#jann wilde

[illogicalrabbit]

Jani Matti Juhani & Mustat Käärmeet - Maailma ilman diktaattoreita

[illogicalrabbit]

Jani Matti Juhani & Mustat Käärmeet - Rouva Huttunen avaruudessa

theregoesmyfearow houssan

[fantasmusica]

Black Snakes from Finland, singing about a world without dictators.

My Saturnettes band mate Jani has a new project: Jani Matti Juhani & Mustat Käärmeet, which is Finnish for Jani Matti Juhani (erm, yes, I suspect you guessed this much) and the Black Snakes. Their first EP is called “Maailma ilman diktaattoreita”, which, to my best of knowledge, translates as “A World Without Dictators”. The synths are gone and have been replaced by a wealth of rock sounds, ranging from Sabbath to early Beatles, and the lyrics are in Finnish this time. Admittedly, I have only a vague idea what they are about, since I don’t speak nearly enough Finnish to detect black humour properly, but that hasn’t stopped me from listening to the four tracks all day today, simply because they sound bloody brilliant. Especially “Tanssimaan” which is “With The Beatles” all over. And the title track with its dark riff and the music hall middle eight.

Fantastic stuff, just as always. The main Finnish music mag Soundi seems to think the same, featuring the new EP on their website with an interview.

Check out their music and watch their first video clip, urban guerilla style.

[greaseonmymouth]

for some reason the Latvia song reminds me of Jann Wilde.

[fantasmusica]

Jann Wilde 2004-2014

Jann Wilde and I, we have a history. He was there when I needed music to save my mortal soul. Without knowing it of course. He just set up a Myspace profile and put some of his songs up. Which I happened to find on Monday, 21st February 2010, as I documented with a deceivingly short line in my journal: "Discovered the rather fantastic Jann Wilde - voice between Bowie and Jarvis Cocker."

At the time, I had turned my back to music writing; I was trying to act my age and earn my money as a respectable translator of books. Okay, I had a history of being obsessed with records and/or artists but the last time I had listened non-stop to one album for days or weeks or months had been in the mid-nineties, when I had, rather late, discovered the first Stones Roses album and fallen madly in love with it. The early 2000's saw me rather disenchanted with the new sounds that came up, and with the business surrounding it, too.

But then, 15 years later and completely out of the blue, it happened again. I hit Jann Wilde's Myspace site, found a handful of songs of his recent album Neon City Rockers and was hooked the very moment Wilde sang the first line of "Deimos And Phobos". I listened once, I listened again. Then I downloaded the full album. Neon City Rockers brought back the passion I had always felt for music - it was like having my personal record collection revisited, reminding me of how powerful it could be to listen to a song, to dive right into it and get totally carried away by its power. Somehow, this young guy from Finland seemed to know about all my favourite artists, about my love for Sixties pop, Glamrock and Britpop, he distilled their very essence and made new songs from that. Bowie. Bolan. Pulp. Suede. Even Queen. It was a strange experience which made me feel ridiculously close to this rock star character who looked like he came straight out of a novel I would have liked to have written myself, with his wild Robert Smith hair and his Velvet Goldmine outfits.

"Neon City Rockers" stayed in my player for weeks and months, at least until "Don't Play With The Flame On Your Hand" came out, and I was baffled to find my love for The Beatles mirrored in this new batch of music. And "Tokio Okei", Wilde's debut, was brimming with traces of one of my other favourite bands, The Cure.

But the strong connection to my own record collection was only part of the fascination of Jann Wilde's music. Above all, he wrote brilliant songs, he came up with intricate, beautiful melodies and blended sweet simple pop lyrics with unusual, touching metaphors and weird twists. Everything was soaked in melody, even the bass lines, most beautifully in "She's Got All The Love", a song that, by rights, should have been on Revolver.

Two more albums followed, this time under the moniker The Saturnettes, with even more briliant material. When the last one, The Saturnettes II, came out in November 2013, I had not only started to write about music again but I had also become a lyricist, contributing words to Wilde's music. It had been a crazy four years.

And now, Jann Wilde leaves the stage and closes the door behind him. He restored my belief in music when I thought songs wouldn't touch me anymore. He says goodbye with "Rock'n'Roll Dreams", a collection of his best tunes with lots of my favourites among them. You can listen and download it here.

Fare well, Mr. Wilde, and let rock history turn you into a proper legend!

[fantasmusica]

It might just be because of the lamp.

Three days ago, The Saturnettes released the first single from their upcoming second album, a merry little tune called "Bob From The Cure". It is actually not about a certain Mr. Smith, but rather about a guy who is told he looks like him. Which he does indeed, as he proves in the accompanying video - with the help of some kohl, lipstick and hairspray.

But there is more than a bit of make-up to the clip - for instance, it features a cameo of a certain luminary that was last seen in 1979. Check for yourself.

This was then ...

... when it was depicting one of three imaginary boys.

After retreating from showbiz for 34 years, Saturnettes' singer and songwriter Jann Wilde managed to coax it out of hiding. The hairstyle has changed a little, but in essence, it's still the same.

Maybe it's down to this old acquaintance that Bob has managed to collect more than 1300 clicks on Youtube in less than three days, which is more than well-deserved. You can listen and download "Bob From The Cure" at Bandcamp, too.

Considering the Saturnettes are still my favourite band, I should be floating in space with them again. The reason I'm not busy yet with filing questions and sending them off to Finland is simply that, since our last interview took place in November 2011, I have been contributing lyrics to Jann Wilde's thrilling new songs for The Saturnettes II, and it would be a bit shady to play the objective journalist this time, as much as I would still like to pretend I am and write 5/5 reviews about the record by the truckload.

Sod objectivity. "Bob From The Cure" is a fantastic song, and let me tell you, there are even better tracks to come, once the album is out. Be prepared for perfect postpunk synth hymns and pop melodies with lots of stunning stories about flesh and chrome.

The Saturnettes are on their way. "It's gonna happen some day." Indeed.

[fantasmusica]

"You said I look like Bob from The Cure", claims Jann Wilde, singer of Finnish indie darlings The Saturnettes, and indeed, he does. Not on the caption above. But check it out, wait and see.

[cinderena]

Jann Wilde - Something In This World (by jannwilde)