I feel a bit strange writing this opinion piece about an ambient album. I don’t think I’m an expert. I haven’t listened to the style for many years and I don’t know all the key performers, I’m not familiar with its’ nuances and sub-genres. I feel a bit like a politician. A bit like a former athlete or an actor, who is now sitting in a committee and developing methods of support for installing solar panels.

There was a time when for me Aphex Twin was synonymous with ambient music. That’s because a magazine had a tree of different music styles and its name was under ambient music. My friend Andres, who actually follows the genre, said that this was not entirely true, and in fact, Aphex had only ever made one ambient album, but you wouldn’t bother explaining that to a fool. I didn’t believe it. Now I am older and wiser, and when I’m working, I mostly listen to ambient music. It doesn’t distract me a lot when I’m concentrating, it covers talking noises in the room, a win-win situation. But as I mentioned, I know little about this genre.

During the past few weeks, I have repeatedly listened to the digital album Best Wishes by an Estonian project Wondering O. Also, this was almost the first time I had listened to local ambient music in the form of an album. So, I got even more excited that I’d be listening to it. As I don’t feel at home in this area, it’s difficult for me to bring out examples of who this music reminds me of, but I can talk about what it reminds me of and what thoughts the music brought out. As by now I have continuously excused myself, I will state that I childishly divide ambient music into two broad categories. Calm and tense. Personally, I prefer a more calm and peaceful style of music. You can play the so-called meditation music as background or listen to it when you need help falling asleep. You need to pay more attention to the tense ambient music. Then it will be good and will not disturb you. But when you play it as background music, it will subconsciously make you uneasy and cause discomfort.

When I started listening to the Best Wishes album my first emotion was that this is the tense ambient music type. Everything seemed to be peaceful, you heard the cello quietly sawing, but this was through a coarse distortion (the British have a beautiful word “distortion” for this effect, which is mostly used by electric guitarists).

The second song deepened the notion of tense ambient. Again, there were no anxious and sudden sounds. Quite the opposite, there’s a long and continuous sound of strings that ambient music often uses as background, and which is layered with various sounds from the environment (this is what ambient means). But this continuous sound was not mellow, and for some reason, the additional sounds made me anxious. To get ahead of myself, I can say that for me, the entire album had a very film-like feel — most of the songs could have been in a film. The second song from the album is called Eternal and that was a song for an Estonian film. Not for a contemporary one, but a classical one. Greyness, darkness, some lengthy shots. Music brings the angst of the actor closer to the people so they can feel the mist and the greyness, the dampness and desolation. Perhaps it could be from the film The Temptation of St. Tony.

But then onwards there was a quiet turn. The third song started very peacefully. Some sounds were anxious and wouldn’t let you fall asleep, but the general tone let go of the anxiety. The name of the song is Occhiolism-nakas. This song also makes the entire pattern of the album evident. One song that holds many songs. Within the song, there is a big development in another direction. If you listen to the music without knowing the number of songs you would think that an entirely new piece had started. As this album is also released as a cassette tape, I imagine that listeners might get quite confused about there are fewer number of titles on the cover than there are songs and many of the titles can end up shifting.

By the fourth song, your brain has gotten used to the level of anxiety and although the song is not for yoga, it doesn’t feel disturbing. The song is called Perceive Microcosm. This song is the most varied and is also one of my favourite songs from the Best Wishes album, especially the ending, which reminds me of a religious choir. At the same time, there’s a moment where the song has a rather deep 4/4 bass drum. It’s filtered, but it’s there. The song has been skilfully compiled.

So, you are here, Mister Sensitive. You made it, said the next song. The title of the first song of the album, Uphill, now starts to make sense as this album moves closer to something I can appreciate about ambient music. Calming and interesting patterns instead of pure experiments. My second favourite from the album is the sixth song Ghost Notes. This is also framed with continuous sounds, but the second half is filled with brief chirping melodies. I’d also bring out the song Axx without a deeper deconstruction. Maybe only that I didn’t get a film-like feeling during the song. It was only music. Without a video.

The last songs brought me back to the films. In Macrocosm you can hear a conversation and children speaking in the background. A situation too lifelike to be able to think about it as only music. In some sense, it was also a wake-up call. Just when you started to think that you could let this music pass through you, without having to put it into words, then after hearing the annoyed man talk, it inevitably brought you back to reality. The last song of the album is the title song Best Wishes. I think that musically it concludes the album very well. It has all the emotions that you heard during the album. All the anxiety and peacefulness, different styles in a tasteful compote.

Overall, I was very happy with the work. For a change, it’s good to listen to something when you don’t know anything about it, without knowing the background of the artist, being stuck in something you had listened to before. This is music for listening, not background. If you don’t do anything else during your listening then interestingly enough this music is quite different, much more understanding and enjoyable. The album has nicely been tied into a complete whole. I wish best wishes to the artist Wondering O! Great achievement!

Last weekend I had a chance to experience an extraordinary concert tour ‘Nordic Pulse Tour’ at the Estonia Concert Hall. The Estonian musician and composer Mick Pedaja, Swiss violinist David Nebel and conductor Kristjan Järvi were performing with the Baltic Sea Philharmonic.

Contagious passion and energy

In addition to Tallinn, the ‘Nordic Pulse’ concert tour has also performed in Palanga, Riga and Helsinki. The Helsinki concert supported the important environmental work of John Nurminen Foundation. For every ticket sold, one Euro was donated to the foundation projects that protect the Baltic Sea. The last concert will be held in St. Petersburg on 21 March. They will also perform at the 20th annual international Baltic Sea Forum that highlights various ways of protecting the marine environment of the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic Sea Philharmonic website states that this is a new paradigm for making music in the 21st century. Their concerts offer a unique show of sound, light and projection art as well as choreography; their passion to perform music that is written for orchestras without the help of sheet music, changes the musical experience for the performers as well as the audience; under guidance of musical director Kristjan Järvi and his almost electrifying conductor’s baton, their concerts convey remarkably contagious passion and energy. We can certainly say that their aims are fulfilled effortlessly and with visible enjoyment.

Particularly moving journey

They performed Pēteris Vasks’ song ‘Vientuļais eņģelis’ / ‘Lonely Angel’, I and II part of Gediminas Gelgotas’ violin concerto and Kristjan Järvi’s own song ‘Aurora’. The programme booklet had colourful introductions to these stories. In Vasks’ song, ‘the violin solo moves in the background of the string instruments and reaches spiritual heights while symbolising the composer’s deep religious convictions’. At the beginning of Gelgotas violin concerto, ‘the darker sections interchange with lyrical episodes that progress into a solo cadence. … The peak for the second part comes with the violin solo that is followed by orchestral themes, similar to a chorale, and that give the work with a harmonious end.’ These introductions were easy to recognize when listening to the concert. Violinist David Nebel performed seemingly effortless and truly skilful solos. He was drawing energy from the conductor, with whom he cheerfully communicated, and from the orchestra, he was playing for.

According to the Baltic Sea Philharmonic website, ‘Aurora’ was inspired by the magical northern lights and the concept of rebirth and new light. Kristjan Järvi himself has said the following: ‘Aurora is a story about the northern lights, but also about spring, which is a period of creation and rebirth.’ The booklet added that ‘the atmospheric composition uses only a few main motifs that constantly transform and that contain the natural beauty of the Nordic nature.’ The song is minimalistic and yet its natural growth and journey hold something particularly moving.

Chilling performances

The first half of the concert was enriched by Mick Pedaja song arrangements for the orchestra. This cooperation justifies itself. You can hear and feel their connection and efforts to define nature. It is enjoyable to observe the natural energy that they create on stage. The first half of the concert culminated in a powerful and chilling performance of Mick Pedaja’s work ‘To the Light’ (‘Valgeks’).

At the second half of the concert, they performed Kristjan Järvi’s suite of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet ‘Sleeping Beauty’. According to the booklet, Kristjan’s ‘new arrangement is based on ballet excerpts and popular concert suites that create a dramatically cohesive work’. The suite was performed standing up and without sheet music. The conductor explained that with this approach, he hopes to get people to see and believe that they are capable of anything if they so desire. At the same time, this approach enabled the musicians to fully engage with the song. During the suite, various instruments performed solos and the musicians were even more immersed in the song as they were performing it standing up and without sheet music.

What was my experience?

The emotions were wonderful! As an audience member and classical music enthusiast, I had a true concert experience that I haven’t had in a very long time. The songs were very expressive, you could hear and feel a wide range of emotions. The sadness, sorrow, despair and tensions were intertwined with bright light, hope and genuine joy. I was especially touched by Kristjan Järvi’s own song ‘Aurora’. Unfortunately, I have not found a recording of the song, but I have the unforgettable memory of what I experienced at the concert. The lightness of the song and notes reached every cell of my body and the flow of sounds left me happy in tears! The charismatic Kristjan Järvi passionately roots for his orchestra and effortlessly moves with the music. The joy of what he does was so contagious for me, for the orchestra and for the entire concert hall. The audience even cheered in between and at the end of the songs, and the concert ended with a standing ovation for the orchestra and its remarkable conductor. To observe each member of the orchestra was an experience in itself. Some caught my eye more than others. For example, the first violinist was so expressive that from the beginning you could imagine that she could just as well be a dancer. The second half of the concert confirmed that thought. She danced with every note and wave of music that travelled through the orchestra and got inspired by every move of the conductor.

How was the concert experience for some other audience members?

Visitor 1. All in all, I really liked the concert: the programme was varied and brought the joy of recognition, tension, dreaming, thrill and much more.

The first half was very-very good in its concept, but the technical performance diminished the wow-effect.

The second half of the concert was more lively and the musicians were able to embody the music they performed. It was really cool to see how getting rid of sheet music will free the performers and force them to notice one another, communicate and express the entire concept.

I thought it was an excellent idea to have an hour of autographs after the concert. It was the first time I’ve seen this at a classic concert house.

Visitor 2. For me, the concert was definitely an experience. I liked the vitality of young musicians. Especially the cooperation between the vocals and the powerful instruments. Of course, giving a standing performance of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ without sheet music was remarkable. And you cannot escape the expressive conductor Kristjan Järvi, whose charisma will have an effect on anyone. By the end of the concert, I had to admit that there is nothing like the organism of the symphony orchestra.

Visitor 3. When an orchestra performs something that they have memorised, the energy is completely different from when playing from the sheets. Actually, there is no need to compare the two, both are unique in their own way. It is inspiring to see and hear two different sides during one concert.

***

It certainly was an experience that I whole-heartedly recommend to anyone, who is interested in classical music or would like to discover it.

On January 24, Estonian electronic-pop act NOËP and British rising star Chinchilla premiered their new song ‘Fk This Up’ at the gala show of the Estonian Music Awards 2019. Culture.ee now sheds a little bit of light on who is this ‘powerhouse of a lady’ called Chinchilla.

You recently completed a new single ‘Fk This Up’ with NOËP and performed it for the first time in front of the audience at the Estonian Music Awards show. How was it?

It was an extraordinary experience, what better way to test a new song out than on a crowd that big and supportive?! It was an epic night, NOËP and I had a great time and the performance and song seemed to go down well, fortunately!

How did you discover NOËP and how did the collaboration between you two start?

We met on a songwriting camp in London, by chance we were put into the same group together and began writing for NOËP. He played us some of his music which I loved so it was easy to get into a vibe and get started. I was in the room as a writer so it wasn’t until we were stuck on the chorus idea for a while that we decided to have me singing on the track.

Right now, ‘Fk This Up’ is probably one of the very few things that Estonian people know about you. If you were to describe yourself as a musician to someone who doesn’t know anything about you what would you say?

Well, I’m 22 and an Urban Pop artist from London. I’m massively inspired by female empowerment and big powerful female artists have always been huge influences of mine; from Janis Joplin to Amy Winehouse to Queen Bey! I write and produce most of my stuff and basically make sassy, feisty, empowering tunes that you’d put on when you need to feel BOSS.

You are working on your debut release right now, tell us a bit more about that.

It’s called ‘Elements’, I wrote and produced it all myself and I’m proud of that. For me, this song is all about female empowerment. It’s an upbeat, attitudey, solidarity song about three of my best friends; the girls I hung out with most growing up, and the individuality of them all and different aspects that make them incredible and fierce. It’s basically my favourite song I’ve ever written and with the messages behind it, it had to be my first single … can’t wait to release it on March 15th!

How does your creative process look like?

It depends if I’m writing by myself or co-writing with others, but usually I’ll start with a lyric or melody idea that I’ve come up with (in the shower or in the middle of the night recorded on my voice notes – somewhere inconvenient like that). Then I’ll make a bass line or beat to go under it and start riffing off that idea to create a concept for the song and section. I don’t have any set rules of writing the chorus first or verse last or writing it all to piano etc. I’m sure that works for some but for me, I like seeing where the song takes you naturally. I think production choices can really shape a song – so producing as I go along, adding bits of manipulated vocal as countermelodies etc and just seeing what happens and where it takes me – that is my favourite way to do it.

Who are your musical influences?

As I mentioned before, I grew up listening to massive female vocalists like Christina Aguilera, Tracy Chapman, Janis Joplin, Etta James, Amy Winehouse, as well as girl-bands like Atomic Kitten, Sugababes, and more recently I’m loving Little Mix. I then started to love Rihanna, and biggest of all – Beyoncé. I listen to a lot of different music, from Classic FM in the car to Radio 1 Xtra. I think you can really be inspired by anything. I love artists like Kendrick, Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish, Prince, MJ, definitely Mark Ronson. I could go on …

You are from London. Have the vibes of London influenced you as well?

It’s hard to say because I’ve lived here all my life so I don’t know how I’d be if I hadn’t. But I think London is a cool place to grow up and it’s inspiring, there’s a vibe of motivation and acceptance. There are so many cool characters here, people who wear and do whatever quirky stuff they want, so it definitely pushes you to be the best (and most extra) you can be – otherwise you’ve got no chance of getting noticed amongst the masses of talent here.

Have you discovered any recent phenomena in music that you are particularly interested in and that you would like to try out yourself in the future?

This is always changing for me, at the moment I’m really into Billie Eilish and James Blake’s new album. I love how they’ve changed things up. In terms of trying things out in future – I’m always inspired by artists from past and present and influenced by them but I wouldn’t ever directly copy anyone, it’s always more interesting to start a new trend yourself!

Can you briefly summarize what needs to be in music for it to sound ‘right’ for you?

I think all it needs is to be different or special in some way. I never think of music as being ‘right or wrong’ but some stuff is more to my taste than others sometimes and what grabs my attention is something quirky and different from what everyone else is doing.

What album or song have you listened the most during your lifetime?

Probably Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’. That album was a total game changer for me, and the closest to my heart.

What’s your favourite sound?

Anything with strength behind it and a beat which you can’t not move to.

In the 1990s, I recorded a lot of music onto the cassette tapes off the radio. One of the troublesome special features of recording off the radio is that the songs do not usually play from beginning to end, because the radio DJ introduces and outroduces the track. However, the tape is not to be wasted and therefore the recording button is usually pushed down as soon as the DJ starts talking. That’s why my cassettes oftentimes included one introductory sentence at the beginning and one at the end of the song. On one of the tapes that was recorded in 1995 from Radio 2 show Vibratsioon, there is a half sentence at the end of one track: „This is Out-Or, a man even a guy like Aphex Twin is curious about…”

Almost 20 years later, Out-Or is back on tape. But this time it is not recorded off the radio, but officially released by the label Lejal Globe. All the tracks can be listened to from beginning to end without being interrupted by talking DJ. The title of the work is ‘Structures’. In addition to the cassette format, the album was also released in the CD and digital format. I have repeatedly listened to this material and have thought from the very beginning that this is just the perfect work for releasing in the cassette format. Apparently, the author himself thinks that his music is just the right thing for the tape because it is not by far the first time when Out-Or has released a cassette.

Also the content that Out-Or has now released sounds as if it were created in the golden age of the cassettes, in the first half of the nineties. To be honest, I have listened to all the tracks only in digital format by now, but even in the digital format, the music sounds like as if listening to a cassette, and not because of the rustle. There’s just this nice pleasant sound. It can’t be helped – you can be open to everything new and listen to all the styles, but a human being has been built this way that the sounds heard in one’s youth are still the most loved ones and I am used to such slightly filtered cassette sound. I am sincerely glad that for some time now, it is not ashamed to make music that sounds old-fashioned. Electronic dance music has existed for so long that children of those people who once danced to this music have already grown up. And for this new generation, the old sound is not old. Or even if it is, then it’s old and interesting. Clothing trends come and go within a few months. At the same time, fortunately, there are some things – jeans or jackets, for example – that have a longer life span than one season. Out-Or is a tailor who sews sound jackets. And he uses the same fabric that was used for making clothes 20 years ago. This is not an imitation of old school made by young people. This is music that sounds like it used to be because it is made like music was made in the old days. With the same instruments that were used at that time and by the man who hadn’t had to watch YouTube videos on how to make ’90s techno. He knows because he was among the first ones who started making something like this in Estonia.

Out-Or also cannot be blamed for being stuck to some era or not being able to do anything more modern. His musical spectrum has been very wide throughout the years and in many periods he has released quite modern music. ‘Structures’ just combines the works that sound like something from the times when the author was young. Stylistically, the new album is not very even. It includes technical minimal techno, mellow and deep electronics with fewer drums, and IDM, rhythmic dance music, something pretty ambient, acid house, and more. In short, it’s a real treat for open-eared people. And all the works are very well produced. Although it seems that this is a collection of Out-Or’s recent works rather than a conceptual album, I find this approach very likeable. I recently listened to the latest album of Mr. Fingers (Larry Heard). Out-Or’s career length is almost the same. The album of Fingers was also full of different styles – a summary of everything that Heard has made throughout the decades. But his album sounded dull because I had repeatedly heard all those tricks before on his earlier albums. Somehow, ‘Structures’ sounds very fresh and interesting to me. Perhaps it is just that, unlike with Larry Heard, I have not consistently followed the doings of Out-Or or listened to his albums so many times.

One thing is for sure, Out-Or is a very unique artist at Estonian level. Always has been. He’s making music that very few are making here. However, while I was listening to the album, several parallels with foreign artists came into my mind. Unfortunately, I don’t know what was the thing with the mentioning of Aphex Twin on my cassette, but there are similarities with Aphex in some tracks (‘Eeprom’, ‘Dertwas’, ‘Dunel’). ‘Skaala 2000’ and ‘Csale 2 (Edit A)’ remind me of LFO’s work. And there is also a resemblance with one of our local Estonian artists. ‘Csale 2 (Edit B)’ uses the same or similar rhythm machine, that was, at some point, used by Ajukaja in almost every track, which makes it feel like it was the production of Raul Saaremets. Apparently, the similarities with the other musicians are also felt because of the use of the same instruments or sounds.

All in all, this is an album that I definitely recommend to buy. Being very choosy, I rarely find the albums that I would like to listen to several times from beginning to end. Cannot find them from the whole wide world, let alone from Estonia. ‘Structures’ is finally one of those albums, where almost every piece of music is a favourite one.

Ivo Posti and Ensemble Floridante at Estonia Concert Hall on December 18, 2018.

There is no snow yet, and, as we know, the cheesy Christmas songs playing again and again at the shopping malls are not evoking any Christmas feeling. The spirit that is tired of the end-of-the-year struggles would need something that helps to stop time for Christmas peace to come into the heart. Maybe baroque music – Vivaldi and Handel – could help?

Vivaldi and Handel are from the same era, but their fates were different like night and day. Venetian Vivaldi died in poverty in Vienna, while Handel from Northern Germany gained fame and wealth in the British high society. The concert presented the works of Handel and Vivaldi in a manner appropriate to the time and place in which it was composed (historically informed performance): period instruments were used by Meelis Orgse, Mari Targo (violin), Johanna Vahermägi (viola), Tõnu Jõesaar (cello), Mati Lukk (double bass), Saale Fischer (harpsichord and organ) and Kristo Käo (baroque guitar, theorbo). This time, only Vivaldi’s instrumental works (simfonias and string concerts) were performed, while Handel’s most famous arias were performed by the countertenor Ivo Posti.

Vivaldi’s melodic and playful string pieces alternated with Handel’s affect-filled arias. The ensemble’s style is accurate and professional, beautifully toned music is colourful and enjoyable. Floridante was also visually attractive.

Countertenor is a rare male voice, the scope of which remains in the registry of alto and soprano. The internationally renowned Ivo Posti’s natural talent is nicely polished, he delivers high notes elegantly and with ease. The performance which is velvety-soft, while outlining each note accurately at the same time, caresses the ear and tickles the receptors pleasantly. However, Ivo Posti’s charm and great acting skills alone would have been fascinating; his colourful-emotional and extremely expressive performance remained concise, technically accurate and focused. Harmony with the ensemble was great.

A bit over an hour long concert ended surprisingly fast. At the end, I was thinking that it would have been interesting to hear some Vivaldi’s vocal works for comparison. Was Handel the choice of the ensemble or the singer is unknown to me.

In any case, the Christmas feeling came powerfully and baroquely. Joy and satisfaction could also be spotted from the faces of those leaving the hall. There is no way to see and hear this kind of combination of musicians every day. The concert series “Matinee” will continue at the Estonia Concert Hall also in the year 2019, and I hope to hear Floridante and Ivo Posti again soon.

Last week, the duo Maarja Nuut & RUUM (Hendrik Kaljujärv) released their first joint album Muunduja (‘shifter’ in Estonian) that was presented at two concerts in Estonia – on Thursday, October 4 at Tartu New Theatre and on Friday, October 5 in Tallinn at club HALL. I participated in the Tallinn concert.

Besides Maarja and Hendrik, there were four other performers. The evening started with Klara Lewis, who was the only one who performed at the upper floor of HALL which is called Mesila (‘apiary’ in Estonian). The artist was located in a construction that was designed like a honeycomb – a very suitable place for a name like that. The artists who perform on that stage are like busy melomaniac queen bees, who can make all the small worker bees to dance together towards and around them. The strong atmospheric sounds created by Klara invaded the entire body and made every single body hair to shiver in the same rhythm with the continuous low bass in the background.

The performance of Klara Lewis was followed by an album presentation and the second half of the evening was filled with the sounds of Hüpnosaurus, Ats Luik and Jamaica Suk. The first two were able to attract people to the dancefloor with their ever-increasing, shifting, and transforming rhythmic layers. Unfortunately, I don’t know how Jamaica Suk contributed to the night, but after listening to her musical preferences later at home, I believe that her performance was definitely enjoyable. As the night went on, the crowd went smaller and smaller but this is definitely not a sign of the lack of high-quality music but rather the fact that the main part of the crowd had come primarily to listen to the album presentation, and other performers were just additional value of sorts that you could choose to listen to or not, depending on your schedule and preferences.

I had high expectations toward the main event of the evening – the album presentation. The whole week was like an introduction to the concert, I listened to the radio interviews with the duo from Raadio 2 and also the songs from their newly released and their previous album. From all the information I got during the week, it’s worth bringing out that the new album includes some new instruments, the use of which was the idea of a producer Howie B from the UK, with whom they collaborated in the first half of the creative process. Howie B was therefore an important catalyst who helped to break the old creative patterns. However, the album has been put together by the co-producer Evar Anvelt, who contributed to the process after the material had been settled in the time mud for months. All these various factors are felt while listening to the album, each giving a different colour to the songs.

Returning to the experience I had on last Friday, it’s noteworthy that at first, it seemed like their songs are similarly structured as before – Maarja starts the songs with her voice by creating already-known rhythm layers, which at one point is accompanied by a violin and followed by an electronic background. However, my initial feelings were quickly disproved because soon the completely new ways of creating sounds were added which offered great moments of discovery. In addition to the masterful handling of violin and looper, Maarja also played, for example, keyboards. Also, the soundscape was more electronic than before. When I wrote about Üle Heli Festival in 2016, I stated: “Together they formed a well-functioning duo, where, however, mostly Maarja’s intimate violin layers and simultaneously powerful and gentle singing voice were dominant. But in some of the songs, it was still possible to feel the virtuous charm of Hendrik’s deep bass.” Two years later, it can be said that the duo has achieved a well-functioning synergy, where both parties have something to say – they are complementing, commenting, highlighting each other while telling the same story and it is also perceived by the audience.

And what is this story they are telling? While listening to their music, the thoughts traveled to the historical distances and the experiences of the recent past. In parts, their music includes something very ancient, magical, it makes you feel like you are walking on the edge of a dream. On the other hand, it’s an invitation to be here and now, to move towards full self-realization. The traditional and electronic worlds have been interwoven, creating a link between the forgotten and the current moment. And as it comes out, these are not so different phenomena. Rather, it may be said that soundscapes that seem to be different at first sight, actually blend together perfectly because they are based on the same desire to express internal experiences and feelings.

Now I want to summarize some of the discussions that I had with my fellow audience members during the concert in the HALL. First of all, we were thinking that perhaps another venue would have been better for the presentation. It was difficult to find a good place in the hall where you could catch all the details of the music. An intimate experience characteristic of listening to the music of Maarja Nuut was missed. It was definitely difficult to bring music close to people in the room with such high ceilings and stone walls. For making better conclusions about the venue, it would be interesting to compare the experience with the concert in Tartu. But there was also a different kind of longing – the songs could have been a bit longer. Somehow, these meditative journeys ended too quickly and I would have happily added five minutes to some of the songs.

A special mention goes to Kristjan Suits‘s visuals that supported the soundscapes perfectly without overpowering them. The visuals evoked some images of a forest, the swaying trees, space, magic. There was a continuous slow movement, which had to be truly focused on to notice it. In this way, a parallel could be drawn with the music – for both the visuals and the music, it was necessary to engage with the material and to delve into them in order to truly appreciate the experience.

To sum up, it can be said that the newly-released album is really enjoyable and well thought out and it takes you on a journey. This concert last week was one chance to participate in this journey. But many chances are yet ahead. There will be an album presentation tour in several locations across Europe and, of course, it is possible to buy the album. The additional information can be found on the website http://maarjanuut.com/en. Soon, the record Muunduja will also be on my shelf and my record player reminding me its goodness again and again.

In March 2018 culture.ee actively streamed about Tallinn Music Week, a creative music festival. In September music, art, and international festival experience exchange has reached the Eastern borders of Estonia.

What makes TMW special? Its international harmony between art styles and forms. For example, at TMW you could listen to various bands from all over the world, see works of Estonian designers, taste eco ice-cream LaMuu at pop-up cafés, and talk about urban planning and climate change.

Cherry on the top of this creative cake was the upcoming music festival Station Narva in a frontier town that harbours Russian-speaking Estonians.

Apéritif

Why was this festival so interesting to me, someone who fled the town like fire the moment I graduated high school ten years ago? First of all, TMW was a blast and I had to see if it can be done in Narva as well. Second of all, Narva has changed a lot during a decade of my living abroad and I just had to see if Narva really is next (#narvaisnext is the main hashtag of the campaign for Narva to become a cultural capital of Europe in 2024). “Must go there,” I said to myself and there I was.

Breakfast “à la Narva”

The non-formal learning centre VitaTiim was a great place to reconcile with rapidly changing Narva. A long table with “Narva breakfast” (tea, coffee, sandwiches and pancakes with jam) was a meeting point for the youth workers of the centre, local activists, and the guests of the festival from Narva, Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu… In my line of work I encountered Russian- and Estonian-speaking politicians and cultural personae to get together for a discussion, but for the first time in my life did I see Estonians and Russians mingling together instead of dividing themselves into language groups and talking just about everything in so-called Narva language (or narva keel in Estonian which is also known as Ida-Viru language, a curious mix of Russian and Estonian spoken by half Ida-Viru county and Tallinn). Go Narva keel!

Perfectly imperfect lunch

My lunch took place in Narva Art Residency where I was awaited by muffins and an “imperfect” presentation of one “imperfect” art/book project. Two Finnish artists and comic-book authors Kaisa Leka and Christoffer Leka talked how they crossed the USA by bicycle and made an “Imperfect” travel journal about it (“Imperfect”, 2017: Absolute Truth Press). You can read about the well-designed book and buy it here if you ever get inspired by the first line of the book manual: “To read this book you will need a knife”. The language of the book presentation has evolved into the international: the artists conversed with the public in English by adding a Russian phrase here and there while the public assisted the interpreter.

A snack

To go off topic, I decided to have a walk around town after the presentation (and get warm in a café, because the unusually hot summer has come to its end). Luckily I met a former classmate who gave me a tour of this new Narva. The town has truly changed a lot: new shops, cafés, restored park, and new (bigger than in Tallinn) Vaba Lava theatre hint that Narva becomes cool.

What’s for dinner?

For dinner, we had BAZAR or discussions about imported festivals and Narva people’s identity. And again, the discussions were held in Narva keel with some English seasoning. Quite symbolic because Narva residents discussed issues on an international level with the guests from all over Estonia, Russia, Germany, Finland, Sweden. We talked about:

• how can a provincial town become cultural capital;
• how to create a common information network for a small but multinational country;
• how Russian-speaking residents identify themselves vis-à-vis the Estonian population;
• how to interest the youth in active cultural life;
• what Narva residents have so special that nobody else has.

Waiting for a dessert

During these discussions I had a revelation. Any issue can be related to the proud multicultural and multilingual identity of the Narva inhabitants. Russian-speaking Estonians live not on the edge of Europe but on the frontier of two worlds and they need to use this cultural, economical, linguistic position to their advantage. Narva language is nowhere near official language but it has its charm of an Eastern-Estonian dialect and maybe it will become a first step towards the nationwide information exchange.

As a person who was wondering for half of my life whether I am Estonian or Russian, I have now learned to accept and operate multiple cultural identities because in this globalised world there are better things to think of. For example, what future awaits Narva and what its ascend will be like?

And an espresso to boost the energy

I truly hope that next year Station Narva will take place again and there will be more Narva residents on bazaars, concerts, art shows (both as visitors and as participants).

For now, let’s get inspired.

I had exciting experiences. I had a chance to observe my surroundings. A multitude of people crammed side-by-side. Sucked-in stomachs, smiling faces, apologies, modesties. I got very close to people. Too close?

An overabundance of feet! Open toes, flip-flops, sneakers. But you could have managed barefoot as well; I had to resist the urge to throw away my shoes. Lots of stylish clothes. An outdoor exhibit of sunglasses. Hats and headscarves. Bare shoulders soaking up the sunlight. Food carts. Tacos, burgers and bagels, waffles, cakes and ice cream. Drink booths. They’re selling nothing but beer here, nothing but Coca-Cola there, nothing but gin cocktails over there. Healthy juice? Also available. At concerts, you could slightly hear the music from neighbouring stages: louder songs occasionally interrupted milder ones. What a shame! As well as the countless plastic cups. At the same time, there were no plastic straws whatsoever – a big bonus! In the first evening, we saw the lunar eclipse. Then, on day two, the arrival of the downpour. Fans of different music found their way indoors or under sturdier trees. We all got wet anyway but we were dry again soon, as it was still hot outside.

The best musical experiences

Jeff Mills. This legendary techno-wizard made me dance my feet to shreds (seriously, I could barely walk the next day), but I loved it! The grimy and fast-paced bass didn’t allow the audience to stay still nor leave, forcing them to give their all on the dance floor. This was Mills’ second time in Estonia, as he also performed at the Into the Valley Festival almost precisely a year ago. Naturally, he had more fans there, as the festival’s focus was electronic dance music. At Sweet Spot Festival, he was performing at the big hall of the Creative Hub, yet didn’t have many listeners. The terrific weather, as well as the other five stages, were probably considerable factors. Nonetheless, those who had shown up made the most of it!

Miljardid. Marten Kuningas is a charming weirdo in the best way possible. He started the show in a blue kimono, which he had to ditch as it got hotter. However, that was certainly a jump-start, and his enticing dance moves soon got the audience to join him. As a collective, the band was excellent! It was a joy to see so much talent and cheekiness combined. Never a disappointment!

Nublu. At first, I was surprised at the number of people who were big enough fans to know the words, but I admittedly enjoyed many songs myself. The themes of the songs were pretty odd, ranging from the after party of a cat wedding to gifting a drone to a spy girl, but that’s exactly what made them so catchy. Nublu’s music always brings along hilarious confusion.

Mew. An angelical singer, seemingly from another world. I wanted to protect him from all evil, to lose myself in his music and voice. I remember when I used to listen to their album No More Stories Are Told Today, I’m Sorry They Washed Away // No More Stories, The World Is Grey, I’m Tired, Let’s Wash Away on endless repeat. Back then, it was a means of comfort to a young, curious soul. It was wonderful to hear a few songs from that album live.

Avoid Dave. Feel-good beats, captivating songs, a powerful and trained voice, visually compelling performers.

José Gonzáles. Very laid-back, but fittingly so, blissful even. The repertoire included The Beatles’ Blackbird, reportedly one of the first songs Gonzáles ever learned.

Rando Arand. I swayed, I chanted, we melted together.

Something for everyone

The festival was utmost diverse: there was something for everyone. Even though I didn’t love the whole line-up, there was still a myriad of appealing artists and I can certainly claim to have enjoyed the experience.

The festival area was organized rather sensibly. There were places to rest, drink and eat during the small breaks between the shows. As expected, these areas were flooded with people, some of whom preferred to sit down and have a chat with friends, rather than rush to the front of the stage. Very fitting for the atmosphere.

Some artist/stage arrangements were questionable. For example, the decision to put NOËP and Jarek Kasar to the smallest Pada stage. Nevertheless, it should be considered there were six stages in a relatively small area so it couldn’t have been easy to put the programme together.

Creative Hub and Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia did an impressive job rebounding the music from the concerts, which might have thrilled or annoyed the city folk living nearby. These small disadvantages (or in some cases, advantages) are natural but should be accounted for when organizing a city festival. Which brings into question whether the place is suitable for such an event, although the next year’s festival has already been confirmed, still at the Creative Hub’s Park. Thus, good luck! Sweet Spot Festival was a commendable achievement for its first run!

Impressions from the premiere of Estonian Games. Tönk (graduate students of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and ensemble Trad.Attack! on the 10th of June in Tartu at the Raadi airplane hangar)

The surroundings of the Soviet era Raadi airplane hangar are teeming with cars, there is a queue in front of the entrance. I don’t buy a playbill on purpose. I’ve seen Peeter Jalakas’s plays before and suppose I understand. Estonian games is a very specific topic for Estonians. Only the question of who or what is tönk is bothering me a bit. I hope, maybe it turns out during the performance.

Hustling and bustling youngsters

A bunch of youngsters rushes on a stage where there are only a white cube and a long bench, playing some kind of game with cocks and chickens. I can’t help but wonder how physically fit are the graduates of the EAMT, their movements on the stage are quite complicated and with a great show of energy. Black and white video appear on the screen cube, in which elderly people in folk costumes are diligently playing some ancient folk games in front of the camera. When the film is over, the bustle goes on again – they are already erecting the tent-like objects of the industrial container bags, they are already putting on some eye-catching colourful costumes that remind a folk costume a bit. Simultaneously with the dressing and building, the playful activity is also developing feistily, the young people are storming back and forth on stage, there’s so much dynamic and exciting going on that it’s hard to keep track of everything (unfortunately, in the rear seats, there is also limited visibility). It feels like a hockey game: you are trying hard to follow the path of a puck, but while you stare at the left corner, there are already two goals scored at the right side. Missed it again!

From hockey to Star Wars. Cirque du Soleil!

The designs and costumes are eye-catching, they seem like something from Star Wars – shiny plastic clothes, furry macho-beasts, at the end of the show a tube firing laser beams appears on the stage. (Wow!) Space usage is also fantastic, almost everything (including the stage for the band) is in constant motion, a large part of the activity takes place on ropes under the ceiling and across the room. And there’s plenty of space! Acrobatics is poetic and engaging. It’s like our own local Cirque du Soleil, spiced with (depressive?) humour, ancient spells and counting rhymes, a little clumsy and very playful!

Forest and supernatural beings

The mood is additionally nuanced with black and white video at the back of the stage, which was filmed a couple of months ago, decided by the small buds on the trees in the forest. Of course, the forest, how could it be otherwise – forest is perhaps the most important source of identity for our people right now. The performance is full of clues to the ancient creation myths, the other side and supernatural which is characteristic to Peeter Jalakas. There is also no lack of humour aimed at the public figures (hmm, who is this old woman on the roller skates, a loaf of bread on the hands?) and poetry spiced with irony.

Music and movement on stage melt smoothly into one whole and create a whole new quality, although at times the bustle on the stage seems somewhat disturbing, drawing attention away from music. The band has been pushed to one side of the stage for the most time. Would this performance be such an experience even without the music of Trad.Attack!? Hardly so.

The show is over. The audience stands up and applauds fervently. I hurry to buy a playbill. Before that, I ask one foreigner what they think about the performance and how much did they understand. The answer is that there’s nothing to undertand, everything is obvious: the schoolchildren went to the forest for camping on the Midsummer Day, began to play games and used lots of drugs there.

At home, I read from the playbill booklet that tönk is an ancient monstrous being with tail and horns, usually made during big holidays. There is also an interesting reading about Johan Huizinga’s game theory and homo ludens, the stories of ancient people and the introduction of the team. The booklet could also include at least some descriptions of traditional games. A long summer is ahead, it would be nice to play a little.

Tallinn Music Week is an international event; musicians all over the world are coming to the capital of Estonia to take part in the urban culture festival. The Russian guests of the festival will have a chance to see and listen to their fellow countrymen. This year, 25 musicians from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus will present their music at different venues in Tallinn. Some Estonian bands will sing in Russian too.

Ivan Dorn at Russian Cultural Centre

April 6, 9:30 p.m.

Ukranian born Ivan Dorn is a singer, DJ, and producer with an overabundance of quirky uniqueness. His debut album made him a sensation of the Russian music scene; his catchy hits from 2011 like Stycamen and Bigoudi (“Бигуди”) are still heard on the Russian dancefloors and in the hearts of the hipster youths. At Tallinn Music Week, Ivan Dorn will be presenting his debut English-language album OTD (Open The Dorn), recorded and produced in Los Angeles in 2016.

Cryptomarket at KuKu Club

April 6 & 7, 7 p.m.

Friday and Saturday night at Kuku Club is where the action is. The name Cryptomarket alone promises interesting discoveries on the computer-based music scene.

On Friday, a young Russian Internet-phenomenon Monetochka will be performing her ironic songs about life on and off the web. Fans of a more avant-garde music can listen to Aleksei Taruts, master of sound performance.

The Saturday programme includes a meeting with Kate NV, an experimental ambient-project of Kate Shilonosova, Moscow-based producer. You will also have a chance to hear Tema Kresta, electro-duo from St. Petersburg, and a psychedelic art-rock band Spasibo.

Facebook event: day 1, day 2

Manka Boutique Pop Festival Night at Club PATT

April 7, 6 p.m. – 2 a.m.

The indie-music festival Manka Boutique will have its own stage at the Club PATT. There will be performing famous Russian indie-rock band Kurara and guests from Belorussia: punk-rock band Petlia Pristrastiya and young creative union Soyuz, whose debut EP was released on September 26, 2017, by Ivan Dorn’s Masterskaya label. Alongside with them, an Estonian band Nebo-Zemlya will step up on a stage of Manka Boutique pop-up festival to share their music.

Facebook event

Svjata Vatra at the Vaba Lava Theatre

April 7, 00:30 a.m.

The Ukranian-Estonian folk-band will close the Viljandi Folk Music Festival Night at Vaba Lava Theatre. Their night performance with bagpipes, jew’s harp, scythe, and husky lead vocals will certainly recreate the ancient pagan rite feeling, and the sound of trombone will add some contemporary festivity.

Katja Adrikova at the Club HALL

April 8, 7 a.m. & 2 p.m.

Club HALL presents a grandiose 24 hours programme HALL Opening Day 2 & 3: Downwards 25 Years. From 11 p.m. Saturday to 8 p.m. Sunday fourteen DJs will be turning plates and blowing minds. Estonian DJ Katja Adrikova, the author of seductively dark tracks and the Tallinn-based techno community Mürk member will give two performances on Sunday morning and afternoon.

Facebook event

Read more about Tallinn Music Week’s special programmes and events!

Have you ever heard of the legendary underground art-club Ro-Ro in Narva? If not, do not despair: the club brings a special programme to Tallinn Music Week festival that serves as a teaser to the music festival Station Narva that comes to Narva in September.

So come to the  Station Narva & Art Club Ro-Ro stage at Sveta Bar (Telliskivi 62) on Saturday, April 7 and meet young (and not so young) ambassadors of Russian underground.

Young rapper MC Propazha from Narva is quite famous in the Estonian hip-hop community. At 7:30 p.m. he will open the concert with his experimental compositions.

Alternative electro-rock will follow thereafter. At 8:25 p.m. you can listen to the new songs of the experimental project AveNova. Sounds familiar? It’s Vladimir Cherdakov, the frontman of the legendary Narva rock-band AveNue, and the band’s bassist Kirill Smirnov are looking for a new sound.

At 9:20 p.m. it’s time for the psychedelic Wooden Whales. The guys (and a girl) from Murmansk will demonstrate enchanting dream-pop, striking rhythms, and all their northern charm.

At 10:15 p.m. it’s Anton Sevidov‘s turn. The frontman of the internationally famous Russian electro-pop band Tesla Boy will present brand new material from his solo album.

At midnight post-punk band Junk Riot will come up the stage. The duo from Tallinn will perform the songs from their latest new-wave infused album “Бесполезная молодость” (“Useless Youth”).

The programme will be closed by the bright and wild band Wet Red. The intriguing mix of synth-pop and glam-rock in the post-punk sauce is going to be the perfect ending to this underground night.

For more information about the artists see the Tallinn Music Week website  or Facebook event.