10. Delay Trees: Doze
As I’ve said before, the new Delay Trees album Doze also contains material that I’m not that thrilled about. Some songs end up being a bit too long and dreamy for my personal likings. But then there’s Dream Surfer and HML. Oh my. Two absolutely fantastic songs. Therefore I don’t have the heart to leave Doze outside the top 10 and some albums that I might like more as a whole have to make room. This one below is the magnificent HML.
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9. Jukka Ässä: Mitäs tässä
Jukka Ässä finally released his long-waited solo debut Mitäs tässä. Especially the songs Juhannus and Ole juuri niin kuin oot are perfect and among the finest things released this year. Very strong album as a whole as well, even though the rest of the album might not completely reach the same level of brilliance as those two beauties. This is Eläköön, amatöörit.
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8. Mikael H & The Siberians: The President Of Venice Beach
The new Mikael H & The Siberians album is a delightful piece of music. Beautiful folk melodies and inspiring arrangements. The President of Venice Beach surely contain quite a lot of playful arrangements. Most of them work really well and keep the record interesting and unique. In couple of occasions it gets a bit frustrating, because same song can contain parts that I absolutely love and parts that I don’t even like. A great album nevertheless. This one below is Being Right.
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7. Burning Hearts: Extinctions
This might well be the best finnish album of the year, but I’m not trying to make an objective list. These list thingies are always very subjective. Things like personal preference matter and electro-folk-pop isn’t the thing I love the most. But damn.. I do still love Burning Hearts and their new album Extinctions. Marvellous stuff. This one is The Swallows.
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6. Treehouse: Top to Bottom
Now this is my kind of music. Treehouse filled their debut album Top to Bottom with fabulous country-flavoured pop music. Oh how I love that singing and the harmonies. I love the singing on the record and their live performance last friday proved that they can sing as beautifully on live situations as well. Such a great record. This one is Summer Starts in June.
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5. Matti Jasu & The Loose Train: Samurai vs. The Computer
Matti Jasu used to write and sing some of my favourite Finnish indie pop songs as a member of Goodnight Monsters. Therefore I had high hopes for his new material and I’m loving this just as much. It’s a bit less indie pop and a bit more Neil Young, but that’s not a bad thing. Samurai VS Computer is a great album that should have gotten much more recognition. This is Fingers Crossed.
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4. Nopat: Kadun tuolla puolella
Nopat made a charming soundtrack for my lazy sunday mornings. Slow-paced, cosy and beautiful. What’s better than having no rush to go anywhere at all and just listen to Nopat, Neil Halstead and Mark Kozelek while sipping some black coffee and eating burnt toast. This is Minkä teit?.
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3. Cats On Fire: All Blackshirts To Me
Cats On Fire is still the best indie pop band in the world. These days I might not be as obsessed with them as I was a couple years ago, but they do continue to impress with each and every release. All Blackshirts To Me might very well be their strongest album to date, even though the earlier ones will always remain dearest to me (due to the fact that I have so much emotion and personal memories attached to them). This is My Sense Of Pride.
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2. Ochre Room: Evening Coming In
It kind of hurts to leave this as number two. If there was an most important artist/band of the year category, international award would go to Chris Bathgate and Ochre Room would be the Finnish choice. This surely has been a year of Ochre Room for me. It was love at first sight at Flavour of the Month in february and the feeling has only gotten stronger throughout the year. The vocalists are just so freakin’ good and the song material is already mighty fine. Perfect Finnish americana/folk rock. If I make a song of the year list, Radiance will probably take the place #1. The harmonies on that one are out of this world. This one is My Summer.
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And here’s acoustic A Little Cloud from Luomustudio.
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1. Viljami Kukkonen: Mörönsyötti
And the album of the year award goes to Mörönsyötti by Viljami Kukkonen. Even if I had put Finnish and international albums all together on one list, Mörönsyötti might still have taken the first place. I just love everything about it. Listening to it is like a spiritual experience. It’s like this album is a perfect match with my heart. If my day is chaotic and stressful, I can turn this on and there’s again some kind of harmony and sense around. Of course this all sounds naiive, but there’s no other way I can explain the brilliance of this album. I guess there’s a couple of lines that are a bit clumsy, but even those don’t bother me at all, because Mörönsyötti is such a magical record and my Finnish album of the year. Below you’ll find the songs Hoivaa, Minä valvon nimeäsi and Solmutukka.
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