Nuggets from Finland

Wow, I constantly amaze myself with how much cool music came out in the 60s. It came from everywhere. Last year somebody provided multiple cds of mp3 sourced Portugeuse 60s music.

So here we go with FOUR (!) cds worth of 60s beat from Finland, home of a very heterogenous (and rocking) population.

The sound quality varies on record to record, but what else would you expect. Even the worst disc does not touch the "sound" of earlier Pebbles type comps. There seems to be some digital imperfections at some places in the songlist.

There are tons of tracks here, but I will try to stick to the ones that caught me ear. On disc two, there is Kevat by the New Joys. The fuzz riff is maximum, but then mood is kicked down quite a few notches when the vocals start. Lyrics are in Finn, and add an eerieness to the proceedings. Then a Keith Moonalike makes a quick appearance and smacks his drum kit like a collection of garbage bins. Cool track.

Dance to The Locomotion by Jormas, is wary fast and smokes. How does the drummer play that fast? R&B speeded to the max, the snare solo is crazy, followed by a frantic guitar lead. Their take on California Dreaming aint so hot, though. The tempo is kind of jerky on that song.

The Downwalkers do the moody thang with I Don't Believe You. These gents are from Espoo. There is a bit of the string jangle, but the vocals make the mood here.

Tunnen Sen by The Esquires seems that it may be more of an authentic sound, as it doesn't sound like anything else.

Volume Three kicks off with Call Me on The Telephone by Blues Section. It has more of a tough sound, I liked 80% of this one, excepting the saxaphone, and the cowbell might be a bit abused. The guitar snarls and wheezes trhough a break sounding like nothing else.

The Renegades do a great cover of the Sorrows, "Take A Heart," with a phenomenal harmonica sound.

The Hitchhikers do a track called Meditation with a driving organ. The tempo is all over the place.

I will try to post some more thoughts later.