Ratsia - Ratsia (1979)

I picked this up at a car boot sale a couple of weeks ago. It's ritalin sharp, heads down punk rock from Finland. I'd never heard of them before I found this and never knew that Finland had much of a punk scene in the '70s, so you live and learn.

"Ratsia just missed the first wave of punk rock bands, but their first LP is without a question one of the best of the early Finnish punk rock albums.
Before signing to Johanna, Ratsia had already recorded most of the album's songs in their rehearsal place and released them on tape Kloonattu sukupolvi, but it was a good idea to re-record them in a proper studio, now with Rubberduck Jones of Pelle Miljoona & 1980 as a producer. The first single Lontoon skidit had just been released, and very well received, so the expectations were high. And when the LP came out, it definitely wasn't a let-down, it was full of great, catchy and energetic tunes.
Perhaps the album opener Taidetta summarizes the overall spirit: we have our own thing and do things as we see fit, even if it doesn't please the previous generations or is against their views of aesthetics. Also the then hot topic in Finland, idolizing the American stars of the 50's as a part of the rockabilly revival, and the way the trend was forcefed to Finnish teens by marketing consultants, is critizited (Aikakone), but on the other hand they pay tribute to their own heroes New York Dolls (Kaatopaikan enkelit). Lontoon skidit was re-recorded for the album, this time with Hepa Halme on saxophone. The new version is good and differs little from the single version, but still the original single version is better. There are also two cover tracks, Stiff Little Fingers' Wasted life (Ne ei haluu kuunnella) and The Clash's 48 hours (48 tuntia), both good renditions of the originals.
In the next couple of years Ratsia moved on from the original punk rock style, made two more (different but good or goodish) albums, and broke up. This first album was probably their greatest achievement, and it's a true crime that it still hasn't been re-released (on CD or otherwise)."

Jarkko Kuivanen, Finnmusic.net

Teenage lightning!

Tracklist:

01 Taidetta
02 Yksin
03 Ole hyvä nyt
04 Päästäkää mut irti
05 Aikakone
06 (Mä haluun) R-E-AKTION!
07 Kaatopaikan enkelit
08 Lontoon skidit
09 Ne ei haluu kuunnella
10 Idolit
11 48 tuntia
12 Pikkuaikuinen
13 Ajat sitten luopuneet
14 Me noustiin kellareistamme

Get it HERE.

Kemialliset Ystävät - Suurempi pieni palatsi (2001)

Here's another incredible album of chimerical, twilight sounds from our chemical friends from Tampere, Finland: Kemialliset Ystävät. This one was released way back in 2001 on the French label, Alice in Wonder records, and this is certainly a record that leaves the listener in a state of wonderment. Difficult and nonsensical on initial listens, perseverence pays dividends as their communal abstractions break out into soundworld of exquisite beauty and bottomless melancholy.
Here's a suitably wobbly video for Nykyajan Tanssi:

Tracklist:

01 Puretaan Teltat
02 Hurja Taivas
03 Kuin Kaste Aamun
04 Sinistä Hohtaa Kangastus
05 Nykyajan Tanssi
06 Tallattujen Kielojen Surumarssi
07 Vuorille
08 Sytyttäkää Suitsukkeet
09 Pieni Palatsi
10 Heikoimmista Tähdistä
11 Urasorsalle
12 Sateen Varjo
13 Lammikko
14 Katkennut Rauhanpiippu

Get it HERE.

Kuusumun Profeetta - Kukin Kaappiaan Selässään Kantaa (2002)

Gorgeous 6 song e.p. from this strange Finnish group. The music here is a gentle and bewitching blend of low key jazz and Nick Drake-esque spacey folk. The instrumentation is spare and slightly precarious, and always completely engaging, carrying Mika Ratto's melancholic vocal perfectly. Sounds nothing like Circle, with whom the band has shared a couple of members.

I can't really recommend this one enough.

Tracklist:

01. Kovin lentäen kotiin kaipaan
02. Vuosisadan vaihteessa
03. Kynttilät syttyvät varhain
04. Kysymysten sali
05. Aamuyön tunteina
06. Akvaario

Get it HERE.

Glad to see people are enjoying this one. I'd better take the opportunity to tell you that Kuusumun Profeetta are still very much active, and their website is here.

Something Weird: Kemialliset Ystavat - Varisevien Tanssi / Silmujen Marssi (Kevyt Nostalgia 2003)

It's been a while since I posted anything out-of-the-ordinary, left-of-centre or slightly-off-kilter, so this great album fits all those bills. Kemialliset Ysatvat have been quietly ploughing their own unique furrow in Finland since 1995, passing those long winter nights making weird, improvised twilight noise. Their music is often described as freakfolk or psyche-folk, and there is certainly something folky about the sounds they make, complete with flutes and recorders, and all kinds of acoustic stringed instruments, but this is a fractured noise that possibly reflects the fractured nature of the 21st Century European 'folk', or the difficulties inherent in trying to think any kind of 'volkish' collective in the digital age.

However, there's more going on here than midnight woodland yodellings and bellringing as Kemialliset Ystavat (Finnish for 'Chemical Friends') introduce us to rasping animal grunts and squeels, looped and fed through ancient samplers and antique effects pedals. There is something mystical and shamanic, something ecstatic, about this music, but then again it seems shot through with boredom and ennui, and it sounds at times like something you might find sitting on the turntable of a broken down gramophone in a long forgotten attic where dust and cobwebs shimmer in the shafts of sunlight that creep through gaps in the rooftiles. Its a magical sound, but weirdly mundane.

This album collects two very limited cdrs that were released in 2001 and 2002 and throws them onto one lovely slab of vinyl. Its a fascinating album from a fascinating band who are very much alive and kicking, and I urge you to check it out then try and see them live because they really put on a great show.

Tracklist:

All songs are untitled so you just get an mp3 of each side.

Get it here.