europe. Coinciding with the Assembly is the kick-off of the UMO Jazz Fest, presenting top-quality groups such as UMO Jazz Orchestra (UMO), The Five Corners Quintet (RICKY-TICK) and Ilmiliekki Quartet (TUM Records).
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BUSINESS
The alternative/punk group Disco Ensemble (FULLSTEAM) recently inked a worldwide exclusive deal with Universal Domestic Rock Germany. Acclaimed by media around Europe, Disco Ensemble are already well known for their energetic live shows. Among many, Kerrang glorified the act to the UK audience the following way: “This is thrilling, edgy post-hardcore with huge choruses and colossal vats of energy!” The team who have previously led artists like The Rasmus (PLAYGROUND)and Rammstein to prosperity are ready to work hard to write another Finnish success story.
Lodger (EASTBORDER PROMOTION LTD), famous for their award-winning animated music videos, have signed a two-album deal with Recall Records to join a roster including Dj Cam, Grand National and Mylo. Lodgers debut album HiFi High Lights Down Low will be out in North America in September 2006. The band will be featured in the “indie spotlight” on the iTunes USA frontpage in the week starting June 12. In addition to North America, Recall has also acquired rights to release the album in France and the Netherlands. Elsewhere in Europe the band are signed to EMI.
Slows (PLASTINKA) latest album Pronto! has been licensed by Columbia Japan. The Japanese release will be in July 2006. Mr Slow, aka Vellu Maurola, the worlds first mobile jockey was recently in Japan to do promo and was very pleased with the results.
The Finnish metal phenomenon Nightwish (SPINEFARM) will spend this summer rehearsing at a top-secret location, yet all their fans will have access to this classified residence. How on earth is this possible? The answer is the Nightwish FanBLOG a mobile video blog at http://fanblog.nightwish.com. The band shoot eye-popping material with their mobile phones, and after a couple of minutes, the footage is on the FanBLOG site. This is as close as you can get
As a result of participating in the Finnish Music Days in Tokyo, Rockadillo Records has signed a licensing deal for the a capella jazz group How Many Sisters’ album Thank you for the kiss. The album was licensed by Tokyo-based label Besection. The Sisters singers are also known as the nucleus of the international Adiemus Singers, so expect a sweet treat! The world-renowned home of Finnish jazz and world music, Rockadillo, also won a licensing deal for their recently signed act Suden aika, featuring former Hedningarna singers. Their new album Unta will be released in August, and a licensing deal for the GSA has already been secured with the German Laika Records.
Supersounds Music and Scandinavian A1 Music have negotiated a European deal for the hard-rocking group Reflexion (A1 MUSIC) with the German label Mach XX. Reflexions debut album Out of the Dark will be released in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France June 30. The album is already out in Italy and Spain. German alternative magazines Zillo and Orkus gave Reflexion a warm welcome, featuring the band as Newcomer of the Month (Newcomer des Monats).
Accordion Tribe (INTUITION), the multinational collective of big-name accordionists featuring Maria Kalaniemi, celebrate their 10th Anniversary this year. The group’s third album Lunghorn Twist climbed to the #12 spot on the World Music Charts Europe in May.
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LIVE
SUMMER FESTIVAL SPECIAL
The festival season will be a busy one for numerous Finnish groups, many of them performing on the biggest festival stages in Europe. Take, for example, HIM (HMC/SIRE), Disco Ensemble (FULLSTEAM) and The Five Corners Quintet (RICKY-TICK), who have all been booked for Denmark’s Roskilde Festival, June 29-July 2. The Rasmus (PLAYGROUND), for their part, will be one of the headliners on the main stage at the gigantic Sziget, Hungary (August 9-16).
On the world music side of things, Värttinä (HOEDOWN) will play the Pohoda Festival, Slovakia (July 15 - 17), and FMM Sines, Portugal (July 21 - 29). Kluster (HOEDOWN), a duo made up of accordion chameleon Kimmo Pohjonen and sampling wizard Samuli Kosminen, will head out to Spain for Barcelona’s Sónar Festival (June 15-17).
Genrewise, though, the most sought-after style seems to be metal, especially in Germany. Amorphis (SPINEFARM) will perform at With Full Force, Germany (June 30-July 2), Gates of Metal, Sweden (August 4-5) and elsewhere. Having finished their current North American tour, Children of Bodom (SPINEFARM) will appear at Wacken Open Air, Germany (August 3-5), alongside Finntroll (SPINEFARM). Other picks include Ensiferum (SPINEFARM) and Moonsorrow (SPINEFARM) at Kaltenbach Open Air, Austria (July 14-15), and Stratovarius (NUCLEAR BLAST) at the Bang Your Head Festival, Germany (June 23-24).
Of the foreign festivals, Rabarock, in Järvakandi, Estonia, June 9-10, is setting an unofficial world record for Finnish music: approximately a third of the programme will consist of groups from Finland. On stage will be: Cleaning Women (BV2), armed with vacuum cleaners and washboards; the hard-riffing metal group Suburban Tribe (EMI); the folk-metal outfit Korpiklaani (NAPALM RECORDS) making ample use of such instruments as the jouhikko and accordion; the melodic mascara rockers Negative (GBFAM); and The Skreppers (UDAI RECORDS), who draw on garage and psychedelic sounds.
ON TOUR
Russia and Ukraine are the destinations of The Rasmus mini-tour, June 12-20. Dates include concerts at Zhukovskoye Airfield, Moscow, and Palace Square, St. Petersburg.
Travelling further East are Helsinki-based pop group Underdogs, who are to play four gigs with local acts in Tokyo, July 2-11.
The Crash will take a break from recording their fourth album to appear live in the US, at the Mercury Lounge, New York City, June 19, and Hotel Cafe, Los Angeles, June 22.
RinneRadio have been confirmed to play at Jazzfestival Saalfelden near Salzburg, Austria, August 25. The band will also play Club Platforma in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 24.
A sensational Monsters of Humppa Tour will take off in Germany in late July. The shows will be delivered by Eläkeläiset, Jolly Jumpers & La Seca Del Canto. The dates for ultimate Humppa Action are: Nuremberg, July 21; Berlin, July 22; and Frankfurt, July 23.
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Behind the Scenes: Sunny rockers Sunrise Avenue (BONNIER AMIGO) are off to an explosive start! The band only just released their debut album On the Way to Wonderland in home country Finland, and before that clinched a deal with EMI Germany, which ensures the album’s international release in August. Now the no-extra-fills-just-pure-rock-from-the-heart band’s pace has inspired German TV-station ZDF to use Sunrise Avenue’s Fairytale Gone Bad as the title music to the station’s Tour De France broadcasts in July. Put your sneaker to the pedal and cycle to Sunrise Avenue’s wonderland!
Behind the Numbers: Lordi (SONYBMG) hysteria has gripped Europe. First and foremost in the thrall of the heavy metal monster band’s rough grip is its home country Finland, which naturally went bonkers after Lordi clinched the win of the Eurovision Song Contest with Hard Rock Hallelujah. The band are now at the top of the album chart with The Arockalypse. In Sweden the album hit No. 11 and Hard Rock Hallelujah took the top spot of the Swedish download chart. In Germany the positions were 13 for the album, No. 5 for the single and No. 2 for downloads. In the UK the single was released on the appropriately devilish date of 6.6.06. and that has so far led to No. 25 in the singles charts.