A MESSAGE FROM LAIKA & THE COSMONAUTS-----------------------------
There sometimes comes a time in a band's career when things are still great,
but you can sense that the natural lifespan is nearing the end. It..s
nobody..s fault, there..s no reason for it, it just happens. That..s
where we are with Laika & The Cosmonauts now. We love the band &
music and are very proud of all the gigs and records we..ve done. We
don..t wanna our good career to go where we end up being a bored/boring bar band that plays too few gigs to keep it tight, with the same songs all the time and gradually keeps getting worse and worse and in the process start hating the music and each other. So...
. when we release the compilation, it will be , not only to
celebrate our 20th anniversary, but also to enhance the enjoyment of our farewell tour
and make it an appropriate finale for the 20 year on the road - we intend to have
fun and play great gigs! We..ll do as many shows as possible in
Finland in august-november and then october in USA.
We..ll be playing the east coast, hopefully the west coast too and then play our final gigs at
the Continental Club in Austin, our home away from home (oct 31st and nov 1st) and...after which we'll have a few beers and relax, you know...
THANK..S EVERYBODY! JOIN US FOR THE CELEBRATION!--------------------------------
LAIKAT 20 VUOTTA:
C..MON, DO THE LAIKA ONE MORE TIME!
"Ylpeinä 20:stä vuodesta, kaikista keikoista ja levytyksistä, kiitollisina uskollisille faneillemme meidän on pakko todeta, että se on pian siinä. Bändeillä tulee eteen hetki, jolloin jokin kertoo, että elinkaari lähestyy loppuaan vaikka kaikki onkin edelleen kunnossa ja mahtavaa. Ei mitään varsinaista syytä, niin se vain menee.
Emme halua päätyä tylsäksi baaribändiksi, joka tekee liian vähän keikkoja pysyäkseen vedossa, soittaa samaa settiä hautaan asti ja vihaa lopulta musiikkiaan ja toisiansa. Se käy huomaamatta ajan kuluessa. Siksi panemme pillit pussiin, kun vielä suhtaudumme intohimoisesti bändiimme ja sen – no – ainutlaatuiseen musiikkiin.
Juhlimme 20-vuotista taivaltamme syksyllä 2008 julkaisemalla kokoelmalevyn ja soittamalla raivokkaita keikkoja viimeistä päivää Kierrämme Suomea elo- ja syyskuussa ja jatkamme lokakuun puolivälissä aluksi Yhdysvaltain länsirannikolle ja sitten itään missä kierrämme mukavia paikkoja vanhan rakkaan vihollisemme Los Straitjacketsin kanssa. Vihoviimeiset soinnut kaikuvat kuitenkin Austinista, Texasista, joka on ollut merkittävä ja läheinen kaupunki bändillemme. Sieltä alkoi myös kipuamisemme ylös ö-kastista aikoinaan.
Laika & The Cosmonautsin viimeiset keikat keikat Austinin Continental Clubissa 31.10. ja 1.11.2008!
Tulkaa mukaan kanssamme – ja kiitos vielä."
T. LAIKA & THE COSMONAUTS (1988-2008)
www.laikaandthecosmonauts.com---------------------------------
Laika & The Cosmonauts was founded in 1987 by Mikko Lankinen (guitar), Janne Haavisto (drums), Matti Pitsinki (organ and guitar) and Tom Nyman (bass). Their first album "C'mon Do The Laika" was released already in 1988. The group has since then released six more studio albums, all with the same line-up.
Their popularity in Finland and the rest of the Europe began to rise, surprisingly, only after they had made themselves a household name among the surf/garage/punk/alternative audience in The USA! There this foursome has released four original CD's ("Instruments of Terror", "The Amazing Colossal Band", "Absurdistan" and "Local Warming") as well as a compilation of their early stuff (from "C'mon do the Laika" and "Surfs you right!"). For these records they got rave reviews, good amount of airplay on the radio and won over the hearts of many famed musicians from "the king of surf guitar" Dick Dale to Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench. Other well-known Laika fans are Mike Palm from the surf-punk legend Agent Orange and John Jorgenson from The Hellecasters who, also played with Elton John for several years!
In US they have done many nationwide tours, one of which was as a supporting act for The Ministry on their "Filth Pig" tour. The singer of Ministry, Al Jourgensen wanted Laika & The Cosmonauts to join the stadium tour because, in his words; "They are the best f***ing band in the world!" Just check out their superb live album "Laika Sex Machine" (2000) and you'll come to the same conclusion yourself.
The music of the band has been also included in number of movies including Flipper, LA Without A Map, Fox Hunt, Blood and Donuts, The Iron Horsemen.
Since the members are big fans of movies and soundtrack albums one of the main goals is to get the Laika-music on the big screen.
Laika & The Cosmonauts is also continually touring Europe and their home country. They have done dozens of TV appearances (including a live TV-show shown all over Europe called "Absolut Live") and hundreds of radio interviews/shows in the USA as well as in Europe. In Japan some people might even know the band members from their work as record producers with artists such as "Lemonator", "Super", "The JP's", "Värttinä".
A 20th anniversary compilation album is in the production phase. The record will be released in august 2008 by Yep Roc Records in the US and by Grandpop Records in Finland and Scandinavia. The album will also contain BRAND NEW, PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED MATERIAL - tunes Laika & the Cosmonauts composed for accompaniment to the Fritz Lang silent film classic METROPOLIS!!!
To celebrate the 20th anniversary and the release of the compilation Laika & The Cosmonauts wil be touring Finland (August-October) and USA (October).
Toinen pitkäsoittomme ilmestyy lähiaikoina. Levyllä on mukana vain ja ainoastaan ennenjulkaisematonta orkkismateriaalia! Näytteet seitsemästä biisistä kuultavissa sivultamme NYT.
Twangsville tarjoaa levyn ennakkotilaajille ilman toimituskuluja. Twangsvillen sivut löydät tästä: www.twangsville.net
Olemme myös mukana Arctic Surf-kokoelmalla kolmen kappaleen voimalla. Biisit ovat niinikään ennenjulkaisemattomia, ja nimenomaan tätä kokoelmaa varten sävellettyjä.
Blue Suede News. CD Reveiw Gagarin Brothers / Twist Behind The Iron Curtain
I like variety and after reviewing a couple of Rockabilly albums I was ready for this - a Russian quintet! The Gagarin Brothers' music is a wildly entertaining mix of Rockabilly slap bass, 60s music from the instro rock of the Ventures and swinging bands my parents danced to, crooner type and jazzy material - all the while incorporating a hefty dose of Russian, Jewish and Eastern European music including Gypsy Jazz. While the 14 titles printed on the CD insert are in English, the Gagarin Brothers exclusively sing in Russian (and that's probably a good choice!). Alexei Cekatskii is an exceptionally good vocalist with an almost operatic voice, prominently standing out in the excellent mix of guitar, upright bass, drums and accordion - all skillfully mastered. The sound is perfect, too! Bassist Dmitry Ilyin can slap with the best of them all the while being very tasteful when it comes to the jazzier offerings. Gitarrist Alexei Andreev is in a class by himself, too. Extra hot is the dynamic opener "International Panorama" with space-age effects. Check out the Tango of "Beauty Queen", the hoppin' "Last Train", the cool "Twilight" and "Road Shuffle", the slap-heavy Bill Haley style "Sea Devil" and the Neo-Swing of Black Cat". This is just a really fun and groovy album in a 60s spirit and while it's not a Twist album per se, the Gagarin Brothers (named after the famed astronaut) twist mend and bend genres to their full advantage. -GMB -Marc Bristol www.bluesuedenews.com
Thankyou for adding Sonic World Festival, 4/5th September 2009. Tickets are available from www.sonicworldfestival.co.uk and www.myspace.com/harveybainbridgemusic as well as our own myspace site. £30 for the whole weekend, indoor toilets, free showers, free camping, bars, bar meals and restaurant, indoor venue.
Online Now!
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