J. Karjalainen-Missä se Väinö on? (Where is that Väinö?)

     When I was two years old I listened this song over and over again. I have always loved Karjalainen's music and it has become important to me. This song is one of the best known songs from J. Karjalainen and it tells about his son Väinö. A free translation of lyrics: Väinö, Väinö where is that Väinö. I can  see the eyes and the mouth. It can not be anyone else. There is that Väinö.
     I love the song's melody, delighted atmosphere and the African hue. I wanted to introduce his music because for me and many others he is one of the innovators in Finnish pop and rock culture.
     The song's style is pop with an African influence. There is a part in this song where an African man Mouhamadai L. Malang Cissokho sings in Madingo, plays the percussion instruments and an African instrument called kora. It is in a way a kid's song. J. Karjalainen has written the lyrics and the melody.
     J. Karjalainen was born in 1957. He is a prominent Finnish musician, songwriter and singer. His main instruments are vocals, the guitar and the banjo. Karjalainen has recorded since 1980s with many different assemblies. He started to do music with blues, folk and country flavour but ended up with a more pop and rock style. He has recorded 21 records, 5 compilations and a live DVD.
     Karjalainen has done really versatile music. One of his best known qualities is his personal voice . He has brought American country pop to Finland. I dare say that every Finn knows his name.


Aino Askolin


The song:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayyz8peyssc

Amorphis - Sampo

Amorphis is a Finnish metal band whose music combines beautiful melodies, clean- and growling vocals, some really heavy guitar riffs and lyrics from Finland's national epic Kalevala. The Kalevala was written by Elias Lönnrot. The Kalevala begins with the creation of the world and it ends when Christianity arrives. It's a poetic story about events between the characters and there are basically three heroic characters: Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen and Lemminkäinen.
     The band was founded by the drummer Jon Rechberger and the guitarist Esa Holopainen. Besides them, the band includes the singer Tomi Joutsen, another guitarist Tomi Koivusaari, the keyboardist Santeri Kallio and the bassist Niclas Etelävuori. The band's name comes from the word amorphous which means something unnatural or formless.
     Now I'll introduce their song Sampo to you. Sampo is a forged, machine-like object which can produce tou endless amounts of money and flour. I finally ended up with this song because it gives you a great picture of their music. It has some beautiful melodies, a great piano intro, heavy metal riffs, growling vocals and very beautiful clean vocals. So in fact this song summarises all the genres of Amorphis. The song Sampo was released in their Skyforger album in the year 2009. Skyforger album tells many stories about different parts of the Kalevala but all stories are from the Ilmarinens point of view. Ilmarinen is the blacksmith in the stories.
     Amorphis is one of the most popular Finnish metal bands outside Finland and a couple of their albums have reached the first place on the top ten list around the world.

Here's the link to the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXvf2UMk4AA

Joni Ahokas

Frigg - Fast

Five fiddles, double-bass, guitar, cittem, mandolin and Estonian bagpipes. Seven guys and one girl. Music that is based on Finnish folk music, but is influenced by pop and other countries' folk music. That's what Frigg is about.

Frigg was formed in Sibelius-Academy where the band members were studying. Two of the members were exchange students from Norway, brothers Gjermund and Einar-Olav Larsen. Only Einar-Olav plays still in Frigg. Tommi Asplund and Tero Hyväluomi have taken the place of Gjermund. Other members are the Järvelä's siblings (Alina, Antti and Esko), Petri Prauda and Tuomas Logren.

Frigg is one of the leading bands on Finnish fiddling and folk music. It has been chosen as a band of the year of Kaustinen's Folk Music Festival 2003. Frigg has also played in foreign countries for example, in Middle-Europe and the USA.

Frigg's Fast represents new folk music and fiddle music. Reason for picking Fast is that it's a cheerful and fast-packed song. You can hear the influence of old Finnish folk music, but in a modern way because it's played with modern instrumenst. Fast, like other Frigg songs, is instrumental and the fiddles are in the lead. The song is played with three fiddles. Other instuments on the background are double-bass and guitar. Sometimes Frigg plays the song with four fiddles, double-bass, guitar, and mandolin.

Fast might not be so improtant song for Finns and Finnish culture, but it definitely shows that Finnish music doesn't always have to be so melancholic and dark. It also shows that Finns haven't forgot their musical roots.

You can listen Fast from here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7x2QvA0KjQ


Jasmiina Hirvonen