ISMO ALANKO
 Born and raised
in the backwoods of the
backwoods of Europe, Ismo Alanko descended
from
a line of bards and poets of the eastern region
of Finland, Karelia. He
also happens to be the
most successful songwriter and performer of his
generation of Finnish rock music. In that way he
has been
cross-cultural all of his life, long before
multiculturalism became
hip.
Ismo
Alanko broke into the music-scene and
immediate stardom in 1980 after
his band
HASSISEN KONE won the annual Rock
Championship in Finland and
cut a hit album. It
has been quite a trip since then: 18 years, 20
records, countless bands and line-ups, an extremely
successful
solo-career, music for theatre and movies,
a script for a play, an
acting debut as God on TV and
a short of stint as a member of Helsinki Festival artistic
committee under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen.
 As
an artist Ismo Alanko was healthily tapped
into the collective
unconscious of our times.
However, there is nothing "trendy" in his
timeliness. He started out combining melodic
punk with rascal rhymes
and tongue-in cheek
poetics. As soon as Hassisen Kone had reached
the
pinnacle of its career Alanko broke up the
band to start a new one
called SIELUN VELJET
(Soul Brothers). Sielun Veljet was a quirky group
which from the start made a pect with their
audience to expect the
unexpected. They had a
reputation for their antics and practical jokes.
Like
the time they sold out the most popular club in Helsinki... and
didn't touch the
instruments or play a single note of music... but
performed their own adaptation of
Little Red Riding Hood.
After their initial difficulties, Sielun Veljet became as hugely popular as Hassisen Kone had been and they even started an English side project L'AMOURDER. They toured England and continental Europe and secured a cult following in Russia during the stormy glasnost years. Having played as a "soul brother" for eight years, Alanko launched a solo career. After releasing four highly successful albums, three of which went gold, Alanko formed a new group called ISMO ALANKO SÄÄTIÖ in 1997. Consisting of top Finnish musicians, the band released six albums, a live recording and a dvd. Having been a key player in the Finnish music scene for almost a decade, Ismo Alanko Säätiö was put on hold for an undefined period of time in the end of 2006.
The year 2007 brought along multiple changes in Alanko's career. He formed a new band ISMO ALANKO TEHOLLA with multi-instrumentalist Teho Majamäki who had already been part of Ismo Alanko Säätiö in its early days. Having recorded for Poko Records for his entire career so far, Alanko signed a contract with indie label Fullsteam Records and Ismo Alanko Teholla released its first full-length "Blanco Spirituals" in 2008. The album debuted no 1 on the Finnish album chart and the band - maybe small in size but not in sounds - embarked on an extensive, to a great extent sold-out, Finnish concert hall tour.
Ismo Alanko is meaningful and influential as a composer and a poet but he sure is a hell of a performer and entertainer as well. The true mixmaster and cultural sponge that he is, Ismo Alanko has been picking up influences along the way - it's world music of sorts... of the World according to Ismo Alanko. And judging by sales figures, it's a world that many people can relate to.
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