One of the most common questions recurring often when analysing the songbook of an artist or of a band, it's the one related to the building of an album's setlist and the decision related to choose some tracks instead of others ending up left out, maybe because the latters were considered unsuited to the idea behind the making of the album in question.
A fan or the music press get to know about those aforementioned tunes only when an artist decides to release a collection of b-sides or outtakes, frequently revealing some hidden gems that, inexplicably, never found space on an official studio album release.
This is pretty much the case of the recent release of an album called, aptly enough, Outtakes, from the Finnish Blues and Blues-Rock sensational collective called Micke Bjorklof & Blue Strip, a record where the 9 tracks made of previously unreleased material will positively surprise new and old fans of the Scandinavian quintet.
Our website has been aware for quite some time of Bjorklof's remarkable skills as a singer-songwriter, guitarist and as an Harmonica Maestro, together with his various projects, either as Micke Bjorklof & Blue Strip or as Micke & Lefty (Leppänen, excellent guitarist, vocalist and band member of the Blue Strip too) feat. Chef, when reviewing, through the years, some of Bjorklof's releases, which have proven to be very popular not only with the Finnish artist's fans and followers, but also with our readers.
Outtakes is a marvelous sonic basket full of pleasant and unexpected surprises, with its nine never-before-released little gems touching different studio album sessions, from the collective's beginnings, around 2002, right to present days.
While Bjorklof & Blue Strip find themselves very much at ease with playing different genres, from Blues to Funk or from Boogie to Blues-Rock, our website got particularly impressed with the way that the Finnish collective sounds so convincing every step of the way, in a record that, among many positive aspects, shows very well the artistic growth happening within the band as the years went by.
The musicianship that runs into the songs part of the Outtakes album is spotless, something that it's hard to maintain on a solid level after almost a quarter of a century spent playing together; from the raucous, foot-stomping uptempo Blues numbers On Vacation and Keep In Mind to the more Funk-ed up Bedtime Bomber and Silver Moon, among others, Bjorklof & Blue Strip showcase such a strong musical combustion, an organic, sonic unity that has been and still is the true Marque De Fabrique of this eclectic and highly inspired collective.
For those who have not come across yet to the music of this insanely talented collective, Outtakes can be the right starting point to start discovering the quality and the craft of Micke Bjorklof & Blue Strip, while their long time admirers will certainly love to hear new material that, for reasons unknown, was not made available on past studio albums.
Another strong release from one of the best Scandinavian Blues and Blues-Rock band of the last 25 years.
Outtakes is out now and it is available to be purchased via Hokahey Records .
