And here goes the final year-end list. No reissues lists anymore, because there’s so much new music that a) I don’t really have the time to listen to reissues b) I most definitely don’t have the money to buy reissues. Anyway, here are are my favorite Finnish songs of the year. This is mostly just a big playlist with 80+ Finnish songs. Mostly one song per artist with some small exceptions. Veli has two. One in English and one in Finnish. Kielo Kärkkäinen has the new solo single and a song from the 2020 EP with Matti Salo. And well Kalevi Suopursu and Mikko Siltanen have a few too, but different projects. Haamusoittajat is only available on Bandcamp, so you won’t find that from the playlist. I typed about 40 of the biggest favorites here in random order, but that’s barely enough to get started so the playlist has about double. Only top 3 are sorta “ranked” and even that is not important. It’s just a playlist of Finnish songs I loved during the year.

Haamusoittajat – Ahvenheinä (not on Spotify, listen/buy at bandcamp)
Robert Ensio Niemistö – Tasahaikka (Jukan Musiikki)
Metsäheikki – Puut tanssivat hiljaa (Helmi Levyt)
Isse – Loimii (Helmi Levyt)
Joni Ekman – Mikään ei riitä (Soit Se Silti)
Sam Shingler – Fight or Flight (Soit Se Silti)
Matti Jasu – A Love Story
Message Field – Numbers (Soit Se Silti)
Verandan – Pink Clouds (Soliti)
Arppa – Laavalamppuja (Arppa Music)
Janne Laurila – Neljä tonnii pilvee (Soit Se Silti)
Bizzarro & Jukka Nissinen – Rankaisen lempeydellä (Humu Records)
Litku Klemetti – Mona (Luova Records)
Antero Kaksikäsi – Yödösä (Hyvät levyt)
Janne Tapion Sisäinen Avaruus – Rantaan vie moottoritie (Iso Pinkki)
Vino Puu – Hullu Lintu
Bad Sauna – Tehdään jotain tyhmää (All That Plazz)
Maustetytöt – Äiti älä huoli (Is This Art?)
joku iiris – Hyvä tyttö (Humu Records / Jukan Musiikki / Hillotehdas)
Joose Keskitalo – Nukkekoti (Helmi Levyt)
Mitä Helvettiä Nyt Taas – Et ole yksin (Nature Sucks Anyway Records)
Sami Heikkilä – Eiväthän kukat (Luova Records)
Punomo – Anna aikaa (Solina Records)
Lätsä – Keskiyön Cowboy (Helmi Levyt)
The Sugarrush – Yeah (Nature Sucks Anyway Records)
Puhelinseksi – Valomerkki (Svart Records)
Mummypowder – Sara’s Song (All That Plazz)
Kielo Kärkkäinen – Saman ihmeen nähnyt (Texicalli)
Viljami Kukkonen – Heikolla päällä (Karhuvaltio Records)
Rock Siltanen – Tulevaisuus ei oo sitä mitä se oli (Joteskii Groteskii)
Guggenheim-projektz – Matematiikon poika (Helmi Levyt / Jukan Musiikki)
Jani Matti Juhani feat Sini – Talven kylmät kyyneleet (Ainoa Productions)
Tvärtom – Järkytys
Teini-Pää – Hotelliin (Pop-Antik Kustannus / Goosebumb Record) – also check out their perfect ABBA cover 112 here.
Amuri – Masa (Helmi Levyt)
Veli – Elokuussa (Evil Veli Recordings)
Rosita Luu – Kuollut Monta Kertaa (Helmi Levyt)

3. Nightbird – Travelin’ Baby (Ella Ruth Institutet)

This great album from singer-songwriter Nightbird aka Anna-Stina Jungerstam has several songs worthy of a spot on this little list, but perhaps this album opener and title track is sthe finest of them all.

2. Kalevi Suopursu – Sinä olet minun sunnuntai (Helmi Levyt)

Sinä olet minun sunnuntai by Kalevi Suopursu is the the Finnish song I listened to the most this year. Not necessarily the best song from the album, if you use some silly objective parameters but definitely the one that I loved the most. That chorus is just pure perfection. Probably because I never learned to love the weekdays.

1. Laura Moisio – Kaukana onnesta (Texicalli)

My favorite Finnish song of the year 2020 is Kaukana onnesta by Laura Moisio. I instantly fell in love with it when I first heard it January and it never lost its poignant and profound beauty. In fact, it may have found even new and deeper levels during the year, because back in January I was still blissfully unaware how this year would unfold. I’m grateful that I had this compassionate song on my side warning me about the dangers of sinking in too deep. The devastating darkness of this song might have been the shining light that I needed. A work of art.

And here’s the big playlist with 80 plus Finnish songs from the year 2020.

Playlist link

Before diving into the international albums of the year list, here’s a small list of my favorite Finnish EPs of the year. Top 6 with a couple of bonus picks that maybe could have been on the actual list as well.

Bonus pick #1:

Teini-pää – Täynnä kysymyksiä

A 2019 release that would have been the top pick on my Finnish EPs of 2019 list, but I found it in January 2020. So just wanted to feature it here, because I love it so much and the release and the band was a big deal for me this year.

Bonus picks #2 and #3

Marian valinta – Maagiset kirjaimet & Epäile

Remastered treasures from Marian Valinta discography. I remember some of these beauties from the early 2000s and it’s lovely to reintroduce my heart to these songs.

Top 6 Finnish EPs of 2020

Kind of an odd number. I tried to squeeze this category into a top 5, but Haamusoittajat destroyed my plan a week ago by releasing something that I really love.

6. Tams – Aikahyppy 2

Tams have never understood the fact that generally I don’t really like synth pop all that much. Somehow I still love Tams.

5. Rami Vierula – Kasetilla EP

A beautiful surprise release from Rami Vierula that you might remember from Delay Trees and 23:23.

4. Sami Heikkilä – Kaunein muisto (Luova Records)

Sami Heikkilä was one of the new finds for me and this is such a beautiful and moving folk EP. This last song is pure gold.

3. Kielo Kärkkäinen & Matti Salo – Valon mentyä (Texicalli)

The previous Kielo Kärkkäinen album was one of my favorites of 2019 and I’m sure the next one will be one of my 2021 favorites. We have something to love and cherish here in between as well, because this year she made a fabulous EP with Matti Salo. Especially the title track Valon mentyä is utterly wonderful.

2. Haamusoittajat – Aikojen pyörteissä

This Haamusoittajat release is a last minute entry to this list, but I love it so much that I considered making it the EP of the year. Maybe a bit too early for that, so let’s keep Veli there because those songs have been a part of my dna for a longer while. Anyway, I instantly loved this EP and replied to the promo email before I even had finished listening to it. So damn good unique DIY pop with traces of folk and psychedelia. If you miss Wojciech for example, give this one a spin because some of these songs take me into the same neighborhood.

1. Veli – Kotiäänityksiä I & 2 (Evil Veli Recordings)

These two magnificent EPs of home recordings by Veli can share the Finnish EP of the year title. I maybe prefer the first one a little bit, but the second one has some absolute (should be) hits too like Breedersin Pod so I have to include that one too. He also released an excellent full-length that you can find from the earlier albums of the year list. That one is English, if you can’t master the Finnish language.