Ze Boogie Times

Much like Enika, I don’t really like many of the musical performers of my country. A large portion of it, especially the so called summer hits, is such utter bull crap that I sometimes wish I could cut my ears off with a spoon and feed them to a monkey. You'd think that was an exaggeration but the more I think about it, the more possible the scenario seems. However, there are some performers I do have a soft spot for - thank sanity/deity of choice.

One of those artists is Nightwish. The band that basically created the so called operatic symphonic metal genre. I listened to them all the time before the lead singer of the original Nightwish, Tarja Turunen, was kicked off the band. Haven't listened to the new one after I realized how much lousier it is without Turunen. I don't think there is even comparison between the new vocalist and her. I could rant about this for a long time but I think I will leave that out and just link to some videos already:

Sleeping Sun - Nightwish | Over The Hills And Far Away (cover) - Nightwish

Oh god, watching those sent me to such a nostalgia trip. Both of them are slightly bad quality but I couldn't really find better ones so, eh.

Another artist I have loved for a long time is Kaija Koo. I practically grew listening to her music so no wonder really.

What she is often categorized in is a genre we call iskelmä. What it's described as in wikipedia is pop-like music directed to older people (German equivalent according to wiki is schlager), often telling about love and life. I suppose this is a rather fitting description, though rather vague and doesn't really cover everything. Some of Kaija Koo's songs do fit in this definition of the category but some do cross over to pop and even to soft rock. I reckon she's in iskelmä category because her most well known song, Kuka keksi rakkauden (Who Invented Love), is rather iskelmä-ish: easy listening, tells about love etc. Here are a couple of her older songs:

Kuka keksi rakkauden - Kaija Koo | Tuulikello (Wind chime) - Kaija Koo

It's likely she sounds crappy in the ears of many but hey, I have an undying love for her stuff. The nostalgia alone is keeping me glued onto her. She still makes new stuff, which I'm glad of. Say what you will about her songs and music but her voice is awesome.

The last performer group I'm going to list is Apocalyptica, which is definitely among my favorites. They are a group of cello players who, after gaining a background in classical music, pretty much began their career by playing Metallica covers (My favorite out of those is their cover of Nothing Else Matters).

I even went to their concert not too long ago (Early last year). They were performing in the city I live in and the tickets were cheap, so I decided to buy them for mom and I. It was a good concert, not too many people in the audience, and they introduced music from their new album.

Nothing Else Matters (cover) - Apocalyptica | I Don't Care - Apocalyptica

They've collaborated with a large variety of Finnish and international artists, from HIM to the singer of Flyleaf, so they do have a lot of variation in what sort of pieces they make. Most of the time, however, I think they are at their best when they are working on their own. What can I say? I love instrumental music and cello is one of the most beautiful instruments there is, in my humble opinion.

I think that's enough of this stuff. I could mention a couple of others but meh, I reckon this is sufficient as it is. :D

(I figure I should try out that QOTD Ruben keeps doing so: What was your favorite lullaby or children's song when you were little? I think mine was Tuu tuu tupakkarulla - which I can't find a good version of but it was sung to this traditional Kalevala melody- or possibly Hyvin hiljaa)