TUCSON, ARIZONA – known for that spacious, alt-country sound. Calexico, Giant Sand and…Bob Log III? How does a distorted, one-man-slide-guitar-band fit into the Americana picture? While the former two internationally acclaimed bands may take their cue from wide-open deserts and south-of-the-border influences, Bob Log III sounds more like he was bitten by a rattlesnake, or perhaps a rabid javelina.

NIGHTMARISH scenery, darkly erotic figures, anguish and death, the merging of man and machine. That is what Swiss artist Hans Rudi Giger is known for, besides having created the most terrifying monster in the history of film.

Tampere Art Museum, in association with Deutsches Filmmuseum, presents a rare opportunity to see original works by the master of biomechanical art. Acrylic paintings, sculptures, videos and designs assembled from private collections and Giger’s own archives are on display, revolving around the films he has worked on. The exhibition portrays the personality of H. R. Giger, and paints a scenery of the mind that gave birth to Alien.

This year’s Anti-Racism Week starts off with the annual Musicians Against Racism concert on Sunday 14 March. The event takes place at the Gloria Cultural Arena in Helsinki, where several artists will get on stage to promote anti-racism. This year’s line-up includes rappers Redrama, Steen1 and Signmark, and up-and-coming pop group Vesterinen Yhtyeineen. The evening is hosted by Kristiina Wheeler and actor Chike Ohanwe. 

Finland’s Extreme Dudesons hit it big on MTV.

THE DUDESONS (Extreme Duudsonit), namely Jukka, Jarppi, Jarno and HP, are four guys who have gradually goofed their way to worldwide popularity from the lowlands of Southern Ostrobothnia. Once stunting in a small-time cable TV show, these contemporaries of Jackass & Co are now living the dream, filming their upcoming series in the US. SixDegrees reached front man Jukka Hilden from Florida along their tour across the country and talked to him about the past, present and future.

WEERUSKA is a cosy tavern located in Helsinki’s lively suburb of Alppiharju. A few steps from the entrance lies the Linnanmäki amusement park. Just around the corner are Alppipuisto and Lenininpuisto, two very popular outdoor areas for summer concerts and winter sledging. The restaurant is an established classic in the neighbourhood, with long traditions and a dedicated platoon of hardcore regulars. With scant regard to fads and bandwagons, Weeruska caters to folks who prefer unpretentious food and like to get more bang for their buck.

With the help of some influential music bloggers and fans among the Finnish radio and television profession, a virtually unknown Swedish singer and songwriter Ninos Dankha has within a few months become one of the year’s most talked-about new artists. Under the regal name Prince of Assyria, Dankha is stirring interest across Europe, but he seems particularly welcome in Finland.

So why is the Prince so phenomenally popular here?

”I have no idea, really. No-one has come and told me that,” says Dankha over the phone from Sweden. ”I hope it’s because of the melancholy connection, my music is...

Does a dancer have to give all he’s got on stage? Are dancers required to shave their pubic hair? Is the performer’s job to keep the audience from falling asleep?

These are only a few of the slightly improper questions asked of Delcado Fuchs, an extraordinary international modern dance group. The outrageously entertaining duo lands in Helsinki for the Side Step International Dance Festival at the beginning of February. Delcado Fuchs takes over the stage with absurd humour, a great sense of rhythm and bizarre costumes. As a feature of their performance, the audience can take part in a self-designed exercise programme which is a test of your laughing muscles if nothing else.

Tor-magnus lundeby is by his own admission introverted and somewhat anti-intellectual, but as he says, “that’s how I see the world, primarily through my eyes, not via precepts and theories.”

A graduate of the Bergen School of Fine Art in Norway, a one-time member of the experimental P.S.1 Studio programme in New York and a favoured artist in shows across the globe, Helsinki resident Lundeby was featured in the 2001 ARS 01 Kiasma programme, and again in 2007. But after ten years in the country, he has his first local solo show in the gallery at Korjaamo.

Singer-songwriter Frida Andersson’s star is not so much on the rise as it is shooting straight up. Last year she made a splash in the airwaves with her debut single Messed Up Little Kid. In September she released her first album, a compilation of beautiful country and soul-tinged songs, written by Andersson herself and top Finnish tunesmiths like Teemu Brunila and Anna Eriksson.

Besides her angelic features, honeyed vocals and enchanting stage presence, Andersson’s determination and passion for music have made the young artist one of the most promising newcomers to enter the talent-hungry Finnish pop scene. Next up, the 21-year-old Finland-Swedish songstress is gearing up to take on the rest of the Nordic countries.

Radical. Innovative. Trendy. Unnecessary. Ridiculous. All these words are used to describe the culinary phenomenon of molecular gastronomy.

But what is it? Molecular gastronomy refers to the scientific investigation of cooking. It was termed by Hungarian physicist Nicholas Kurti and French physical chemist Hervé This. The study of food science isn’t new, but the term was soon adopted to describe a new way of cooking. Through experimentation, you can transform everyday ingredients using techniques found in the science lab.