finnish postrock act Magyar Posse will be supporting My Own Private Alaska on tour in France this coming May:
05/12 - Le Bikini, Toulouse (FRA)
05/13 - L'Ephémère, Vannes (FRA)
05/14 - La Grange à Musique, Creil (FRA)
05/15 - L'EMB, Sannois (FRA)
05/16 - Le Nouveau Casino, Paris (FRA)
05/17 - Le Ferrailleur, Nantes (FRA)
05/19 - Les Trinitaires, Metz (FRA)
05/20 - Le Clacson, Lyon (FRA)
05/21 - La Cartonnerie, Reims (FRA)
05/22 - L'Aéronef, Lille (FRA)
finnish grind act Rotten Sound is streaming a couple new tracks at myspace off their new "Napalm" EP: https://www.myspace.com/rottensound
"In the large deserted woods on both sides of the Swedish-Norwegian border, finnish people settled down in the 15th- and 16th century. These areas are now called "Finnskogen", the finnish woods. The settlers came from difficult times in Finland, and burned down forest to cultivate rye in the ashes. In these vast forests it was hard to tell if you were in Sweden or Norway. Culture does not know borders either, and the music is a common Swedish- Norwegian tradition.
So reads the intro text on "Finnskogen brinner", the collaboration between Swedish fiddle artist Patrik Andersson and his Norwegian counterpart Vegar Vårdal. I am by no means attuned to the many regional differences in Scandinavian folk tradition, so I can't begin to explain how the music of Finnskogen, but these gentlemen play beautifully together. Some of the more minimal folk records I've been listening to as part of my "Listen to Norway" exploration (this is #5) can get grating, especially with the uncertain harmonies of the Hardanger Fiddle, but this one never falters. Two players and their instruments, maybe a little foot-tapping; that's all you need. "Dette var sagt at når Halteguten, Ola Porkkala, spilte denne valsen kunne ikke folk la vaere å gråte."
My apologies for not keeping up with weekly posts in this series, but my dayjob workload has been astounding. Rest assured, there will be lots more music (folk and otherwise) posted in weeks to come.
Patrik Andersson & Vegar Vårdal - Gråtaren
I posted it before back in late January, but now it appears to be confirmed: finnish act Joensuu 1685 will support Wolf Parade on tour in Europe:
05/17 - Concorde 2, Brighton (UK)
05/18 - The Forum, London (UK)
05/19 - Glee Club, Birmingham (UK)
05/20 - Vicar Street, Dublin (IE)
05/21 - Club Academy, Manchester (UK)
05/22 - Tivoli De Helling, Utrecht (NL)
05/25 - Teatar Itd, Zagreb (HUN)
05/26 - Menza Pri Koritu, Lublijana (SLO)
05/27 - Salumeria della Musica, Milano (ITA)
05/31 - Noveau Casino, Paris (FRA)
finnish DIY label has signed hardcore act Lighthouse Project and rapper Tapani Kansalainen and will be releasing new albums from both in the not so distant future. More info and links to samples at the label's website: https://kalmava.com/rabbitilsnrecords
finnish label has announced two upcoming releases. First up is Radiopuhelimet's new album "Radiopuhelimet rakastaa sinua" which will be out on CD on April 7 with vinyl being handles by and . Second is the long-awaited Echo Is Your Love record "Heart fake" which will be out the following week on April 14. Expect samples online for both soon.
finnish act Murmansk is heading to Germany for a few dates:
03/07 - Logo, Hamburg
03/08 - Luxor, Köln
03/09 - 59:1, München
Also note that Drowned in Sound enjoyed their By:Larm appearance: https://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4139252-by--larm-%E2%80%9810-festival-review
finnish music blog Glue talks to Kiki Pau: https://www.glue.fi/2010/03/01/qa-kiki-pau/
finnish DIY/indie label has a new website: https://kalmava.com/rabbitilsnrecords/
finnish punkrockers No Shame have a new video for the song "Better drunk than part of the machine", their first in 7 years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDfTLimZ0v4
finnish bitpop masters and "Reader's companion" alums Desert Planet celebrate their 10th anniversary with the unveiling of an extensive multimedia website featuring 30+ minutes of live video, art projects live phots and a full album download of their latest opus "Mortal Kombo". Hopefully you don't need me to tell you this is essential, but yeah, it is -- go now: https://www.milkywayunderground.net/
finnish metal acts Ghost Brigade and Insomnium will be touring Europe together in May:
05/20 - Markthalle, Hamburg (GER)
05/21 - Wave Gotik Treffen, Leipzig (GER) (GB only)
05/22 - Haus-11, Stuttgart (GER)
05/23 - Feierwerk, München (GER)
05/24 - Rockhouse, Salzburg (AUS)
05/25 - Kiff, Aarau (CH)
05/26 - Bibelot, Dordrecht (NL)
05/27 - Trix, Antwerpen (BEL)
05/28 - Dynamo, Eindhoven (NL)
05/29 - Matrix, Bochum (GER)
finnish act Boomhauer will play their final show on April 7 at TVO in Turku. They say: "Everything comes to end and now it was a good time for the band to quit before things got ugly, tired and jaded and before we lost our friendship or the good memories about the band. So it's all good." Makes sense to me!
finnish indie act Kiki Pau have posted the new song "An old song" for free download: https://www.glue.fi/mp3/Kiki_Pau_An_Old_Song_Finland.mp3
The band's new album "White mountain" comes out March 3.
finnish act Jalankulkuämpäri have posted their acoustic Suomi cover of Blondie's "Hanging on the telephone" on their blog: https://jalankulkuampari.blogspot.com/2010/02/roikkumaan-langoille-hanging-on_11.html