My song favourites were already covered in those round-up posts and therefore this list might be a little useless. I still decided to make some kind of list of my biggest love affairs. Because I’m extremely logical person, this time I just put Finland and rest of the world into the same basket and started picking up my favourite songs. Top 10 is a small amount and it could be a lot longer without any drop in the quality. But I don’t want bother with you another long list. And in case you are wondering why there are no songs from my albums of the year, Mummypowder and The Deep Dark Woods, the fact is that I just love those albums in their entirety and it would be difficult to pick just one song (+ my biggest favourites from those records are not on soundcloud or bandcamp). So they are not included, but here are ten songs that I really love.
10. Carmen & The Devil: Love Drove My Baby Away
– Wonderful song. Ok, it is a little bit too much to call this “demo” 10th best song in the world, but I can’t leave it out. This is my year-end list and this is a song that I love. Why should I pick some “better” song that I’ve listened to ten times instead of this beauty which I have listened to a hundred times.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/12211863″]
9. Pickering Pick – Like A River
– Pickering Pick’s Tiger Palm was one of the last albums I had to leave out of the albums of the year list. Mostly because Pickering Pick is quite a heavy thing to digest on an album length for me. Works better in small doses and Like A River and Ballad For Leaving are both among the most beautiful songs of the year.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/15786176″]
8. Marmalakes – Balmorhea
– The second Marmalakes EP Even Clothed was one of the late addictions. This young band from Austin is pretty fantastic and I have high hopes for them. Especially this last song of the EP, Balmorhea, is something truly wonderful.
7. Dolorean – Country Clutter
– Beautiful in a fucked up kind of way. Country Clutter is the the highlight of Dolorean’s wonderful fourth album The Unfazed.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/9438864″]
6. Mirel Wagner – No Death
– This young Finnish folk/blues singer-songwriter released a stunning debut album and this song is out of this world.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/11466732″]
5. Chris Bathgate – Salt Year
– Chris Bathgate’s album Salt Year is a beauty. It has several magical folk songs. Choosing between Poor Eliza and the title track Salt Year is difficult, but at the moment Salt Year is my favourite.
4. Samae Koskinen – Hän, jolla on kaikki
– The best Finnish song of the year. Beautiful, genuine and heartfelt. A perfect song.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f22Tc_z8ffA]
3. Hezekiah Jones – Lift the Shadow from This Heart
– Hard to choose between this one and Borrowed Heart that was not on the album. Lift the Shadow from This Heart takes a light edge, because it’s the song that started my love affair with Hezekiah Jones.
2. Dawes – If I Wanted Someone
– 70’s influenced folk rock with harmonies. My kind of music. If I had the ability to write music, it would either be power pop or something like this. One amazing song.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/14682084″]
1. Small Houses – Late July
– And the song of the year award goes to Small Houses aka Jeremy Quentin. Late July might not be anything earth-shattering and it might not be the most amazing composition of the year. But for me this is a unique and magical folk song and I love it as much as its possible to love a song.
Small Houses – “Late July” from Spencer Wells on Vimeo.
