Author: jabsonik

Next Friday Viikon promopaketti (“The Promo Package of the Week”) show on Pispalan Radio dedicates the whole programme to Kivireki. You’ll hear the band incoherently babbling about the birth of blackgrass sound, and of course telling juicy stories from their gigs around Finland.

The show opens the four-part Komitea-themed series, introducing artists who’ve released music via our little association. Later in March and April also Rane & Co and Princes of Nigeria will host their own shows. All the rest of the Komitea artists will be introduced in the fourth part of the series – Veljekset Perse, Trio Anuri, Kupittaa, Le Modem, Kumikäki, Yhden miehen tungos and Multimediakonsultit.

We’ll announce the upcoming shows’ airing dates as soon as we know them. Meanwhile, tune yourself to the Pispalan Radio frequency next Friday – 5th of March 18 o’clock, that is.

The internet stream can be found here.

UPDATE: Air dates are:

• 5th of March: Kivireki
• 19th of March: Rane & Co.
• 2nd of April: Princes of Nigeria
• 16th of April: Veljekset Perse, Trio Anuri, Kupittaa, Le Modem, Kumikäki, Yhden miehen tungos and Multimediakonsultit

In the joint production Taide on paskaa (“Art Is Shit”) by Kivireki and painter Anna Nummi, art gets what was coming to it. We also released the song as a single.

If you find yourself in Raunistula, Turku before 3rd of January, pop in to the exhibition at Masan Baari. The video is just one part of the whole show.

We produced a manic video for the pandemic dance tune (Do the) Outbreakdance by Yhden miehen tungos (“One Man Mob”). In it, flying red eyes haunt Aino Lehtovaara. Among other things.

On their fourth ep Kivireki (”Stone Sleigh”) jumps headfirst into dark waters with songs about evil overlords, seitanic rituals, graveyard stone topplers and meeting a demon the first time. Which is only appropriate. After all, the band does utilize doom riffs and heavy metal gallops in their music. Regardless of the fact that Kivireki is mostly an acoustic band.

On the title track Sheikh Speare visits as the lead vocalist. The Arabic lyrics tell about secretly eating during ramadan.

Halal Seitan is available on all digital music platforms. The release gig is on Sat 29th of August at Masan Baari, Turku.

Jussi Kirjavainen’s one man band Kumikäki plays laidback instrumental funk with synth pop influences on their debut album Le Bob.

Kumikäki sounds almost like the Universal Togetherness Band was involved in the nineties Commodore Amiga demo scene. Big influences are Herbie Hancock, Beck, Phelps “Catfish” Collins, Cake, and Grover Washington Jr, to name a few.

Le Bob is available on all well-equipped digital music services.

Le Modem makes the debut as a Komitea artist with their twelfth album Haybreak. It serves gently surrealistic instrumental music for all elevators and department stores around the world.

The one man virtual band is known as a devoted muzak ambassador but during their long career Le Modem has also produced more experimental material. Their musique concrète release was played by the renowned Jukka Mikkola on his radio show for experimental electronic music, Avaruusromua (“Space Junk”). Meanwhile, the traditional pop-oriented Le Modem sound has found its way to theater productions in Turku area. Band’s music was even used in webortages by the biggest daily newspaper in Finland, Helsingin Sanomat.

Haybreak is available on all the digital music platforms.

The pandemic danse macabre funk by Yhden miehen tungos (“One Man Mob”) grabs you swirling with the plague doctor while wondering about the absurdity of our times.

The rapper on the song, Aino Lehtovaara got herself infected by the coronavirus in the spring. Fortunately she survived without a hospital visit, though she still doesn’t recommed the exhausting multi-disease experience to anyone.

The recordings were made in the trendy pandemic fashion at everyone’s home, with the gear that was available. On the ep you’ll hear musicians and remixers from the Komitea roster: from Princes of Nigeria, Kivireki, Rane & Co – and Kumikäki, who’ll release their first album in August.

Corona pandemia forced us to hold Cosmic Comic Cafe’s traditional Towel Day celebration as an online event this year.

We were delighted to get a quite large audience for the broadcast. Viewers poured in galactically horrible poetry in landfill amounts. The largest newspaper of the area, Turun Sanomat, made an article of the event. Which was nice.

You can watch the whole broadcast above. In addition to hideous poetry, it also includes little Zarquon hunting inserts – and of course ads for Cosmic.

Kivireki was forced to re-schedule their publishing plans for the spring. Instead of one six-track ep, the band releases two three-song ep’s.

Today it’s Tervanjuoja‘s (“Tar Drinker”) turn. On it Kivireki celebrates everyday misery and nods to the late Turku-based electronic music guru Mika Vainio, beyond the grave. On the atmospheric acoustic blues piece you’ll also hear Jussi Österman‘s Pan Sonic -esque electronic buzzes and whirrs. In Turku musicians are not afraid of sailing beyond genre borders.

Enjoy, it’s time to suffer!