Are you ready to rock? Hold on… ARE YOU READY TO ROCK???

One of our favorite Finnish metal bands — and yes, there’s more than one — Korpiklaani is back with a brand-new album. Korpiklaani plays metal, but with a folk twist; electric guitars and drums fight it out with violin, accordion, and woodwinds. The result is a happier, more upbeat metal than you might be used to. Check out the video for “Vodka” (sample lyric: “Drinking is good for you / And you will feel awesome”), the first single from their new album, Karkelo.

Like many other children of the 1980s, I spent last night listening to my old Michael Jackson albums and reminiscing about my childhood — the trip to the mall to buy Bad on cassette… borrowing one of grandma’s fancy gloves while practicing the moonwalk… okay, maybe that last one was just me.

Nestled among the classic Michael Jackson videos on YouTube, I found this clip of Montreal busker Scott Dunbar doing a fanastically funky one-man accordion band rendition of “Billie Jean.” All that’s missing is the glove.

Unless you grew up in the former Soviet Union, chances are you probably haven’t heard of the accordion-playing Crocodile Gena. A character from the Cheburashka childrens books written by Eduard Uspenskiy, Crocodile Gena works as a crocodile in a zoo (naturally) and enjoys playing the garmon (a Russian accordion) and singing with his friends. This video comes from one of the Cheburashka animated films created in the 1970s and captures Crocodile Gena singing his most famous tune.

Here are the translated lyrics:

“Let the pedestrians walk clumsily through the puddles
And let the water run over the asphalt in a river.
It’s unclear to the passersby,
On this rainy day,
Why I’m so happy.

But I’m playing the concertina
For all the passersby to see.
Unfortunately,
Birthdays
Only come once a year.

I wish that a wizard
Would fly in, in a light blue helicopter,
And show a movie for free.
He would wish me a happy birthday
And probably, leave as a present
500 ice cream sandwiches.

But I’m playing the concertina
For all the passersby to see.
Unfortunately,
Birthdays
Only come once a year.”

In the spring of 1995, I was an eager college freshman doing what all young men dream of when they leave home: learning to play the accordion. I didn’t have a teacher or any lesson books, but I did have Those Darn Accordions’ album Squeeze This on cassette.

On the cover was Clyde Forsman, his octogenarian back covered with tattoos, smiling broadly and showing off his biceps while lifting an accordion. When people kidded me about playing the accordion, I showed them that album and made them listen to Clyde’s rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire” — a stunning version that rendered all other covers futile. Clyde Forsman helped me prove that the accordion could be cool.

Clyde passed away Friday night at his home in San Francisco; he was 94. One of the founding members of Those Darn Accordions, he played with the band from 1989 to 2000 and was easily its most beloved member. He won over crowds with his charm, humor, and the way he would take off his shirt to reveal his fantastic tattoos before launching into “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” or the aforementioned “Fire.” An amazing entertainer and an incomparable accordion ambassador, he will be sorely missed.

The United States may have won the Cold War, but Russia continues to set the pace when it comes to accordion technology. Just witness the strange and fantastic custom accordions used here by the Timbre Russian Accordion Group. Founded in Moscow in 1982, this quintet plays unique “timbre accordions” designed to sound like symphonic wind instruments — specifically, an oboe, clarinet, French horn, and tuba. (The fifth member plays a more traditional bayan.) One of Russia’s most popular accordion ensembles, the group plays classical, folk and contemporary music from Russia and beyond. I couldn’t find much information about their accordions beyond the description included with the video; if you have more, leave a comment and let us know.

• Barry Mitchell
  Known as “Accordion Guy” to viewers of ABC’s World News Now, Mitchell has been contributing song parodies, celebrity interviews, and goofy feature reports to the show since 1992. He also created the show’s theme, “The World News Polka”.
• New York Times: Champion Accordion Players
  We’ve mentioned the Times’ historical affinity for accordion jokes before; this article from 1884 focuses on a competitive accordionist, albeit one “without that dreamy, far away, poetical look that one would expect from a champion accordion player.”
• Sound of the Phoenix
  A short, quirky documentary on the history of the accordion by Hans Ris. Don’t miss the bizarre rap (accompanied by two accordions) at the end.

Forget Guitar Hero. In Valledupar, Colombia — the birthplace of vallenato music — children dream of becoming accordion stars. And for many of those children, Andres “Turco” Gil’s accordion school is the perfect place to start their journey.

Gil has about 1,000 students, some as young as 3 years old, but most between the ages of 6 and 15. They attend his school for free, with tuition supported by donations, proceeds from concerts, and tuition from other students who come from around the world to study with Gil. Many have the opportunity to win prizes at Valledupar’s annual accordion festival, but according to Gil, the accordion plays a more important role to his students, most of whom live in poverty:

“A child who plays accordion or other instrument doesn’t pick up a gun… The music makes them noble, it changes their heart. They start to sing, they forget about their problems and they feel happy.”

This audio slideshow shows Gil’s school in action, including one of his star pupils, a 9 year old blind boy named Juan David Atencia.

I haven’t seen an accordion player on American Idol yet, but Eurovision — Europe’s annual song contest that pits nation against nation — rarely disappoints. Serbia just selected its representative for this year’s competition: “Cipela” (“The Shoe”) performed by Marko Kon and accordionist Milan Nikolic. According to Nikolic, the song was “based on an idea to bring the accordion back to the place it deserves. First in Serbia, then in the whole world as well.” That’s certainly an idea I can get behind.

We’re busy moving into a new place, so “MP3 Monday” will be postponed until later in the week. In the meantime, I’ll share a fun video from Accordeonactueel which, as best I can tell, is a Dutch accordion news site. Among the videos they’ve posted is this one featuring a series of Japanese childrens’ orchestras. (It could be the same one, just with different combinations of musicians.) But these are no ordinary orchestras — they’re made up almost entirely of accordions and melodicas. Why don’t we see groups like this in the US?