Starting with this pointless year end routine. So between now and Christmas, there will be a lot of lists. Well at least unless this flu really kicks in badly. I will do these rather quickly this time and don’t write a lot of ramblings, because a) life has been hard for a couple of months and I just want to get these done b) the music matters not the ramblings. I’m starting with the Finnish albums of the year. It was a great year and I could have easily come up with at least 10 more that I really liked. There’s some sort of vague order, but the numbers are mostly there to just help me count to 25 with my non-existent math skills. So don’t focus on them too much, because depending on a day any album could move like seven places up or down and even flipping it upside down wouldn’t make much of a difference. Music is love and not a competition and every year I think about moving on to unranked version. Still I feel that even the vague order can be helpful to the reader. Especially because unlike myself, some folks have a life and don’t have time to listen to all and everything and my lists tend to be on the long side.
There will be a playlist of Finnish music when I make the songs of the year list. This ongoing playlist will have songs from most of these, but some might be missing because I haven’t updated it as well and frequently as I should have. Anyway, here’s 25 Finnish albums that I loved during 2019. I hope I didn’t forget anything important.
25. Pasi Salmi – Preerian upottaa kuu (Way Beyondo Records)
24. M – Näytän missä asun (Solina Records)
23. Anne-Mari Kivimäki & Palomylly – Hämeen lauluja (Kihtinäjärvi Records)
Anne-Mari Kivimäki at Facebook
22. Knipi – Knipi (Fried Music)
21. Tomi Nordlund & Syvä Joki – Viisi vuotta myöhemmin (Soit Se Silti)
Tomi Nordlund & Syvä Joki at Facebook
20. Pekko Käppi – Finnish Folk Songs Vol 1. (Helmi Levyt)
19. Joose Keskitalo – En lähde surussa (Helmi Levyt)
18. The New Magnetic North – Letters on the Floor (self-released)
The New Magnetic North at Facebook
17. Antti Autio – Pihalla tuulee taas (Soit Se Silti)
16. Baby Sweetcorn – He Laughs He Learns He Loves (Way Beyondo Records)
15. Litku Klemetti – Ding Ding Dong (Luova Records)
14. Lokit – Lokit LP (Joteskii Groteskii / Combat Rock Industry / Roku Records)
13. Janne Tapion Sisäinen Avaruus – Maapallon hautajaiset (Lumpeela julkaisut)
Janne Tapion Sisäinen Avaruus Website
12. Verões – Verões (self-released)
11. Hullu Ruusu – Rehab (Helmi Levyt)
10. Salaliitto – Puolet (Soit Se Silti)
9. Viitasen Piia – Meidän jälkeemme hiljaisuus (Texicalli Records)
8. Maustetytöt – Kaikki tiet vievät Peltolaan (Is This Art!)
7. Hulda Huima – Maa (Helmi Levyt)
6. Iron Country Sisters – The Blue Hidden In (Soit Se Silti)
5. Sur-rur – Hattarahiukset (Joteskii Groteskii / Roku Records)
4. Räjäyttäjät – III (Ektro Records / Räjä Records)
3. Liila Jokelin – Kaamos on huono esileikki (Helmi Levyt)
2. Kielo Kärkkäinen – Keitä me olemme (Texicalli Records)
1. Ylva Haru – Linnut (Soit Se Silti)
My favourite Finnish album of the year 2019 is Linnut by Ylva Haru. It came out in early January and stayed with me throughout the year. This beautiful folk album resonates with me deeply and gives me a lot of those this is exactly how I feel moments and (or even more so) this is how I should feel moments. An absolute treasure of an album.
