Värttinä - Live in Helsinki
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Music CD Cover Artist: Värttinä Edition: Music CD Format: Enhanced, Live CD Release Date: 2002-03-12 Music Label: Northside Records Soundtracks:
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Free Music Notes for Live in Helsinki Album
Free Music Review: A Decent First Live Album
Hit: 3 Stars
I agree with others that this is not the greatest of live albums. Part of the problem is the four songs from Ilmatar, their most recent album at that time (2000). It may be their most powerful album to date, but its dark, atmospheric qualities do not transfer well to the stage, except for the volcanic "Aijo". It is also dependent on subtle and well tuned vocals, which do not seem to have been a high priority. Not helping either is a mix which places the instrumentals too far in the background, and makes the vocals shrill on too many occasions.
On the other hand, the material from earlier albums is, generally, quite good. It is fascinating to hear earlier material re-worked-- The radical re-arranging of "Viikon Vaivane" and "Ukko Lumi", from Oi Dai, is almost worth the price of the CD. There are some mis-steps (the new acappella intro to "Pihi Neito" comes to mind) but generally the old material is improved.
If one wants to hear (and see) a live Varttina concert that is absolutely wonderful from beginning to end, check out the DVD entitled "Varttina Archive Live" (available on the Varttina website). Included is a 49 minute concert from 2003 which is a joy to hear-- Vocals from Susan Aho, Mari Kaasinen and Johanna Virtanen are impeccable and gorgeous, and the band sounds better than ever. Every single song is wonderful, but especially the five songs from Iki, perhaps their most gorgeous album to date.
Also included is an extensive "Video Archive" which traces the band from a "county fair" appearance in 1985 (two years before their first album) until 2005. It's a fascinating historical record, and there are many superb performances as well. Amazon should really offer this DVD-- It certainly supplants the live album from 2000, in spite of its good qualities.
Scott Tisdel
P.S. Be warned-- The Varttina DVD uses the European "PAL" coding, which makes it unplayable on most DVD players in the USA. However, it does work on my laptop (Mac IBook), and it is fairly easy to plug a laptop into a TV, if you so choose.