A Finnish version of Gregorian, I think... that is to say, a group that sings church choir covers of pop classics.
Also title of their first album.
Gregorian has done amazing work with their two albums, so how does Canto Finlandia compare to these masters of chant? I have to say that I have somewhat mixed feelings of the CD - first, has that "derivative work" stigma - not to say that Gregorian made original works at first - and the first tune on the CD (Ankkurinappi, by J. Karjalainen) was not at all good! So, I can just say that the beginning wasn't good.
Then again, I hated the original version of Ankkurinappi too - sometimes, even others can't make the tune any better! =)
But after the first tracks, some of the tunes really rock... Juice Leskinen's Syksyn Sävel is a song that probably has been adapted to choir before, and these folks do it perfectly this time too... and Voi Kuinka Me Sinua Kaivataan (by Eppu Normaali) is a great version.
Some of the versions are only "nice" but not amazingly cool - I think Lapsuuden Sankarille (by Miljoonasade) was not as good as the original, for example.
If you ignore the fact that it sounds a bit too much like Gregorian, it's a pretty nice album. I hope that the next album, if it's ever coming, will have more songs that work as choir adaptations...
(They use the same source of loops as Gregorian, Liquid Grooves by Spectrasonics - maybe that's also why they sound so similiar =)
Tracks on the album:
- (Prelude)
- Ankkurinappi (J. Karjalainen)
- (Interlude)
- Minä Olen Muistanut (Edu Kettunen)
- Syksyn Sävel (Juice Leskinen)
- (Interlude)
- Lapsuuden Sankarille (Miljoonasade)
- Lumi Teki Enkelin Eteiseen (Hector)
- (Interlude)
- Voi Kuinka Me Sinua Kaivataan (Eppu Normaali)
- Autiotalo (Dingo)
- (Interlude)
- Tyhjää
- (Interlude)
- Joutsenlaulu (Yö)
- (Interlude)
- Älä Jätä Minua
- Hän hymyilee kuin lapsi (Mikko Alatalo)
- (Interlude)
- Sinua sinua rakastan
- Elämän Nälkä (Pave Maijanen)
- Kurjuuden Kuningas
(Regrettably the end part has songs whose performers I don't recognise from by names of the composers... Will be added later.)