WIGWAM

Being is a very strange little album. After many listens I no longer agree that this is jazz fusion, rather an eclectic blend of genres that has a dark musical effect somewhat similar to that of Van Der Graaf Generator. I have listened to this album on and off for a while now, and I am not as excited about it as I was at the time I discovered it. The music is dark and matches the cynicism of the lyrics, but it is rather bland in some parts. The musicianship is obviously and undeniably excellent, particularly Pekka Pohjola's bass playing, which is superb. Jukka Gustavson has a great voice, and I can't help but think that it is somewhat similar to Stevie Wonder at times throughout the album. He has a very amusing range of voices that make me laugh out loud.

The songwriting is rather a mixed bunch of similar sounding songs. Some points of the album are rather weak, such as Pride Of The Biosphere, but there are some really great tracks as well. The stand out on the album is Pedagogue, a 9 minute song that is driven by woodwinds and a great electric piano solo. Ooooh...that chord progression. From what I gather this is a song about a lessons in politics and similar such things. This track is probably one of the more memorable tracks in my music collection. Petty-Bourgeois is another great moment, which has some great instrumental work and some very funny voices. Pride Of The Biosphere is one of the more memorable moments of the album, more out of shock than out of wonder. Here we hear an old man reminiscing about the "glory" of the war, which is a rather tasteless account of rape and racism. While the lyrics are biting and cynical and capture one's attention, I can't help but dislike the track's blatant lyrics.

Highly political lyrics do not really interest me, and so I think I am a little biased. The lyrics are well written however, and there are some very genuinely amusing moments. Musically the songwriting is good, though it does lack substance in some places. Musicianship is this albums greatest merit, particularly the bass playing, which is a credit to bass playing in any genre.

A good addition to your prog collection.

Well, this third (and double) album of Wigwam suffers for the same reason, but as for Yessongs I quite disagree about "jeopardizing". That's the sound quality available at the beginning of the 70s and for one like me who was listening to them on a "Readers Digest" turntable, that's the quality I was used to.

On a live like yessongs and on a studio album like Fairyport, including the last long track that's live, what is called a "bad sound quality" is part of the album, like it or not it's so.

The very good thing is how the things are mixed together. The first very jazz moment arrives with the title track, that's the third of the album, but the whole thing is permeated by Pekka Pohjola's bass. It's effectively on the title track that the bad recording quality can be more disturbing, but t gives me the same sensations of when I listen to Tommy Dorsey on a 78 RPM (believe me or not, I have a 78RPM compilation of big bands at home).

Now let's speak of the album instead of the production. After the first two releases this seems to be the album on which the band has found a direction. With Canterbury and Zappa as principal influences there's also a good bunch of classical music, some humor and some very prog moments. The second part of Caffkaff is one of the best examples including almost all the mentioned elements.

It's a long album so it can even have some weaker episodes, but the overall quality of the compositions is very above the standards. It's a pity that the sound quality of "Rave-up For The Roadies" is so bad. Effectively on this one I can't say that it doesn't disturb, and the music is quite different from Dorsey's orchestra. In this jazz-rock epic there are so many things to catch that effectively it's quite too bad, but the music is so good that I can forgive the producer.

So how to rate it?

Let's say that even with the bad production it's an excellent addition to any prog collection. I can't rate it as a masterpiece because an album is made also of production but there are surely masterpiece tracks. As we all know 4.5 is not allowed....

Finland. Yes Finland. The outsider country that lies on the eastern tip of Scandinavia mostly known for Nokia and it's involvement in the second world war. Personally I have a long withstanding relationship to the country due to a brand of vodka named Finlandia, and most importantly: the music.

I've been thinking about a series of reviews opening up the gates to Finland's progressive music scene, and where else to start than the magnificent and probably most recognised of bands: Wigwam. First of all I really have to thank John(Mellotron Storm) for pointing me in the right direction, and for that I am forever grateful of. Thanks buddy! This album is a jewel in the rough, and even if it, at times, shows signs of overindulgence and the odd track that doesn't quite fit in with the rest, the remaining material is up there with the best of it's time. This is melodic fusion at its most intricate and endearing, and to yours truly it actually feels much more like a Scandinavian Canterbury release. It's got those angular shifts - the jumpy pianos and organs that sound incredibly powerful and meaty - like fluctuating fat chords being stomped upon by a great big melody smith of jazz rock. Swish! From one end to the other, these massive chords act as a delightful foundation for everything else to flourish on. Saxophones, guitars, oboe, bassoon, clarinet and warm vibrating congas fluently running alongside the engaging melodies like a sprinting sonic gazelle.

The trademark of Wigwam, at least to this slightly crazy Dane, is the wonderful mix of the aforementioned Scandinavian Canterbury warmth coupled together with what can only be described as the white-boy rendition of Stevie Wonder on vocals. In fact most of this album wouldn't sound out of place on Wonder's fantastic Innervisions - had he opted for a decisively more jazzy and playful expression. But don't take my word for it though, get your own copy, and tell me you don't hear the distinct similar feel in both piano and organ melodies as well as those bitter-sweet charismatic vocals. What this effectively does, is making Fairyport astonishingly accessible, even for those of you who normally despise the fusion genre. This is just such a welcoming and lovable album, that I have serious trouble imagining anybody into progressive music not liking it.

For anybody who's interested in music from Finland, this is da shizzle right here! Even if many of the Finnish bands were into gang-banging back in those days - trading members all over the place - I think that essentially was part of the reason as to why the scene became such a thriving and blooming place for music. There was a common feel, and although most of the groups had created a sound for themselves, you still hear that endemic and Canterburian sound prevailing. It's playful and well-thought out - likening to the sort of song-writing you'd encounter in British groups like Caravan and Hatfield and the North - be that with the unique Finnish stamp. A sense of melody and a way with brass instruments that I personally feel exceed any of the acts from the cradle of the Canterbury sound.

Fairyport is recommended to everybody. Hah! Sounds ridiculous, but I mean that. Most of this album is masterpiece material - it rides a musical high that is as seldom and beautiful like a lost rainbow in a closet, and even if those mundane and bewildering sections knock it down to a 4.5 star rating, the remainder of this album is like exploding chocolate ice cream in your tummy.

Heavy and brooding with lighter undertones sprinkled here and there, the album takes shape quickly and the flow is nice. "Pedagogue" and Prophet" are true highlights, with the latter highlighting vocals you'd swear were Stevie Wonder.

Not a true representation of the bands aspirations, but a great album nonetheless. This record is 39 minutes well spent from a band that has soul.

Pembroke has written a suite about a chap called Henry. There's a strong Beatles influence, and if the whole suite was as good as its best parts, it would be great, but the interest disappears here and there.

The second album was a foolish attempt to reach wider audience abroad. It is perhaps the weakest album by the original WIGWAM, despite the arrival of the future legendary bassist- composer Pekka POHJOLA (whose instrumental '1936 Lost In the Snow' is only average). The highligt is Gustavson's deeply emotional closer, 'End'. But the album is full of weak material, some of it actually quite irritating.

For those interested in WIGWAM this 2-in-1 is however recommendable, because together they contain enough goodies. One can always use the skip button...

Tombstone Valentine failed to make Wigwam the new Beatles because they were Wigwam. I mean that the band's member, one for all Pekka Pohjola have their way to make music, surely influenced by the Beatles but when artists have personality they can't stay on a standard too strict.

"Tombstone Valentine" sounds Beatlesian enough specially in the slowest parts, but the second track is enough to understand that they are making their own music.

Te third, short, track "Dance of The Anthropopids" is an experimental electronic shot. More experimental than Revolution 9.

"Frederick & Bill" sounds more similar to Gong or Gentle Giant than to Beatles, and taking into account that it's 1970 it means that they were enough in advance respect to their times.

"Wishful Thinker" is a slow country-rock ballad. It makes me think to Rolling Stones and their Wild Horses just with a touch of Procol Harum added by the organ.

Still on the countryside with the fiddle and the banjo of "Autograph", but giving attention to the chords it's not totally country, like Geoff Richardson's Caravan.

"1936 - Lost In The Snow" doesn't have anything of Lennon or McCartney. It's more in the vein of Canterbury. Not jazzy as Soft Machine but promising of what will come in the following years. The final fadeout is really a pity.

"Let The World Rumble On" is a poppy song on which Pekka's bass makes a good work.

"For America" is the first true jazzy song. Bass and piano in 5/4 turning to swing after a while. The best track of this album IMO.

"Captain Supernatural" is a song reminding of Procol Harum. Nothing wrong in sounding like Procol Harum in 1970.

"End" (nice title for a closer) is an experimental organ solo in the first half, then piano and voice complete the song. This is, I think , a Pekka Pohjola's composition.

The album is just a collection of unrelated songs with different moods. I like it but it fits perfectly into the 3-stars definition.