Venus Loon - Vesa-Matti Loiri

VENUS LOON

Parallel Lines / Losing You (1985)

Divari Kankaasta viime syyskuussa tilaamani sinkku on ihan kelvollista miedohkoa glamrokkia. Single itsessään ei mitään kerro, mutta ruotsalaisen TLP Recordsin sivu informoi aika hyvin:

"Venus Loon was formed in Turku, Finland in the beginning of 1982 by guitarist and singer Jari ‘Mizz’ Lundqvist. The band took their name from the opening track of Marc T-Rex Bolans 1974 album ‘Zinc Alloy And The Hidden Riders Of Tomorrow’. Mizz wasn’t new to the business as he had been playing with Iron Cross during the demo years and also played on the first single ‘Lets Get Down To Business’. However Mizz left Iron Cross because he said at the time that he was tired of playing heavy metal (Mizz however appears on the innersleeve for the Iron Cross album ‘Bloodhounds’ even if he doesn’t play on it). Drums on this Venus Loon single was played by Hanoi Rocks member Nasty Suicide's brother Frej Stenfors, who in the mid 90s would team up with Nasty Suicide to play and tour for his solo album ‘Vinegar Blood’. Venus Loon weren’t as heavy as the early Iron Cross material and the band released only one single before Mizz probably thought that this wasn’t funnier than Iron Cross and called it a day. Mizz wouldn’t leave the business and he later produced The 69 Eyes first singles.".

Eipä tämä pikkulevy tosiaan siltä kuulostakaan, että kaverit tässä olisivat ihan elämäntehtäväänsä suorittamassa. Lievästä innottomuudesta huolimatta kelpaa.

VESA-MATTI LOIRI

4 + 20 (1971)

Vesku Loiri & Matti "Rag" Paananen: Meriroskokapteeni Ynjevi Lavankopoksahdus (1974)

FinnArctic-esittely:

Matti "Rag" Paananen was born in 1939 in Hirvensalo, a small island in the coastal city of Turku. He's a talented and diverse composer with seven symphonies, poem compositions, film and TV music and several smaller pieces in his oeuvre. His film work has been very scarce, which is a shame, since his music is considered to be rather visual. Paananen got into the Guinness Book of World Records with the longest single piece of music ever, "366 Days", which would last for 40 days if performed.

Paananen is also a poet and a painter, he's done anti-drug work (drugs killed his daughter in 1987) and travelled around in Lapland, Africa, the Amazons and the Caribbean among other places.

Vesa-Matti "Vesku" Loiri is a multi-talent: actor, comedian, singer, flutist and sportsman. He was born in 1945, he debuted as actor in the movie "Pojat" (The Boys) in 1962, a debut which is still well remembered and much praised. Since then he's acted in over 60 films, many of them for producer Pertti "Spede" Pasanen, who created the comic film character Uuno Turhapuro (Numbskull Emptybrook). Loiri performed this slouchy character in 20 extremely popular films. As singer he's released more than 30 albums.

These two men joined forces in 1974, and created an album which could be labelled psychedelic children's music. "Pirate Captain Ynjevi Lavankopoksahdus" tells a ten-part story of a boy who runs away from home, steals a boat, and, calling himself a pirate captain, heads out to the sea seeking for adventures. He gets more than he bargained for when he angers a witch who curses him with seven terrible ordeals. Little Ynjevi manages to make his way back home, perhaps a little wiser than before. (Paananen was a sea-farer himself before even turning 20, so Ynjevi might be his alter ego.)

Paananen wrote the music and played keyboards, Loiri sang and displayed yet another talent by drawing the back cover and the wacky board game included with the record. I've scanned the board game in a large format and split it into four pieces which can be printed out at full size. Re-assemble the pieces and you can play the board game yourselves.

Overall, "Ynjevi Lavankopoksahdus" is certainly a memorable listening experience even for adults. There are lots of electronic sound effects used to illustrate various events in this story. The only letdown might be the heavy doses of infantile humor the kids (unfortunately) love so much. I can imagine many Finns listened to this album when they were kids, and still remember it well without being able to find it anywhere. It hasn't been released on CD, so it's time to rediscover it - and those who haven't heard this whacked-out fairy tale, do so immediately! There's much you've missed!



FinnArcticissa joku ehdotti tai toivoi jaettavaksi Ynjevi Lavankopoksahdusta, ja se löytyikin Kauniaisten kirjastosta. Silloin vain minulla oli vielä se rupuinen vanha levysoitin, joten osa Paanasen musiikin vivahteista oli mennyttä minun jakelemissani mp3:sissa.

Paanasen ja Loirin yhteistyö on yhtä rohkea ja ennakkoluuloton lastenlevy kuin Oskari Olematon ja Esa Helasvuon Onnimanni. Ainoa paha vika on infantiili pissakakkatissihuumori, joka vain vaivaannuttaa.

Loirin kansitaiteesta ja lautapelistä paksu plussa.