Räyh! 2

So the other day I wrote up on the awesomeness that is Hevisaurus!

Since then I've actually bought their album 'Soittakaa Juranoid!' and I've been listening to it on my commute to work, since what could be better than listening to dinosaurs singing about space dogs, aliens, magical powers and leading a 'green revolution'.

So the album is released alongside their movie, it's ten new tracks with six bonus 'greatest hits' which feature within the movie, I've not seen the movie, nor will I get much out of it since it's entirely in Finnish and I seriously doubt there'll be English subtitles on the bluray release!
At least with the medium of music you don't have to enjoy the lyrics to enjoy the music.

I've included at the bottom a Youtube playlist featuring the album which is available officially to be listened to there.

Here's a couple of tracks which I like from the album.

Juranoid
Meant as the leading single off the album it has a music video set to clips from the film as well as being featured heavily in the movies advertising, it's got a really catchy chorus and it's what ultimately drove me to rediscover this band.
It's got a driven 'epic' feel to it, the lyrics apparently involve a 'alien' but since full lyrics ain't available it's hard to get a proper translation, though having a Finnish boyfriend certainly helps!

Harri Hylje
With most of these tracks, it's got something which just sticks in my head, I really dig it's refrain before the chorus, haven't run this one by my boyfriend yet but what I can gather this song is about a seal, doesn't matter, it's got a great guitar solo within.

Laika-Koira
Possibly my favorite, this one is about Laika the space dog, the first living thing in space, some actual history here, though I'm pretty sure she wasn't wagging her tail and looking out her window thinking 'is the moon made of cheese'.
Eitherway, this has a late 80's feel with it's synth tracks and ballad-esque chorus and it's been on repeat a few times!

Taikavoimat
Meaning 'Magic Powers' in Finnish yet another 80's power metal feeling track, with a unusual bridge nearer the end in which you can hear 'Herra Hevisaurus' (the lead singer) going "boingy boingy", don't know why but that cracks me up, got another good catchy chorus to it.

Jurahevarit
"Whether young, old or middle aged everyone is equal in the 'Saurus Army", this is meant as the Hevisaurus' anthem and it's a darn good one at that, it's got a very fast pace to it and it's a fun little song about becoming part of the 'Green Revolution' and the 'Saurus Army, "Green is the new black" indeed!

Räyh!
Meaning 'Roar' this song is about the Hevisaurus themselves, with a epic anthemic chorus introducing us to the band.

Riffi Raffi velhojen vuorilla!

Kraaterin reunalla hurjana soittaa

Milli Pilli ukkosen lailla!

Myrskyn silmässä urkuja hakkaa

Komppi Momppi ja Muffi Puffi

Tuhannen richterin voimalla komppaa!

Saurusarmeija marssiin käy

Kun Hevisaurus huutaa: Räyh!

Riffi Raffi on the mountain of warlocks!
plays fiercely on the edge of the crater.
Mill Pill alike thunder!
pounds the organ in the eye of the storm.
Komppi Momppi and Muffi Puffi
accompany like a quake of a thousand richters.
The dinosaur army starts its march
when the Heavysaurus shout: Roar!

It's just got so much going for it, this sounds like a concert opener to me, introducing us to this epic ensemble of a band and they're going to take us on a ride, yet another one I've had on repeat, if only for the chorus!


So what's the point in this blog yammering on yet again about a children's band from Finland, personally even though this post is akin to adding a post-it note onto the backside of a fridge, I'd just love for this band of really talented musicians to get some more attention, they're highly creative, the music is fantastically good, childish names, lyrics and looks aside, Hevisaurus is possibly the most enjoyable music I've heard in a long time.

If reading this has inspired even one person to listen to their music, then I'd be a happy man.

Plus I'm honestly surprised the Furry fandom hasn't picked up on these guys, they play full music concerts entirely in costume, they're anthropomorphic dinosaurs playing heavy metal music and they're more than just a novelty, they're now a established multi-million selling band with their own movie.

Then again, it's probably 'cause they're dinosaurs and not foxes or something, ah well, much more for us 'Scaly' fans to enjoy!

Räyh!

So reasons why Finland is awesome?

It's a beautiful country in which most of the population lives in the south, the rest is mile upon mile of forests and untouched landscape.

Internet is deemed a basic right, much like water and electricity, first country in the world to do so.

They have a dinosaur heavy metal band.

No, I'm not kidding!

Enter Hevisaurus!

Yes, Finland loves its heavy metal it's very much a part of the popular culture, another reason why Finland rocks, literally!

So Hevisaurus is a heavy metal band aimed at children and 'the like minded', they perform in the costumes in concerts over Finland, they've had 7 successful albums since 2009.

Now slightly dodgy costumes aside, I knew of them when they first launched, I listened to their first album and thought it pretty decent, if a novelty.

Recently my partner showed me a poster in a bus-stop in Helsinki, they're doing a Hevisaurus movie, I was absolutely stunned, so I looked them back up, turns out that they're massively popular and successful in Finland and launched a movie along with a new album 'Soittakaa Juranoid!'

So I listened to the single 'Juranoid' and then it stuck, buried in my head, the earworm digging away, holy crap, this is pretty damn good!, so I looked up yet more from the album, more catchy songs, yeah I couldn't understand the lyrics but, wow, this stuff is better than 99% of the crap that's heard on the radio over in this country!

Seriously, put aside the childish looks and give them a listen, yes, when you look into the lyrics they are very child friendly, 'Laika-Koira' is about Laika the Dog, the first living thing in space, 'wagging his tail and looking out the window, seeing the moon and wondering if it's made of cheese', but as someone who doesn't know Finnish, I have a very very basic grasp of it but even so, the lyrics don't matter, it's the music, it's the rhythm, the lyrics themselves forming your own pictures and ideas in your head, you might not understand them as intended but you understand them in your own way.

Some people might twist their nose, "why are you listening to kids music you cannot understand", have you even thought of looking into another culture?, yeah Finland is European but it doesn't mean we're all the same, this might look so unusual to most of us but it's just another day for Finland, most kids get Barney The Dinosaur, Finnish kids get dinosaurs playing heavy metal.

If that doesn't make the world a slightly brighter place for having it exist, then I wouldn't want to be part of that world.

Joskus kaikki tarvitsemme ondinosaurus pelaa raskasmetalli...kiitos

The Story

"And I can't help feeling, it will always be, the story of the life inside of me."

'The Story' - Runrig

To those who know me, I've always mentioned a band called Runrig when talking about my favorite music, they have been a part of my life since I was very young, I've been told my parents discovered them after going to a Chris De Burgh concert and they were the supporting act, a lifetime of music was brought to our ears.

Cue early memories of listening to 'Heartland', 'The Cutter And The Clan' and 'Searchlight' we knew these records off by heart, singing them in the car, even the Gaelic songs, even though we didn't know the words, we sang what we heard, through the 'Big Wheel' and the concert VHS 'Wheel In Motion', to which my parents went to the concert which was recorded.

Through 'Amazing Things' and 'Mara', being surprised that the lead singer Donnie Munro left the band, hearing about this Canadian guy called Bruce Guthro taking the lead spot, 'In Search Of Angels', 'The Stamping Ground', 'Proterra' and 'Everything You See' each and every one I know, each and everyone takes me back to other times in my life, what was I doing, what was happening in my life.

The music has been so en-grained on my life it'll never be forgotten, from 'Big Sky' to 'This Darkest Winter', 'Every River' to 'Abhainn An T-Sluaigh' (The Crowded River), years and years of growing up and listening to their songs, their stories, which in turn make us remember our own stories, our own lives.

Being picked on because we liked this 'Scottish band' in school, whom no one ever seemed to know about, or 'their parents listened to them', not knowing that this 'Scottish band' has more meaning in our lives then some jumped up boy band or rapper ever would.

'Always The Winner', I remember when the headmaster played that to assembly in primary school, me and my sister were the only people who knew who they were, we were not sheep, we cut our own path in this life, unique.

Today Runrig announced that their next album 'The Story' will be their last album, it feels like I'm going to lose a member of my family, but in time, all things must change, and so whilst I await their new album in the new year, listening to their new single and the songs of the past.

I'll remember of stories from the past and hope for the stories of the future.

From a fan

Thank you Runrig

So, it happened...

I got approved for Voluntary Redundancy today, my life here in Germany is officially coming to a end.

It's yet to fully dawn on me but it's going to be hard to finally leave what has been, for better or worse, my home and life for the past six years.

It's been a interesting, fun, stressful and demanding few years, I've been through so much, most of which I could never have the time to write down, I've seen people come and go, I've had fantastic days and I've had horrendous days, I've made friends whom I'll always remember, friends whom will stay with me as I move on.

Will I be happy to leave, but of course, I've had the urge to leave now since late last year but I'll be sad for the good things I'll be leaving behind, the friends whom I may never see again, the places here in Paderborn which I've gotten to know like the back of my hand, the experiences I've had, I've done so much during my time here, I've been to America twice, I've been to Finland so many times now I've lost count, I've gone around parts of Germany which I thought I'd never see.

I will miss being here.

So, what's going to happen to me then, well I've got a couple legal bits and pieces which I need to get done, but my last working day will be the 15th September and leaving on the 16th September.

I'm planning to move back to the UK and do a houseshare with two good friends of mine, we all know each other and we all get along, it'll be somewhere in London, where exactly is yet to be determined but that'll come in time and I'll be looking for jobs within that area.

I've got three months basically to get everything together to go, thankfully my employer is going to help get my stuff moved and fly me home, so that's something at least.

Right now I'm going to ride out the last of this month, enjoy my next trip to America and Finland at the start of next month, when I come back, that's when the real work begins.

Here's to the next chapter.

Not music this time, but here's a clip from the Crystal Maze, how stupid is this contestant!