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Top 10 Finnish songs of the year 2013

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10. Janne Laurila & Tuhlaajapojat – Taika haihtuu pois

This one almost slipped out, because it came out very early in the year. The whole Janne Laurila & Tuhlaajapojat album was really good, but I especially loved this opening track Taika haihtuu pois.


9. Gim Kordon – Ei ole helppoo

I really love this early demo version of Ei ole helppoo. Even more than the second Gim Kordon that soon followed. But a real indie kid loves the first rough demo song of course. It’s all downhill from here haha. I still have high expectations for the debut album due out next year on Soliti.

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8. The New Tigers – Secondary City

My favourite song from the second The New Tigers album The Badger that will appear on the album list as well.

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7. Ochre Room – Garbage Trucks Are On The Move

First outtake from the forthcoming Ochre Room album due out spring 2014. One of my most anticipated albums of the year 2014.

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6. Koria Kitten Riot – Between a Pillow and a Soft Place

The second outtake from the excellent forthcoming Koria Kitten Riot album that will hit the stores in January 2014.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5-ExY-OinM]

5. The Lieblings – She Motorway

Classic Coma from the excellent The Lieblings debut Take Us To Your Leader

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4. Hills (Of Vaasa) – It Was There

Classic Coma part 2 from the Hills (Of Vaasa) digital single.

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3. Nicolas Kivilinna – Rauhattoman rukous

I’m not a very logical person. I left Eino Leino -EP by Nicolas Kivilinna out from the EP list only because it didn’t feel right to include something that I haven’t bought. However, I wasn’t able to leave the lead song Rauhattoman rukous out from this list, because I’ve been listening to it a lot online and think it’s just so utterly wonderful.

 
2. Samae Koskinen – Hullu nainen

Hyvä päivä is not my favourite Samae Koskinen album (Ok, still a great one and easily among my top 10 Finnish albums of the year), but this song. Everything about this song from that Kaseva-like verse to that awesome chrous. I love it. I had this as #1 for a long time, but during the last week or two something sneaked past it.


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1. Topi Saha – Kolme veljee

At first, Topi Saha’s second album Kolme veljee felt like a minor disappointment. In some sense I still feel like the album could have been even better. Which might sound like a really odd statement after you’ve red my upcoming Finnish albums of the year list. Anyway, this is the song list and there’s plenty of wonderful songs on this one. There might be several worthy of that Finnish song of the year award, but during the recent weeks it has become clear to me that the title goes to the amazing title song Kolme veljee.

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Favourite EPs of the Year 2013

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Time to write these year end lists. The Christmas time is always extremely busy in this food factory / warehouse job I’m in these days and therefore I haven’t had any time or energy for the blog lately. I think the next week will be the same, but after that it gets easier. That’s a good thing, because there’s a huge amount of excellent Finnish releases coming up in January that I need to write about. But first I need to get these lists out of the way. I’ll kick of with this short EP list today. Album lists will probably go until next weekend, if the work week will be as busy as I expect it to be.

EPs of the Year 2013:

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5. Paper Beat Scissors – Live at St.Matthew’s Church (Forward Music, 2013)

I’m not really into live recordings and I hardly ever buy them. Therefore it was a bit of surprise that I ended up spending a huge amount of time with a digital live EP. Paper Beat Scissors aka Tim Crabtree is a just so good and with a help of talented musicians he creates a magical intimate atmosphere. Especially this song Tendrils is perfect in every way. One of my favourite moments of the year.

 
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4. Robin Pahlman – Robin Pahlman (Monkey Records, 2013)

Robin Pahlman’s long-waited debut EP came out late in the year on Monkey Records. This is my favourite Finnish EP of the year, but it has to settle for a place outside the top 3, because I decided to make just one list for the EPs. I have posted the excellent lead track Miss Lonelyhearts so many times and therefore I’ll go with this song called Ghosts this time around.

 
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3. The Weather Station – Duets #1-3 (You’ve Changed Records)

A recent purchase, but an instant favourite. Might have challenged the top 2, if I had spent as much time with it. I don’t know why I waited so long, because I love The Weather Station aka Tamara Lindeman and I love two of her duet partners Daniel Romano and Marine Dreams. Not that familiar with the the third duet partner Baby Eagle, but I should check him out as well, because those two songs are also absolutely wonderful. Both Daniel Romano and Marine Dreams will be under the spotlight on the upcoming best albums of the year list, so I’ll go with a song by The Weather Station featuring Baby Eagle. This is Brook and Branch.

 
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2. Wes Tirey – I Stood Among Trees

One of the big finds of the year (thanks to April). One day Wes Tirey will be huge.. or at least should be huge. Things don’t always go the way they should. Anyway, Wes Tirey is a magnificent folk singer-songwriter and he released two amazing EPs this year. False Idols EP was a really good one, but this debut EP I Stood Among Trees was the one that was out of this world great. This one is The Time Leaves So Soon.

 
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1. Jeremy Squires – Central Nervous Station

It was a tough decision between the first two. If I think pure artistic value, Wes Tirey probably takes the first spot by an inch. But I’m an emotional guy and hauntingly beautiful Central Nervous Station by Jeremy Squires was something that took care of me emotionally. I’m not sure am I completely fucked up to say that, because the lyrical content is often really dark and melancholic. However, heartwarming vocals wrapped into gentle folk melodies is a perfect way to tackle that darkness within us and soon it reminded me that even the longest night leads to daylight. Therefore Central Nervous Station is a friend that holds me together if I stumble into the dark. Whole thing is wonderful, but my favourite songs are these two, Central Nervous Station and A Warm Glow.

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Albums of the Year 2012: The International Edition Part Two 10-1

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10. David Myhr: Soundshine

David Myhr created a slice of pop heaven with his album Soundshine. That title certainly fits perfectly to this album. You rarely hear so excellent melodic power pop these days. Soundshine was the perfect soundtrack for the spring, but still works just as well during these dark winter nights. If you’ve been in Finland in november/december, you know that it’s the time you really need some soundshine and this album fully delivers it. David’s visit to Flavour of the Month club was also one of the highlights of the year. This is Looking For a Life.



 

9. Greater Pacific: Incandescent

This one was a surprise for me. I liked Greater Pacific debut EP a lot and knew they were a good band, but I didn’t expect them to be this good. I really fell in love with their laid-back americana. The album Incandescent contained plenty of beautiful melancholic folk songs. My kind of music definitely. A fair amount of pedal steel as well which is always a plus. This one is my biggest favourite, the title track Incandescent.



 

8. Justin Townes Earle: Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now

Well this one was not a surprise. I think the past three Justin Townes Earle albums have all reached my end of the year list. I don’t think I ever wrote about this to the blog before this. Mostly because people already know the guy and my silly ramblings won’t make a difference. Excellent album nevertheless. Memphis sound meets folk troubadour. So damn enjoyable. This one is Memphis in the Rain.

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7. Andrew Combs: Worried Man

This one was the latest album of the month and it’s indeed worthy of that title. Andrew Combs might not invent anything new, but he sure is creating wonderful country songs. If you are into 70s country troubadours, give Andrew Combs a chance, because this man is creating something similar and he sure can sing. You could pretty much post any of the songs, because are all great. Let’s go with Take it From Me this time around.



 

6. John K. Samson: Provincial

The only bad thing about The Weakerthans frontman John K. Samson solo full-lenght was that I already knew half of the songs from his earlier EPs. The excitement levels would have risen even higher, if there had been 12 completely new John K. Samson compositions. But obviously the songs were way too brilliant to be left on EPs that only the biggest fans had acquired and the songs were also part of the provincial concept. One of the great modern songwriters and this album is just as great as The Weakerthans albums. This one is titled When I Write My Master’s Thesis.

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5. Joe Pug: The Great Despiser

Regular readers are well aware that I’ve become a huge Joe Pug fan during the last few years. One of the best folk singer-songwriters at the moment and the new album The Great Despiser is obviously wonderful. There’s a couple of songs that doesn’t seem to be anything special. Well at least on Joe’s standards and that’s why this is not a contender for the album of the year award. Marvellous album nevertheless. This is one of the many highlights, Hymn #76.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFTzGEdCgTY]

 

4. Paul Otteson: Robin Red

This has been one of my biggest addictions this year. I’ve listened to Robin Red for hours in a row and enjoyed every second. Robin Red is fragile and oh so very beautiful. Paul Otteson might not be the most well-known folk troubadour out there, but he sure did create such a magical record that most household names would struggle to get even close to the same level. This one is my own favourite, One Heart To Prove.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y0DJwKv6R0]

 

3. I Was a King: You Love It Here

A stunning album. Norwegian I Was A King created a world class pop album with the help of Norman Blake and Robyn Hitchcock. Pop music just doesn’t get much better than this nowadays and it just feels so good to listen to this. You Love It Here is full of amazing pop songs. Almost every song could (and should) be a hit single. This is the opener Frozen Disease.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKH0nqQ5_rg]

 

2. Barna Howard: Barna Howard

Moving on to the second place and not so surprisingly, there’s another folk singer-songwriter. Although Barna Howard is definitely not just another folk singer-songwriter. This man is a major talent and it’s almost criminal that he is still pretty unknown. I’ll try to do my small part in spreading the gospel (thanks to April/Common Folk Music, who introduced Barna to me). Such a great songwriter, such a great singer. Watch this video below and you’ll understand what I mean. It contains three songs from his self-titled album Promise, I Won’t Laugh, Song For Joe and Timber, Nails and Tears.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-KWSSDGEds]

 

1. Ken Stringfellow: Danzig In The Moonlight

And the album of the year award goes to Danzig In The Moonlight by Ken Stringfellow. Of course that’s pretty obvious choice, because Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer are my all-time favourite songwriters/performers. Still I’ve tried to be objective and honest during the years and all Posies-related releases have not come on top of my year-end lists, if I didn’t really think they were worthy of that spot. This time Ken Stringfellow released such a masterpiece that you didn’t need to think twice which was the best album of the year. Danzig in The Moonlight is an ambitious album, but somehow Ken managed to keep it cohesive. A lot of different styles, but almost everything works perfectly. And then there’s the last song You’re A Sign. A future classic and easily the best song of the year 2012. This is not You’re a Sign (because I couldn’t find it). This is Superwise.

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