The Maiden of FINLAND rocks harder
»Everything is going extremely well,« as the supercomputer HAL 9000 quoted in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Indeed it is this kind of an experience and a feeling, that we’ve shared here up in North. We also got our »evolutionary kick in the pants« in 2005. The Maiden of Finland tastes even better and rocks harder.
We’ve had loads of psy parties and other interesting ventures going on in 2005. Weekly club nights in Helsinki area and bigger parties and gigs likewise. From full on to chillout and from breaks to progressive and psy people joining forces with hard trance and hi-nrg jockeys. The scene has also spread to province towns further Finland. Year started nicely in March with a superb gig by Eat Static.
Summer's highligt was Konemetsä-festival (Machine Forest) organized by Thirteen posse. It attracted musiclovers and partygoers all over Finland. Estimated 3000 people shared a beautiful and a warm summer weekend in a lovely rural area. The music varied from spacerock to hip hop and from psy to chill. The colourful event was covered in national television news. There was even a sauna there (a must for Finns). Top acts at Konemetsä were surely Raja Ram and Lucas and a world famous Finnish hard trance deejay Proteus. The Midsummer Night’s forestparty by a lake, quite close to Helsinki had also a warm atmosphere. The chill-out was beautiful, sonically as well.
At the end of the summer there was Koneisto-festival for electronic music and arts. It gathered wide a variety of talents from all over the globe to Helsinki. Autumn saw finally a long awaited multitalent Juno Reactor gigging in Helsinki. And what a rocking party that was. Good old classics and fresh ones together with a special stage show. And in November Infected Mushroom delivered a heavy club gig.
The extremest experience has to be a Cosmic Theatre’s Sound Spectrum in November. It was organised in Porvoo, a seaside town near Helsinki, in a building complex meant for middle-aged people’s summer polka parties. There was no heating system, except the one carried in, so it was cold! But again, the scene and soundscape were beautiful and people were having fun. 2005 ended with a cool Suomisaundi party in Helsinki with a nice line-up like Salakavala, Egosentrifug, Squaremeat and Texas Faggott.
Finnish psy is now extending it’s territory musically as well as geographically. We’re heading to West and South and to East over the border. In exchange we get foreign artists and new audience from Sweden, Holland and Russia. 2005 saw known Finnish names like Squaremeat and Texas Faggot playing as far as in Japan. Exogenic records has grown to Exogenig Music Group, DJ Orkidea published a marvellous chill album called »Music Speaks In Thousand Languages« and DJ Halo’s label Next Big Thing turned to synth pop with Regina. There’s also plans to launch a Finnish techno magazine and to write a book about the electronic music scene in Finland.
Facts
- With 5.2 million inhabitants Maiden-shaped Finland is scarcely populated – 17 people per square kilometre.
- In June and July it doesn’t get really dark at nights as the North Pole is close
- Forest parties have become a tradition in Finland and happen during the summer outside the capital and the line-ups are both domestic and international. These parties are mostly free of charge.
- Check the trance webpage Elixiria for free mp3 comps.
Links
Contacts
- Apart from contacting our authors you can use the Elixiria.com forum to find help.
- Reetta Nykänen (Psyster) - nykree@lpt.fi
Text
 Markku “Cosmo” Salmi
markku.salmi@welho.com
Freelance journalist and youth researcher
“Mono no aware - Sensitivity to things"
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photos by Markku & Reetta |
