Pekka Streng

2003 release ** "Pekka Streng's music was fundamentally far from rock or pop; his intimate and reflective songs were more reminiscent of folk, vocals and often even children's music (Tove Jansson was one of Streng's great idols). Love Records' brilliant insight was to have Tasavallan Presidentti accompany his first album. This synthesis gave rise to music that, instead of acoustic folk, was influenced by prog, psychedelia and sometimes even jazz. However, the arrangements did not banish the delicate etherealness of Streng's songs. A good example of this is Sisältani porttin lössin, which has become a great classic of Finnish rock since Magneettimiehen's death. Finland had its own Nick Drake. Kesämaa was also made with the help of top musicians (including Hasse Walli, Pekka Pöyry, Olli Ahvenlahti and Eero Koivistoinen). The overall tone of the album was brighter and happier than their first, and the lithely swinging Perhonen, based on a Czech children's poem translated into Finnish by Eeva-Liisa Manner, became quite a radio hit. "Time is the harshest measure of art," writes Suonna Kononen in the excellent cover texts for Streng's albums, now released on CD. Time has treated Streng with understanding kindness, although the demos and radio recordings included as bonus tracks are sometimes embarrassingly primitive or a jumble born of jazz tobacco."