Hot Thumbs O'Riley - Wicked Ivory, 1972, Charisma

This is arguably the weirdest Finnish rock album I've posted yet, as the cover should hint at...

Here is a true fantastic album that I suspect will take a few listens for many before the pure beauty emerges. Jim Pembroke of course was the creative genius of Finland’s Wigwam and this album represents his first solo album…a work of pure creativity and genius. If you are familiar and enjoy with the music of Wigwam, then this album would likely work quite well for you. Hot Thumbs O’Riley is a quirky concept album narrated by Jim Pembroke himself and is essentially a cabaret setting where a number of different bands/singers are introduced. Pembroke draws on his fellow Wigwam members with Pekka Pohjola, Jukka Gustavson. Mans Groundstroem, Mats Hulden and Ronnie Osterberg. The end result is a pretty eclectic album with vast strangeness yet lovingly constructed and full of creativity.

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Jim Pembroke, an Englishman settling in Finland, and soon joined the progressive musicians and ended up in Finlands most well known band WIGWAM. This album is one of the most bizarre ones coming out from the north. A simulated entertaining Southern American show features alot of weird musicians (all Pembroke himself of course) with rad names and musical directions without names on. All progressive in the bottom, but some tracks are more jazzy, some fast, some slow. Out of the Pembroke solo albums I've heard, this is the most interesting one ! Pembroke was backed by most of the WIGWAM line up incl. Jukka Gustavson and Pekka Pohjola.

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