Tallinn Music Week

Tallinn Music Week
26th – 28th March 2010

The cobbled, snowy streets of Tallinn, Estonia were awash with musicians and music industry professionals this weekend as the Tallinn Music Week got underway with its second year of showcasing the best in Estonian, Finnish, Lithuanian and Latvian talent.

Myself and a handful of other UK journalists touched down in Estonia at midnight on Friday. One look at the medieval architecture of the old town and the suspiciously open-looking drinking dens and the next thing we knew it was 5am and we were eating jacket potatoes (the rather brilliant Estonian equivalent to a kebab) following a few hilarious hours in a karaoke bar. Tallinn has been invaded by swathes of stag-dos of late, becoming something of the new Prague in terms of it’s affordability and culture (hence the late night drinking and ‘Grease’ medleys) but it’s charm still oozes from every stone and cobble, making it obvious why it’s been chosen as the European Capital Of Culture 2011. For reasons unknown, Tallinn is also home to not one but two bars which are entirely dedicated to Depeche Mode. This is where we began most evenings, in a sea of DM videos, memorabilia and multiple recitals of ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ (it appears the Estonians really can’t).

Antonia (pic: Rasmus Jurkatam)

The event officially opened on Friday morning in the conference rooms where we were given sparkling wine (not for me, thanks) and the President of Estonia, no less, greeted us via a video message. We started the program of gigs with Maria Minerva, a resident of Tallinn who specializes in nervous, home-made shoe-gaze electro. Maria’s music is dreamy and hypnotic, held back only by her unreliable disposition, which got the better of her during a couple of songs. Next up was Antonia, your typical Euro electro act with a hint of Japanese gimmick, delivered in a fun and wild fashion by the leotarded, Lovefoxx-esque front-woman Helene Vetik.

Rubik (pic: AP Childs)

Honey Power then stepped up, an upfront and honest guitar band who have just signed to the Estonian indie label Seksound. Their laid back, sincere, Pavement-like sound captivated the audience and proved to be Friday night’s highlight. Most of the festival’s punters then crammed into Mustpeade Maja for Rubik – Helsinki’s pride and joy who have just returned from a US tour. Despite the fact they were missing a few members (there are usually eight), they still managed to ransack the venue with their onslaught fisherman-bearded percussive fun. Songs such as ‘Goji Berries’ had the audience bopping along in joyful, sweaty appreciation.

Saturday afternoon was spent exploring Tallinn, discoveries included whole eels in the tinned section of the supermarket, Nazi memorabilia in dusty old antique shops, celebrity Russian dolls (including Osama Bin Laden and Harry Potter editions) and falling over in deceptively deep snow. Later on, the music kicked off with Opium Flirt & Andres Loo, a strange hybrid of gothic vocals and futuristic electro, then something completely different with Svjata Vatra, a group who have coined their own genre of Estonian-meets-Ukraine fire folk and executed these bizarre musical ideas with the testosterone and guile of five bloodthirsty Vikings. Badass Yuki were up next, a bit disappointing as they were essentially a Joy Division tribute band, but hey, if you are going to impersonate someone then you could do a lot worse than Ian Curtis. We then stumbled upon Jesse, a Finnish electro duo who soon woke us up with their simplistic – yet utterly banging – keyboard concoctions from their album entitled ‘Tum Tum Tum’. We rounded off the music with Malcolm Lincoln, who was sold to us as being the breakthrough act of last year’s event (he went on to win a contest which is somehow linked to Eurovision but we were assured he was on the “cutting edge of alternative” – eek!). Sadly the reality of Malcolm was a middle-aged blonde man in a karate outfit wobbling around in a Mr. Bean fashion to camp and flat electronic pop but we aren’t going to worry too much about Malcolm because the rest of the acts were largely fantastic and a sure sign that Estonia can cut it as much as the Fins (and the rest of Europe for that matter) when it comes to producing fresh acts who have something unique to offer. A great festival in an even greater city which should be visited by all, preferably not whilst wearing a thong and trying to locate the nearest stripper for your best man. Thanks for having us, Tallinn.