Just like a fellow Prog Collaborator so accurately stated before me, Alamaailman Vasarat’s music is heavily rooted in the Eastern European gypsy folk, not unlike their more rock-oriented precursors Höyry-Kone: a fact undisputedly evidenced from the opening track of their debut “Vasaraasia”. In fact, the typical exotic drive from gypsy folk is magically enriched by a sense of genius folly which seems to arise not only from the influence of HK, but also Samla Mammas Manna, Slapp Happy, and in general, the most satirical side of RIO. There is also an aggressive facet in AV’s music, which is provided mainly by the two cellists. Here and there you may hear what seems to be a series of quasi-punk fuzz guitar riffs, but what is really going on is that the cellists are playing powerful chord progressions on their instruments, previously supplied with bizarre effect tools. The opening track ‘Mamelukki & Musta Leski’ is a wonderful source of motivation: its beautiful melodic lines and the contagious electricity emanated by the performers, all at once, make it a recommended listen for those minutes after you’ve just awakened, and still haven’t made up your mind to get up our of your comfortable bed. Track 2 keeps the good vibrations working, with a slightly lesser degree of intensity. Even though there is a large amount of fast numbers in “Vasaraasia”, there are others that don’t feel so uplifting: in fact, there’s also room for some languid, dark pieces, at times bordering on the somber – ‘Jano’/’Tankkaustunti’ and ‘Hakumie’ are IMHO the most accomplished dark pieces. All things considered, though, the listener is likely to find himself in awe of the frontal candor exhibited in most parts of the album, especially the interplays between sax and trombone and the well articulated complementation of the pump organ chords with the rhythm section. There’s tons of electrifying energy condensed here, and yet there’s more electronic stuff in the effects than in the instrumental arsenal itself. Well, eventually the circus has to leave town to take its tricks and gags somewhere else, but the circus caravan won’t leave quietly: the ultra-fast ‘Delhin Yot’ seems designed to cause the audience’s farewell applauses, while the finale serves as a musical background for the technicians dismantling the stage and quickly picking up all packages into the trucks. Overall mark: 3 ½ - 4 stars.
Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 2. August 2008, 16:19
Alamaailman Vasarat / Vasaraasia
Used drive : SONY DVD-ROM DDU1612 Adapter: 0 ID: 1
Read mode : Secure Utilize accurate stream : Yes Defeat audio cache : Yes Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 12 Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder Selected bitrate : 320 kBit/s Quality : High Add ID3 tag : No Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=EAC FLAC -8" %s
#777Трэклист: 1. Kivitetty Saatana (4:48) 2. Vasaraasialainen (5:50) 3. Pelko Antaa Siivet (3:59) 4. Hamarapuolella (5:15) 5. Vanha Lapsuudenystävä — 6:14 6. Olisimme Uineet Vielakin Pidemmalle (5:44) 7. Lentava Mato (3:41) 8. Jaa, Hyva Mieli (6:00)
Музыканты: - Jarno Sarkula / Soprano saxophone, Tenor saxophone, bass clarinet - Tuukka Helminen / cello - Teemu Hänninen / drums and percussion - Miikka Huttunen / pump organ, grand piano - Erno Haukkala / trombone, slide trumpet, tuba - Marko Manninen / cello
I have to go against the grain on this one (shocking, I know) and try to explain why you should spend your hard earned money elsewhere. I know you have found this band by the nearly unanimous glowing reviews all over the Web. It’s amazing. Doing some research I have checked all over the place and every prog reviewer from here to Saturn thinks this album is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Since it’s likely that makes me delusional I may as well proceed with my dissent as briefly as I can.
AV’s unique Finnish acoustic chamber jazz-metal sound is very interesting at first and I can understand the excitement this generates. The best spin I ever had with this album was the first and it goes down hill with each subsequent play. The gimmick of the unusual sound approach is enticing initially but I have found that the interest is not sustained over the long run. I actually find that the highly repetitive and quirky melodies get downright annoying the more I listen. These songs are far more effective as soundtrack to the cute videos the band has at their website. But as a progressive music album in my collection I do not see this as a compelling selection.
“Kivitetty Saatana” starts the album with perhaps the most annoying melody, dragging and repetitive and predictable beginning to end. Same with “Vasaraasialainen” which begins with a bouncy little jig that repeats and repeats. To its credit, this song does have a little breather in the middle for some solo cello before the nightmarish main melody returns. “Pelko Antaa Siivet” is one of the good songs, where they nix the silly formula for an honest and thoughtful display of their fine instrumental abilities. The track exudes a feeling of loneliness and confinement that plays right to the fine cover art. If the album were more like this song we’d be in better shape. “Hamarapuolella” begins and ends with another irritating repetition but features some nice playing in between. At one point they manage a noise that you would swear is a distorted electric guitar, very cool considering there is no guitar present. “Astiatehdas” attempts an acoustic speed metal of sorts that is cool the first time and painfully boring by the fifth time. “Vanha Lapsuudenystava” starts promising with a nice piano/cello exploration but falls into the same repetition and gets annoyingly faster and denser towards the end which just detracts so much-I’m not sure why they insist on this approach. To sound hip or edgy? “Olisimme” is another mess. “Lentava Mato” is a super fast chamber jam that amounts to little. “Jaa, Hyva Mieli” is one final exercise in tedium with yet another heavy consistent chug through most of it and nothing memorable to cut through it.
The dominant feel of the music is one of playful mischievousness and certainly this can be a good thing sometimes. Here I feel that we have some talented guys who are relying on this fashionable sound they have birthed and they just play it to death. I think they have potential to try something more thoughtful and less cute down the road. I can’t recommend this album to anyone I’m afraid. But keep in mind that the other 7 billion people on the planet love this so you’d best not take my word for it.
Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 2. August 2008, 15:59
Alamaailman Vasarat / Kaarmelautakunta
Used drive : SONY DVD-ROM DDU1612 Adapter: 0 ID: 1
Read mode : Secure Utilize accurate stream : Yes Defeat audio cache : Yes Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 12 Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder Selected bitrate : 320 kBit/s Quality : High Add ID3 tag : No Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=EAC FLAC -8" %s
Alamaailman Vasarat are back, this time collaborating with Finnish folk-singer Tuomari Nurmio. AV's first two albums were certainly quite wild and innovative, but (un)fortunately ? Tuomari Nurmio's influence has tamed their sound somewhat. I don't mind really, because I still maintain that this is more of a Tuomari Nurmio solo album than anything else. All the compositions are his, they've just been adapted to fit the crazy style of AV.
You will still hear many of the same elements that made AV so fun, but the atmosphere is certainly more upbeat and you won't hear any fiersome cello attacks on this one. Nurmio has certainly added his own touch to the album, as the music is much folkier with even traces of bluegrass and polka, without forgetting AV's touch of klezmer and jazz music. Nurmio's vocals are quite rough, and original, but not to everyone's liking.
The album's focus is probably too much on Tuomari Nurmio's vocals for the average proghead, so I do understand if the non-finnish speaking audience will find this a tad disappointing. I personally find Kinaporin Kalifaatti inventive, refreshing and definitely very enjoyable.
Fans of Alamaailman Vasarat should be able to enjoy this, but I agree with progmonster's assessment that this is more likely to please a Tom Waits fan than the average proghead. Four stars if this wasn't a prog-site.
Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 6. August 2008, 20:37
Tuomari Nurmio ja Alamaailman Vasarat / Kinaporin Kalifaatti
Used drive : SONY DVD-ROM DDU1612 Adapter: 0 ID: 1
Read mode : Secure Utilize accurate stream : Yes Defeat audio cache : Yes Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 12 Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder Selected bitrate : 320 kBit/s Quality : High Add ID3 tag : No Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=EAC FLAC -8" %s
#777Трэклист: 1. Maahan (0:58) 2. Kyyhylly (3:40) 3. Helmi otsalla (3:36) 4. Luiden valossa, naapurin talossa (3:40) 5. Huikeuden lieriö (3:53) 6. Elaimet huutaa (5:56) 7. Lumeen nukkuneet (5:29) 8. Katkorapu (4:24) 9. Kaarme toi ruton kaupunkiin (3:24) 10. Rooman ruumiit (3:41) 11. Elukka (1:15)
Музыканты: - Jarno Sarkula / saxes, clarinets & other woodwinds - Erno Haukkala / trombone, tuba, piccolo trombone - Miikka Huttunen / pump organ, grand piano, keyboards - Tuukka Helminen / cello - Marko Manninen / cello - Teemu Hanninen / drums, percussion- Erno Haukkala / trombone, tuba, slide trumpet - Marko Manninen / cello - Tuukka Helminen / cello
As of 2007, we have a fourth studio album from the Höyny Kone off-shot that made it tremendously big, we have another coup of avant-esque music from this strange yet stunning Finnish group that constantly came with something else than homeland Sibelusian, mystic, aurorally intense specialties, leaning rather on Balcan folk, Klezmer music or Gypsy rock. Here’s Maahan, an album that I remember seriously shaking 2007’s progressive polls (at least till Porcupine Tree & co.’s glorious time), while, generally, it’s Alamaailman Vasarat’s factual return to form, after 2003’s Käärmelautakunta. I have to be honest and say that, for now, I only have these two albums, but even if I currently don’t have the whole picture so to compare the group’s achievement, Maahan seems as much of a top spinner as the 2003 effort did...or does.
Persisting a bit more on the Maahan-Käärmelautakunta relation (the only one that can fuel some of my words), it is for some strange reason that I considered AV have sorted out this time a weaker instrumental range and peculiarness than before; not true, we’re still talking heavy brass music, the grave sound of the tuba being even more fastidious here than anywhere else, because it gives you utter chills, plus has a hard to achieve technique. The sax and the trombone rule out, and Hänninen’s drumming speaks its own weirdness or agitation, instead, less forward, but more experimental are clarinets, „other woodwinds” or even the cello!
The particular disappointment would be that, overall, the drug for Maahan was set on heaviness, a royal of Eastern dances and traditional-induced rhythms, dynamic explosions that weight more than you can carry, with a contrast of slower or experimental (even rock, but rare) bits. What’s the actual disappointment in this? The appetite for fast, tapping or crushingly avant-esque rhythms and heaps, whilst in anything prior to this (and I have to take a guess AV’s past efforts overall), there was still more art and intricacy – Maahan is remarkably played, vividly imagined and tastefully listenable, but more shallow on attaining something truly special. If one remembers the dashing Lentävä Mato from Käärmelautakunta, that album’s sole high-adrenaline/cheap-profoundness dance (think it as a folk word, of course), a lot of short aromas from Maahan are of the same calibre. The dynamite explodes, the fireworks are splendid, but the mood is just casually contented. This is what Maahan lacks.
Judged in a different way, this album is mostly an avant-heavy show, avant being the basic ingredient regardless of the prime Eastern influences (not so much because of professional personal interpretations, but because of the mood, the deciphered style of each bit and everything altogether), while heavy, previously regarded as pure metal, is now more relaxed, but still plugged to enough power as to put current through your veins. There are crazy moments when you can’t stay put, loud and fast excerpts like these are half a delicacy, half AV’s currently profound spirit. In less exacerbated moments, the band chips a bit of experimentalism, of heterogeneous sounds & samples. I truly feel jazz isn’t at the core of some fisting improvisations, instead there’s a bit of funk added to the taste, without alternating the whole dish.
As length and size, AV keep it short and casual as always, but even if Maahan is their shortest album up to date only by a minute or so, it’s the substance that counts more, and here there isn’t much to be crazy about, as we’re talking a slim work, out of which multiple pieces can be your favourite without striking an essential cord as well. I won’t go again over what I’ve mentioned as disappointing, fact is this creative and interesting experience is also split in sequences. I’m even set on describing three major parts Maahan would be split into, excepting the much obvious prologue (very ceremonial) Maahan and the epilogue (very filler-esque and still heated) Elukka: the first, from Kyyhylly to Huikeuden lieriö, straps you heavily and parties ravishingly, except for the dark Luiden valossa...; the middle part of the album is also the best, topping with a funeral/weeping tune that’s beautiful and surprising, Luumen Nukkuneet; meanwhile the last part has a great avant track in Katkorapu, but slightly mellows with the shallow, wobbling Käärme toi ruton kaupunkiin and with the rock-funkier (at least by its first minute) Rooman ruumiit, that goes back to brassing too late in order to be considered that good any longer. Still, even with only the central pieces being truly worthwhile, Maahan still turns up to be a mashed up, wild, achieved work.
Jammed to 3.5 stars, I could upset spirits by choosing to go low with the rating, but overall what I’ve said (way) earlier is a simple matter of taste: the fireworks could count, in real time, the most, and they’re nothing short of dynamic, fun, saucerful and highly enjoyable. So Maahan is a fair success, a must for AV’s long-running fans, and I’ll personally head to the rest that was made by this band, one that impressed me more than I could have imagined.
Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 6. August 2008, 20:18
Alamaailman Vasarat / Maahan
Used drive : SONY DVD-ROM DDU1612 Adapter: 0 ID: 1
Read mode : Secure Utilize accurate stream : Yes Defeat audio cache : Yes Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 12 Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder Selected bitrate : 320 kBit/s Quality : High Add ID3 tag : No Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=EAC FLAC -8" %s
Peak level 83.8 % Track quality 99.8 % Test CRC E464E3EF Copy CRC E464E3EF Track not present in AccurateRip database Copy OK
None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database
No errors occurred
End of status report
#777Трэклист: 1. Mielisaurus (3:30) 2. Liskopallo (4:50) 3. Meressä Ei Asuta (4:04) 4. Natiivit (3:47) 5. Lounto Tuli Lähelle (3:03) 6. Tujuhuju (5:32) 7. Luola (6:32) 8. Omalla Ajalla (4:20) 9. Lautturin Viivat (4:06)
Total Time: 39:17
Музыканты: - Jarno Sarkula / saxophones, clarinets, tubax, various ethnic woodwinds - Erno Haukkala / trombone, brass - Miikka Huttunen / pump organ, grand piano - Tuukka Helminen / cello - Marko Manninen / cello, theremin - Teemu Hänninen / drums, percussion
Fifth album of this crazy Finnish group that is now well established, but are also now busy rethreading the same fabric with not much change ever since their debut album. Well, I guess I'd better be clear: there are novelties here. First this is a concept album about the explorer Huuro Kolkko (hence the album title), although you'd have a hard time telling what the story is about since there is no vocals (call back on Tuomari Nurinio???;o)))) and the booklet says nothing of the concept's storyline. Second, Jarno Stakula (ex-Sarkula) has had built custom for him a new "tubax" (a contrabass-sax), and the group acquired a Theremin, but none of this is likely to provoke drastic changes under the midnight sun or noon moon.
Unfortunately, the group doesn't extend their scope from their usual Kelzmer-Manouche soundscape, which by now are really wearing thin on the most resilient Avant-prog fans like me. Even more so that the group is hardly the only one occupying that niche - look towards Quebec or to a lesser extent Belgium. If the debut had managed to make a small dent in the music market and cause a shock with its Black Metal Cellos and nearly-uncontrollable brass, one must say that after 4,5 albums, this one is not much different and certainly never surprises the auditor. Whether this album is better than the previous ones? Worse , certainly not, better also not. Neither is it different or unusual for them.
Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 5 from 4. May 2009
EAC extraction logfile from 12. September 2009, 0:00
Alamaailman Vasarat / Huuro Kolkko
Used drive : SONY DVD-ROM DDU1612 Adapter: 0 ID: 1
Read mode : Secure Utilize accurate stream : Yes Defeat audio cache : Yes Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 12 Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000 Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder Selected bitrate : 160 kBit/s Quality : High Add ID3 tag : No Command line compressor : D:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=EAC FLAC -8" %s
Alamaailman Vasarat (“The Hammers of the Underworld”) is an unusual phenomenon not only in their home country Finland, but around the globe in general. Listeners have had plenty of grey hairs trying to categorize this unique instrumental music; you'll probably see some weird quotes like “ethnic brass punk” when reading reviews or surfing the web on the subject.
"The Hammers" themselves consider to have their musical roots somewhere in a fictional continent called Vasaraasia (“Hammer-Asia”) which is also the title of their highly praised debut album released September 2000.
Alamaailman Vasarat was founded in 1997 by bass player Jarno Sarkula and drummer Teemu Hänninen. Jarno had just bought a soprano sax - a reason enough to start a new band! After a few months of experimenting the line-up was primed for live action, but has never stopped evolving. New instruments expand the band's musical vocabulary album by album.
Split between six members, the band's weaponry now consists of high and low saxes & clarinets, a trombone, tuba, two cellos with multieffects, a pump organ and other keys, and drums & percussion. Despite this weird setup, the band has proven that old wood and brass really kick ass!
In 2000, the debut album "Vasaraasia" entered the World Music Chart Europe Top-20 at the seventh position, leaving many big time Finnish world music acts far behind. In 2003 the band released their second album "Käärmelautakunta", this time portraying a mature band with refined sound and much evolved, multilayered compositions.
In 2005 Alamaailman Vasarat recorded a collaboration album "Kinaporin Kalifaatti" with famous Finnish singer Tuomari Nurmio. The album received rave reviews in the press and was subsequently awarded with a highly sought-after TEOSTO - prize from the Finnish Composers' Copyright Society.
The fourth Alamaailman Vasarat album "Maahan" was released March 2007 simultaenously in Europe and Japan. Getting back to instrumental form, the band once again proved its unique ability to blend wide variety of styles into pure and distinctive Alamaailman Vasarat sound. The album was praised all over and is widely considered best one to date.
Alamaailman Vasarat have also done some film music; most recently for an animated movie Elukka ("The Animal") by Tatu Pohjavirta (awarded for best music score at French film festival Premiers Plans 2006). The band's music has also been used in numerous theatre plays during the years.
The gig venues have varied from big time world music festivals to huge progressive rock gatherings, never forgetting intense acts at rock clubs and jazz dives. To name a few, the band has played in Portugal (Festival Músicas do Mundo), Netherlands (Stranger Than Paranoia), Germany (TFF Rudolstadt), Sweden (Urkult Folk Festival), Japan (Pit Inn, Tokyo), USA (NEARfest, Trenton) and in all major rock festivals of Finland.
The most recent addition to an impressive gig list was the unforgettable October 2007 performance at World Music Expo WOMEX in Spain, where the band took the Alamaailman Vasarat live act to a whole new level.
Future plans of Alamaailman Vasarat include intensive performing in Finland and rest of Europe throughout 2008. The new album is already in the making, slated to hit the shelves in the spring 2009. A live DVD is also in the works.
The saga of Alamaailman Vasarat has already spanned more than a decade, but hey - you ain't seen nothing yet, we're just getting warmed up!
"It's all about art and its absence."
Источник первых четырех альбомов - оригинальные CD, заказанные из Швеции. Добавлены сканы всего и вся в 300 dpi. DVD с Туомари Нурмио здесь DVD Haudasta lomilla здесь Huuro Kolkko был приобретен в Хельсинки в августе 2009. Да, я знаю, что confidence 2 )))
14.09.09 торрент обновлен! Добавил последний альбом со сканами! P.S. Не забудьте переименовать папку в Alamaailman Vasarat - Discografia 2000-2009
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