Pulu is the 1998 debut album of Ismo Alanko Säätiö

Ismo Alanko Säätiö

Ismo Alanko Säätiö was a Finnish rock group led by Ismo Alanko. The band featured an ever-changing lineup of musicians and can be considered an extension of Alanko's solo career. The band's name is Finnish for "Ismo Alanko Foundation"....

. The newly formed band's sound has influences from Finnish folk music

Traditional music

Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...

. An important part of the album's sound is reputed accordion

Accordion

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

ist Kimmo Pohjonen

Kimmo Pohjonen

Kimmo Pohjonen is a Finnish accordionist who is involved in a number of projects.- Uniko :Kluster meets Kronos Quartet in the Uniko project featuring music composed by Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen, commissioned by Kronos. Concerts in Helsinki, Moscow and Molde Jazz Festival were major successes...

. Pulu reached number one on the Finnish album charts.

In "Rakkaus on ruma sana", Alanko criticizes the Finnish word "rakkaus" ("love") for being ugly. The song title can be translated as "Love Is a Bad Word

Profanity

Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...

", "Love Is an Ugly Word", or even "Rakkaus Is an Ugly Word". Alanko later used the same title when he released a book of his song lyrics, Rakkaus on ruma sana - valitut laulutekstit (2004).

"Tuulipuvun tuolla puolen" ("Beyond the tracksuit

Tracksuit

A tracksuit is an article of clothing consisting of two parts: trousers and a jacket usually with front zipper. It was originally intended for use in sports, mainly as what athletes wore over competition clothing and would take off before competition. In modern times, it has become commonly worn...

") is a reference to the Finnish tango

Finnish tango

Finnish tango is an established variation of the Argentine tango and one of the most enduring and popular music forms in Finland. Brought to Europe in the 1910s by travelling musicians, Finns began to take up the form and write their own tangos in the 1930s...

 Satumaa

Satumaa

"Satumaa" is the quintessential Finnish tango. It was written by Unto Mononen, and published in 1955. The most famous recording is probably the one made by Reijo Taipale in 1962. The lyrics tell a story of a distant land beyond the sea — a happy paradise — however, the narrator can...

 that begins with "Aavan meren tuolla puolen" ("Beyond the wide ocean"). It was also the name of the concert tour that followed the release of Pulu.

Track listing

All songs by Ismo Alanko.

1. "Värityskirja" -- 5:07
2. "Päivän uutinen" -- 4:24
3. "Rakkaus on ruma sana" -- 3:48
4. "Pisaroi" -- 6:30
5. "Maalausliike" -- 4:04
6. "Tango Yössä" -- 4:06
7. "Lihaa ja verta" -- 3:09
8. "Vaiennut hiljaisuus" -- 6:02
9. "Sairaat" -- 3:41
10. "Pulu" -- 4:33
11. "Tuulipuvun tuolla puolen" -- 4:11

Personnel

• Ismo Alanko
  Ismo Alanko
  Ismo Kullervo Alanko is a Finnish musician. He is known as the frontman of several bands, most famously Hassisen Kone, Sielun Veljet and Ismo Alanko Säätiö, as well as a successful solo artist....
  
   -- vocals, guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  
• Kimmo Pohjonen
  Kimmo Pohjonen
  Kimmo Pohjonen is a Finnish accordionist who is involved in a number of projects.- Uniko :Kluster meets Kronos Quartet in the Uniko project featuring music composed by Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen, commissioned by Kronos. Concerts in Helsinki, Moscow and Molde Jazz Festival were major successes...
  
   -- accordion
  Accordion
  The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
  
  , harmonica
  Harmonica
  The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
  
  , vocals
• Teho Majamäki -- vibraphone
  Vibraphone
  The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
  
  , marimba
  Marimba
  The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
  
  , organ
  Organ (music)
  The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  
• Jussi Kinnunen -- bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , vocals
• Marko Timonen -- drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , percussion
• Kari Kriikku -- clarinet
  Clarinet
  The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
  
   (on #1 and #11)
• Jukka Orma—guitar (on #4 and #6)
• Pemo Ojala -- trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  (on #4)
• Sanna Kurki-Suonio—vocals (on #5, #7 and #10)