Tue 21.10. 2003

The site is finally updated after a summer break and a quartet of new releases, two of which came out in August (They Stole A Million 7" and Red Carpet CD) and two in early October after a small delay at the vinyl plant (Treeball 7" and Kevin 7"). Check them out (and the bands' websites for more info), they are all great, of course! Coming up is the third and last 7" in Boomhauer's Rhythm Barrel trilogy, titled Saturday Night Live. Actually, we already have the records, but no sleeves for them, so the release is postponed a few weeks. We are also negotiating a few new distribution deals, of which we will inform if and when.

Thu 22.5. 2003

About time this site is updated, sorry for the delay! Two new releases out since the beginning of May: The Sugarrush/Joe Algeri split 7" and the new Ben's Diapers album Laughter Tracks on CD, check them out! The feedback regarding Ben's Diapers has all been great and we're waiting for reviews of the split. Both releases were celebrated on a two-day mini-launch tour by Ben's Diapers, The Sugarrush and Joe Algeri, who did his farewell gigs in Scandinavia before moving back to Australia. Much fun was had by all.

The Rollstons have an album out on Stupido Records called Our Grain Could Fill Your Stadium and it's great! Make sure you hear it.

The Red Carpet album has been postponed and won't be out until autumn. We hope to get 7" EPs by melodic punkrockers They Stole A Million and Helsinki's indie pop kings Treeball out during the summer.

Mon 24.2. 2003

Check out Rhythm Barrel Records' latest release (already the 8th!), a nice 4-song 7" EP by Harry Hunks, a co-release with Helsinki-based collective Marsu on paras!

Last week Rhythm Barrel visited Nick Triani's show at Radio Helsinki, a cool local station. A lot of Rhythm Barrel releases were played and nice time had by all (hopefully also those who had a chance to listen!). Thanks to Nick for the support!

Boomhauer are now signed to Stupido Records, so more news about them on the band website or from Stupido Records (www.stupido.fi). Boomhauer's debut album Wild Human Condition will be released in March/April. It is still possible that the 7" EP trilogy will be completed on Rhythm Barrel Records, more about that if and when.

A lot of great stuff coming up on Rhythm Barrel Records this year: a split 7" EP by Joe Algeri and The Sugarrush (just waiting to get printed!), a 7" EP by Treeball (great stuff!) and full-length CD's from Ben's Diapers (their 2nd album titled Laughter Tracks) and Red Carpet (brilliant Finnish powerpop, a sensation!).

Thu 28.11.2002

A new release! A majestic new single from Cheerladers United! Great stuff, check it out!

Wed 9.10. 2002

The Rollstons' EP will be out next week! The label is more than proud to be the first label to be allowed to release some of their material. Too cool!

Mon 23.9. 2002

Rhythm Barrel is proud to announce that the new Boomhauer 7" EP is out now (or has been since 9.9. actually)! Lies About Women follows highly acclaimed and now sold-out debut 7" Gotta Hear The Music and is the 2nd offering from the boys and no. 2 in a trilogy of vinyl EPs featuring the members of the band on the front cover (making the whole series a collector's nightmare - we're very sorry). The release co-incided with the trio's biggest gig so far at Tavastia Club in Helsinki, a show that was brodcasted live by the Finnish national radio (Radiomafia) AND filmed for later use on television. The band has kept on playing live a lot around Finland and the audiences continue to be excited. The original drummer Pasi still plays on the new EP, but he had to leave the band due to work pressures. The new drummer in the band is Mikko Lappalainen AKA The Rhythm Barrel himself, now becoming even more involved with the band, having done a lot of subbing for Pasi earlier and having a schizophrenic situation of being the band's drummer and their label manager at the same time…Let's see what this will lead to!

Bridget played a nice bunch of gigs during the summer as well, but is now on a short break due to band leader Janne's 4-month study-trip to Liverpool. Bridget's Rhythm Barrel 7" Come On In is almost sold-out, thanks to an enormous order of 40 records by SYFT Records from Japan (other RB releases available from them, as well!). This unexpected incident got the boys to print a small batch of tongue-in-cheek "Bridget - Big In Japan" t-shirts (!!), which are available from the band (mail [email protected] if you're interested!). A full-length is in the plans, but it won't be out until late 2003.

The next Rhythm Barrel release (BRRL 006) will be a 4-song 7" EP from the brilliant Finnish band The Rollstons, who are kind of VU-meets-Guided By Voices lo-fi indie pop. Or something. Great band, great EP coming up. Out late October. Another release that will most certainly happen is a split 7" with Joe Algeri (from Jack & The Beanstalk, whose Vodka Line EP is also almost sold-out!) and the Finnish power poppers The Sugarrush, who will have songs about each other on the split! Expect this special RB collectable during winter 2003.

Wed 29.5. 2002

Rhythm Barrel's 4th release is out now, a long-awaited debut from Turku's twee pop meisters Bridget! A masterpiece for a debut it is, too. Check it out! You can order it straight from Rhythm Barrel Records or, at least in Finland, check your local stores. We will once again try to get it over to some mailorders and stores abroad, but vinyl singles are a bit tricky. The single is again also featured in Rubber Rabbit's Lil Plastic Klub singles club!

Rhythm Barrel recording artists Boomhauer have been busy touring sporadically around Finland. The band has attracted a lot of attention and even the biggest summer festivals have opened their arms to the freakshow that is Boomhauer live on stage. The band will appear AT LEAST in Down By The Laituri (Turku, 2 shows), Provinssirock (Seinäjoki, closing club), Ruisrock (Turku), Tammerfest (Tampere), Koria-roll (Kouvola, club gig) and Kickstart (Jyväskylä). For full gig schedule, check out Boomhauer's super-informative website at http://www.listen.to/boomhauer - but while visiting, be careful not to get lost in that labyrinth of links!

Wed 3.4. 2002

A lot of stuff happening at the Rhythm Barrel HQ! First of all, there's a new release out on Rhythm Barrel! Perth, Australia's power pop cult favourites' Jack & The Beanstalk's new 9-song EP Vodka Line (refers to the Viking Line ferries travelling between Stockholm & Turku - these have been much used by Joe on his regular trips to Finland and the title track was written at night in a cramped cabin while Joe was making his first trip to play in Finland!) is out and available now. The release is basically band leader Joe Algeri's own project, but released through Parasol Records in the US and Rhythm Barrel in Europe. This is a VERY special limited exclusive in-between-records EP, a future collectable if anything, dedicated to all friends of Joe's in Finland! There are five band tracks (three new ones recorded last summer in Australia when Joe, now a Swedish resident, travelled there for a holiday, a brilliant non-album track off a Bucketfull Of Brains comp. CD and a cool cover of the Lee Hazelwood/Nancy Sinatra classic These Boots Are Made For Walkin'!) and four acoustic bonus tracks, including home demos and studio outtakes. Check it out now! In the US, contact Parasol and in Europe, order one from Rhythm Barrel for 6 euros or the equivalent in your onw currency!

Boomhauer's vinyl EP has been a huge success in Finland so far! As big a success a vinyl 7" can be nowadays, I guess…The edition is almost sold-out already (in two months, the record was also selected to be a club single for Lil Plastik Klub singles club) and the reviews have been awesome, praising the band's sound and fury! It was even selected the single of the round in the leading Finnish music mag Rumba! There has growing interest towards the band everywhere and the band has been and will be gigging actively. More Boomhauer to be expected on Rhythm Barrel later!

Meet The Scene compilation still keeps getting good press and the radio show Pop Dreams in St. Eteinne, France, nominated the CD the album of the week AND the best compilation of 2001 and played a grand total of 6 (!) songs from it in one single programme (the DJ Gerard Girard told us it was actually a record - he has never played as many songs from a single CD before!) so you could say he really liked it! DJ's Dana & Carl at This Is Rock'n'Roll Radio in Syracuse, NY, USA, seem to be enthusiastic about all this new Finnish pop as well, starting with two songs off the CD and adding an extra track from Ben's Diapers to top it off.

The next RB release will be a 7" single from Bridget, a Finnish band that has the twee-pop thing in beautiful control. A great band, great songs, expect a classic!

Wed 20.2. 2002

Hey, it's the palindrome day...To celebrate that, we are proud and happy to announce that Rhythm Barrel's 2nd release, the Boomhauer debut 7", is out and available now. Read the info and the classic label hype thru links on the front page. This is the rock'n'roll debut of the decade! The feedback so far has been excellent and everybody seems to be as enthusiastic about the band as ever. There's going to be a fine record release party on Saturday the 23rd at TVO in Turku, when Boomhauer are playing with local garage-rock sensation friends Sweatmaster. Do NOT miss this event if possible, both of these bands are great and at their best live on stage!

There are a few nice new reviews of Meet The Scene (thru the feedback link on the front page), and the record is now also available in Australia thru Pure Pop Records distribution (www.purepop.com.au)! More international reviews to come, keep your eyes peeled!

Wed 16.1. 2002

First of all: Rhythm Barrel wishes everybody the very best in 2002 - a new year and it starts just brilliantly for Rhythm Barrel Records. The 15th was a big day for the label - it was the release date of the 2nd pressing of the label's debut release! Yes, we are astonished and very happy to announce, that Meet The Scene has met even the wildest expectations and been a moderate indie/DIY success. The first pressing of 600 copies (I always thought that would be quite enough!) was practically promoed and sold-out by the label and the bands involved without any kind of official distribution, just thru the indie network and good old word of mouth, in TWO MONTHS, and that's mostly inside Finland (small market, even smaller niche audience)! On the first day of 2002, another pressing had to be ordered, as the abroad promo wasn't even started properly when we ran out of CDs...This certainly was more than we ever dared to expect.

In addition, the media attention in Finland has been really good, too, with a bunch of articles and reviews in the print media (mostly positive, with a sprinkling of classic, universal music journo distrust and doubt towards the very essence of retro/guitar oriented pop and one sheer, yet well grounded and written, trashing, which can operate as a perfect example of the attitude that bands who rate good songs, melody, rock'n'roll and traditional instrumentation over forced 'originality' and clumsy, naive progressiveness have had to deal with all around the world since tragedies such as Big Star, Raspberries, Badfinger etc.) - even a review in Finland's no. 1 newspaper Helsingin Sanomat was secured. A selection of these articles is now updated and available through the 'feedback' link on the HQ page. In radio, Marginaali and Räkärodeo shows in National Radio have supported the cause beyond the call of duty, especially Marginaali has played tracks off the CD sporadically for the whole two and a half months since the release.

As mentioned, a lack of CDs to send out has delayed the abroad promo assault, so there isn't too much feedback from outside Finland yet, but everything so far is very promising. The highlight so far was when radio DJ Mike Korbik chose Meet The Scene as the Album Of The Month in December in his zine/website Guitars Galore! Check it out at http://www.twang-tone.de/almonth.html or read the review through the feedback link on the HQ page. There you can also check the first English written piece published, written by Mike Bennett for fufkin.com pop website.

There's also one more US distributor for Meet The Scene; Jam Records out of Portage, MI, now also carry the record. Check them out at www.go.to/jamrecords

Rhythm Barrel's 2nd release, Boomhauer's 6-song 7" EP titled Gotta Hear The Music will be out in a few weeks, too. We are currently waiting for the test pressings. BRRL-003 will be a joint release with Egomaniac Music and the highly respected US pop label Parasol: an in-between-albums CD-EP from Australia's powerpop cult heroes Jack & The Beanstalk. This limited edition rarity will be out already in Feb/March! So everything's looking very nice indeed and we'll be busy...Keep checking for more news, reviews and updates.

Mon 26.11. 2001

The Meet The Scene launch gig was a blast, thanks to everybody who came and supported the cause and the bands, of course! Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves!

There are some updates on this website, the first pieces of press are here, and it's all good, the compilation has been really well received so far by the media, the bands involved and the fans alike. Check out some Finnish reviews, if you can read them, thru the link on the front page. The abroad promo is just starting...It seems like there's going to be a 2nd pressing of the compilation at some point! Check out the list of dealers who are carrying some copies of Meet The Scene on the orders page. We hope to get the list to grow soon!

Rhythm Barrel is currently just putting together the artwork for the 2nd release, a rocking 7" debut from local favourites Boomhauer, expect an early January release...

Wed 7.11. 2001

Meet The Scene compilation is officially out now, the release/promo day in Helsinki went just fine (TV coverage and some serious radioplay on Finnish nationwide station) and the record is now available from good record stores in the biggest cities of Finland (Helsinki: Stupido Shop, Oskun Divari; Turku: Kane, Iki-Pop; Tampere: at least Jukeboss) and of course straight from Rhythm Barrel and such mailorders as 5R mailorder and Bellbottom Records. We are now working on getting the record to some selected foreign dealers.

The big news is that there will be a flashy shindig thrown to celebrate the release of Meet The Scene in Rhythm Barrel's hometown Turku. No less than SIX bands that appear on the compilation will play at Säätämö club on Friday the 23rd of November - you can call it mini-festival and we won't be offended! The artists in question are KEVIN, BRIDGET, CHEERLEADERS UNITED, SPOKANE, HARRY HUNKS and CARTOON TREE, who will do their first gig in a couple of years as a special acoustic performance! If you have a chance to be there...Be there! All kinds of nice things will be included in the programme, such as record lottery and good records spinned in between bands by the ever trustworthy Flavour Of The Month DJs!

Thu 25.10. 2001

The biggest news is the grand opening of this website! This is the virtual home of Rhythm Barrel and Rhythm Barrel himself…And all his projects, not just the new record label, browse thru these pages to find out more about everything. Welcome!

Ok…and then on to the DEBUT RELEASE, which is a pretty big thing as well, at least to Rhythm Barrel personally, as this is his long time dream come true: to have a record label, no matter how tiny and modest, and to have as its first release a comprehensive collection of new, fresh and talented Finnish guitar pop! Check out BRRL 001, Meet The Scene - An Introduction To Finnish Underground Guitar Pop as soon as possible and support the cause, the label and the bands. Read what it's all about, or the same in Finnish.

The official release date of the compilation is 30.10. 2001 and that day Rhythm Barrel will be in Helsinki, picking up the records and getting interviewed by MTV3's Jyrki (a real TV show on national TV…Not bad for a start, huh?) and Radiomafia's Marginaali show (that's national radio, son!). So stay tuned!