Since 2006, The Finland Fest has catered to a loyal Japanese fan base by bringing over the best bands their Nordic homeland has to offer. This year's showcase has been split up into two portions — the "World Music Showcase" and "Metal Attack."
Two acts appearing at the "World Music Showcase" being held at Shibuya's Club-O are Varttina and Alamaailman Vasarat. Varttina consist of three female vocalists who specialize in pop-infused folk. They sing in Karelian, a dialect from the eastern Karelia region of Finland, so lyrics may be a little difficult to understand. However, the band make up for that with strong harmonies that need little translation.
The six-piece Alamaailman Vasarat (Hammers of the Underground) take from a much broader world-music palette in their performances, mixing everything from Hebrew klezmer to progressive rock and even heavy metal. The band describes their music as "kebab-kosher-jazz-film-traffic-punk music." Alamaailman Vasarat are known for a specific type of humor in their music, an odd style that is representative of their country. Event promotor Yoko Nozaki thinks this should go down particularly well with Japanese audiences.