Triola is a noted Swedish record label specializing in a rare form of Nordic guitar instrumental music mostly in the spirit of The Shadows and also Swedish R.I. music in the spirit of Sweden’s own early rock instrumental 1960s band, The Spotnicks. So, it’s unique but hardly surprising to find a 2020 Triola double CD retrospective entitled A Collection Of Great Dance Songs from Finland’s rock instrumental favorites Pekka Tiilikainen & Beatmakers. Like its shared geography, the musical borders between Sweden and Finland is thin and porous and clearly, this 50 track set is a most opportune moment to reflect back on the Beatmaker’s early albums, 15 plus, dating back to the late 1990s and early 2000’s. Speaking to the press about releasing a new compilation as well as linking up with Triola Records, Beatmaker’s bass player and the producer of this collection Jori Venemies explains, “It is a retrospective from 1999-2018, 9 different albums. Some tracks were originally released on various artists compilations. Triola is a Swedish label and is still run by Jan Lyckman. For some reason they don’t have a web site. We started discussions with them about a new fully instrumental album and the idea to release a retrospective first came up. We’re actually going to studio next month to start with the new one. As for favorite tracks ...there’s so much variety that it’s hard to say... but “Bourbon Street” always closes our gigs great.” Essential for rock instrumental fans lucky enough to track this down, the CD, cover art and booklet of A Collection Of Great Dance Songs evokes the mysterious and the beguiling nature of Finnish guitar instrumental bands in the 21st century.