Kompleksi have been booked to Turku Modern, a new festival dedicated to electronic dance music and club sounds. Will be playing on Saturday 25 July at Klubi (showtime tbc). Here's the full line-up:
Turku Modern
house, dancehall, dubstep, electro, indie...
Where: Turku, Finland Date: Friday 24 July – Sunday 26 July, 2009 Venues: Klubi Turku / Donna / Café Aula of Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova
Black Bear Sound Clouds Cosmo Baker (New York City, US) Dead-O Denaro Desto Didier Elmo Felix Manell Fummer Hannulelauri Hitto Hälinen, Larjosto & Liinamaa Ionik Jerry Valuri Jori Hulkkonen Kompleksi Komposti Sound Lempi-Joe & Piitu Lintunen Misf*ts Poika & Hirviö Renaissance Man Sheikki Sheikki Suomen Moroderit Top Billin Villa Nah We Love TKU X-Rust
The new mini-album by I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper, Dark Business, can be downloaded for free until the end of January 2009 from the following sites:
Talking about favourite blogs: if I didn't have such a short attention span and if I didn't hate reading long texts off computer screen (especially here in a local free Net café amidst the clamour of 10 - 15-year old boys coming to play RuneQuest and shoot-'em-up games after the school), I would pay more attention to the Web diary of Momus where the Scottish-originated artist and writer -- born as Nick Currie in 1960 -- gives his regular views on art, culture, politics and naturally music, his own and of the others.
Anyway, I try to give at least a brief daily glance to what Mr. Currie is saying, so I recently noticed he's going to give for free (or for a voluntary donation) six Momus albums recorded for the legendary Creation Records, according to certain fans some of his best. In his own words from the blog:
"Six Momus albums -- the ones I recorded for Alan McGee's Creation label between 1987 and 1993 -- are out of print. Creation doesn't exist any more, and in theory Sony owns the rights to these albums, but isn't doing anything with them and probably never will. In the meantime, only Russian pirates are profiting, charging punters for illegal downloads.
So, during the rest of December, I've decided to release mp3s of my six Creation albums here on Click Opera, for free. Think of it as a sort of Creation Advent Calendar, with a new old Momus album every couple of days. If you're the sort of person who likes to donate to the artist when you download, do it here. But it's not really necessary; these albums paid for themselves long ago. Think of this as a Christmas present. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!"
This is the era when Momus (the name borrowed from the Greek god of satire and mockery) took cues, alongside the more obvious Jacques Brel, Serge Gainsbourg, Scott Walker and David Bowie influences, also from such contemporary electronic artists as Pet Shop Boys, to his witty, ironic and bittersweet songs of literary style, wry commentary and "tender perversion" not unfamiliar with controversy. As is found from Wikipedia entry, in his time he has managed to anger both the trans-gender electronic music pioneer Wendy Carlos and Michelin Tyres (comparing the famous Michelin Man to a blow-up doll), not to forget songs mentioning paedophilia, necrophilia, adultery and Tamagotchis.
I have to say my own knowledge of Momus' music is more sporadic and limited to owning some albums from this era of the late 80s and early 90s. Though the artist himself comments the album in question: "This is really just a funky book-end, pleasant enough as a mood piece, but not really essential", my own favourite Momus record is the futuristic-themed Voyager of 1992 (where 'Cibachrome Blue' video seen here is taken from) -- and he even had a gig at Yo-Talo in our measly Tampere during those days, which I remember witnessing.
The other connection Momus has to this country is the Man of Letters documentary film made of him in 1994 by Finnish director Hannu Puttonen (who also created the videos for 'Pornography', 'Marquise of Sadness' and 'Rhetoric' by Momus) -- the film is available as a DVD with extra material on Cherry Red Records.
Artist: Viola / various artists Title: Melancholydisco 2 Cat.no.: IF-45 EAN: 6417698069143 Label: If Society (Finland) Distributor: Töölön Musiikkitukku Release date: 29 December 2008
Tracklist:
01 The Hardest Hit 02 Imaginary Times > Hannulelauri remix 03 Invisible Revolution > Videovalvontaa remix 04 We Owe Love 05 Outsider Code > Regina Remix 06 Unreal Life > I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper remix 07 Fleeting World 08 The Deadweights > Black Audio remix 09 Planet Struck > Kiva Tekkno Supplies Arena remix 10 Ada Bell (In A Montage)
If Society announces the release of Melancholydisco 2 by Viola, a Finnish duo of Riku Kärkkäinen and Tommi Forsström celebrating their tenth anniversary in 2009. The first Melancholydisco in 2005 featured versions of tracks from Viola's debut album Tearcandy (2004) by such artists as Boys of Scandinavia, Iconcrash and Verneri Lumi of Rinneradio. This second installment includes re-shaped songs from Viola's subsequent albums Anything Can Stop Us (2005) and Wonderabilia (2007). Melancholydisco 2 has four brand new electronic Viola songs and six remixes from various artists.
I decided I'm really bad (meaning too lazy and undisciplined) in writing record reviews, especially in English, but I might give a few words about this album after receiving the promo in mail yesterday and having time to give it a couple of listens already. The opener, 'The Hardest Hit', is potentially the biggest, erm, hit on this compilation; a track in the best 80s Pet Shop Boys/Bobby O./hi-energy/Italo/gaydisco vein featuring "orchestra hit synthesizer sound". Of the rest of three new Viola songs, 'We Owe Love' also holds dancefloor potential; the mentioned Pet Shop Boys (with a touch of 'Blue Monday'-era New Order) probably providing one major pointer to those uninitiated with Viola's bittersweet indie-disco sound.
Also remixers here seem to represent the current Who's Who of Finnish indie and underground dance scene: Hannulelauri, Turku's "chiptune ninjas" Videovalvontaa, Regina, I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper (with a dub-wise sound here), 22-Pistepirkko's sons Black Audio and Kiva a.k.a. Teemu Korpipää (who has also mixed Viola's own tracks on this album) with a trancey "stadium house" sound.
Kirlian Crossing is a Finnish act comprising at the moment Ilai Rämä (also of Siniaalto fame), Teemu Sinkko, JP Linna and Jussi Miettola. Inspired by Kirlian photography, they claim "the original idea was to combine acoustic folk songs into Soviet Union era science fiction in Tarkovsky spirit", "building microphones and effects", using "Soviet-made technology and Russian microphones" and "we've gone by channeling sessions, books, cinema. Eventually we've counterfeited UFO footage and looked the world through pinhole cameras. We are the chance of a dog wandering into the scene in Stalker". You can see their spooky Kirlian and pinhole photographs at their gallery.
Repeat and Repeat Vol. 4 by Kirlian Crossing in their series of Net releases is out now at:
In the repeat there's quiet, developing change. Hopefully the changing never stops.
This is our fourth series of downloadable records containing improvisations by Kirlian Crossing. (You'll find previous ones on the release series page). This series will contain nine volumes, released on the 2nd of each month until May 2009.
You can download three types of .zip files:
'wav', which is a .zip package including .wav files for cd-r burning, .mp3 files for free internet distribution and a printable cd-r cover (.pdf). 'mp3', which is a .zip package including the music in mp3-format 'cover', which is a .zip package including a printable cd-r cover 'torrent', which includes the same as 'wav'-package.
Artist: Kompleksi Title: Sister Longlegs Dances In The Disco Format: 12" vinyl LP (limited edition of 500) Cat.no.: VERDU-24 Label: Verdura Records (Finland) Date: 15 October 2008
Tracklist: A1. (I Ain't No) Lovechild A2. Spiders In The Sky A3. Porno Tampere A4. Gothic Robots A5. SWT NG FCK THNG A6. Metal Sky B1. Bioluminescence B2. Moscow 1980 B3. Sara Pain B4. The Only Star In My Sky
And this is what Supersounds tells about the release:
Tamperelaisen duon (Erkki "pHinn" Rautio & Mika "Mike Not" Paju) debyyttialbumi. -Yhtyeen oma kuvaus musiikista on "eclectro", eli monimuotoista ja mihinkään selkeään kategoriaan kuulumatonta konemusiikkia. -Omintakeista ja taatusti hämmentävää, tarttuvia kappaleita unohtamatta. -Laulaja Erkki pyörittää maailmanlaajuisesti tunnettua pHinnweb.org -konemusiikkisivustoa. -Lo-fi -estetiikka on kansia myöten hyvin hallussa!
I will add later on more info about the shops where to get it and also the international distribution that is in plans too. For now, you can find the album for example at If Society Shop, Pitkämies, CD-Kauppa.Fi and Levyliiga.
And the digital version (with a bit different track order and slightly longer versions of some tracks) can still be bought from Beatport.
Meanwhile, if you live outside of Finland and want to get your hands on the album now, I recommend you contact Verdura directly for more. It's a shining black vinyl with a limited edition of 500, so act while the stock lasts!
I've been a fan of UK's Situationist Moog lounge indie pop adventurers Stereolab for years. (Here is from pHinnWeb archives an ancient review of their Dots and Loops of 1997.) Stereolab now have their new album Chemical Chords out. The track 'Three Women' is from the album.
More Jimi Tenor & His Shamans; this video is from Fear Of A Black Jesus (Bad-28, Bad Vugum, 1992), the band's last album before the Shamans split and Jimi launched his solo career.
Courtesy of Tommi Forsström (If Society Records), who has now uploaded to YouTube the contents of rare Finnish VHS compilations Bad Vugum: From B To V (of Bad Vugum label) and Arctic Fury, featuring videos and live performances from the early 1990s by some now-legendary Finnish indie/punk/metal/avantgarde acts such as Mana Mana, Deep Turtle and Keuhkot; and alongside Jimi Tenor & His Shamans the act maybe most interesting for pHinnWeb, the early videos of postrock/post-Krautrock band Circle, especially of their Meronia era:
Screamadelica Don't Fight It, Feel It Higher Than The Sun
Paul Cannell (16 March 1963 - 5 July 2005) was responsible for the artwork of Screamadelica-era Primal Scream. Most famous of these was the "psychedelic fried eggs" illustration for that 1991 album, which the band adopted as their logo, too; also for Primal Scream's singles from the album, such as Higher Than The Sun and Don't Fight It, Feel It. Cannell created here a sort of fascinating and mind-bending combination of bright day-glo pop art colours and symbols, primitive art, expressionism and psychedelia; essentially creating a visual equivalent for Screamadelica's po-mo mixture of 60s retro psych-pop and electronic/dub sounds, Primal Scream's finest moment so far, which briefly epitomised the early-90s British "indie meets rave" scene.
As to the music itself, infamously, a lot of the output for the album was not actually created by the band themselves (who were earlier known as The Rolling Stones/MC5 copycats; the henchman Bobby Gillespie having also previously played drums for Jesus and The Mary Chain) but by the producers and remixers such as Andy Weatherall and The Orb's Alex Paterson, while the band was concentrating on just, erm, getting higher than the sun.
One of the band's contemporaries and rivals in the early-90s neo-psychedelic dance music scene, Colin Angus of The Shamen bitterly compared in an i-D magazine interview Primal Scream with The Chocolate Watch Band, a US West Coast band of the late-60s, who similarly were rather spending their time enjoying psychedelic substances in the studio backroom while their producer Ed Cobb (the man also behind The Standells and responsible for writing Gloria Jones's 'Tainted Love', later immortalised by Soft Cell) worked out with studio musicians some dazzling baroque psych soundscapes ending up on the band's album.
Anyway, despite (or maybe because of it) this lack of "authenticity" (yawn), I'm a fan both of Screamadelica and The Chocolate Watch Band. The Shamen quickly disappeared up their own Terence McKenna-inspired cyberdelic wormhole with such god-awful singles as 'Destination Eschaton' but the Primals are still around, even though their erratic output (subsequent albums featuring in turns techno sounds and "back to the roots" pastiche country rock) has for me never again reached similar solar heights.
Back to Paul Cannell, he also created artwork for such bands as Manic Street Preachers, Shonen Knife, Flowered Up and The Telescopes. Sadly, Paul Cannell ended up taking his own life in 2005, but his vision lives on.
This year's Monsters of Pop indie music festival of Tampere will take place on 4 - 6 September 2008 at Klubi and Telakka. Performing at the festival will be at least Sweden's Familjen, Regina, Le Corps Mince De Francoise, Jesse, Risto and many more to be confirmed: MoP will present altogether about 30 different indie artists and DJs.
MONSTERS OF POP ?INDIEMUSIIKKIFESTIVAALIN OHJELMA VARMISTUNUT
4.-6.9. Tampereen Klubilla ja Telakalla järjestettävän Monsters of Pop -indiemusiikkifestivaalin ohjelma on varmistunut kokonaisuudessaan. Monsters of Popissa nähdään tänä vuonna 18 tuoretta ja kiinnostavaa indieyhtyettä Suomesta, Ruotsista ja Venäjältä.
Festivaalin avaa torstaina 4.9. kolme kotimaista indierockyhtyettä, kun helsinkiläiset Kastor ja Kiki Pau ja turkulainen Goodnight Monsters esiintyvät Telakan lavalla. Kastorin Lost Station -albumi oli vuoden 2007 kiinnostavin indiedebyytti. Kiki Pau on kansainvälistäkin kiinnostusta herättänyt kvartetti, jonka debyyttialbumin julkaisee Johanna Kustannus syksyllä 2008. Goodnight Monsters on yksi 22-Pistepirkon isännöimän Bone Voyage -levy-yhtiön artisteista. Torstaina Klubin lavalla kuullaan harvinaista herkkua, kun lavalle astelee moskovalainen Everything Is Made In China, jonka post rockia tullaan kuulemaan tänä syksynä useilla eurooppalaisilla rockfestivaaleilla. Samana iltana Klubilla esiintyvät myös juuri Live!-albuminsa julkaissut Risto ja kaurismäkeläisiä tunnelmia ja punkasennetta yhdistelevä tamperelainen Last Calls.
Perjantaina 5.9. Telakalla esittäytyy tamperelainen indielevy-yhtiö Gaea. Jessen teiniviiksielektron ja Le Corps Mince De Francoisen tyttöenergiaa pursuavan tanssipoljennon lisäksi lavalla nousee The Credit. The Credit on yhtä kuin I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper -yhtyeen pääjehu My Lovin? Martian ja Pintandwefallin laulaja-perkussionisti Cute Pint. Huhu kertoo, että kaksikko tekee muutakin kuin pelkkää musiikkia yhdessä vapaa-ajallaan. Perjantai-ilta päättyy Klubilla ruotsalaistunnelmissa. Tukholmalaisen pitkän linjan indiepopyhtye First Floor Powerin ja hiukan tuoreemman ruotsalaistuttavuuden The Deer Tracksin kanssa lavan jakaa Regina, jolta on Monsters of Pop -keikalla odotettavissa uusia kappaleita yhtyeen loppuvuodesta julkaistavalta kolmosalbumilta.
Monsters of Popin päätöspäivänä lauantaina 6.9. Telakalla esiintyvät ylistetty Joose Keskitalo & Kolmas Maailmanpalo, Kevin-yhtyeestä tutun Ville Särmän soolokokoonpano Villen Särmän Illuusio ja Ruotsin Malmöstä ponnistava Forest & Crispian. Jo kaksi vuotta toiminut Hang The DJ! -indiedisko isännöi lauantai-iltana Klubia, jolloin lavalla nähdään alkuvuodesta Kentiä Suomen kiertueella lämmitellyt Familjen (Swe), joka vuosi Monsters of Popissa esiintyvä Rättö ja Lehtisalo sekä rummuilla ja syntetisaattoreilla musiikkia tekevä kaksikko Alpo ja Tomi. Alpo ja Tomi -nimen takaa löytyvät muun muassa Eleanoora Rosenholmista tuttu Alpo Nummelin sekä esimerkiksi Aavikosta ja Annien livekokoonpanosta tuttu human drum machine Tomi Leppänen.
Monsters of Popin lipunmyynti käynnistyy keskiviikkona 9.7. Tiketissä, Klubilla, Telakalla ja Platta-levykaupassa. Kolmen päivän passi Monsters of Popiin maksaa 40 euroa, keikkakohtaisten lippujen hinnat vaihtelevat välillä 6-12 euroa.
Tarkemmat lisätiedot festivaalin lipunmyynnistä, ohjelmasta ja aikatauluista löytyvät festivaalin verkkosivuilta osoitteesta www.monstersofpop.net. Festivaalin sivuilta löytyvät myös tarkemmat artistiesittelyt sekä linkit esiintyjien promokuviin.
Medialle tiedoksi:
Monsters of Popin akkreditointi on nyt käynnissä, lähetä akkreditointipyyntösi osoitteeseen antti.hietala[at]monstersofpop.net.
Monsters of Pop -festivaaliin liittyviin kysymyksiin ja tiedusteluihin vastaa
Antti Hietala antti.hietala[at]monstersofpop.net
---
The earliest press release:
tiedote: MONSTERS OF POP -INDIEMUSIIKKIFESTIVAALI PALAA UUDISTUNEENA
tiedote 14.5.2008, julkaisuvapaa heti
MONSTERS OF POP -INDIEMUSIIKKIFESTIVAALI PALAA UUDISTUNEENA
Kautta aikain kolmas Monsters of Pop -indiemusiikkifestivaali järjestetään tänä vuonna 4.-6.9.2008. Viime vuosia myöhäisemmän ajankohdan lisäksi myös festivaalin tapahtumapaikat ovat muuttuneet.
Vuoden 2008 Monsters of Pop järjestetään Tampereella Tullinaukion viriilissä ympäristössä Klubi- ja Telakka-ravintoloissa.
Monsters of Popin ajankohdan siirtäminen elokuun alusta syyskuulle tekee festivaalista virallisen syyskauden avauksen. Festivaali toimiikin nyt Tampereelle muuttaneille uusille opiskelijoille mahdollisuutena tutustua aktiiviseen Tampereeseen, johon ehdottomasti kuuluvat indiemusiikki ja elävä ravintolakulttuuri. Tapahtumapaikkojen siirtyminen Tammerkosken itäpuolelle on osa luonnollista kaupunkikehitystä: Tampereen keskustan painopiste onkin jo hyvän aikaa ollut siirtymässä Tullin alueelle. Klubi ja Telakka tarjoavat myös luonnollisia etuja festivaalin järjestämiseen, sillä nyt festivaalilla on käytössä suuremman yleisökapasiteetin lisäksi mm. kaksi hienoa ja tunnelmallista terassia.
Osa Monsters of Pop -indiemusiikkifestivaalin tämän vuoden ohjelmasta on myös varmistunut. Yhtenä pääesiintyjistä festivaalilla nähdään ruotsalainen Familjen, joka esiintyi Suomessa viime tammikuussa Kentin lämmittelijänä. Kotimaisista esiintyjistä Monsters of Pop -visiittinsä ovat varmistaneet luomuelektropopillaan hurmaava Regina, Suomen CSS:ksi tituleerattu Le Corps Mince De Francoise, teiniviiksielektron kuningas Jesse ja aina yhtä viihdyttävä Risto. Tämän vuoden Monsters of Popissa tullaan näkemään ja kuulemaan yhteensä n. 30 artistia, yhtyettä ja deejiitä indiemusiikin kovimmasta kärjestä.
Monsters of Popin lipunmyyntitiedot ja tarkempi ohjelma päivittyvät festivaalin verkkosivuille touko-kesäkuun aikana.
The second Monsters of Pop festival of Tampere, 10-12 August 2007, offered many cultish goodies for discerning connoisseurs, providing some sorely needed alternative to the otherwise mostly boring Finnish festival summer, with all those jaded Suomirock and metal bands circulating at every other domestic event dedicated to stinking portaloos, combat drinking and intoxicated brawls.
Here are some personal favourites as witnessed at Yo-Talo, one of the gigs venues alongside Artturi and Laterna: alas, the latter two I had no more energy to visit myself, and perhaps better so, because spending three nights only at Yo-Talo made me feel afterwards some physical strain and bodily decay... Anyway, kudos to all at Monsters of Pop organisation for setting this thing up, and also getting Mr. pHinn in, which added some welcomed sparks of light to this summer I could personally well have lived without otherwise. Already looking forward to MoP 2008!
Kukka's long-awaited comeback gig featured a very excited crowd. I used to describe their music as "Velvet Underground meets Kraftwerk", and though this description must be grossly misleading, I hope it at least offers some pointers to their melancholic indie pop laced with some electronics. Kukka disappeared from the scene in 2001 but had already managed to gather a considerable cult reputation through their gigs and demos spreading from hand to hand, and obviously that memory has not faded, which could be witnessed with the encore song 'Chabom' with a strangely serene, even church-like atmosphere in the audience. Obviously the Helmilevyt label is going to release Kukka's old demos soon, so you might be able to hear yourself what the fuss was all about. You can listen to such old favourites heard during the gig as 'Hey Mr. DJ', 'Hot Light' and (my own fave track) 'Machine' on Kukka's MySpace site.
K-X-P: spacey excursions meeting electronic funk, which briefly visited being on the verge of prog-rock but fortunately no 20-minute drum solos were heard in the end. The line-up consisted of Timo Kaukolampi and Tuomo Puranen, both familiar from Op:l Bastards, accompanied by the live drumming of Tomi Leppänen, the real Stakhanovian hero of labour who also appeared at the festival with Aavikko (not to talk about his work with Circle, whose offshoot Rättö and Lehtisalo I unfortunately missed this year). I really enjoyed this gig with its psychedelic overtones too, making me think of some DC Recordings acts like The Emperor Machine or Giallos Flame.
Studio: I had no earlier experience with this band from the West Coast of Sweden, but what I heard was for me pounding funkish indie pop very much reminiscent of early 90s Manchester bands like Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. I mentioned this to one of the band after the gig, which he was not at all displeased to hear. Nice throbbing lights for the stage show too, though I was glad for not being an epilectic.
Pluxus, also from Sweden, visited Tampere for the third time, and had adopted a more laptop-oriented sound since I last heard them. Whereas their music used to sound for me like home-grown electro, with their current line-up of three it was now more sleek, with touches of pounding techno-house and very danceable.
Martin Rev, the keyboardist for New York's legendary Suicide must have been for many one of the most expected acts of Monsters of Pop. His one-man show consisted of very lengthy tracks made out of loops, including also some Afro-Cuban sounds, something that sounded like an old Roy Orbison backing track, one backing track from Suicide's American Supreme but added with new vocals which Rev sang with his husky voice. Wearing a sleeveless Batman comics T-shirt, red leather pants and huge reflecting ski glasses, Martin Rev's keyboard technique was a sight to see too, featuring karate chops, playing clusters with his fists and doing some quick sweeps through the keys as if they had been potter's clay to be moulded. I heard Rev's performance had quite divided people's opinions, but what I enjoyed here was that totally uncompromising attitude of his. After the gig I got to visit Mr. Rev at his own private backroom at the upstairs of Yo-Talo to change a few quick words (and to slip him some of our own music, the shameless wannabe that I am, including our live version of 'Ghost Rider' with Sonic Temple Assassins) with the living legend, who seemed to be even Zen-like calm and relaxed, with those ever-present sunglasses never leaving his face.
Aavikko's extensive touring along the years in Finland and Europe seems to bear fruit now since the floor was totally crowded with dancing people almost going berserk, and as encore was heard their perhaps biggest hit, 'Viitostie', paying homage to Kraftwerk's 'Autobahn'. Wearing grey terylene slacks and black shirts, Aavikko ("Desert") looked and sounded like a parody of Finnish dancehall "humppa" crowd, but their ecstatic organ instrumentals have stealthily added a more electronic sound, making them distinctly different from the drunken iconoclasts like Eläkeläiset.
And some brief clips from the last year's Monsters of Pop:
[I wrote a bit about this festival in English here.]
TIEDOTE: TAMPEREEN POPKANSAA HEMMOTELLAAN 9.-11. ELOKUUTA
tiedote 26.7.2007, julkaisuvapaa heti
TAMPEREEN POPKANSAA HEMMOTELLAAN 9.-11. ELOKUUTA
Suomen persoonallisin musiikkifestivaali Monsters of Pop valtaa Tampereen kahden viikon kuluttua 9.-11. elokuuta. Kolme päivää kestävä festivaali esittelee kolmella eri klubilla kattavan otoksen koti- ja ulkomaista indiemusiikkia. Festivaalin ennakkoliput ovat tehneet kauppansa, joten tunnelma tulee viime vuoden tapaan olemaan katossa kaikkina kolmena päivänä.
Torstaina Monsters of Popissa kuullaan perinteistä kitaravetoista indiemusiikkia. Illan aikana esiintyvät muun muassa vastikään Ääni ja Vimma -kilpailun voittanut Pintandwefall, suomalaisen psykedeliapopin kruunaamaton kuningas Sister Flo, odotetun paluun tekevä Kukka ja tukholmalainen Don't Be A Stranger (SWE).
Monsters of Popin elektroninen perjantai-ilta painottuu Yo-Talolle, jossa ensimmäisen Suomen keikkansa tekevät Suicide-legenda Martin Rev (US) ja varsinkin brittimediassa viime aikoina kovasti hehkutettu Studio (SWE). Lisäksi kuullaan Op:l Bastardsista tutun Timo Kaukolammen uutta KXP-yhtyettä. Perjantai esittelee Monsters of Pop -yleisölle kolmannen tapahtumapaikan, Ravintola Laternan, jossa kitaroitaan kurittavat Kuopion garagerock-prinsessat The Micragirls, psyke-kraut-folk-rokkarit Plain Ride, sekä Aamulehden Valo-liitteen ja Monsters of Popin Bit 07 -kilpailun voittanut Genzale. Alkuillan odotetuin artisti on avopuolisonsa Hot Coken kanssa Artturissa esiintyvä monialataiteilija Anssi 8000, jonka Monikkotrilogia-nimellä kulkeva kolmen elokuvan kokonaisuus esitetään elokuvateatteri Niagarassa lauantaina 11.8. klo 16.00.
Lauantaina Yo-Talon lavalla nähdään elektropop-hengenheimolaiset Aavikko ja Pluxus (SWE), joiden välinen ystävyys on kestänyt jo lähes kymmenen vuotta. Varmaa on, että lavalla nähdään hurja analogiurkujen taisto. Monille tämän vuoden festivaalin kohokohta tulee olemaan Ravintola Laternan lauantain Fonal-ilta. Fonal on noussut 2000-luvulla yhdeksi maailman arvostetuimmista kokeellisen folkin levy-yhtiöistä, jonka julkaisut myyvät loppuun kerta toisensa jälkeen. Lavalle nousevat Fonalin kärkinimet Paavoharju ja Islaja, sekä ihka ensimmäisen keikkansa soittava porilainen Eleanoora Rosenholm.
Lisätietoa Monsters of Popista ja sen esiintyjistä löytyy festivaalin nettisivuilta www.monstersofpop.net. Ennakkoliput ovat myynnissä Yo-Talon verkkokaupassa osoitteessa www.yo-talo.com ja levykauppa Platassa Tampereella. Tapahtumakohtaisten lippujen hinnat vaihtelevat 5-12 euron välillä. Kolmen päivän festivaalipassi maksaa 38 euroa. Lippuja ja passeja voi ostaa myös tapahtumapaikkojen ovilta festivaalin aikana, ellei niitä ole myyty loppuun.
Martin Rev, the keyboardist of New York's legendary electronic duo Suicide will arrive to Tampere's Monsters of Pop festival that's going take to place on 9-11 August 2007. Rev's solo works have been released on such labels as Finland's Puu/Sähkö Recordings.
Alongside Martin Rev, other confirmed acts of Monsters of Pop will be Pluxus (a Swedish electro/synth act which appeared at our Club Telex in 2001 and whom I interviewed then), Paavoharju (an internationally acclaimed Fonal Records act, combining ethereal pop/folk with spiritual overtones even to Bollywood sounds), Sister Flo, The Micragirls (my own favourite, a very energetic all-female garage rock band of a cultish reputation), Kukka (a welcomed, albeit brief, return from a Tampere synth/indie band which sadly split after some very promising demos in the late 90s, and whose members have continued in such projects as Risto and Moppi & Aivokurkiaiset), Don't Be A Stranger (Sweden), Anssi 8000 & Hot Coke, Islaja, Cats On Fire, The Rollstons, Genzale, Tolbiac, Obi Blanche, Sweeties and Aksu.
After running since 1995, DJs Henkka and Mikko (image below) have decided to call it a day with their Alternative Night Saturday discos at Tampere's Yo-Talo. The last Alternative Night will be on Saturday 23 September 2006.
I guest-DJed myself at these events in the late 1990s but only found it really frustrating in the end, so I quit. Because there were not really too many chances to play anything that would challenge the Britpop hierarchy of the day. Still, it's a bit sad to see this institution go.
[John Peel: you can be an old fart, but you don't have to be a boring old fart!]
One person I admire very much -- and also look up to as a role model in what I'm trying to do myself -- is the late British radio DJ John Peel. He started his career during the early 60s beat era and then became one of the most prominent voices in the 1960s UK musical underground with his radio shows such as Perfumed Garden. John Peel was born in 1939 so he wasn't exactly a young turk any more even in those days.
And to the late-60s musical era Peel might have as well stuck for the rest of his life, just keeping playing his hippie music favourites for his aging peers as a nostalgia act, but instead, he preferred to go on. He kept up with was happening in the musical underground -- punk, alternative, indie, electronic dance music, you name it, and without prejudices and getting stuck to any purist ghettos -- all the way to October 2004 when he sadly passed away. All this time championing new music and acts, spreading the word about them to people, constantly seeking for what is fresh and innovative. My intention here is not to pay lip service, only to show that a person can go on musically even after that dreaded milestone of thirty years of age.
