Utterly outrageous beliefs, ancient... and modern
Our May 2019 selection for Music of the Month Lee Blackstone writes, "Pauanne is a Finnish trio haunted by, as they put it, the “utterly outrageous” beliefs of the past. The delightful cover photograph of the group finds Kukka Lehto (violin), Tero Pennanen (keyboards, prepared piano, organs, and programming) and Janne Haavisto (drums and percussion) ankle-deep in snow, wearing garb that looks as it were out of some primitivistic future; modern Finnish musicians, turned by frozen water into something rich and strange. But, Pauanne are not drawing a line between what has gone before, and the lived-in present. The trio slyly point out that the “outrageous” beliefs of our forebears are still with us. You are as likely to have next-door neighbors with retrograde attitudes towards women and foreigners as you were in the past, when they might have cried out against witches and threatening invaders."
Listen to some exceprts from the album: Maakillinen Voima Rauta Susiraja Juliaana Akkojen Hommia
The band writes: "Beliefs both old and new have inspired music. Old folk beliefs have many practices that seem utterly outrageous. One might expect the advance of science and information to have weakened such beliefs. However, today's newspaper articles with their horoscopes and alternative therapies are not so very distant from the mythologies of the past. In the past, there was thought to be only a limited quota of happiness available to the village community, and the happiness of others detracted from one's own. Even today, luck seems to be limited within the state, and some of us are reluctant to give it to strangers. In old beliefs, the wizard's iron fence protected from evil, just as walls are thought to protect today." These recordings were donated by the artists and Nordic Notes, so your subscription or one time purchase all goes to support the magazine and radio programs. We thank the artist and label for their generous support.
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