01	Seelinnikoi						03:41
	02	Lemmennosto						02:54
	03	Kyla Vuotti Uutta Kuuta						05:08
	04	Sulhassii						02:55
	05	Matalii Ja Mustii						02:57
	06	Hoptsoi						03:21
	07	Suuret Ja Soriat						03:41
	08	Leppiainen						02:45
	09	Pihi Neito						02:42
	10	Mika Miulla Mielessa						03:39
	11	Kiirama						03:36
	12	Hyva Tyttona Hypata						03:44
	13	Fanfaari						02:17
	14	Paukkuvat Pasuunat						04:02

Seleniko by Varttina




Varttina's best-selling 1992 Recording features:

Matalii ja Mustii (Sad and Mournful)
aka The Binky Song featured on the PBS kids TV program, Arthur

Seelinnikoi
heard sampled on Tanita Tikaram's hit single "I Don't Wanna Lose At Love

Kyla Vuotti Uutta Kuuta (The Village Awaits the New Moon)
Varttina's most popular single
With four female singers fronting fiddle, guitar, acoustic bass, accordion, sax and bouzouki, this music will make your hair stand on end! Finnish songs of love, sex and eroticism. Seleniko, produced by Hijaz Mustapha (3 Mustaphas 3), immediately entered the European World Music radio charts at the Number One position and remained there for three straight months. It is the recording that first introduced Varttina to American audiences.

For original Finnish lyrics and translations, visit the band's official website: http://www.varttina.com/recordings/seleniko/lyrics/.



"...what's front and center here is a female vocal quartet whose spine-tingling harmonies simultaneously bring to mind Les Voix Des Bulgares and ABBA...at slow tempos or bright, Varttina makes a truly glorious sound..." -- Musician September 1993, p.79


"...this large ensemble creates a distinctive 'wall of sound' without much studio trickery....Varttina's energy and absolute tunefulness make the music quite accessible to American ears..." -- Jazziz October 1995, p.42


1 Seelinnikoi 3:40
2 Lemmenosto (Awakening of Love) 2:53
3 Kyla Vuotti Uutta Kuuta (The Village Awaits the New Moon) 5:08
4 Sulhassii (Bride Grooms) 2:55
5 Matalii Ja Mustii (Sad and Mournful) 2:57
6 Hoptsoi 3:21
7 Suuret Ja Soriat (Tall and Handsome) 3:42
8 Leppiainen (Gentle as Alder) 2:45
9 Pihi Neito (Stingy Girl) 2:41
10 Mika Miulla Mielessa (What's On My Mind?) 3:38
11 Kiirama 3:36
12 Hyva Tyttona Hypata (Good To Stay a Single Girl) 3:45
13 Fanfaari (Fanfare) 2:16
14 Paukkuvat Pasuunat (Thundering Trumpets) 4:02




Green Linnet Records/xenophile: GLCD 4006

Varttina,
Seleniko
(Sonet, 1992; Green
Linnet/Xenophile, 1993)

A few successes with Norwegian and Latvian musicians, plus a favorable review in Utne Reader, convinced me to pick up the album Seleniko by the Finnish band Varttina. (Don't tell me that doesn't make sense as a reason, 'cause it did to me at the time. Suffice it to say, I ordered the album. OK?)

Varttina boasts five excellent musicians in the band and three guest instrumentalists adding extra sound to album's 14 tracks, but it's the four female vocalists who make it special.

The band is fronted by singers Mari Kaasinen, Sari Kassinen, Kirsi Kahkonen and Sirpa Reiman, and they sing in lusty group harmonies that are a treat to hear. No complex vocal lines carefully woven together here; the four ladies sing most of the songs in enthusiastic unison, with the kind of gung-ho projection usually attributed to professional cheerleaders.

Sometimes one singer or another will step forward to take the spotlight, and each seems to have a strong solo presence. But it's the foursome as a foursome that draws me back.

As strong as the instrumentalists are, it's the voices which sell the band. If you have any doubts, check out the a cappella tunes "Sulhassii" and "Fanfaari." But it's not fair to sell the musicians short, either, as the instrumental tunes "Hoptsoi" and "Kiirama" nicely demonstrates. Besides the four singers, Varttina has five instrumental members: Reijo Heiskanen on guitar, bouziki and percussion, Janne Lappalainen on bouziki, soprano and tenor sax, kaval and tin whistle, Tom Nyman on string bass, keyboards and domra, Riitta Potinoja on accordion and keyboards, and Kari Reiman on fiddle, kantele and tenor banjo. Joining them for this album are percussionists Janne Haavisto and Tom Nekljudow, and trumpet player Anu Laakkonen.

Combined, the singers and musicians have put together a lively package of foot-tapping sing-alongs and dance tunes from their Finnish traditions. It's a unique style, unlike most of the traditional folk sounds making the worldbeat rounds these days, but it's certainly evocative and well worth the effort of finding a copy.

I have very little idea what these Finlanders are singing about, since the lyrics are all sung (and printed in the liner notes) in the incomprehensible (to me) Finnish tongue. The titles don't give me any clues, either, since I can't garner any meaning from words like "Paukkuvat Pasuunat," "Lemmennosto," "Kyla Vuotti Uutta Kuuta or "Hyva Tyttona Hypata."

Fortunately, there is a small English section in the insert providing a brief summary and history of the tunes. Several of the tunes are ritual or runo songs resurrected from ancient northern European traditions, like "Seelinnikoi" which warns foolish young maids against marrying without their mothers' approval. In fact, a common theme of the songs is the pros and cons of seeking or avoiding marriage.

Others are plain common sense, like "Leppiainen," which urges listeners: "Don't worry, don't carry stones in your knapsack. Now it is time to rejoice and have fun. When you get old you won't be able to do it anymore."

Words to live by. And a good way to have fun is with a copy of Seleniko in the stereo.

[ by Tom Knapp ]