(released by Raadio Kohila Records, 2023)
Anima POP is a compilation album of mostly instrumental music and scores written to accompany animations made at the Estonian film studio Tallinnfilm between 1965 and 1986. The record comes with a bilingual (Estonian and English) eight page full-colour booklet with texts by art historian and critic Andreas Trossek and writer and critic Berk Vaher. Coloured versions of the vinyl come with an extra poster.
Behind the songs you’ll find six Estonian composer superstars: Arvo Pärt, Rein Rannap, Sven Grünberg, Olav Ehala, Tõnu Aare, and Tõnu Naissoo. Each of these artists deserves to have a book written or movie made about them. Some already have, in fact. The music styles and genres vary. You’ll find Latin, jazz, fusion, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, electronic, boogie-woogie, the Twist, and even, arguably, the first Estonian hip-hop piece (from 1986) in Olav Ehala’s “Kaelkirjak” (“Giraffe”).
It is literally mind-altering to find out that Arvo Pärt, who is the most performed living composer in the world, was also creating compositions as a cartoon soundtracker.
Truly, it’s hard to even begin introducing the contents of this rare vinyl specimen. When I had to do it for an Italian record shop, only one sentence was needed to pique their interest: “Here’s a record with the two first tracks showing early Arvo Pärt surf rock and exotica pieces.” It is literally mind-altering to find out that Arvo Pärt, who is the most performed living composer in the world, was also creating compositions as a cartoon soundtracker. The decadent surf lounge music in Mousehunt and the exotica frolic, full of piano doodling, in Cameraman Kõps in Stoneland sound utterly alien compared to Soviet music and would influence the sound of Estonian animations for years to come, as explained by Berk Vaher.
Tallinnfilm’s animation studio was a sort of creative safe haven away from the oppressive reality of life in Soviet-occupied Estonia. It was at the more marginal edges of the cultural hierarchy, working with a genre that was aimed at children. Thus, it was not taken as seriously by the Soviet authorities. The fantasy and innovation of the animators and composers did not pose a threat to the official discourse of those in power, enabling the creators to be more free in their creative activities.
Last, but not least, the record has an image of a cat on the cover! If everything else fails to attract you about this record, you’ll at the very least have a beautiful image of a cat to cherish.
The limited edition orange pressing, with a poster made by graphic artist Mare Vint, was sold out in two weeks. However, the media coverage in Estonia was lukewarm and the record went somewhat under the radar here.
Reception
While Anima POP was my personal favourite LP from 2023, it was only semi-successful in Estonia. The limited edition orange pressing, with a poster made by graphic artist Mare Vint, was sold out in two weeks. However, the media coverage in Estonia was lukewarm and the record went somewhat under the radar here.
At the same time it has been relatively well-received abroad. British music and pop culture online magazine The Quietus placed Anima POP at number ninety-eight among one hundred releases in its Reissues Of The Year 2023.
There was some coverage in the Estonian media, but you could summarise it with a review by Margus Haav in Estonia’s biggest daily newspaper, Postimees. Anima POP was covered in the section called “Record of the Week” but under the title “Animation as Psychotrauma” (“Multifilm kui psühhotrauma”) and received a meager three out of five review.
I am from the generation that grew up with those Anima POP cartoons in the Soviet era. I remember them very sharply and vividly, both the cartoons and the music. And they really have been in my memory forever. I admit, it wasn’t always the easiest thing to listen to. And most of the time there was no choice in Soviet-occupied Estonia. These were the cartoons you had. There were some exceptions though. I am from Tallinn, which means that in the early 1980s, once a week on Thursdays at 6:00 p.m., it was possible to see two Disney cartoons that were aired on Finnish TV.
So every Thursday, I watched two episodes of Donald Duck with Finnish subtitles. And you know what, I remember nothing of the Disney cartoons and almost everything connected to Anima POP!
As Berk Vaher puts it in the booklet, “The children of the late Soviet period, meanwhile, got a fair share of contemporary art and experimental sound watching their evening cartoons on TV. The impact of those special experiences on the artists and musicians of today is invaluable.”
One of the goals was also to make a representative whole from samples of very eclectic material, where the sound material often consisted of one minute sound clips for each animation.
Anima POP is a perfect combination of visual and musical style, thanks to Raul Viitung, the man of many merits behind this record. Raul has a photography degree from the Estonian Academy of Arts and two decades of graphic design and advertising agency background. He’s of the mindset that when producing vinyl records, the aesthetic pleasure comes first. As Raul put it, the plan from the beginning was to release the best Estonian vinyl record in 2023. It involved a lot of work from printing materials to sound design and digging in the archives, which took two years. One of the goals was also to make a representative whole from samples of very eclectic material, where the sound material often consisted of one minute sound clips for each animation. From the very beginning, Raul also took into account the foreign listener, who doesn’t know a thing about Estonian animation. This would be an album that arouses interest and advertises Estonia as a place full of fantasy–where interesting stuff was made even during the Soviet era, not just about waving red flags and singing about Lenin.
I can say that I’m a better version of myself thanks to the Anima POP animations and music. The world needs less Disney and more Anima POP!
On the Arkaader platform—a joint project of the Estonian Film Institute and the National Archives of Estonia—you can rent a high quality video playlist of all the animations featured on the Anima POP LP.
If you’re outside of Estonia, you can find your copy of the record on dustygroove.com or the Raadio Kohila Records website. You can also listen to the album on YouTube and SoundCloud.
