NOVEMBER 22, 2006

Happy Un-Thanksgiving

VIDEO: The Complaints Choir of Helsinki

This Thanksgiving, we at VSL are thankful for a particular bunch of cheerful whiners: the Complaints Choir of Helsinki. The creation of a Finnish husband-wife artist team, Oliver Kochta Kalleinen and Tellervo Kalleinen, the choir stars in the most instantly accessible and funniest comedy/art video we’ve seen in ages.

The couple invited people in various international cities to submit their complaints, which were then set to churchly choir music under the direction of a local choral director. So far there have been complaints choirs in Hamburg, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Birmingham, England — with videos for the latter two available online.

The Finns are not only the best singers, but the most charmingly spot-on complainers (“Christmas season starts earlier every year... Ring tones are all irritating... Jobs go to China, tramline 3 smells of pee”). This is why we like Scandinavians.

Incidentally, the artists note on their web site that “St. Petersburgers emphasized deep basic human issues like: I complain about existential horror.”

And on that note, Happy Thanksgiving. VSL will be back on Monday.

VIEW Complaints Choir of Helsinki

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