2013
Jaakko might be our only artist this year with his own wikipedia article. The description is as brief as summer in Finland: «Jaakko Eino Kalevi on suomalainen säveltäjä ja muusikko» meaning «Jaakko is a Finnish composer and musician». Underneath you will find a list of around 30 releases involving Jaakko under 3 monikers, with 6 bands, on 4 different labels, one of which is his own imprint JEKS. Yes, we are dealing with a rather extraordinary Finn. 
Jaakko is the original weirdo. A Finn on a tree. A songwriter. A crooner. An analogue lover and an great lyricist. Bizarre lines like «You don’t have to say that you love me, just say how flexible you are» or «sex, torture, chamber of love, yeah» float easily on fake-exotic disco grooves. Music from  a shady beach discotheque. In the South Pacific. In an imaginary David Lynch movie. Jaakko has recently signed a deal with Beggars Music joining the good company of artists like Kurt Vile, Cat Power and Deerhunter.

2016 Super Sunday
It’s no accident that the former tram driver Jaakko Eino Kalevi releases his music on a label called Weird World. Kalevi’s world always was a bit weird, starry-eyed, and enraptured. The Finnish troubadour now travels the world over to charm with a sonic cosmos that blossomed out of mere underground hits like “Flexible Heart” and “I Wanna Win”. Wherever Kalevi decides to let his hair down, from Moscow to Mexico City, his elegant dream pop melts hearts. His latest album, plainly titled with his own distinctive name, is already a provisional masterpiece. Its idiosyncratic songwriting and slick production made it into an inevitable candidate for 2015’s Album of the Year. Welcome home, Jaakko!