Stories by

"On Slavic Souls, Dalindèo continue to experiment with the musical influences – jazz, 50s r&b and 60s surf in particular – which defined their award-winning album, Kallio. "

"On Amorandom, Rissanen’s canny music is rooted in the piano trio tradition but is nevertheless forward-looking. "

"This is a disc of delightfully pompous acoustic stadium folk that without any doubt will have people dancing. Described as all-natural ethno-disco, the repertoire consists of repetitive kantele and jouhikko tunes and fiddle melodies from both Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking regions of Finland."

"Kalima is famed for his industrially rocking power trios and murky music with notes in between scales, sometimes inspired by films. Once again movies are a starting point, but now they play familiar themes from flicks like The High and the Mighty or The Alamo. "

"While the application of electronic effects to acoustic instruments can seem superfluous at best, Lyytinen’s compositions never lose sight of the saxophone itself. "

What does democratic education look like from the perspective of music? In October 2015, the ArtsEqual research initiative was launched to survey equality in various branches of the arts. At its centre is Resonaari, a music institute leading by example to show what potential musicianship may be found in the margins of society.

"Mirja Mäkelä Trio’s My Hidden Joys is a beautifully crafted album which showcases both Mäkelä’s songwriting skills and her vocal prowess. "

"As expected, the Finnish-American jazz guitar hero does not brake a whole lot on eCsTaSy’s Out of the Blue. Raoul Björkenheim and his cohorts, Pauli Lyytinen (saxophones), Jori Huhtala (double bass) and Markku Ounaskari (drums), make sharp turns but never miss a corner."

Baroque violinist Kreeta-Maria Kentala combines on her recording her two strong areas of expertise, baroque and folk music, in a most innovative and fruitful way.