CLEANING WOMEN and Mr. Big Money Show - Gloria, Helsinki, Finland 4/6/03
From Aural Innovations #23 (April 2003)
What a bizarre show. It had just started when we arrived. Mr. Big Money Show was a sort of Cabaret show with mostly prerecorded music but live guitar, sax and vocals. The lead singer was really cool all dressed up in a suit and he had these two female dancers, one in short shorts and a tiger striped tube top with a big black afro and the other in a long flowing dress. The guitar player was bald and only wearing a long skirt. He had a patch over his eye and many tattoos. There was one man who looked like a British butler with a bowler hat. What a bizarre bunch but highly entertaining songs with wild stories and well worked out. I really enjoyed it a lot.
Next up was the Cleaning Women. Lani (my wife) and I had heard the CD earlier that evening at Santtu’s from Dark Sun’s place. They make all their own instruments and play a strange mixture of electronic rhythms and rock. They are a three piece and all dressed up in like women’s business skirt suits with lots of make up. The two main instruments are made out of these clothes racks that you hang your clothes on to dry. The strings are connected to pickups and they play them with chopsticks. Also, a long the side for the main singer he has 3 bass strings attached and plays it like a bass. The other guy has 5 or 6 guitar strings attached along the side of the clothes rack. The drummer's kit was completely made out of homemade stuff, buckets, old metal things, etc. All kinds of cool stage props and stuff. It was a hell of a show. Really cool music too. Sometimes it was very polyrhymthmic and sometimes simple like techno but very interesting. I had never seen or heard anything like it before! I want to get their CD. I could not find a web page for you.
Reviewed by Scott Heller