Take 'em Off! (2007)

Some might say that this collection from April 2007 is one of the best albums by The Mescaline Smugglers. At some point the other members of the band realized Tuomas hadn't ever given a name to any of the CDs up to that point, so it was obvious that this time it was his turn. This was the result, but no one knows what he means by that - The picture on the cover was taken in Jore's sauna...so maybe it's the clothes Tuomas is talking about.

All three men sing in this collection. Jore finds the meaning of the blues and Tuomas sings one of Jore's composition and also an old finnish evergreen. Davy is the main vocalist but only because he is such a bloody good singer and has the best english pronounciation in the band. Tarja can be found on two tracks, too.

Tuomas finds the pleasure of playing keyboards because of the new decent digipiano. Jore plays more mandolin than usual and looks like everybody is having fun.

All tracks are recorded in Parola, Finland in April 2007

Mixed by Jore Heikkilä
Webdesign by Jore & Joonas Heikkilä

Tracks:

1. Rain Pour Down (Mc Gowan)
is basically just a riff - I think the guitar was in DADGAD tuning. It was my idea to start off with opening the whisky bottle. Jore's playing double bass and the 'boom' in the background is from his electronic keyboard. Tuomas plays a mean piano on that too - I think I played everything else. I like to think we captured the 'threatening' feel I was looking for. I started hitting the bottle with a harmonica near the end - I've been hitting the bottle ever since! LOL! --davy
2. Graveyard Blues (Mc Gowan)
This was one I wrote while I was in Finland. It's in a bizarre guitar tuning - I like tunings - you can make up your own chords and get a different sound. Jore's on bass and mandolin. Tuomas on organ. Me on the guitars, drums, shaker and a couple of notes on the blues harp. Quite a depressing ditty - but I like the way it turned out and it lopes along quite moodily. I tend to mention God quite a bit - in spite of being an atheist - but I don't go in for psychoanalysis - that's just what comes into my head. --davy
3. Woodstock (Mitchell)
I always felt this was a very special song of hope and innocence. I prefer the Matthews Southern Comfort version to Joni Mitchell's original - I think Joni's the only female songwriter I rate with the best of the male ones - probably my mysogyny coming out again! I'm happy with how this turned out. The chord on 'garden' in the chorus isn't the right one - but it seemed to fit for me so I didn't give it much thought. (yep, that chord gave me some grey hair while trying to add "harmony" vocals to it!! --jore) I never do give much thought to things - I'm a great believer in the first take being the best - spontaneity is the key to capturing the moment. I'm on guitars, I remember reading a Donovan interview where the producer Jerry Wexler made Don do about 47 vocal takes on a particular song - I would simply have told him to stick his 64 track up his arse when he asked for the third one. --davy
4. Angel (Heikkilä - McGowan)
Jore had this all done when I arrived - he'd written the music to go with a poem that his friend Eero's mum had written. Jore asked me to do some English words for it - so I just fitted the words in around the already recorded melody - I think Jore played everything. We weren't sure at first whether to put this on the Smugglers or the Kvester Melkk CD - but because it had a 'whorehouse' in the lyrics we thought the Smugglers was the best place for it. --davy
I made three melodies for Eero's mother's poems, for the new poem book publishing party. Davy made lyrics for two of them. This is one, the other is on Kvester Melkk Quintet's new album Reizegger Blues. -Remember Eero? Check Cinnamon Salami! Original poem told us how the storyteller woke up and saw a gul walking in her yard eating worms after the rain. So we don't talk about translation here. --jore
5. Places Never Guessed (Mc Gowan)
is the title poem from a little book of them I wrote a few years back. I always had the idea of a kind of 'innocence and guilt' call and response thing - though it was hard to get Tarja to take it seriously. But we ran through it fine at the first attempt with her starting and me hanging over her shoulder at the same mic - hamming it up a bit. I put the 'tune' to it. Tuomas played a saw that was lying in a corner of Jore's basement. While I was in Finland Jore played me a recording of someone who he taped on his bus one day - a crazy woman who laughed and talked incredible loudly to no one in particular - I asked him to add some echo and try it out on the track and it seemed to add to the 'mad' feel OK. - she'll probably want royalties if it's ever released commercially! --davy
Yep, it was the last day I drove bus in the old company. This strange woman was very loud but she was not alone, she had a younger boy with him - maybe her sister's. But I had to tape the voice, it was so strange and different. The "rule" is that you don't speak to anyone in the finnish bus. And Davy said after hearing it: We'll use that on "Places"! Put it everywhere! --jore
6. Barrelhouse Gal (Mc Gowan)
is another of my 'good time' jug band songs generally about getting drunk and treating women with complete contempt! LOL! Political Correctness has never been my strong point I'm afraid. Great piano from Tuomas - he does some backing vocals too in the mix. I'm on washboard, harmonica, guitar and kazoo. Jore on bass and mandolin. It's derivative I know - and some the lines have been stolen from God knows what blues songs in my head - but that never bothers me either. --davy
We have a slideshow of this in the net. On Youtube, too, but the best version can be found on Terho Aalto's own pages on http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewalbum.html?bm=95357 . Terho is a pro photographer and he took last summer some video and photo material while we played this at my front yard. (Bypassers must have had fun). We all hope Terho can find some free time soon to edit the music video ready. Even the editing of this 3 minute slideshow took 6 hours working time. There are two different music version. CD has the "original", the slideshow has also jug and different piano. --jore
7. Come On (Williams)
is a song by Greg Williams from Sacramento. Great guy - he was guitar player with Lucy's Great Songs show in Edinburgh and Tom and I met up with him a couple of times and played some songs. We exchanged some music after he got back to the USA and I loved this song on the CD by his band 'Bandersnatch'. I asked his permission to record it and he was happy to give it - and he liked the outcome too. --davy
8. Everything's Magic (Mc Gowan)
is in another weird guitar tuning. I was just trying to capture a late Victorian/early Edwardian London feel. I knew it was one for Tarja to sing - but I did a guide vocal to help her learn it. However when we played back what she'd recorded we all decided we liked the double vocal. Just my guitar and the vocals on this one. --davy
9. Cowboy (Mc Gowan)
I think I was messing about with the start of Tom Waits 'Jersey Girl' when the first line of this popped into my head from God only knows where. I guess it's 1904 and the cowboys have been made redundant - or something like that - the end of an era type of thing. Thought I'd add the obligitory campfire harmonica at the end. --davy
10. Dreary Days (Heikkilä - McGowan)
is a poem of mine that Jore put a tune to. I guess we all know those kind of days. The guys had it recorded before I arrived so I'm not sure who's playing what - probably Jore on guitar and maybe Tuomas on bass but I'm not playing anything. --davy
No, we recorded it after you left, Davy. I wanted to hear Tuomas singing, too. (Same time we recorded also "Suviserenadi"). --jore
11. Please Don't Bend (Mc Gowan)
I fit in some sort of Donovan reference into quite a lot of my songs - it would be worth a grant from the government to investigate that line of enquiry! I had the guitar riff for this for a few days and 'Please Don't Bend' was what I started singing to it - like 'Scrambled Eggs' for McCartney when he was writing 'Yesterday'. The difference is I couldn't be arsed thinking up anything else so I just kept it. This is one of my favourites. Tuomas's piano is fantastic. Jore on mandolin, banjo (the sitar sound) and bass. I'm on bongos and guitars. We recorded this entire song twice because Jore 'lost' the first take into cyberspace somewhere! --davy
Way to go, Jore - this is the ultimate version! --jore
12. Ride a White Swan (Bolan)
was one Jore wanted to do. I'm a big early T.Rex fan so I was right up for it - I think everything was one take. The vocal was supposed to just be a practice one - but it sounded OK so we just kept it. Me on guitars and harmonica and tablas - Jore on mandolin and the keyboard 'bass orchestra'. --davy
13. Sloppy Drunk (Carr)
was a track we recorded on my visit last year - but Jore forgot to put it on the Koskenkorvapuusti CD - so we decided not to waste it and added a few extra things to it and used it this time. An old blues number I heard on one of the many CD's Karen has sent me over the past couple of years. Jore on bass and mandolin. Tuomas on piano and me on the rest I think. --davy
12 bar blues of getting drunk... boring!! But just wait until the piano solos start! --jore
14. Going To California (Heikkilä - McGowan)
This was a tune Jore had put to a silly poem of mine called 'Shilling and sixpence' but I decided the tune was too good to use on such nonsense - so I wrote new words for it. Jore plays everything here. The original song with my poem and Jore's vocal will appear on a forthcoming 4 box CD of outtakes and remixes from 2003-2010 LOL! --davy
Thanks for reminding me - I must rewrite now "the Shilling" --jore
15. Busy Man (Mc Gowan)
I'm often accused of being a male chauvinist pig - so I decided to try and live up to it. A tongue in cheek 'keep women barefoot and pregnant' song with a piano to die for from Tuomas. Jore on bass and mandolin and me on anything else you can hear. It really turned out great and I think it has a real 'swagger' to it. I probably overdid it with the Eddie Murphy type impersonation at the end - but we're not the Rolling Stones - so who cares? --davy
16. Stay (Heikkilä)
Finnish blues from Jore which had me in tears listening to it for the first time! LOL! Great that Jore's taken so much blues music into his Finnish psyche. I overdubbed a harmonica and Tuomas and I overdubbed about 12 backing vocals while we were drunk....which is the only sensible way of overdubbing 12 backing vocals as far as I'm concerned - though Tuomas wanted to go for 20...... --davy
Isn't this what the blues is all about? --jore
17. Invocation (Heikkilä - McGowan)
is a poem of mine that Jore put music to. It's a kind of Celtic Druid/Anglo Saxon Southern England thing I suppose. Maybe Donovan could cover it! I think Jore plays everything except the tablas - which is me and the saw - which I presume is Tuomas. When Jore originally played it to me there were guitars all though it - but it seemed to lack the sense of 'mystery' I was loking for. I just asked him to put the faders on the guitars to zero and the result was a completely different sounding track that captured everything I could possibly dream of.for the song. --davy
I guess this would have fit fine to Harlequinesque, our psychedelic album in the future. But why wait? It's ready now. --jore
18. Looking For You (Heikkilä)
LOOKING FOR YOU and SUVISERENADI were recorded without me - though I have a feeling the first one is the title of one of the lyrics I put to Jore's tune when we first got in touch in 2002. It's got a bit of a South American feel to it - lovely.. --davy
No. "Looking for You" was one of the 4 melodies I made in panic before Davy would leave in March 2006. Others were "Lady" and "Nasty Weather" (on Songs for a Winter's Night"). The last one is still to come. This one got not quite ready then (or it was too boring) so it ended here as an instrumental. Btw, first it was not South American at all, it was pure country... --jore
19. Suviserenadi (Käyhkö - Haarla)
Suviserenadi is by Kauko Käyhkö, famous finnish music man back from 1940's or so. Lyrics by Aune Haarla. But what does it tell about? Oh shit - typical finnish loving nonsense - names of the flowers - "can you hear my calling" -stuff. But the music is fine. I never listen finnish words, they are usually too hard to figure out what the hell they mean. Endings (rhymes) usually win the meaning, if you know what I mean --jore
Tuomas singing and whistling on Suviserandi is sensational - it's a fantastic melody and really sums up all of the sad, melancholy wistfulness of Finnish folk music. I have no idea what it's all about - but that doesn't matter at all. --davy

PREVIEW — LYRICS — DOWNLOAD — REVIEWS

1. Rain Pour Down Well I ain’t got nothing but the clothes I’m in I ain’t got nothing but the clothes I’m standing in I ain’t got nothing but the clothes I’m in And the rain pour down, the rain pour down like sin Well I ain’t got nothing but this lousy dime I ain’t got nothing but this lousy stinking dime I ain’t got nothing but this lousy dime And the rain pour down, the rain pour down like time. (c) Davy Mc Gowan 2007 4. Angel Where’s my guardian angel go to sleep at night? I get so worried - he keeps such strange hours Last I saw of him he lit himself a cigarette Then waved goodbye with just a, ‘Hasta la vista’ Is he smoking a Havana down in Mexico, Or living in a whorehouse in Berlin somewhere Maybe he found the woman of his dreams Maybe he’s drunk behind some worn out housing scheme I see the clock has just gone four Could be him knocking at the door (c) Davy Mc Gowan 2007 6. Barrelhouse Gal I got a gal, I won’t tell no lie I hope I’m with her till the day I die She’s a heavy hipped mama, got great big legs Looks like she’s walking on soft boiled eggs She’s a barrelhouse gal, a barrelhouse gal, Sure looking’ good to me She pays my rent, pays my dues Cleans my clothes and shines my shoes Well I love that woman like I love my shine And she loves me like she loves her wine Lord she make me howl like a panther squall If I can’t have her don’t want no one at all Lord she buys me cigarettes whisky and beer Now that’s the kind of gal I love around here I may be right, I may be wrong But I ain’t gonna sing no more of this song (c) Davy Mc Gowan 2007 8. Everything's Magic Snow in the city The lamplighter’s making his way Tangerine colours of sky In the twilight of day The smell of hot chestnuts The sound of the church bell’s peal Everything’s magic - and nothing is real Walk down the cobbled street Hear all the street vendors cry The man with the dancing bear Tips his hat as you pass by The clip clop of horseshoes The sparks of the carriage’s wheels Everything’s magic - and nothing is real Stop at the toyshop The rocking horse stares, so does Jack The tin soldiers line up The train runs around on the track And lost to the world You wonder how life then would feelv Where everything’s magic - and nothing is real (c) Davy Mc Gowan 2007

9. Cowboy Cowboy, cowboy on the lonesome trail You’ve ridden through summer sun and winter gale Cowboy, cowboy what you gonna do? You’re old world is changing, there’s a new world coming through The men who built the railroad Have saddled up and gone The days of cattle driving Are just a dream that’s done Cowboy, cowboy hat upon your dead The country’s been tamed now and Jesse James is dead Cowboy, cowboy six gun in your hand The Indians no longer live here in this land It’s men with pens and paper Who rule the country now Better ride into the sunset While you still remember how (c) Davy Mc Gowan 2007 11. Please Don't Bend Please don’t bend, please don’t bend Well I asked you once before And I won’t ask you no more Baby please don’t bend, please don’t bend Please don’t bend, please don’t bend Lord this love I have for you Gonna break my heart in two Baby please don’t bend, please don’t bend Please don’t bend, please don’t bend Satisfaction’s hard to find When you’ve trouble in your mind Baby please don’t bend, please don’t bend (c) Davy Mc Gowan 2007 15. Busy Man I ain’t got time to take the dog out walkin’ I ain’t got time to sit around here talkin’ It’s Saturday night, I got money in my hand I’m going down to hear that juke joint band I’m a busy man, I’m a busy man doing my thing. I ain’t got time to go and cut no grass I ain’t got time to sit listening to your sass woman It’s Saturday night, I just got paid I’m gonna have myself a ball, you hear what I said? I’m a busy man, I’m a busy man doing my thing I ain’t got time to stand around here listening to all Your jive ass talking woman - I gots to do my thang - you unnerstand what I’m saying? Well…..if you Wanna go to your goddamn mothers - then go! I ain’t got no chains on you woman. Shit! Just be sure an’ leave the door latch off. (c) Davy Mc Gowan 2007 16. Stay Mmm, babe. Mmm. Oh. (????.) Why did you have to go? Why did you have to go? I need you come back, mm, babe Mmmm. Get back, get back, babe. Babe, I need you. Mmmmm! What do you want me to say? All I can say is: stay with me, babe... babe. (c) Jorma Heikkilä 2007

PREVIEW — LYRICS — DOWNLOAD — REVIEWS

First review comes from Greg:

Mescaline Smugglers “Take ‘em Off!”

The MS have outdone themselves this time with a really cohesive sound that is traditional, eclectic, folk, rock and everything in between. The beautiful precision of the interweaving of the music lets us know from the get go, that this album is many steps ahead of the last MS album. Listen to this on headphones for goodness sake; you’ll be amazed at the subtlety of the layers of instruments and vocals. I decided to review this without reading anything except the titles, just as well, since I can’t find anything except Colleen’s review so you may see errors in instruments naming and/or blues stylings, I’m an artist for Christ’s sake, not a musician, so please forgive.

Rain Pour Down -Layers of musical instruments and vocals introduce this first song on the cd. We know we’re in for an unusual experience as a drum (bodhran?) stands in for thunder in this first song on the CD. The wind up toy sounds, several guitars and piano all lend of sense of being slightly out of control, the atmosphere charged with static electricity, perhaps sitting in a broken down bus on the banks of the Achalayfa River on a hot summer day in a sudden thunderstorm passing around a flask of whiskey and a pack of Lucky’s. A great change up for a blues song.

Graveyard Blues - Another nice blues tune from “Smokey” McGowan. The bongos help to add just the right atmosphere of slow beatniky sound of a dark club at 2:00am, with the beautifully subtle keyboard in the background and foreground. Masterful guitar playing as well as another string instrument I can’t quite make out.

Woodstock – This is the showstopper of the CD for me. What had been a kind of dusty standby classic is revamped as a gorgeous piece of music. The beautiful strings and piano enhance the wonderful guitar playing and the vocals. The harmonies are gorgeous and overwhelm every other version of this song I have heard. The MS have taken an iconic song that has almost become a cliché and make it wonderful once more. That delicate layering of the instruments and vocals shows Jore’s masterful touch in arranging and mixing as well as instrumental skills.

Angel – Excellent song, way too short, but like an excellent short story, it leaves you panting for more. The juxtaposition of the symbolic Guardian angel with the cynical world weary idea of just walking away to the other side of the tracks opens up a Dali-esque world where angels may drop their halos for a bottle of Ripple and mix the profane with the sacred. Subtly great guitar playing and a fantastic arrangement makes it moody, with wonderfully subdued vocals. One of my album favorites.

Places Never Guessed - I wish I could understand this better, but I get the images of Tarja asking life’s questions of a demon within a haunted cave of mysterious and eerie sounds. The demon I hear is a tall, long necked fellow made of black jello answering the questions and then slithering back down a haunted well deep into the lair of Cthulhu. Love that instrument making the eerie sounds and the compressed story bookish heart beat pace of the guitar playing.

Barrel house Gal – This is what I would consider a definitive McGowan song, The wonderful barrelhouse piano (Tuomas? Jore) with the soaring blues harp overriding and the addition of what sounds like a roomful of drunken chorus boys. One of those songs that you assume on first listen; “Oh that’s a traditional blues song, possibly from Chicago,” and then you realize Davy has picked up all of the nuances of the genre, including specific references to names and places. But the etymology could be perfect and the song could be shite, without the authentic interpretation and this song has got it. This song is perfect, lyric, rhythm and music blend so well that your feet are tapping and you are singing along after the first verse, without even realizing it. And I do love the kazoo adding to the happy chorus at the end.

Come On - An absolutely wonderful version of Greg Williams’ song. From the beginning Spanish style guitar and Caribbean rhythms give you a feeling of a Jamaican night club. The keyboard standing in for steel drums is superb and the guitar work is fantastic. Again, the layering of vocals and instruments is amazing. The bass vocal accompaniment on the chorus adds a great deal. This may be the only time that we will ever hear Davy say “I don’t want to drink” so enjoy it.

Everything’s Magic - This song is an unexpected pleasure, my second favorite song on the album. Wonderful vocals by Davy and Tarja carry you off to that magic world just beyond the door. The guitar seems deceptively simple, but belies the fact that when a single instrument is played, there is nowhere to hide. Absolutely gorgeous song, with a flavor of Victorian neverlands.

Cowboy – A spare guitar and (dobro) accompany this excellent song of the sundown of the west. You’d think that Davy had wandered through Wyoming and some of the ghost towns of Nevada with his blues harp in hand, to paint this haunting little story. Excellent vocals and the harmonica damn near makes you want to cry when it wings in at the end of the song.

Dreary Days – Finally we get Jore (a-hum..It's Tuomas, Greg!) out from behind the mixing board and instruments and in front of a microphone. I love Jore’s deep vocals, he has a great voice and we need to hear him more. The song has a nice feel of the northern lands in Europe. Makes you want to roll up in a nice warm blanket with a cup of tea and a good book. Great lyrics.

Please Don’t Bend – Excellent fast blues, someone blew off the dust off the blues and took it downtown for a ride. Blind Haggis McGowan’s vocals are fantastic on this song and the rhythm and guitars are great. Leaves me wanting more, especially with the little touch of something as it fades out.

Ride a White Swan – Great song, dobro and mandolin get it rocking right from the top.. I’m not familiar with the original, but I love this version, particularly the way the electric bass rides over the top of the melody. Another foot tapper, eminently danceable if this was done in a place with a dance floor.

Sloppy Drunk – Talk about danceable, this one gets you jumping and jiving. I’m buying the next round if you’ll play it again. When the barrel house piano comes in at the break, the song jumps to another level. Fantastic and when I hear them exclaim “one more” at the end, I yelling for more and looking in my jeans for a fiver to hand over to the band for another play.

Going to California – Mix of Rambling Jack Elliott with European sensibilities hit the road because everyone has done me wrong song. A great rendition, bass and guitar are just about perfect and the dramatic pauses cause a syncopation that leaves the listener wondering when the next note will begin and smiling along when it starts again.

Busy Man – short Roadhouse style blues, Chicago style? I don’t care, I’m just listening and loving it and watching out, cause that man might have a razor in his shoe. Another song that I wish was about a minute longer, I just start enjoying it when it ends.

Stay – Is this Jore on vocals? Another capper for the album, vocals are absolutely great, the stogies and whiskey voiced singer is surrounded by a walking blues guitar and fantastic slide guitar, overlaid by a vocal harmony way off in the background along with that “way off on the edge of the Prairie” harmonica. This is definitely one to listen to on headphones or you’ll miss all the cool stuff going down.

Invocation- A strange visit to a surrealistic land with enough instruments to confuse Neville Mariner. I’m not sure exactly where this magical journey is taking us, but the invoker pushing through the limits of the ordinary world. Absolutely hypnotic.

Looking for You – Absolutely gorgeous, one of my favorite pieces the MS have done. This instrumental peace is evocative of many things; hints within the music are like whiffs of aromatic spices in the air, arousing the mind with memories that lie beneath the subconscious. Is it a caravan across the moonlit night of a Romany dream of dancers by the firelight? I can’t tell, and don’t really want to know, the music just carries me away and worries are forgotten and I keep playing it again. Jeesh, I love this.

Suvisernadi – Great to hear Jore up front again. (For God's sake, Greg, it's Tuomas!) Is this a Finnish folk song? A serenade? The vocals are really wonderful and the whistling is great…something that is a hell of a lot harder to do than you think! The singer sounds wistful and full of a memory of another time.

And second review is given to us by Michelle:

rain pour down
i really like the way it sounds because davy pulls the strings to make me jump into the song...

graveyard blues
groovy feel with the shaker....kind of bossenova....the bass is up and down....tuomas plays a bit like ray manzerick...he is a talent to be sure

woodstock
what a great cover!....it makes me feel like you guys were there...at least in spirit...this is also a special tune to me...it says so much lyrically and i love the harmonies

angel
such a soft melody for this prayer of sorts...a fallen angel...no...just thoughts put to floating music in the air

places never guessed
this is great....it takes brilliant minds to make "crazy" something tangible...the fact that you recorded it lets me know that you hear music and or sound in everything...ive always thought that....tarja is great and i love the whispering that reminds me of the devil..the saw is the perfect accent to this tune

barrelhouse gal
i especially love the jugband songs....when i hear them it makes me want to be in a corner drinking a pint watching you guys play...i dont find offense from the lyric...its perfect for the song

come on
a carribian feel because of the organ sounding a bit like calipso...soft guitar accompaniment is perfect for this.....now i am on the beach with a drink and an umbrella in it, my feet are in the sand as i enjoy my vacation with this tune, having sex with handsome strangers...lol

everythings magic
simply a lovely journey with the melody...the lyric painting a lovely picture in my mind and the guitar holding the feeling throughout...when did davy become a softie???...lol...very pretty

cowboy
the mandolin is superb as it guides the lyric...the harmonica is simply perfect...there is a feeling that these days are gone by and captured by davys voice carries that emotion

dreary days
now i can hear your voice!!!...i love your deep, soft voice...perfect for this tune!...a sad lyric that rings true to all of us, just as the melody captures it

please dont bend
you and davy are tearing it up....so many different things that fit into place like a puzzle piece....great bass...it all has its own place to make one beautiful multifaceted rhythm

ride a white swan
i love this one..mandolin is perfection...davy should have a harmonica sewn to his arse he plays it so well

sloppy drunk
great bass work throughout!!!!.....do i hear electric guitar?...its sweet!!!....tuomas is one talented piano player....sweet mandolin solo!!...i think davy has a special connection to this tune...lol!

going to california
i dig the shaker....and to hear you people across the pond talking about coming to yank country is funny but you are brilliant with the bass and davys voice is crisp and in perfect tune with this melody...i wish you guys would come here to the states....go to mississippi and the coast with this music...you would have gigs every night in new orleans on bourbon street

busy man
a real foot tapper....the bass, piano, guitar...the echo of mandolin...tuomas is incredible...i fell right into the beat of this tune from the first bar/measure

stay
lmao!....great slide work and the voice of blues men past...who is wearing blackface???...i cant quit giggling...i used to sing like this when i was a kid for fun....its a serious piece of music if i could get past the vocal..but thats what also makes it so fuckin great

invocation
this is so original...i love the way the music and voice take you almost on a lsd trip of sorts....not knowing what is next....magical and haunting...very cool

looking for you
this is my favorite...i hear your soul in it....all over it....it always gives me this feeling of warmth and peace...music from a very special place inside you

suviserenadi
i take it back...this is my favorite!....how beautiful...in your native tongue i could melt...such a beautiful voice that fills each word in the lyric with emotion....this made me cry...ive listened to it over and over....im speechless...i would love to know the translation but because of the way you deliver it...its not needed...wow...thank you so much for this one!!! BRAVO!!