April 12, 2004
Rajna: Hidden Temple
CD, Holy Records 2004
Track list: Ranakpur - Buried Philae - Hé Lay, Hé Lay - Rajgir - Dancing with Divinities - Odyssey - Kerala Breath - Glorian - Anakera - Aswan - Hidden Temple
If you're into ethnic ambient atmospheres, Rajna is the thing to check. They borrow much of their instruments and atmosphere from India. There are no vocals, but a wailing female sound. I find it all rather boring - these songs would make good intros, but now I'm just waiting for the real song to begin. But then again, I've never been into ethnic ambient. Give me electronic minimalism any day! **
January 05, 2004
Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Soundtrack
CD, Reprise Records 2003
Track list: Movie themes, May It Be, Into the West, Gollum's Song...
This very nice box has all the three Lord of the Rings movie soundtracks. I really loved the movies and the way they were made. All the detail that was put into the costumes, props, digital effects, everything. The music was certainly one part of it. Howard Shore, the composer behind it, has done a great work. I like the way different people and cultures sound different - my favourite is the Rohirrim, with their Scandinavian-influenced soundscape. It's the Hardanger fiddle, really. All of it is just great. I also like the songs - Enya's "May It Be" is probably the worst, but Annie Lennox's "Into the West" is just great, as is "Gollum's song", sung by the almost-Björk Emiliana Torrini. *****
July 28, 2003
Tididii Tididii Tididiididii - A 267 Lattajjaa Compilation
2xCD-R, 267 lattajjaa
Track list: Di Maissintähkä: Eka kappale - Uton: Vihreän tuuman hengitys - Avarus: Eppi-Lööna motkottaa "motko-motko" (pliiz, lopeta!) - Greypark: Viistoistkakstoisnollayks - Pylon: Terveys :) - Braspyreet: Kivitalo taantuu - Ilmastointilaitteita: My teeth are cracking I am poor - Michael Knight Ensemble: 8 - Ever Had: Camels eat sand - Verde: Ruma jousi - Can Can Heads: Double talkin' maybe - Rakennustuhkaa: Aina vaan maalataan - O Samuli A: Taloyhtiö tiedottaa - Ektroverde: Kiehua - Slaughterhouse Quintet feat. Mental Alaskan mieskuoro: Ketsulaulu - Aïr: Rouyn-noranda - Plat Ypus: Introduzione-2 - Duhex: Azrrrra - A Shallow Conspiracy: Kaleidoscope language - Syöttöteho: Kateus - Agnosia: Assault of the elektro yiddish - 1 in 10: Green square - Blubberheads: About to leave - Drakes Medicine: Number of the Beats - Ever Had: Reindeers eat snow - Bob of America: 224 unknown countries (excerpt) - Matula: Der Alte (Bruchstück) - Kroko: Sabra - Short Eyes: Spiritual asshole - Skullpture: Untitled - Massaccesi: Science: Finding ways to slaughter millions - Karvaiset orjuuttajat: 2019 - Luu: Valssi - Lalla Khard: o0O - Sonic Temple Assassins: Born in the U.S.A. - Kiva: Keikkaa - kiimaa - Testicles: Lick my funny - Murha Murha Itsemurha: Olin väritön - Fun: U69: Das Loveboot - Maaginen teatteri: Väinämöinen - In-Walked Blank: Under sloppiest quality control - John Strobo: Halavatun kalkatus (kuoleman kukot) - Kvantti: Doppelgänger - No Scene: 230801 - Baby Sweetcorn: Live for kicks and danger - Kilometritehdas: Kävelen
This double-cd is a sequel to OOOOOps-cokish, featuring some bands from that album and many more. Most are Finnish and all are definitely underground. It's a collection of weird and eccentric and thus doomed to rather few playings. However, there are some very good tracks I'll probably copy on a compilation CD with some better tracks to accompany them. Highly recommended for the fans of the curious. ***
June 13, 2002
Dead & Gone #2: Totenlieder - Songs of Death
CD, Trikont 1997
Track list: Beasts of Bourbon: Rest in Peace - Lydia Lunch: Gloomy Sunday - Lydia Mendoza: La Boda Negra - Edith and Karl Dworak (Die Pepi Wichart Schrammeln): Stellt's meine Ross in Stall - Miranda Sex Garden: Gush Forth My Tears - Confraternite delle voci castelsardo: Miserere Funebre - Nico: My Only Child - Lou Reed: Goodby Mass - Trio Exvoco: Totenklage - Serbischer Leichenschmaus - Steirische Grabsängerinnen: Traget mich zu meinem Grabe - Bulawayo Church Choir: Funeral Song - Billie Holiday: Strange Fruit - Cassandra Wilson: Death Letter - Geto Boys: I Just Wanna Die - Jasper Smith: Died for Love - Kid Smith & the Virginia Dandies: Whisper Softly, Mother's Dying - Girls of the Golden West: By the Grave of Nobody's Darling - Albanische Totenklage - Diamanda Galas: Cris D'Avengle - Blind Man's Cry - Serbische Totenklage - Gary Floyd: From the Darkness to the Light
Like the first Dead & Gone compilation, this second is also quite a haunting experience. This time it's songs of death, a more diverse topic than the funeral marches. It also means more pop and rock music: there's Lydia Lunch, Miranda Sex Garden, Nico, Lou Reed, Geto Boys, Diamanda Galas and Billie Holiday, for example. Of course, there's probably more Serbian weeping music you will ever need. The result is a very curious bunch of songs, with perhaps a bit more sense of humour included than in the first compilation. ***
Six Months Later:
Definitely more accessible than the first album (that is, less strange folk music from Eastern Europe). More a curiosity than something you'd listen often, but I'm still happy to have it. ***
June 04, 2002
OOOOOps-cokish
CD, 267 lattajjaa 2002
Track list: Mother Goose: Life Is Short - Can Can Heads: Tenho's Last Trip - The Blubberheads: When I'm With You - September Sounds: Dreamlike - Aïr: Apartment Building - Ilai: Kaisalle 25.10.2001 - Pillupuhelin: Jeesuskin maksa - Plat Ypus: Organic Machinery - Paraffin Affiliates: Iljusin - Unidentified Sound Objects: MDF-record - Unidentified Sound Objects: Choko AD - Hard-Boiled Truck Drivers: Little Sister - Clay Figure: Cooking Missionaries - Jolie: Kristallista - Lörsson: She - Murha Murha Itsemurha: Liha lisää elinvoimaa - O Samuli A: Viaton luontokappale - Space Rocket: Sperville Falls - Sienikeitto: Ulkosatama (Cargo Vessel Edit) - Grey Park: Very Out - Suction Cup Genitals: Gimme My Daily Perkele! - Murha Murha Itsemurha: Sori, ei tiskiharjaa - APO: Kai - Arkham: Kadath (Excerpt) - Planet Kengraij: Dogs With Delay - Agnosia: Stain - Gelsomina: Horns and Tail - Haare: Wahnsinn (a.k.a. Nebulah Storm in the 3rd House of the Rising Capricorn) (excerpt) - Insight: Glamorama - Toni Kandelin: Reburnia - Mother Goose: Minimal Pop
OOOOO is a Finnish mailing list, mainly focused on eccentric music. Somebody figured out that many of the list subscribers are active musicians and that it would be a great idea to create a compilation album of music made by the list members. Hannu Haahti was mental enough to take on the task and here's the result, a 100-copy limited edition compilation album. Most of the bands are quite unknown and styles vary from noise to soft pop. It is a very surprising experience... ***
Six Months Later:
There are four-star tracks and there are one-star tracks. It's really eccentric mix of this and that, and thus I don't listen to it. ***
May 28, 2002
Eyes Wide Shut
CD, Reprise Records 1999
Track list: György Ligeti: Musica Ricercata, II (Mesto, rigido e ceremoniale) - Dmitri Shostakovich: Waltz 2 from Jazz Suite - Chris Isaak: Baby Did a Bad Thing - The Victor Silvester Orchestra: When I Fall in Love - The Oscar Peterson Trio: I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) - Jocelyn Pook: Naval Officer - Jocelyn Pook: The Dream - Jocelyn Pook: Masked Ball - Jocelyn Pook and the Jocelyn Pook Ensemble with Manickam Yogeswaran: Migrations - Roy Gerson: If I Had You - Peter Hughes Orchestra: Strangers in the Night - Brad Mehldau: Blame it on My Youth - Franz Liszt: Grey Clouds - György Ligeti: Musica Ricercata, II (Mesto, rigido e ceremoniale) Reprise
Maestro Stanley Kubrick's last movie got a mixed response, I think. At least my opinions were mixed. The movie was disturbing, both in good and bad. There was something haunting about it. Lots of it had to do with the music, especially Ligeti's "Musica Ricercata". Jocelyn Pook's work is also excellent, her "Masked Ball" is a top class atmospheric piece. Classical pieces are complemented with jazz selections and Chris Isaak. Eyes Wide Shut is a remarkable example of high quality movie soundtrack. *****
Six Months Later:
Still a very good example of proper soundtrack work. Well, perhaps I'll remove one star. It's not that perfect... ****
May 17, 2002
Dead & Gone #1: Trauermärsche - Funeral Marches
CD, Trikont 1997
Track list: Leichenzug mit Blaskapelle - Banda De Tontontepec: Tres Marias - Albert Ayler: Our Prayer - Robert Wyatt: Song for Che - Brass Band and Village Drummers in the Fanti Area of Ghana: A Village Funeral - Tuxedo Brass Band: Nearer My God to Thee - Begräbniskapelle aus Saigon: Trauer-Sturmmarsch - Jopie Vrieze's Klein Bazuin: Hymn - Buck Funk & Reverend Anthony W. Reves - West Lawn Dirge / Just a Closer Walk with Thee - "Banda Musicale" der Vucciria, Palermo: Karfreitagsprozession - Serbische Blaskapelle: Begräbnismelodie - Central Band of the RAF: Marche Funèbre - Olympia Brass Band: In the Sweet Bye and Bye - Willem Breuker Kollektief: Ases Death - Sogenanntes Linksradikales Blasorchester: Trauermarsch - Mike Westbrook Orchestra: Free as a Bird - George Lewis Eureka Brass Band: The Old Rugged Cross - Tom Waits: Anywhere I Lay My Head
This is a rather macabre compilation. I don't know if it's too healthy to listen to this kind of music all day long, but if you enjoy sad music, here's a fine compilation of various funeral marches. Most of the songs are performed by various brass bands and orchestras, but there's some variation. Most touching, at least to me, is the simple "Marche Funèbre" performed by the Central Band of the RAF. The melody is familiar to most of you, I'm sure. The cd features also quite nice and humorous pictures by Josè Guadalupe Posada, you just have to love those little skeletons. They sure do lighten up the otherwise sad and serious mood of the compilation. ***
Six Months Later:
I've actually listened to it later on! That's a bit of a surprise. It was good soundtrack when we made characters for Wraith role playing game - a game, which starts when the characters die. Gloomy. ***