THE MATTOID

THE MATTOID "Does the Mattoid scare you?" So reads the email that accompanied my copy of the Helsinki-born, Nashville-based singer's new EP, Eternifinity. And to tell the truth, hell yeah, he does. Eternifinity is creepy. The Mattoid combines ancient Finnish throat singing (guttural is an understatement) with linear grooves and indie ambience; the resulting "sango" music, as he calls it, is post-apocalyptic folk-punk that sounds like a cross between Jacques Brel and, well, Satan. Add to that the Mattoid's appearance—a shaved head, beard tuft and Nordic grimace make him look like a veteran of the Cudgel War—and you have the makings of a sleepless night. Eternifinity isn't completely terrifying, however. Though psychotropic and otherworldly, a lot of the lyrics are downright sweet; that is, until you hear them resonate from the depths of the Mattoid's gullet. The backing band—which includes Willy Tyler (Lambchop, Character) on guitar and former Poppy Fields drummer Sunflower—is remarkably sensitive, saving their more abrasive moments for when the singer dips into his lowest register. The Basement —Paul V. Griffith - Nashville Scene 2/05

This shit is so fucked, but fucked in a good way. The kind of fucked feeling you get when you watch a David Lynch film. You like it, but you're not necessarily understanding what the hell just happened. The press release I got with the cd says, "The Mattoid is Scandanavian gothic meets post-folk gruel." They hit it right on the nose with that description. It definately has that whole "anti-folk" kind of feel to it, but there's a whole sixties psychadelic rock vibe to it. Then there's the Mattoid himself who can go from singing with a classic brit-pop sixties kind of rock voice to sounding like satan himself. Take for instance the destined to be a rock hit, "Shiny Woman." He starts singing in this nice inviting kinda of Edwards Collins kind of voice and all of the sudden he turns into an orc from the Lord of the Rings. "Hoilala hoila hoila hoila/ Hoila hoi lah lah/ Hoilala hoila hoila hoila yeah/ Om om ommmmmmm yeah." Jibberish? Perhaps. Genius? Definately. The best song on the CD appears smack dab in the middle, "Happiness" is the best example of what I was meaning when I said the Mattoid is fucked up. It's supposed to be uplifting, but this song at best is twisted and creepy, and I get scared when I hear the Mattoid's melodramatic voice singing "happy happy happy." He's able to accomplish what Death By Chocolate couldn't and catch that sixties sound without sounding so utterly pretentious and banal. Grade: A (Gary Mecija) - Citizenrobot.com

The Mattoid ‘Eternifinity’ (Cleft). As is typical with these things I’ve lost the press release to this very curious release so exactly who the Mattoid is / are / might be is and will remain for now a complete mystery to us and will no doubt prove to be something for us to look forward to finding out in the very near future. For now what we will say is that this particular release is going to divide camps big time into those that think the Mattoid is a chancer and those that might have him earmarked as a saviour, what’s not at issue here is that particular release is something of a strange one. Not quite direct descendants of Captain Beefheart but from the same gene pool although diluted and genetically modified over the course of time, the Mattoid are instead more a mutant Tom Waits though instead treading in that curious out of step jug band blues prefers instead to opt for a skewed ramshackle assortment of influences that perhaps suggest a love of the Palace Brothers and the Gibson Brothers at least it seems so on the opening cut ‘Joy’. ‘Eternifinity’ is an explosion of styles, very weird shit indeed and obviously the work of a much-troubled mind, the aforementioned ‘Joy’ borders on schizophrenia just for the way the guitars flare up without warning and ultimately makes for compelling listening pleasure. Likewise with ‘Crazy Muthas’ which to these ears clearly uses Richman’s ‘Roadrunner’ as a template before belting the hell out of it to leave it mangled, twisted and oddly lob-sided, quite classy if you ask me. What makes ‘Eternifinity’ such a treat is the way it refuses to adopt any kind of regimented text instead its fluid and because of that it always keeps you second guessing as to what to expect next, take the closing track ‘Happiness’ for example which serves as the EP’s most accessible cut, a curious fusion of gritty street life drizzle mooching oddly with after dark Studio 54 / Chic gloss and superbly spliced through the heart by a nagging but all the same Latino rhythm underpin. Elsewhere on ‘Tinkli Vinkli’ the Mattoid struts like a Matador through a skanking backdrop that recalls Prince Buster and those early Two Tone outings featuring Madness as though in a bar room sorte with Pulp (I kid you not!) and if you think things can’t get any more surreal up pops ‘Little Surfer’ which for the best part could have easily fell off the end of the Pixies sessions for ‘Trompe Le Monde’. File under (very) special case and buy on sight. - Losingtoday.com

The Mattoid calls his special brand of insanity “Sango music.” Don’t know what exactly that means but it sure do sound good. Some folks say that you’ll like him if you like the likes of Donovan, Nico and Moldy Peaches and maybe that fits just right. Dunno. What does become obvious while listening to Hello, however, is how utterly fun he makes it all sound, how vibrant (and concomitantly) sleepily easy his brand of banding comes across, whether the live “Funeral Party,” the Velvet Underground-on-Eastern European folk of “Juri Gagarin” (the Russian who first escaped Earth’s gravity), or the sexy-creepy murder ballad “Rat Poison.”

While it’s hard to say that you should have so much fun listening to some of the songs on Hello, given the subject matter, when The Mattoid drops into his lower registers or makes funny little noises with his mouth - which he does not less than twice a song, truly using his voice as an instrument and not just a way to dish dirt - you can’t help but smile and feel waves of happiness rushing down all over, cloaking you in a brilliant light of joy that does not fade, not even after the last note has sounded.

Hello is the sound of the Velvet Underground with a deep sense of humor and Moldy Peaches with some sense of coherence. Thank you Mr. Mattoid, thank you wherever on this earth (or above it) you are. – Jedd Beaudoin - Copper Press

Yeah dude, this is the shit. Too bad you're not cool enough to hang with this weird cat. I don't really know what this "Sango" music is, but I know I like it. It's smooth, simple and flowing, like the river, with little swirling eddies of complexity that go spinning off into the night. So, imagine a bald Finn in a robe singing smoky lounges in Nashville; yeah, it's sorta like that. No wait, it exactly is that. I won't compare The Mattoid to any other artist since it would be an incomplete and inapt comparison, not to mention a bit insulting, as The Mattoid is simply The Mattoid, and apparently only in the third person.

It's all a combination of the familiar and the alien; simultaneously comforting and disturbing, but guaranteed to leave you with a perplexing smile. Maybe it's just me, but this album satisfies a very base desire to spout pure nonsense to most righteous vibes like a complete fool.
So keep on surfing; and hope you never have to realize that a banana can't be a mobile phone.
-JD - Hybrid Magazine

There's a somewhat undefinable charm about a guy who enunciates clearly while crooning and then grunts for no particular reason. The Mattoid (a man and a band) sounds a lot like Leonard Cohen's younger, slightly brain damaged brother. My guess would be that the damage came from listening to too many Doors records at high volume, but that's pure speculation on my part. (more-à) Equally at home in the worlds of Burt Bacharach and Screamin' Jay Hawkins (or Roxy Music and Chuck Berry, if you like), the Mattoid doesn't really try to actually fit into any particular sound. The lyrics are insightful, though it does take some effort to parse the stream of consciousness pabulum. In other words, there seems to be a method to the dorkiness. The sound is straight studio project. Think early Brian Jonestown Massacre (well, not real early, but pre-TVT, anyway). These songs don't sound real. I'm not even referring to the lyrics. The late 60s/early 70s pop/blues feel sound like it was whipped up in a test tube and swallowed without regard to the consequences. This ultra-contrived conceit is impossibly charming. I would imagine that a lot of people would listen to about four bars of "Funeral Party" (the first track) and run away screaming. I figure that's cool with the Mattoid (man and band). If the folks really cared what people thought about their music, they'd never make an album like this. And I wouldn't like it nearly as much. - Cent.com

Ever since reading Lawton's rave review of Hello, the debut album by The Mattoid, i had wanted to check this artist out. Additionally, Sparklehonkey was fascinated by the idea of a punk clown band (Palookaville), so the Minions headed out to The Star Bar for this show.

We had a short wait while The Mattoid set up. The Mattoid is a Norwegian artist, and i think The Mattoid is also the name of his band, which for this performance consisted of a drummer and a bassist. The drummer played a small kit -- one snare, one tom and a cymbal -- and he played standing up. Well, actually, he flailing around like he was having an epileptic fit, but the point is, he wasn't sitting down like most drummers. The Mattoid is a stocky guy with deep eyes, a goatee, and on this night he was wearing a tuque. He plays guitar and sings.

The band's overall sound was of slightly quirky, energetic rock. As i said, the drummer flailed around like an epileptic, but The Mattoid himself also moved around a lot, even playing in the crowd, and he moved in a generally odd way. I can't really describe it, but his motions were almost exaggerated for effect.

Anyway, the band played great music, and The Mattoid himself was rather amiable and chatted with the crowd. He has real stage presence, and it was a joy to see him on stage being entertaining. They played a few tunes off of his latest EP, and they did an excellent, if bizarre, rock version of Dancing Queen that was really fun.

Overall, i would say that The Mattoid was/were very good in concert. The man is a natural performer, and he isn't just there to play music, but rather to entertain you. And indeed, i was entertained.
- Evilsponge.org

The Mattoid Hello Cleft Music mattoid \Mat"toid\, n. [It. matto mad (cf. L. mattus, matus, drunk) + -oid.] A person of congenitally abnormal mind bordering on insanity or degeneracy. A short while back a duo known as Poppy Fields nonchalantly took Nashville's underground by storm with their off-kilter shows. Perhaps you noticed, perhaps not. One part male Finn and one part female Israeli Ville Kiviniemi and partner Poppy wowed audiences with their giddy anti-folk. Ville's songs were cheeky, boisterous, infectious rock primitivism at its best. Lyrics like "crap your craps and f@#k your f@%ks, it's party time!" were nothing short of contagious. Poppy's plaintive meditations were filled with guitar ambience coaxed from a digital processor that shouldn't have been as charming as she made it. Though some found it off-putting, the oddball dichotomy of their performances was much of its appeal. But rock ecstasy is fickle and short-lived and after some time Poppy and Ville split. Following a brief stint as The Urban Peasant Kiviniemi stepped into the phone booth, emerged as The Mattoid and recruited an ensemble that would inform his performances with a decidedly rock bent. Now an album of his material produced by keyboardist Loney Hutchins is set to drop on Hutchins' embryonic Cleft Music label. The result, Hello, is a brilliant blend of garage rock minimalism and folk/lounge balladry paired with razor sharp wit and a blustering vocal barrage. The highlights throughout are The Mattoid's galloping vocal histrionics. Listeners will be hard-pressed to make heads or tails of these utterances. Attempts to spell them will be fruitless. All this said, it's difficult to pin The Mattoid down. Amid claims of being heir to the throne of Finland and rumors that he's lived everywhere from London (where he reportedly met Poppy) to India (where he studied sitar), sold sterling silver in Mexico and wandered in the wilderness for half a decade, it has become all but impossible to unravel the puzzle of this enigmatic figure. Has he fathered scores of illegitimate children throughout the globe? Did he swim the English Channel while in the throws of an absinthe binge? Is it true that he got his start playing Beatles songs before he could speak English? All contribute to the smoke-and-mirrors perception of this inscrutable figure. All speculation aside, The Mattoid is not wanting for confidence. Hello's opening cut, "Funeral Party," is backed by a crowd track and enough reverb to simulate that The Mattoid and his band are on an arena stage before an adoring crowd. A bold move to be sure. Should this be read as arrogant bravado, or is it merely foreshadowing of the Mattoid's future as the crown prince of Finnish rock? The proof is in the pudding. Right on baby. -Ryan Norris, Nashville Rage - Nashville Rage

by James Christopher Monger
Ville Kiviniemi is the Mattoid, a bald, poncho-wearing enigma from Finland who moved to Nashville to take over the scene with his unique blend of lounge-flavored Velvet Underground rock & roll, Scandinavian throat singing, and signature rhythmic guitar technique known simply as "sango." He formed the Poppy Fields Band in 2001 with an Israeli chanteuse of the same name, eventually splitting in 2003 to strike out on his own. The result was Hello, a 12-track collection of grooves, ballads, and outright rockers that showcased his gruff, operatic vocals and simplistic — yet oddly inspiring — lyrics. Backed by a group that consists of some of Nashville's finest, including members of the Lone Official, Bobby Bare Jr.'s Young Criminals, Lambchop, and Poppy Fields herself, the Mattoid toured the states, taking his punk/lounge act to basement pubs and house parties, occasionally throwing in a heart-wrenching cover of "Hello" by Lionel Richie. In 2005, he released Eternifinity, a six-track EP of new material, including a reworking of Hello's "Happiness."

HELLO review: Rock & roll history is littered with records that exist in a vacuum, albums so "outside" the realm of popular culture that they either elicit abject distaste or full-blown fanaticism. On Hello, the electrifying debut from Nashville-by-way-of-Finland's Ville Kiviniemi (aka the Mattoid), a knife is plunged into the belly of the rock & roll cosmos, resulting in a deluge of delicious foulness that somehow manages to unite the Velvet Underground, Laibach, Andrew W.K., and Elvis Presley into a single organism. Utilizing his own signature guitar style called "Sango" — apparently so subtle and complex that it's inaudible to the human ear — the Mattoid makes even the smallest rock sound like a mountain. "Shiny Woman," lent added weight by the bald, poncho-wearing artist's thick Scandinavian accent, is at its heart a simple love song, but when, midway through, a minute-long throat singing solo explodes over the VU backbeat, it becomes absolutely primal. "Rat Poison," a duet with longtime sidekick the Poppy Fields, treats the subject of love with supreme gothic reverence. Sung from the perspective of a woman whose repeated attempts at killing off her boyfriend (poison, gunshot, etc.) are thwarted by the victim's impenetrable devotion — "But still he survived/no, he didn't die, because his love for me kept him alive" — it ends with the two crooning, "When you are in love, you are strong," and the effect, despite the sheer irreverence of it all, is both chilling and inspirational. Love may lie at the heart of Hello, but what the Mattoid really wants to do is party. Whether it's the thunderous proclamation at the end of "Blue Suede Shoes" — "I wish to see all the corners of the universe and be the dude who never has to die" — or the infantile simplicity of "Party Time" — "crap your craps and fu*k your fu*ks, it's party time!" — he's as fearless and wild as he is innocent and naïve. In fact, that's what makes Hello so enticing: the Mattoid is so generous and sincere in both idea and execution that listeners are compelled to follow him into each and every absurdity with their lighters held high, daring anyone in their path to mock him.

- All Music Guide.com