22 Pistepirkko - The Nature of 22 Pistepirkko: 1985-2002 Collection

The Nature of 22 Pistepirkko is a compilation of songs from 1985-2002 made by the Finnish cult musicians 22 Pistepirkko (which translates to ladybirds), 3 things you can count on the Finns for are racing drivers, liquorice and rock bands, whilst the majority of their well known bands tend to play metal, they also have some more softer stuff which is recommended listening.

My two favourite calmer Finnish groups have to be Alamaailman Vasarat, a crazy avant-garde group and 22 Pistepirkko who are as equally inventive, have been a round a longer time and have a totally different sound. The general concensus is that this band were ahead of their time, their current sound has similarities to Primal Scream but they definitely set a precedent by mixing a psychedelic, garage and at times almost punk sound with an electronic one.

A lot of the songs have a real catchiness to them, I think my favourite has to be 'Frankenstein' which has the edginess of a Zombina & The Skeletones song and suits the subject perfectly. I do find that the vocalist P-K Keranen has a rather nasally voice which can grate on you after listening to the whole compilation - a regular album at a time might be better advice but I'm not really sure which one to recommend because I'm not overly familiar with the individual albums. This is a fun album and despite being a Finnish group, virtually every song is in English.

1 Ou Wee!
2 Hong Kong King
3 Motorcycleman
4 Don't Try to Tease Me
5 Frankenstein
6 Don't Play Cello
7 Don't Say I'm So Evil
8 Birdy
9 Texacoson
10 Swamp-Blues
11 (Just A) Little Bit More
12 Wild Billy
13 Gimme Some Water
14 Coffee Girl

Disc #2 Tracklisting
1 I Never Said [Remix]
2 Roundabout
3 Taxi 74
4 Onion Soup
5 Sad Lake City
6 Boardroom Walk
7 Snowy Dave-99
8 Fujisan
9 Car Wash
10 This Time
11 Waiting for the Train
12 Rally of Love
13 Let the Romeo Weep [Live]

Alamaailman Vasarat: Vasaraasia

Vasaraasia is the debut album of Finnish band Alamaailman Vasarat (translates to "Hammers of the Underworld"), it was released in 2000 by Nordic Notes, I first started listening to this band by chance and almost gave them a wide-berth as they were labelled as Avant-Guarde which when it comes to music, I usually find is a synonym for crap but I'm very glad I gave them a listen.

Parts of this album sound like Madness running in a nightmare, being chased by balkan clowns. There's a huge focus on wind instruments and every track sounds like an ideal soundtrack.. for Midsomer Murers visits Sarajevo! Whilst the base of the music does race along at a jolly speed, there's quite a lot of slower parts which makes it all sound quite progressive.

As the album goes on, more elements of klezmer and arabic music tend to sneak in perhaps peaking at "Kebab tai henki" before returning to Balkan sounds again before being topped off with the odd epic and dark track as well as some slow funeral like music for the last track!

This album is interesting, there's a lot of good work that could be used as soundtracks but the fact that it's 99% instrumental and not quite as eclectic as later albums, makes it my least favourite album of the band but I could see this being one for the jazz fans or anyone who likes Batman!

1. Mamelukki & Musta Leski -- 2:45
2. Perikunta -- 3:57
3. Lakeus -- 3:22
4. Unikkotango -- 2:46
5. Asuntovelka -- 3:05
6. Kebab Tai Henki! -- 3:02
7. Jano -- 3:21
8. Tankkaustunti -- 4:42
9. Merikäärme -- 4:09
10. Häntä Hellii Käärme -- 4:07
11. Hakumies -- 7:51
12. Delhin Yöt -- 3:04
13. Siltojen Alla -- 5:28

Alamaailman Vasarat - Kinaporin Kalifaatti

Kinaporin Kalifaatti was the 3rd album released by unique Finnish band Alamaailman Vasarat. The enormous bonus of this album is that every track features the strong vocals of Tuomari Nurmio who really livens up the band. The songs which were instrumentally well made in the past are now brought to life even more.

His hoarse husky vocals are spot on when he's singing in a Russian blues style and are intriguing when he attempts a more Arabic style of singing but retains a lot of husky Finn about it. This cult band strongly plough through an album full of different styles - balkan, latin, klezmer, arabic, scandanavian and have a distinct jazzy bluesness to them at the same time. My finnish being what it is (limited to about 10 words) isn't going to really help me decipher the lyrics but somehow I get a strange sense of familiarity and seem to understand what the songs are about.. at least I think I do!

This album is head and shoulders above the band's previous work and really takes them to a new level, the vocals of Tuomari Nurmio.. which I understand was only a one-off would definitely be benefitial if they were a full-time addition. The guitar playing on this album also helps to add a different dimension to the enthusiastic wind instrument playing that goes on.

Track Listings

1. Kolmannen linjan Mona Lisa (4:43)
2. Rypistynyt profeetta (5:33)
3. Arabian kuu (4:41)
4. Karavaani kulkee (3:53)
5. Kuvernöörin tytär (2:39)
6. Päätön Venus (4:40)
7. Riivattu (2:49)
8. Laulu no. 101 (5:04)
9. Lemmen jumalatar (2:41)
10. Höyhensarjan maailmanmestari (2:39)
11. Paavi roskapankissa (2:32)

Total Time 41:51
Line-up/Musicians

- Hannu Nurmio / vocals, guitar

- Markku Hillilä / drums, percussion
- Jarno Sarkula / soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass saxophone, shehnai, duduk
- Miikka Huttunen / pump organ, grand piano, melodica, fluugel, percussion, electric tamborin, zimmerman
- Teemu Hänninen / drums
- Erno Haukkala / trombone, tuba, slide trumpet
- Marko Manninen / cello
- Tuukka Helminen / cello

Blind Blake - All the Published Sides

Blind Blake is yet another curious blues legend, little known is about his birth, death or even his real name, a heavy drinking blind man who liked the odd scuffle and is considered a pioneer of Piedmont Blues, bringing a distinctively odd but wonderful ragtime piano sound to the guitar, even though the technical side of guitar playing has improved considerably over the years, Blind Blake's style of plucking the strings with both hands is still considered technically outstanding. I would hazard a guess that the artist was outstanding with a banjo too!

This album is a collection of all of "all the published sides", released by Paramount between 1926 and 1932 before their bankruptcy, the artist was said to be drinking heavily in the final years and there's even some doubt as to whether the later work is in fact him.

The album is a fine collection of music but might not be as playable as other compilations of Blind Blake's work, the reason for this is that there are a lot of different versions of the same song, so it's not the kind of thing you could play at parties or even to yourself for long periods, if you're a music collector then it's worth having, I recommend choosing your favourite versions of tracks and putting them on an MP3 player etc, so you also have a copy which is slightly more playable.

Blind Blake has a cool ragtime voice, almost jazzy at times, he doesn't come across as hot headed or rushed, it all sounds very gentle and even quite eloquent and goes well with his intricate guitar playing, if you've never heard of him you might just want to check him out and you may end up buying this 5 Disc album! Artists praised by Ry Cooder are always worth a look and there's no finer example than this cool cat!

Charley Patton - Complete Recordings 1929-34

Recordings have a grainy quality to them which is only to be expected due to the age of them, this collection has been remastered so a lot of the snap, crackle and pop has been toned down making it very listenable.

The legendary mixed breed blues man Charley Patton, ethnicity was a mixture of black, white and cherokee and his musical talent picked up under the guidance of Henry Sloan, Patton often gets credit for making blues what it is today and is cited as a major influence not only when it comes to music but also when it comes to the showmanship of people like Howlin' Wolf, T-Bone Walker and even Jimi Hendrix.

This box set has every track ever recorded by the artist himself, all of them in the last years of his life. Patton plays a variety of styles, a bit of everything but always with a blues sound to it, his vocals are harsh and he sounds a lot older than he infact was, the hardship of a life on a plantation definitely comes through.

Three of the best tracks are undoubtedly "Pony Blues", "Spoonful Blues" and "Screamin' and Hollerin' The Blues", lyrically Patton's songs are very enjoyable and the words brought to life by his characteristic voice.

The way the songs are arranged makes them rather catchy, I was a bit surprised that for such a well-thought of guitarist there wasn't much in the way of outstanding playing though and was continuously on the look out for some impressive finger-work which never truly materialised.

Sitar Beat: Vol. 1

Sitar Beat Vol. 1 labels itself as "Indian Style Heavy Funk", it's hard to imagine just how funky it is without having a listen, the sitar is a great instrument but so far I'd only heard it used in a completely traditional sense by masters of the instrument or the poppy versions you can expect to hear in Bollywood films. Originally put together for DJ's to sample different parts of tracks, this album has all sorts of funky tracks, ranging from electronic through to guitar heavy ones with more traditional tracks thrown in as well, there's an awesome beat on practically every song, it's slightly psychedelic and the sitar is a constant positive throughout. Percussion is also a rather strong feature, there's a distinct soundtrack sound about a lot of the tracks - my favourite perhaps being Ananda Shankar's "Dancing Drums", crazy stuff! It's very easy stuff to dance to and listeners who have had enough of the so-called "Delhi belly" vocals will likely be joyous when listening to this album Songs by Klaus Doldinger and Serge Gainsbourg get their crazy sitar remixes, this is one of the most unique and interesting albums I've come across recently and I'm definitely going to have to check out the later volumes. 1 Sitar Beat - Doldinger, Klaus 2 Sitar - Doldinger, Klaus 3 Dharmatma - Anandji, Kalyanji 4 Meri Aakhon - Jagmohan, Sapan 5 Dum Maro Dum - Boshle 6 New Delire - Gainsbourg, Serge 7 Pyschastenie - Gainsbourg, Serge & Michel Colombier 8 Dancing Drums - Shankar, Ananda 9 Rocky Bonus Beats - Burman, R.D. (1) 10 Aa Dekhen Jara - Burman.R.D. & Asha Boshle/Kishore Kumore 11 Orchestral Music - Seth, Raghunath 12 Somebody To Love - Anandji, Kalyanji 13 Bairaag - Anandji, Kalyanji 14 Banarasi Babu - Anandji, Kalyanji 15 Hotel Incidental Music - Khanna, Usha 16 Theme From Don - Anandji, Kalyanji 17 Sun O Dilruba Dil Ki Yeh Sada - Malik, Anu & Asha Boshle 18 Burning Train - Burman, R.D. (1) 19 Qurbani Bonus Beats - Biddu 20 Hum Tumhe Chate Hain - Biddu & Manhar & Anand 21 Sa Re Ga - Shankar, Ananda

Folk & Pop Sounds from Iraq - Choubi Choubi

Choubi Choubi is a compilation album by the Seattle based record label Sublime Frequencies, their compilation work has been classed as groundbreaking by many listeners, travelling around making documentaries and putting together cassettes of local artists. I personally download these albums because the artists often remain unknown to the label and therefore do not receive remuneration for their work

Many of their albums originate in Asia and to be honest apart from the well known Cambodian rock, there's very little on offer unlike you enjoy very stripped down folk music. Choubi Choubi is quite different though, first of all it originates in Iraq, the Middle Eastern music is much more up my street, I find the technicality of the musicians much better and enjoy the sounds of the instruments a lot more.

Choubi Choubi is a mixed bag, it's music during the Saddam Hussein era but there's some pretty crazy stuff in there, the 2nd track "Segue Bezikh" has an insane dance beat to it whilst many other tracks are more focussed on the wailing vocals and speedy playing of local instruments.

Not every song might be up your street but the chance is that if you like a bit of groovy Middle Eastern music, you could certainly get into this. My favourite track has to be "Yumma Al Hilou", the female vocals are awesome, the chorus awesome, the fast drumming sublime and the melodies extremely enjoyable.

1 They Taught Me
2 Segue Bezikh
3 Oh Mother The Handsome Man Tortures Me
4 Yumma Al Hilou (Mother Here's My Beauty)
5 Ahl Al Aqi (Oh People of Reason)
6 Hecha
7 Choubi Choubi
8 Ya Binaya Goumi (Oh Girl Stand up)
9 Front My Hope
10 Ala Honak (Take It Easy)
11 Mawal/Choubi
12 Unknown
13 Ashhad Biannak Hilou (I Admit You Are Beautiful)
14 Walla (By God)
15 Palestinian
16 Unknown