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"'50 minuter dopning tidigt varje morgon' – progrocken var Gunnar Högnäs musikaliska stöttepelare när han skulle skriva studenten" (Yle, publicerat 16.4.2022)

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(utgår söndag 16.4.2023)

Madonna X Penniless

Penniless Marquis X
Madonna Madame X

PennileX - Music From The Big Black

"And there will be no doubt about it", these X music files on the new Penniless album are great & tight, a high nine fist. Songs which Ossi Alisaari has described as his "Blood On The Tracks".

I The Core

II Far Away Country

III The Great Marquis

IV Demon Sign

V Dark Room

VI Anthem For The Suckers

VII Put Me In A Home

VIII Fearless

IX Shadows And Lights

= X Penniless

Thirty years, ten albums (three as Penniless People Of Bulgaria and on Penni Records, the last twenty years seven as Penniless and on A West Side Fabrication, well except for this brand new on Soit Se Silti).

But don't look for any nice piece of background information on the X cover. The name of the band and the album are only printed with small letters on the spine. Inside the sleeve you'll find the lyrics, which is a splendid surprise, regarding the layout "politics".

And then down right some other...
Words and music by Penniless
Recorded and mixed at Pekka's
house by the leader himself
Mastered by Minerva Pappi / Waudio
Photography by Pekka Pulsa
Layout by Tommi Rantamäki

Apart from that, nothing at all. Nothing about who is playing what, doing this & that. No contacts to the band or the record company. This is a true mystery trip, an X album from top to toe. (Here commercialism is a far away country.)

This new CD is heavier stuff than A Cab To The City (2010) and Rows Of Houses (2013). According to the band, Penniless, there is also some kind of return to Joe (1998; the Roskilde door opener from two decades ago) and so it might be, it might sound like that.

On the other hand, the nine tracks on this tenth recording since 1993 rock like Penniless have always rocked. From this point of view, X is not a secret, it's a dear friend visiting after five silent years. A dear friend, but still not in same old clothes. Penniless seldom do the copy & paste.

Long time no hearing. But now is the moment: "you come with the colors"!

The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle

Remu Aaltonen, mogul of Hurriganes
Great Marquis, mogul of Penniless

Virhe

Tällaisena kauniina päivänä on vakava virhe olla kävelemättä pitkin Aurajokea, kohti alkulähdettä. Halistenkosken vaiheilla on tullut vietettyä paljon aikaa, kun on käynyt lenkillä, asunut aikoja YO-kylässä ja myöhemmin myös Halisissa, käynyt lasten kanssa ihmettelemässä luonnon voimia ja heittänyt kivillä voileipää veteen ja aaltoihin.

Tänään tein kuitenkin sen virheen. En kävellyt Aurajokea pitkin, mihinkään suuntaan. Kuten Kalevalan päivänä ja  karkauspäivänä. Sen sijaan uppouduin uuteen suomenkieliseen prog'n'popiin.

"Saavun taas sen samaan joenrantaan jonka varrella synnyit..."

Moving to Jupiter

Ever thought of  moving somewhere, else. What about Mars, starting up a potato culture. Or to Jupiter, the planet of planets in our Solar System. While you think about it, check out the tourist guides at ESA/Hubble.

But here from 18 years back in space,
Penniless moving to Jupiter.

Happy New Year, with rockets and firecrackers!

 

And Lemmy (24.12.45-28.12.15),

rest in peace in your Silver Machine.

Football - change the way things turns

The World Equals Balloon is a Penniless People Of Bulgaria piece from 1994, the year when FIFA World Cup took place in the United States and Brazil won its fourth gold medal after a penalty shootout against Italy in the final. The world also equals football and now some twenty years later Italy was beaten and bitten by Uruguay and Luis Suarez. So there's a minor word war arousing. Football is fun, football is gay, football is one, football is play. But also deep feelings, hard feelings, bollocks and politics.

Football can be big drama, War and Peace. And yes, once again, philosophy and politics. Paul Breitner who scored in the FIFA World Cup final 1974 (Germany versus the Netherlands) was known for his radical thoughts and having Mao's little red book as a mascot and doping device. Johan Cruijff, Willem van Hanegem and Jan van Beveren from the 1974 Dutch line up didn't go almost all the way in FIFA World Cup 1978 in Argentina, because of the political situation. They chose to refuse. Perhaps neither Argentina nor the Junta cried for the trio. And the Dutch flew home with a silver medal for the second time in a row, this time loosing the trophy to Argentina (1-3).

FIFA World Cup in Brazil has so far been a lot of goals, some surprises, a few bad referees and as mentioned, a big bite in the shoulder. But also political tensions. Far from every one in Brazil sees this tournament as just samba carnival, new year and first of may balloons. There are economical difficulties, big ones. There is a penniless people of Brazil.

Ordem e progresso, order and progress. In 2001 Penniless tuned the Brazil flag with some other words, on the Imbecile single cover. The Penniless album from last year, Rows of Houses, is not about favelas, but yes, the piece Imbecile included on the album Anola has perhaps something to say about Brazil and the FIFA World Cup too. Just do it, use your imagination, put your ball in motion.

i'll wait for you
with fireworks
i'll wait
i'll take everything
that you earned
i'll take

i'm an imbecile
i'm an imbecile for you
i'm in brazil for you

i own alone
the universe
i own
i'll change the way
you look at the world
i'll change the way it turns

i'll change

i hate the world
as much as i can
i'll use grenades and bombs and guns
and guns adjõ! adios!
i've got the whole world in my arms

*****

And here's the Imbecile video, directed by Hannu-Pekka Vitikainen. - But that's another story.