September 2004
- Feature: Sounds Like Helsinki at In The City
- Business
- Live News
- Behind the Numbers / Behind the Scenes
IN THE CITY HIGHLIGHTS FINNISH MUSIC
- Sounds Like Helsinki offers a fun and eclectic night of the new buzz bands
In The City in co-operation with RF Productions will present Sounds Like Helsinki, a unique and inspiring exploration into the wealth of talent from the Finnish capital. Five fresh and exciting bands have been selected to present their material in an evening of two halves at Bar 38 in the very heart of Manchester on Monday, September 20th. The showcase continues a remarkable year of Finnish music success in the UK with both The Rasmus and HIM hitting top 10 spots in the UK charts.
HELSINKI ACTION NIGHT
- Tigerbombs (JOHANNA KUSTANNUS) 6.30pm
“One of the unsigned higlights of the Go North Festival” Music Week
Two snarling guitars, flaming & biting organs and sleazy drumwork are the main incredients of the new Tigerbombs single 1000 Sparks.
- Boomhauer (STUPIDO RECORDS) 7.15pm
“Wild redneck country punk, pelvis-cracking burning soul, post-Generation X white boy blues and raunchy garage rock” La Bruta
Three UK tours (most recently in August) have built a healthy following for this utmost entertaining live band.
- Bitch Alert (POKO REKORDS) 8.00pm
“Bitch Alert certainly kick some oppressive male arse” Kerrang!
The trio will most probably be one of the attention grabbers of the evening; their recent 28 show tour of the UK certainly gained them some heavyweight fans in the media.
HELSINKI CLUB NIGHT
- Giant Robot (STUPIDO RECORDS) 10.30pm
“Oddly fantastic… Sounding like a quattro formaggio version of ‘Hello Nasty’ with a Daft Punk rocquefort stuffed crust” Melody Maker
The true all-star band featuring some of the best musicians in Finland has already gained attention in the Continent: now it’s time for the UK…
- RinneRadio (ROCKADILLO RECORDS) 11.30pm
“Spiralling, mesmerising” Melody Maker
The band´s new album Pan, another original masterpiece, will definitely end up in most nu-jazz and electronic music compilations world-wide - as RinneRadio music tends to do.
Further showcase details here>>> and information on all the Finnish delegates attending In The City here>>>.
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BUSINESS
STUPIDO RECORDS’ all star combo Giant Robot will unleash a new EP called Home Entertainment in September. The tracklist includes new mixes of the album track Get Up! by Dj Slow and Forss and an Ercola remix of Death By Water. 12” vinyl version includes a remix by Kiki & Silversurfer of Eyes On The Price. Giant Robot’s Domesticity album will be soon out on Soyuz Records in Russia. The band will also play three shows in Russia before the end of the year. Tour info>>>
The rest of Europe will finally get a taste of Diablo (POKO REKORDS). After negotiations during summer 2004 Diablo has signed deal for their new album Eternium to be released in Europe with Drakkar Entertainment. Release date September 27th.
PLASTINKA RECORDS is sure to have the busiest autumn to date as new MD, Mr. Leri Leskinen steps into fray; he will indeed have a busy enterprice to run! September 22nd will see the release of Soul Tattoo‘s long-awaited and eponymous debut album which Finnish rock scene is already buzzing about. Vocal ensemble Rajaton‘s astonishingly successful Christmas album Joulu will come out as dvd in October with live concert and other trick and treat material. Latest album by Kemopetrol, Play For Me will be released in Switzerland, Greece, and Hungary during the autumn, while single My Superstar has been simmering nicely in the Nordic videochart MTV UpNorth. Meanwhile Slowhill, a jazz-electronica duo formed by the famed DJ Slow and Tapani Rinne, are cooking up a follow-up to their 2002 Blue Note release Finndisc, due out in late October on Plastinka.
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LIVE
Amorphis tours in the US supporting Type O Negative October 7th November 13th. Whilst singer Pasi Koskinen departed in August after nine years of service, tour substitute Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto from Charon means that the group certainly doesn’t have to make do with instrumentals only.
Having returned from headlining US concerts, Nightwish continue their ongoing world tour in Finland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, France, Spain, Belgium and Netherlands. Most of the gigs feature Sonata Arctica as warm-up. Tour info>>>
The Rasmus take off for shows in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Russia, UK and Ireland. The forthcoming concerts include a live appearance at the MTV Russia Awards in Moscow, where their theme tune In the Shadows is nominated for Best International Song. Other nominees are Britney Spears’ Toxic, Madonna‘s Love Profusion, Anastacia‘s Left Outside Alone and Linkin Park‘s Numb.
Electronic music duo Pan Sonic‘s handmade analog tone generators blurb out minimalistic noises in Italy on October 15th29th. The highlights along their route include a concert at the prestigious Biennale Musica of Venice.
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Behind the Numbers:
Looking for a new chance to break into the United States market? Well watch out for HIM who have just signed a four album contract with Sire Records. The Finns completed their BMG Finland deal with their compilation And Love Said No released earlier this year. While the deal means a completely new thing for Ville Valo and his bandmates, HIM is also holding onto tradition: the band will again perform live at Helsinki’s Tavastia club on New Year’s Eve. The gig sold out instantly in September as it always does. Fans from several countries will again travel to see the band on home turf.
Behind the Scenes:
Don’t stop us if we’ve said this before but we’ll say it again since it continues to amaze. The Finnish album chart in week 37 featured 16 local acts in the top 20! The most spectacular thing is the variety of genres: the 16 acts include glam rockers Negative, 17-year-old rapper Pikku G, Idols-winners Christian Forss and Hanna Pakarinen, art school prog-rockers Absoluuttinen Nollapiste, evergreens from Katri Helena and, of course, operatic metal group Nightwish.