#rautalanka

[thecreativemillennial]

The iconic ville valo

[thecreativemillennial]

Ville valo and Sean Brennan in a 2004 issue of the orkus magazine

[theparanoid]

Laika & The Cosmonauts - Hi & Lo

From The Live Album: Laika Sex Machine (2000)

[Surf Rock, Rautalanka]

[twangyk]

The Sounds - Mandschurian Beat (1963)

In January 1963, the first single "Emma" and its reverse side "Mandschurian Beat" were recorded by The Sounds. "Manchurian Beat" (Mandschurian Beat) is an adaptation of an old Russian folk waltz from Manchuria (now North China). "Emma" was the first real Finnish rautalanka hit and became the image of Finnish rautalanka music. The record was also released in Japan (Philips 1964) and France (Decca -- EP 1963). 

 Line-up: lead-guitarist Henrik Granö (Fender Stratocaster, Fender Twin Amp, Binson echo), rhythm-guitarist Bobi Söderblom (Fender Stratocaster, Fender Twin Amp), bass-guitarist Peter Ekman (Fender Precision Bass, Fender Bassmaster amp) and Johnny Liebkind on drums.

[twangyk]

Rautalanka

Rautalanka is a predominantly Finnish style of guitar music mainly influenced by Rock & Roll, Surf Rock and traditional European/Nordic Schlager music. The term rautalanka (literally "Iron Wire") refers to the strings on the electric guitar. The typical setup for a rautalanka band is a quartet of two electric guitars, an electric bass and drums while additional instruments are also used from time to time. Some of the key elements include extensive use of analog tape echo guitar effects and prominent melodies played in minor keys to achieve a melancholic atmosphere. It is often instrumental but vocals are also used occasionally.

The style arose in the early 1960s and was largely inspired by The Ventures and The Shadows who had several big chart hits in Finland at the time. Although rautalanka was not an internationally used term and both of these bands were often simply referred to as instrumental rock they can still be considered to be the starting point for the genre. Rautalanka was relatively short-lived in the mainstream despite being very popular during the first couple of years.

Some popular rautalanka bands include The Sounds, The Strangers and Agents. -- Source: Rate Your Music.

[kermakatti]

[antmanboogaloo]

The Quiets-Forbidden Love

[nofatclips]

Viikate

Viikate is a Finnish band mixing rock and/or metal with folk, or rautalanka, to designate the Finnish variety, as I just learned from Wikipedia. The results are stylistically comparable to Gogol Bordello.

I listened to their latest release, entitled XII – Kouvostomolli. Favourite track: Allikko. All in all it’s not that bad.