Theatre days


Today opens the 5th edition of the international theatre festival Baltic Circle. Until 17 May the programme offers an array of contemporary theatre performances and exhibitions from the Baltic region and central Europe. In addition this year the OFF Circle programme showcases contemporary productions from Finland.

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One of the most surprisingly performance will be the the interpretation of Finnish drinking culture in Delirium by the group Plasma. The strongly anti-capitalist Swedish production Ebberöds bank by Teater Tribunalen will give some food for thought to the audience. And the photo exhibtion Miss Landmine Angola 2008, by Norwegian artist Morten Traavik, will not leave anyone indifference. Traavik will also present his new street theatre performance Remember Me.

The special programme OFF Circle offers twelve domestic performances. The popular Finnish director Kristian Smeds presents Radio Doomsday, in which Houkka Bros. give Luther a hard time in a three-hour live radio broadcast imitating a talk show. These performances will have English subtitles.

Completing the festival there are other activities like the three-day Fuck Off Festival Club, which will become a platform for Finnish and Estonian theatre professionals to perform with their bands. Also the international workshop for critics Mobile Lab for Theatre and Communication is organized as well as the open seminar about Finnish theatre reviewing today (held in Finnish).

For further information: www.q-teatteri.fi/baltic_circle

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME

Rimini Protokoll (Switzerland / Germany) CALL CUTTA IN A BOX | 9.5.-25.5. & 3.-15.6. Tue – Sun, starting times:15.00, 16.00, 17.00, 18.00, 19.00 & 20.00 | Kiasma | in English 
This intercontinental phone play which unites for one hour an Indian call centre operator with a spectator in Helsinki was realised as a co-production between eight European theatre organisations and the German-Swiss Rimini Apparat.
 
Plasma (Switzerland) DELIRIUM | 9.5. and 10.5. at 19:00 as well as 11.5. at 15:00 | Viirus | in German, Finnish and English simultaneous interpretation
The source of Delirium’s inspiration was the Finnish bar culture which Plasma encountered during their visit at the Baltic Circle in 2003. Delirium brings the spectators to the other side of consciousness, to the continent which remains between last orders and locking up. The production creates a unique experience by moving between the boundaries of theatre, music and visual arts.
 
büro für zeit + raum  (Germany) WAIT HERE FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS | 14.5. at 19:00 | Koko Theatre | in German and French, Finnish simultaneous interpretation
In their first work which was born out of the research of time and space the German group discusses the philosophy of waiting. Only few words are spoken but communication takes constantly place through danced expression and with the help of physical theatre. Wait here for further instructions raises the question: what are we actually waiting for?
 
büro für zeit + raum (Germany) PAST IS IN FRONT OF EGO | 15.5. at 19:00 | Koko Theatre | in French
Past is in Front of Ego was inspired by the research of Professor Rafael Nuñez from the University of California. Büro für zeit + raum researches in this highly artistic work the native American Aymara tribe’s concept of time where the future lies behind the present.
 
NaBi (Sweden / Norway) REMEMBER ME | 16.5. at 18:00 as well as 17.5. at 13:00 & 15.00 | in English
Remember Me is a crusade based on Swedish artist Joaquin NaBi Olsson’s dairies and travels to his birth country Korea and the USA. It takes a strong stand on the current situation of arts and society. It is a performance that does not embellish but speaks out for genuine human happiness.
 
Teater Tribunalen (Sweden) EBBERÖDS BANK | 17.5. at 19:00 | Q-Theatre | in Swedish | Finnish simultaneous interpretation
Ebberöds Bank is a purely political theatre performance which treats the problems of global market economy. Who’s controlling the markets? What happens to the human values when the word “value” becomes strictly synonymous with monetary value? In its artistic work Teater Tribunalen tries to expose, criticise and condemn political and economic power.
 
OFF CIRCLE PROGRAMME FROM FINLAND
 
AKSELI ENSEMBLE | Disco Pigs | 12.5. at 19:00 | KOM Theatre, Kapteeninkatu 26 | in Finnish
Akseli Ensemble’s Disco Pigs pulls the spectators into the enclosed realm of the two youngsters Possu and Kisu who feel neither empathy nor worry about tomorrow. The performance is a wild stride in the midst of the pains of growing up. Emotionality and insensitivity struggle as opposite extremes, love is eternal and friendship demanding.
 
EUROPEAN THEATRE COLLECTIVE | KinkyZone Finland | 11.5., 12.5., 13.5. at 21:00 | Restaurant Belly | Uudenmaankatu 16 | in Finnish
Etc’s absurdish, cabaret-like comedy is the sequel to the pilot project which was performed in Bucharest in 2005 / 2006 and since has reached cult status. The performance will have its premiere at the Baltic Circle.
 
FISCHES NACHTGESANG | Das Fliegende Spektakel | 15.5. at 19:00 & 16.5. at 12:00 | Klockriken Theatre, Erottajankatu 7 | in gibberish
This performance based on the texts of German nonsense poet Christian Morgenstern searches for theatrical expressions which don’t rely on language as the essential means of communication. Out of the world of silent movies emerges a dissident music spectacle which exploits not only movements, poetry and music but also lights and video art.
 
HOUKKA BROS | Radio Doomsday | 14.-16.5. at 15:00-18:00 | Semifinal, Urho Kekkosen katu 6 | Wed and Thu in Finnish, Fri in English
The third piece by Kristian Smeds’ Houkka Bros. gives Luther a hard time in a three-hour live radio broadcast imitating a talk show.
 
KLOCKRIKE THEATRE | Soup Theater | 9.5. at 19:00, 10.5. at 12:00, 14.5. at 12:00, 16.5. at 19:00, 17.5. at 12:00 | Erottajankatu 7 b | in Swedish / Finnish
Klockrike’s Soup Theatre unites artistic and culinary pleasures. Three groups of artists serve poetry and music with dinner and lunch.
 
KOKO THEATRE | Kana (The Hen) | 11.5. at 19:00 | Kokoteatteri, Unioninkatu 45 | in Finnish
In his play The Hen the indisputable father of Russian contemporary dramatic writing, Nikolai Koljada opens the doors to the wings of a small Siberian theatre where the arrival of a young actress causes the ruffling of many feathers. In this self-ironic play the borders between Siberia and Helsinki slowly start to blur.
 
KOKO THEATRE | Man-Machine | 9. & 10.5. at 19:00 | Kokoteatteri, Unioninkatu 45 | in English
Already in the year 1997, Garri Kasparov lost against the IBM chess computer Deep Blue. For how long can artificial intelligence really challenge humans? Man-Machine unites dance, theatre, electronic music and video in a performance where humans and computers act both with and against each other.
 
MAUS&ORLOVSKI | A Performance With an Ocean View (And a Dog) – II Memo on Time | 11.5. and 13.5. at 17:00 | starting place: Kiasma, Mannerheiminaukio 2 | in Finnish or English (to be chosen)
A Performance With an Ocean View (And a Dog) is the second part of Tuija Kokkonen and Maus&Orlovski’s Memo on time series. The performance’s points of departure are the weather, time and potentiality.
 
OBLIVIA | Entertainment Island 1 – work in progress | 9. and 10.5. at 17:00 | Q-Theatre / Puoli-Q, Tunturikatu 16 | in English
Entertainment Island is a three-year project with which Oblivia researches popular culture and different kinds of entertainment. During the Baltic Circle Oblivia presents a work in progress version of the production which will have its first night in October. Entertainment Island 1 holds the magnifying glass over those structures on which popular culture and entertainment are based.
 
PROJEKTORI-RYHMÄ | Elmo | 10.5. at 14:00, 11.5. at 14:00 & 19:00, 17.5. 14:00 | Valtimonteatteri, Aleksis Kiven katu 22 | in Finnish
Sport unites and divides nations. In Projektori group’s interpretation of the well-known play by Juhani Peltonen, Elmo, dives into the world of sports fanaticism and the ecstasy of winning. The biggest part, however, is played by a sense of community.
 
Q-THEATRE | The Tin Drum | 13. and 14.5. at 19:00 | Q-Theatre, Tunturikatu 16| in Finnish, with English translation
The events of this play, based on the novel of Nobel-prize winner Günter Grass, take plays between 1924 and 1954. Oskar Matzerath is the main character and narrator who at the age of three decides to stop growing in protest against the absurdity of adult life. Q-theatre is the first Finnish theatre who is performing The Tin drum in Finland.
 
TEATTERI NAAMIO JA HÖYHEN | Alice ad infinitum | 13.5, 15. & 16.5. at 19:00 | Naamio ja höyhen, Korkeavuorenkatu 17 | in English
Teatteri Naamio ja Höyhen’s Alice takes the spectators on a trip to the Wonderland, mirrorland, into psychology and the parallel universes of our world.

Mar de Grises – Draining the Waterheart

{mosimage}From Chile with love, or better said, with Doom metal, come the 5 components of Mar de Grises.

The music of Mar de Grises suits very well with Finnish taste: dark metal with good doses of melancholy. No wonder that the South American band would be visiting recently the Finnish territory to play on live.  Four years after their first studio album, they release a good, more polished and solid work that is just collecting good critics and reviews from fans and publications all over the world. 

It is not easy from South American metal bands to jump the Atlantic Ocean and make a name in Europe , so it is doubly praising the risky attitudes of Juan, the vocalist, and his 4 fellows companions.  I must recognize that I am not a great fan myself of Doom metal style, and I prefer more classic melodic metal, but for those of you who vibrate with the dark side of the heavy music, no doubt you will enjoy with songs like Sleep Just One Dawn or Kilometros de Nada.

Good luck to the Chilean guys in all their future projects!

Rating 4/5.

Moon Madness – All in Between

{mosimage}Discover the harmonious voice of Heidi in this nice debut album.

From Tampere comes Moon Madness, a melodic metal band with a female singer, Heidi Bergbacka that can remind you for some moments to bands with similar style like Nightwish. They have been gaining experience touring around Finland with bands like Sonata Arctica, and now comes their first studio album: All in Between. 10 songs that sound mature and directly influenced by the old school metal that these guys have been listened all over the years (Iron Maiden, Stratovarius, Dream Theater…).

Songs like Torn or Too Much to Lose sound musically rich and catchy, and surely would aim at ranking very high at any metal top chart all over the world. The problem that Moon Madness has to face and try to accomplish is the eternal comparison, being a Finnish metal band with a female singer, with others like Nightwish themselves or new bands like Amberian Dawn.

All in all, a very good first effort for the “Tamperelaiset”,  an album well produced and easy to listen and gain a place in your CD collection.

Rating 4/5.

Bee Movie

{mosimage}Discover the sophisticated style of life of bees inside a modern hive in this new animation movie.

Barry is a bee who wants to take all the juice to his life and not being a simple worker in the hive. During his excursion in the outside world, he will get in contact with humans and end up fighting for the universal rights of the bees to own the honey and all the copyrights related to them. This is the plot of Bee Movie, the last animation product from Dreamworks, the creators of Shrek. The voice cast counts with an incredible list of names such as Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman or Kathy Bates.

Some sequences, like the hyper-fast flight of the bees around the park are totally breath-taking; it is incredible how animation technology has advance during the last years to create such a realistic and astonishing effects. There is also a couple of nice winks with the presence as animation characters of the special guests Sting and Ray Liotta. But the movie does not make you as addicted as Shrek. The characters lack of some “punch” and the jokes do not make you laugh so often. The directors wanted to create an animation movie that could cover at the same time comedy and serious aspects, but in the end they have lost ground with many other recent animation productions like Ratatouille, Meet the Robinsons or their own Shrek´s third part of the saga.

Not a bad effort though, and entertaining enough to watch in family, but not the best you can find in the extremely good animation movies scene of the last years.

Rating 3/5.

We Own the Night

{mosimage}Not the title of a vampire’s movie, but a thrilling drama with Joaquin Phoenix jumping on both sides of the law. 

Having Robert Duvall in the cast of a police thriller dealing with mafia and corruption is always synonym of good acting quality. If added to him, we find the great performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg (so far the times of Marky Mark…) and the Latin beauty of Eva Mendes, the ingredients for cooking a dish of good drama and thrilling action are perfectly disposed on the table. That is exactly what director James Gray achieves: a tasteful piece of cinema with characters that look real and authentic, torn by circumstances beyond their control (much more than what The Departed was able to achieve last year).

If we can find a “but”, maybe we should complain that the rhythm declines during the second part of the movie, and Joaquin Phoenix looks more plausible like a fast-living nightlife animal than as a responsible and family cop. Pretty recommendable and enjoyable for all of you who love a movie about gangsters, narcotics and dutiful policemen well made.

Rating 4/5.

The Three Shy Guys

The sun was still shining and warming up the night as I entered a little bit before eight to Helsingin kulttuuritalo on Monday 28.4.08. Time to see Death Vessel and Jose Gonzalez on live.  

{mosimage}The artists had requested that there’d be just seats, no standing in tonight’s concert. To open up the night was Death Vessel from New York, who is neotraditional folk/pop/root music was familiar to me from the album Stay Close (2005). This soft, naïve, soothing music, similar to the group Lavender Diamond had really gotten to me. To see him appear on stage with his long, almost black long hair down to his waist, well formed arms and a such a masculine air around him was quite not what I had been expecting as I had never seen a photo of him. From far a way he could easily have been mistaken for Patti Smith. Acoustic guitar and a rock pose. I felt a little bit confused, wondering first if there had been some last minute changes. But then his familiar voice filled the room as he opened up the night with the beautiful Deep in the Horchada with his high soprano voice sounding at times almost prepubescent.  

I later found out that Death Vessel was Joel Thibodeau, who was born in Berlin and was now living in Brooklyn, New York. He had toured with groups like Iron &Wine and Low. And now he was on tour around Europe with Jose Gonzalez. The gig in Helsinki was the 24th on their tour together and last one for him. He was returning to New York on the next day. His appearance on the stage was shy and the comments between the songs quiet and short, keeping the contact with the audience to the minimum. But as I expected from my earlier experience with his music, his voice was truly amazing, bringing happy and light folky tunes to the audience who was taking it all in! He did a cover of the song Dont laugh originally by the Louvin Brothers (an american roots duet, known for their song The Christian Life, that the Byrds recorded for their release Sweetheart of the Rodeo). He finished his too short set powerfully with the song Blowing Cave.    

After what seemed like a too long pause between the sets, the audience nervously waiting, finally at 21.10 the lights dim to receive the star of the night: Jose Gonzalez. The light showed as this shy young man behind his Spanish guitar entered onto the big stage, lit only by one spotlight creating an image of a moon rising behind him and soon the repetitive riffs and his hypnotizing voice filled the room. He started with Storm and continued with Hints from his first album Veneer (2003). He quietly passed from one song to another, his head down, hiding behind his guitar, trying to get enough courage. He continued with Stay in the shade and then playing songs from the new album In our Nature (2007) How Low, In our nature and The nest. He explained quietly the story of this song, how little children are making a nest, but they forget to make windows and doors, and how it goes from joy to the darkness. He has said that he likes to play with symbolism and wants to bring out the primitive aspects of human beings.  

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5 years ago, this now 29-year old man was educating himself to become a researcher in biochemistry at the University of Gothenburg. He had been playing in some hardcore punk before starting as a solo artist. His interest in the Spanish guitar and the folk music come from his roots. His parents exiled from Argentina to Sweden  in 1978, the same year when he was born. At home they listened to Latin American classics like Silvio Rodriguez or João Gilberto.  In the next songs Remain and Down the line, Eric Bodin and Yukimi Nagamo joined to play the minimalist percussions, basic keyboard and to sing the backing up vocals. But there was no doubt that was the star of the night.

Between songs Jose Gonzalez made some small shy comments in Finnish, but most of the time he kept his head introvertidly down to the guitar, playing, as figures familiar from his album art passed behind him on a projection – a horse, pine trees moving on a track, a monkey, a guitar string vibrating, all with saturated colors creating a dreamlike atmosphere that hypnotized the audience. After one hour and a half and 16 great songs it was down to the last one, Teardrop, a cover of Massive Attack song. The audience requested more and was awarded with four more songs. The only song that he didn’t play was the one song that made him famous worldwide: Heartbeats and truth is that after the great performance we didn’t miss it either. 

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And like that would not have been enough, then to finish off the night I headed to Kuudes Linja for the concert of Phosphorescent, the solo project of Matthew Houck, an artist based in Brooklyn, New York. To date, Houk has released three full-length albums under the Phosphorescent moniker: Pride (2007), Aw Come (2005), A Hundred Times or More (2003).  It was around midnight, when from the darkness emerged a figure behind his guitar sampling his voice on many different layers, with distorted guitar, cords and feedback creating a sonic wall to break with all that was before to begin from zero making space for his own melodies. With his shy voice and just the sound of his acoustic guitar he sang about love, relationships, dead hearts and hope. He recreated some of the songs from his last two albums, like I am a full grown man and Joe Tex, these goddamn taming blues are killing me . Like an anecdote to finish this concert he did a great cover of Dire Straits song So far away, that he had seen on the television in his hotel room the night before.  What more can you ask for a Monday night in Helsinki!!!  

Photos: Andrés Ahuir.  

Great Mark!

 I take the train from Tampere on a boring Friday afternoon that soon will turn into an exciting one with the perspective of watching for first time live to Mark Knopfler, the legendary guitarist ex member of Dire Straits.

Already in my same wagon I hear and later join the conversation of two Spanish students who are heading also to the concert. Once in the capital, I head first to salute a friend who works as a waiter in Bar Loose. If you like rock music, you cannot miss this particular bar located in Fredrikinkatu, in the heart of Helsinki. It has a special atmosphere like not so many in Finland, a bohemian place where you can chat with interesting people from all over the world and from time to time share table with a rock star. Anyway, my visit (friends always go first) makes me arrive a bit late to the gig at Hartwall Arena, but once I am able to find my place in the middle of the dark (not particularly helped by the Finnish sense of amiability…) I am ready to enjoy a great show by the Scottish guitar hero, kindly surprised that he does not focus on his last record, Kill to get Crimson, although some of the most remarkable themes like True Love Will Never Fade are part of the set list, but makes a good tour to all over his discography, from his previous solo work, playing Sailing to Philadelphia, to the most expected classics: Romeo and Juliet and Sultans of Swing, with the audience totally on the edge of paroxysm at that point. 

Knopfler is accompanied by a selected group of excellent professional musicians and instrumentalists, and with a not very complex but effective scenario and lightning, is able to put the audience in his pocket.  During the encore, new vibrant moments with Brothers in Arms and So Far Away (at this time of the concert people forget about their seats and run to enjoy the song as close to the stage as possible) and the end that could not be missed, the instrumental Theme from Local Hero to put the cherry on top of the cake. A satisfied audience leaves the Arena, and for me, there is a boring trip of 2:30 hours waiting in the last train (not to Brooklyn but back to Tampere) at Pasila railway station.

The almighty synthesizer

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What can happen when two guys meet in prison and learn to play synthesizer? Kalifornia-Keke and Stiletti-Ana formed Jesse while doing their time in Sörkka prison in Helsinki. With their first album, KAIKKI!, they are on the cover of the most important music magazines in Finland and they show off their metal-electro-AOR. From Megadeth to Toto to Kraftwerk, everything is possible with these synthesizer heroes.

What is the concept behind your music? There seems to be on it as much heavy metal attitude and electronic sounds too.

We try to put together all the stuff we dig. We don’t think, we just play. That includes AOR, Metal and electro. Our main element in the music is the almighty synthesizer, in which we trust above all.

How did you meet and start making music together?

We met back in the days in Sörkka prison. We hanged together and listened to some fusion jazz & stuff. Then our fellow inmate Jesse showed us how to play synthesizer and make songs. He’s kinda amazing dude. After we got out we formed Jesse in honor of king Jesse. We made few songs and put them to Myspace. People went nuts and now we are pretty big.

How was the recording of the album?

Ummm, ahhh, we were kinda drunk. We have a studio in Helsinki and we spent many months there playing around. We used synthesizers and sequencers to put the songs together. We’d like to buy some drum machines to get more drum sounds, but we don’t have the money yet. Basically we made the songs first and then wrote a story based on our life. And now we have it ALL on KAIKKI! Album. Please buy it.

Your image seems to represent the hillbilly side of Finland? Do you think it’s the true image of Finland?

What do you mean?!! I don’t know. I guess we are all just folks… like dudes. We are what we are, but different people come together at our gigs. Like metalheads, punks, electro guys and babes.

In a way, Jesse represents Finland in the same way Markku from Finland does. Do you know him personally? Have you worked together with him.

No we don’t know him. Though we’ve seen him on telly.

Why did you call the band Jesse?

As I mentioned before its after our hero Jesse. He’s a dude from Sörkka too. And he’s got mad skills on instruments. So our name makes honor to him.

With the release of your album, you started appearing on the cover of several magazines, like Rumba. How do you feel about that?

It’s nice to be in the magazine. We get to say things to a lot of people. We like to tell people to use more synths in their music. And sort of guide them to better behavior. We’d like to do a Jesse poster for chicks, so they could put it on their walls.

What are you all time favorite Finnish artists?

Popeda, Op:l Bastards, Imatran Voima, Stone

Jesse will be touring during this summer around Finland.

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http://www.myspace.com/haistakaa

Nightwish finish most successful European tour ever

During the tour that started mid-February, the band played 39 gigs in
18 countries in front of a combined audience of over 175,000. The
entire tour entourage consisted of 55 people. For the transport of all
the tour gear and personnel four trucks and four buses were needed.

The group originating from Kitee, Eastern Finland, is currently on tour
in North America for the second tour to promote their latest album Dark Passion Play.

The next time Nightwish will perform in their home country is on June
26th in Kaisaniemi Park in Helsinki. The band is also part of the
line-up of Ruisrock (4.7, Turku), Ilosaarirock (13.7, Joensuu) and
Miljoonarock (9.8, Tuuri) as well as a number of festivals elsewhere in
Europe, including Rock am Ring, Rock Werchter and Wacken Open Air.

10 Average answers

While doing albums reviews, here goes nonsense like any other I could have written. A compilation of average answers we receive when making interviews. For you, young musician who can face in the future the questions of FREE! Magazine!

1. This is the best album we have ever done.

2. Last gig was excellent! ; full of energy.

3. The audience is not cold. They just have a different approach to the music.

4. We do not have any influence from other bands. We just create the music we want.

5. I like all the songs of the new album equally. They are all my babies.

6. The record company is doing an amazing job.

7. We do not pay attention to the copies sold of the album.

8. I find inspiration from the things that happen around me.

9. We have not changed our style.

10. People did not understand that album when it was released. But it was a great album. 

Now I only need to learn to play guitar, and I am ready to hit the road!

Raja 1918

{mosimage}An emotive historical drama that shows the difficulties of setting a border with Russia after the Finnish Civil War.

Directed by Lauri Törhöhen, and with script of Aleksi Bardy, Raja 1918 is one of the most ambitious projects of Finnish cinema during last year; an epic historical drama that narrates the times of the formation of the new border with Russia after the victory of the Whites in the fratricide Finnish Civil War. To that area is sent a young official of the Finnish army, Carl von Munck (Martin Bahne) who finds himself alienated in a rural area that has had contact with Russia, with no understanding of official borders, for generations. There he will meet and fall in love with a teacher, Minna Haapkylä that happens to hide and be the girlfriend of one of the most wanted outlaws left from the civil confrontation, the wounded Tommi Korpela.

A complex script that involves the mix of Swedish, Finnish and Russian languages, and a naïve Martin Bahne that tries to find his place in the same way that young Finland tries to find its own identity, including brand new flag. The promising start of the film is not kept all along the action, and the quality decreases towards the end of the movie. Some delightful moments, as the special relation of von Munck with his Russian comrade and keeper of the Russian border find a counterpart in some extravagant situations like the final escape of the naked prisoners from the barracks. Especial mention to the short appearance of the most famous foreigner in Finland, who seems to be everywhere, from dancing with stars to writing books: Roman Schatz. 

Bahne´s interpretation is convincing, but the chemistry in the love relation with Miss Lintu (Haapkylä) does not work as well as expected. Not a bad movie though, and highly recommended for understanding a bit better one of the crucial historical moments of Finland.

Rating 3/5.

The assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

{mosimage}Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck deliver one of the best interpretative duels of the last year in this epic unconventional western.

Directed by the relatively unknown Andrew Dominik and produced by the very well known Ridley Scott, the movie is a little masterpiece not easy to digest from the first moment. Actually, I must recognize that I did not enjoy it much the first time I saw it, but I got totally trapped when I gave it a second chance.

Far from the conventional westerns full of action, bullets and thirst to kill or to get killed, the present movie turns into the epic interpretations of Pitt as outlaw Jesse James and his young follower and final assassin, Robert Ford. Both give a supreme lesson during the 2 hours and 40 minutes of the film; Pitt, a silence, maniac, depressed and slippery bandit while Affleck performs so sharply his role as the shy James fan turned into traitor and coward assassin that makes you even feel uneasy and uncomfortable while sitting contemplating his appearances. 

Do not get mistaken, the 2 hours and 40 minutes do not pass by fast, on the other hand the dialogues and action go slowly but smoothly, and every sequence has its meaning. Added to all this, the superb and melancholic soundtrack by Nick Cave (who makes also a cameo) that clearly explains with no need of words that this is not about a happy story with a happy ending. Excellent psychological portrait of men advocated to being what they did not want to be.

Rating 5/5.

Alpha Female

Norwegian Animal Alpha is another good example of the high quality of the bands coming from the northern neighboring Nordic country. Their last album:  You Pay for The Whole Seat but You´ll Only Need the Edge has been widely praised by Finnish music press and ranked at the top of the charts. The guys paid a visit to Finland for a couple of gigs in Tampere and Helsinki, and we had the chance to chat with 3 of its members a few hours before their first show at Yo-Yalo.

If you can have doubts about the role of every member in a rock band, that is not the case for Animal Alpha. While sitting in the backstage of Yo-Talo (one of the mythical venues for small and mid-size gigs in Tampere together with Klubi) sipping a cold beer, it is easy to catalogue Christian, the guitar player, as the brain and leader of Animal Alpha, while Agnete, the singer, remains as the shy, sensual and mysterious muse that lends her amazing voice and Lars, the bass player, acting as the most social, outspoken and friendly of the three. Apart from admiring the collection of graffiti that overwhelms the walls of the messy small backstage, we also have time for a nice dialogue while the band is waiting for some technical problems to be solved to perform the sound check.

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Opposite to what happen to most of the ands that try to find their place in the difficult business of rock music, Animal Alpha did not have problem in signing their first contract for producing Pheromones (2005), their first album. They had a dozen of record companies offering them deals, until they chose one of the smallest ones: Racing Junior “We were playing a lot around Oslo, and we also were the winners of a context for new bands. That made things easier. It was more about spreading the word from people who knew us” explains Lars, their bass player. Certainly success came quick, having the single Bundy chosen to appear in some videogames of mainstream company Electronic Arts. “I have never played to any of those videogames, so I have no idea how sounds there” recognizes Agnete, but Christian promptly pinpoints “Well, when I play and I listen to our songs, I think that makes me even score more and faster!”

Their new album (with that long and weird title extracted from a TV series) counted with the help of Dave Collins mixing in Los Angeles, and certainly, with only 8 tracks (and not for lack of more songs, as the band reckons) is doing pretty well so far. Animal Alpha are not afraid of the direct contact with their fans and audience, and that risky attitude can be seen when watching the performance of Agnete on stage, or in other details as the meeting they have with the public a few months ago, when everyone could choose what to pay for their album. Radiohead´s attitude taking to a new level: “It was more like a meeting with the fans, since most of the people came to greet us or get their albums signed. In general the response was very good” recalls Lars. “There was even somebody who paid like 50 euro! But well, there was another who did not want to pay anything”.

"Finland really feels like our second home" – Animal Alpha-

Guitar player Christian has a lot to say about the style and direction of the band, for example, he was the one who met Agnete and got impressed with her talent, and who decided that lyrics should be in English instead of Norwegian. But there is no doubt that is the special voice and skills of Agnete that are making Animal Alpha a name in the international rock scene “Well, as one of my influences I could name Faith no More. I always liked Mike Patton a lot” the singer tells us.

Coming from Norway, the band does not certainly feel alienated at all in Finland, quite the opposite “Finland is like our second home. That is totally true. We feel very comfortable here. The reaction of the audience is very similar to what happens in Norway” say the members of Animal Alpha, who will be soon playing again in Finnish land in Jurassic Rock festival in Mikkeli.

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The concert starts some hours later delayed due to some problems with the backline. Sinamore opens for an audience that takes it easy sitting on the tables enjoying their dreams. That turns the atmosphere a bit cold, although the guys deliver a good show of heavy metal. A good general impression, especially from their guitar player Tommi and their drummer Miika, but the singer Mikko Heikkilä shows some ups and downs in his vocal skills.

While being afraid that the cold atmosphere can get repeated with Animal Alpha, the venue gets totally transformed once that Agnete is on stage. Nobody would be able to recognize the shy girl we chatted with a few hours ago from the woman who stands on stage on a metal box, disguised like the younger sister of Bitelchus and screaming full of rage, smiling maliciously at the audience and even throwing herself to the floor in front of the first rows. The audience immediately responds and fills the empty space in front of the stage, and there is a great chemistry all over the show with the band.  You pay for the whole concert ticket, but you only need to be in the first row to appreciate the good manners of these Norwegian that have yet a lot to offer.

 

Photos: Eduardo Alonso

Angel Blake – The Descended

{mosimage}Swedish-Finnish Project leaded by Marko Tervonen, which moves between thrash, melodic gothic and heavy metal. 

Angel Blake is born mostly as the personal project of Marko Tervonen, who was the one taking care of recording most of the instruments during this second album of the band. Later on, new musicians have been added and also left the band, until forming the present line-up with Tobias Jansson taking care of the vocals. Guitar riffs sound sharp; drums are straightforward pushing the lyrics and Jansson´s vocals skills, although not among the best in the heavy metal scene “per se”, are full of energy and feeling, fundamental to catch the right vibe of songs with a marked dark metal spirit, although always keeping a melodic line.

After the changes in the formation and the ups and downs, it is to be praised that Tervonen and company were able to release a work that sounds mature enough to be at the same level that other outstanding gothic Finnish bands, and songs like Anywhere in Here or When All the Lights Are Out are into my favorites of the record, powerful but very listenable at the same time.

Nevertheless, it will be nice to see the progression of Angel Blake in future works, and if the line-up is more settled and the other members can feel more participative to achieve albums that can make them move forward from the big mass of gothic bands wandering the stages of Northern Europe.

Rating 3/5. 

no-man – Schoolyard Ghosts

{mosimage}After 5 years, it is about time for a new album of no-man, under k scope record label.

Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness are back on the road with Schoolyard Ghosts, a little treasure that goes deeper and deeper into your soul at the same rhythm than the xylophone that sounds shy but firm in the background of the introductory track All Sweet Things.  A collection of little jewels that make difficult to highlight just one, although if I have to choose, I pick Beautiful Songs You Should Know as my favorite one of the 8 tracks that will leave you begging for more.

A list of top calls collaborators such as Theo Travis on the saxophone, Gavin Harrison, Pat Mastelotto, Bruce Kaphan and the Philharmonic Orchestra of London to square an amazing album full of sensibility, feeling and excellent music.  A rich sonic palette, with some psychedelic moments like in Pigeon Drummer, painting a melancholic but shiny album that you must not miss in your CD collection.

Rating 5/5.