From now on everything we do will be free.
Everything we've made in the past is free as well.
Starting April 1st 2009, we'll be releasing 1 song each and every month on this site. At midnight on the 1st of the month. They'll all be in digital format only and completely free.
Please use the player on the right side of the page to stream our old stuff, or explore the albums to download either .zip-packages of entire albums or individual songs (click "Show tracks" from a given album).
That's it. We hope fans of physical records are not too disappointed. Those things just weren't making any more sense.
This way all the walls between us and you are down. No more waiting around. No more "promo period" or having to deal with distribution. Straight from our hearts to yours.
It's been well over 8 months now that I had to leave Viola behind to move to New York. During that time I haven't given much thought to the decade we spent making music to satisfy our personal cravings for all different shades of melancholy, stargazing and escapism.
But yesterday I somehow ended up giving some of our material a spin and had to come to the conclusion that once in a while we actually had a great thing going.
So I finally decided to do something I had though about dozens of times before: Compile a personal Best Of playlist and write up some of the things I feel very proud we were able to get on virtual tape. In no particular order.
Submitted by Tommi on 01.12.2011 - 00:00
"So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night"
There's a time and place for everything and our time has come to put this project aside for the time being.
So with a song we bid you adieu.
Submitted by Tommi on 01.11.2011 - 00:00
We're going back in time this month. Way back into the vaults of Viola where we find this gem that has survived for 10+ years without getting captured on tape save for some live renditions.
Some long time Viola friends might remember this one: Saddened Yet Hopeful.
This is the second recorded proverbial fruit of the labour with the six most amazing viola players in Finland that helped us realize Heartstring Theory in June and gave us the most amazing night on Viola's Day 2011. The strings were arranged by Jussi Tuhkanen and played by Jussi, Atte Kilpeläinen, Pisku Ristiluoma, Lilli Maijala, Lotta Poijärvi and Martta Tolonen. Recorded by Ilai Rämä.
Submitted by Tommi on 30.09.2011 - 23:00
Hey everybody! This month we bring you a pretty weird combination of rock, electro and shoegazing. Hope you like it.
Submitted by Tommi on 31.08.2011 - 23:00
This month, we bring you a dark tale of an information overflow dystopia in the form of some pretty un-Viola-like grimy dubstep sounds.
Submitted by Tommi on 31.07.2011 - 23:00
August is yet again Finnish indie cover month here at "The Club". This time one of us gets to go all narcissistic as we cover a track off of Tommi's old band, Sissy Spacek.
Submitted by Tommi on 30.06.2011 - 23:00
SUMMER!
As is customary, we've done our best to create a nice little piece of soundtrack for these fleeting hot summer nights. Enjoy!
Submitted by Tommi on 01.06.2011 - 00:00
Wow.
That's all we can say.
This month's track is way way different (even from the previous way way different ones) than any of our previous tracks. This one is just Riku singing with 6 of the most amazing viola-players in the WORLD. Now how cool is that?!
Submitted by Tommi on 30.04.2011 - 23:00
Ok, April is over and done with for one more year and it's time to get back into SERIOUS business. And that can only mean a track so heavily drenched in the 80s, you'll think we accelerated our Deloreans to 88mph!
Submitted by Tommi on 01.04.2011 - 00:00
We are very very sorry, our foreign friends, we've gone Finnish and this will be our last post in English! We bid you farewell with a traditional bittersweet Finnish schlager.
Submitted by Tommi on 01.03.2011 - 00:00
Time to trim your subwoofers for this month's track as we decided to have a crack at some dubstep low end action and freak out a bit sonically.
Playlist mania at Viola Music Club continues! This one we've been wanting to get going for a while now, but for some reason never got around to asking anyone to do it.
But after bumping into the amazing Viola Music Club 2010: the collected retrospective musings on the Rambling Fox blog, we felt to need to ask the author, Flint, to do us the honor of compiling a "beginner's guide to Viola" -playlist from an outsider's perspective. We got what we wanted and then some!
Go check out the playlist with brilliantly well-thought reasons why each track is there and at the chosen position! Again, don't forget to comment on it.
...or download the playlist as a zip package!
A while ago we released a playlist done by Arttu Tolonen and promised there'd be more to come. Well, we got lazy and it took 1,5 years for this next one, but here it is! Our fourth album - at least the way it would be if it was compiled from Viola Music Club material by long time Viola listener, Lassi from the Oulu-based noiserock band Vene! Enjoy!
Also, be sure to read the full reasoning for the choices as they're pretty darn good! Also feel free to comment!
...or download the playlist as a zip package!
Submitted by Tommi on 01.02.2011 - 00:00
This month we're going retro and organic. Mellow and profitable.
We present to you a gem from the very dawn of the 21st century, an early Viola gem by the name of The Loners.
This song has never been recorded before, but had it's place in our live sets in the pre-Tearcandy era.
Submitted by Tommi on 01.01.2011 - 00:00
Happy new year!
Welcome to the third calendar year of Viola Music Club! This month's track is our 22nd free offering even if it feels like we've only just begun. Crazy how time flies!
Submitted by Tommi on 01.12.2010 - 00:00
Happy holidays, everybody!
This year we're paying our Christmas dues to the true embodiment of Christmas spirit in the world, Mr. Wayne Coyne of the most amazing Flaming Lips!
Here's a couple of cool videos on Vimeo using our tunes in a really nice way. Why they're all of winter sports, we have no idea, but lookin' GOOD!
Submitted by Tommi on 01.11.2010 - 00:00
Finland switched off Daylight Saving Time for 2010, so nights start really early again now. You all have a few months before winter snow falls and makes nights a bit lighter again, so there's no better time to gaze wistfully at stars and dream of Urania, the muse of astronomy.
This track might be a suitable option for a soundtrack.
Submitted by Tommi on 01.10.2010 - 00:00
Greetings to you all!
As our 19th Viola Music Club -track we present to you all a track where we do our best to emulate the classic 90s "sensual beat" sound of Enigma et al. I guess they'd call it "balearic" nowadays.
Also, you'll be happy to hear Riku's shot at mumbling mysteriously in French. On the Kusela-Gainsbourg -scale he scores just about halfway.
Submitted by Tommi on 01.09.2010 - 00:00
There goes yet another warm summer and it's time to cuddle up under a warm blanket to make sure you stay warm through the cold dark winter.
But make sure you don't forget our little furry friends, puppies!
Submitted by Tommi on 01.08.2010 - 00:00
Hey everybody!
August seems to be Finnish Indie Appreciation month here at Viola Music Club. Last year we did a cover of Tv-resistori and this year we're having a go at the brilliant Traitor On The Inside by Red Carpet.
Submitted by Tommi on 31.07.2010 - 19:00
Red Carpet was by far one of the most amazing bands ever from the Finnish indie pop scene. We were fortunate enough to have them cover us on their farewell ep 'The Band They Coulnd't Hang' in 2007.
Here's their cover of our track Sad Eyed Disco Dancers, from our Melancholydisco album.
Check out more Red Carpet from their MySpace page or from Last.fm (although you should know that there are several other Red Carpets as well).
Submitted by Tommi on 01.07.2010 - 00:00
Hey everybody! Greetings from USA (Tommi) and Lieksa (Riku)!
We're still feeling summery here at Viola Music Club this month, so we bring you a simple story of carefree disco dancing underneath neon lightning and disco thunder! Enjoy!
Submitted by Tommi on 01.06.2010 - 00:00
SUMMERTIME!!!
Hey everyone! Those nine long ones are behind us again and we're ready to do our best to grab a hold of yet another fleeting summer!
To help y'all grab yours, here's our musical tribute to one of the coolest - literally - inventions ever: the popsicle!
Submitted by Tommi on 01.05.2010 - 00:00
Submitted by Tommi on 01.04.2010 - 00:00
HAIL, BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN METAL! FROM THE GRIM AND FROSTBITTEN DARKNESS OF VINNLAND I GREET THEE!
You may notice some changes here. You witnesses at the new birth of Viola, mark II.
Dedicated to all teenage satan worshippers, past and present.
Submitted by Tommi on 01.03.2010 - 00:00
Winter 2010 has been a pretty thorough one in Finland. Especially snow has been quite plentiful and has caused quite a bit of chaos in people's everyday lives, so we decided it deserved a song dedication from us, so we give you a piece of orchestral goodness: Fade To White.