Europavox 2010 - The Whole Story

Almost all Europavox 2010 ambassadors

Seems like this lazy blogger is getting used to living normal life in Finland again, which means it’s time to write about the Europavox festival experiences before memories start to fade. Earlier this spring I wrote about 50 words telling why I should be the one to go Europavox. I was one of the two Finnish winners. In all EU countries, similar contests were organized and eventually more than 50 people were chosen to represent their countries as ambassadors of Europavox.

Early in the morning of Thursday May 20th we took our flights to Paris and continued by bus towards Clermont-Ferrand where the festival was to be organized for the fifth time. Most of Thursday was spent in the bus trying to get some sleep and gather energy for the festival and even more getting to know each other. There were too many new names and faces to keep in mind so people called each other by their countries. We arrived to the festival very late missing most gigs. All I saw on Thursday was a couple of songs from Tokyo Sex Destruction. To my surprise, I didn’t feel very interested in the gigs then nor in the following days. This was for the simple reason that there were 50+ new interesting and open people I wanted to get to know.

During the following three days, we had some activities in the afternoons and of course all the happenings in the festival area in the evenings. We had a small conference about music and politics in the Internet, some walks around the beautiful city of Clermont-Ferrand and a trip to an ancient volcano in the area. As ambassadors, we were video interviewed at times about Europe and we also got to interview some artists performing in the festival. I interviewed the Greenlandic singer-songwriter Nive Nielsen, the Danish band The Kissaway Trail and the only Finnish band at the festival, Joensuu 1685. I will try to write about Joensuu 1685 separately later since I had a chance to do a longer interview with their bassist Risto backstage after their gig.

Nive Nielsen [photo by Eleni Hoefsloot]

Nive Nielsen is originally a real Inuit from Greenland now living in Canada studying and making music. She began writing songs after receiving a red ukulele from her boyfriend in Canada. She still plays the same ukulele these days and had it with her on stage at Europavox as well. Among other things Nive talked about her belief in ghosts, a fact I surely thought to be a joke when read it from myspace, but not anymore. Apparently it’s not that rare in Greenland to believe in ghosts and she has had some strange experiences leading to the belief like stones flying inside her car. Nive’s honest and charming character remained from the interview to the gig later that night. It was a very positive experience although I felt there was a bit of a contradiction between the shy and inexperienced-looking singer and the other musicians who seemed very professional.

As I said, I wasn’t too excited about most gigs and probably missed a lot of good performances. Still, there were some shows to remember. Seeing The Black Box Revelation for only a couple of songs convinced me of their great live energy and duo power. The Requesters put up a great party while JJ was even more confusing than in Helsinki five months ago. Bigott surprised me with his great voice and a band that seemed to be full of interesting personalities, although there was no doubt who was the leader of the bunch.

Russell Marsden (Band Of Skulls) [photo by Eleni Hoefsloot]

Band of Skulls impressed most ambassadors, including me, with their energetic garage rock performance and probably made the most solid rock gig of the festival despite the fact that they constantly reminded me of a dozen other bands. Nevertheless, they do have great songs and a fantastic attitude. After Band of Skulls, Peter Hook’s tribute to Unknown Pleasures didn’t feel very rewarding. Yet, once they got to actually playing Unknown Pleasures, I had to admit Hook’s voice wasn’t that bad at replacing Ian Curtis. The moment they came back on stage to perform "Love Will Tear Us Apart" was naturally magical but otherwise I have to say I was somewhat disappointed.

Peter Hook [photo by Eleni Hoefsloot]

Joensuu 1685 and The Kissaway Trail were both great as expected. Perhaps the biggest surprise for me at the whole festival was The Moroccan singer Hindi Zahra who performed self-confidently with an equally talented band. Her music combines beautifully elements of jazz, Arabian and African music, folk, blues etc.

Peter Doherty was the last artist in the program I had a glance at but I left after a couple of boring songs. The main venue was of course full during his gig but it seemed a lot of people wanted to see the much talked about rock star rather than listen to the songs. I was very pleased to find myself soon watching a local folk musician sing his songs outside in a tiny stage. Once again I have to say that instead of the gigs I enjoyed a lot more hanging out with the other ambassadors, reporters or local musicians from the wonderful Kûtu Folk Records label.

On our last night I slept less than an hour and I wasn’t the only one since the last night deserved a proper party. Monday consisted mostly of sleeping in the bus, at the airport and in the plane. Despite the sunburns and the sleepiness that I was left with, I have to tell you: If you have the chance to visit Clermont-Ferrand, to visit Europavox or especially become an ambassador of Europavox, I promise you will enjoy it.

The Middle East - The Recordings Of The Middle East

This Australian band already broke up once after their first album was released in 2008. Soon they started to play together again and some songs from the debut were released as an EP called The Recordings Of Middle East last year.

All six songs are carefully crafted folk songs. It took several listenings for the EP to leave a mark on me, but persistent listening payed off. The songs are rich in melody, structure and dynamics. "Blood" is the definitive highlight growing almost in a post-rockish manner from the softest and most intimate folk song to an Arcade Fire -like orchestrated celebration.

The Recordings Of The Middle East @ Spotify
themiddleeastmusic.com
The Middle East @ Myspace

Castle Rock Session: The National - Terrible Love

Only a week to go until the release of High Violet. While waiting, watch The National play the opening track in an abandoned castle on Pitchfork TV.


EDIT: There are also two other songs from the same session behind this link: http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/episode/2354-the-national/1.

Sounds of summer

For a few weeks already, I’ve been woken by the rising sun. As I’ve watched and smelled the sand and grass being revealed from under the snow, I’ve had at least one clear theme song for spring, Yona’s “Kevätfiilis”. It has the best spring lyrics I know and a real feel of spring, just like the name suggests. I’ve also dug out some albums that always seem to appear on my playlist in spring and summer. The two most important of these are Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not by Arctic Monkeys and Kaksi Mannerta by Emma Salokoski Ensemble.

In addition to the general sunshine records, every summer gets its own soundtrack. What I mean are those songs and albums that you sing along with your friends in the park, jam along to while walking on the street, and the ones which bring you back to the best moments of that summer still years after. My last summer’s soundtrack based strongly on Fantasies by Metric, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix, Manners by Passion Pit, the self-titled debut of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

Naturally, I need to speculate next summer a bit. During the fall, winter and spring there has been a bunch of new releases that have been waiting for the summer to give them the right listening environment. These include Summertime EP by The Drums, Surfer Blood’s Astro Coast, Gorilla Manor by Local Natives and the self-titled new albums of Fang Island and Yukon Blonde. New Vampire Weekend and Delorean albums will probably be playing in my speakers as well. There are also several highly anticipated new releases coming during the following months. The Drums are releasing their first full-length album and Wolf Parade, Ratatat and LCD Soundsystem will all be releasing new albums. Even more important will most certainly be the new albums by The National and Band of Horses. They don’t have the most summer-suiting sound but you need something for the long nights and rainy days, too, especially if you happen to live in Finland.

The best thing about this kind of speculations is the fact that they’re seldom right. It’s great to have something to expect but even better to find surprises, new artists and songs which unexpectedly happen to be playing over and over on the stereo, mp3 player or someone’s guitar while you sink your feet in the soft sand and watch the waves break on the shore.

The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme

Comparison to other artists is often the easiest way to describe a new music. However, when I try to do this, I usually end up feeling that I’ve mislead the other person. As with most records, I hear a lot of familiar sounds in this new Radio Dept. album, but like all modern artists, they have such a vast number of influences behind their music, that separating individual similarities to others becomes useless. Thus, I could pick out some sounds and song parts reminding me of The Avalanches or Phoenix, but that would give an entirely wrong impression.

Another widely used way of describing a new album is comparing it to earlier recordings of the artist. The Radio Dept. is, however, yet another band whose name I’ve read and heard dozens of times but haven’t had the time and interest to dig in to their music.

Then of course there’s for example the possibility of going through individual songs and analyze them but that’s something everyone should have the right to do themselves instead of reading about the structure of a song they haven’t yet heard.

Sticking to easy ways of writing about music instead of doing analyzes that reflect the overall state of music industry or whatever, I’m left with an album cover and a couple of abstract remarks like: “perfect rainy summer day music” or “chilly Scandinavian indie meets electronic summer grooves”. No matter how I put it, what I’m actually trying to say is: I’ve been listening to this album on repeat for a week. Listen and see if it has the same effect on you.

Clinging to a Scheme @ Spotify
The Radio Dept. @ Myspace

Go Flow!

Flow Festival turns Suvilahti in Helsinki into a indie and rhythm music fanatic's paradise once again next August. Most of the line-up was released today and it looks more current than ever. LCD Soundsystem has it's first appearance in Finland on the separate opening concert on Wednesday August 11th along with other yet to be announced artists. The actual festival takes place from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th with headliners such as M.I.A, the xx, Air and Jónsi. I myself am very excited to see the US indie bands The Drums, Beach House, Surfer Blood and Girls on the list. Clubs in the festival area will feature among others Four Tet and Diplo both solo and with Major Lazer. There are also plenty of rhythm and world music artists and Finnish indie bands performing. More artists will be added to the line-up later and if I recall correctly from previous years, some of the biggest names are announced last.

More info at flowfestival.com.

The Tallest Man On Earth - Wild Hunt

The Tallest Man On Earth is a Swedish folk singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson. Having seen him live twice I can tell you that the pseudonym is rather ironic. I can also tell you he is one of the most capturing and original folk performers I've seen. His magnificent gruff voice and innovative guitar playing along with a strong stage presence make impressive live performances. His music takes clear influences from American folk tradition and he has drawn a lot of comparisons to Bob Dylan.

The Wild Hunt is Matsson's second album. Its atmosphere and song material is quite similar to the debut Shallow Grave. On The Wild Hunt, he explores a bit further the extremes of his music. There are more aggressive songs such as "You're Going Back" and "King Of Spain" as well as softer pieces like "Love Is All" and the record-ending piano ballad "Kids On The Run". Throughout the album he's personal voice and impressive lyrical delivery create haunting, bigger-than-life songs. Songs that, just like the songs on his debut, after persistent listening come close to being as personal and important to the listener as they are to the man behind the mic.

The Wild Hunt @ Luisterpaal
The Tallest Man On Earth @ Myspace