Featured, International music, Top lists

Albums of the Year 2012: The International Edition Part One 20-11

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This time I forced myself to choose only top 20. Heartbreaking stuff and extremely difficult, because I had to leave out so many great albums.

20. Bahamas: Barchords

Starting out with Afie Jurvanen aka Bahamas from Toronto. I’ve really liked this guy from the start and he is just getting better all the time. A few songs might still slip into the “only nice” category, but even those sound charming. I’m especially fond of the beautiful ballad Time and Time Again. In case you haven’t already seen it, I wholeheartedly recommend this Sunday Dinner short-film where Bahamas also shows his finnish language skills. It fits well into the holiday season as well. Someone should organize a Finland tour. This is Time and Time Again.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/46632406″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

 

19. The Mastersons: Birds Fly South

The Mastersons is a great country duo and their debut album Birds Fly South contains several brilliant country songs like Crash Test, The Other Shoe and One Word More. Reminds me of The Jayhawks, but that’s never a bad thing. Hit this next youtube link for One Word More.

18. Gentleman Jesse: Leaving Atlanta

This list needs some power pop and who would be better to provide it than Gentleman Jesse. The debut was gorgeous and this follow-up Leaving Atlanta is just as great. If you are into that late 70s/early 80s rockin’ power pop, you can’t go wrong with Gentleman Jesse. Hit the next youtube link for my favourite song Careful What You Wish For.

17. Neil Halstead: Palindrome Hunches

And the something completely different. Mojave 3 is an all-time favourite here at the onechord.net headquarters. Neil Halstead’s solo material haven’t completely reached the same level, but it comes rather close and the new solo album Palindrome Hunches is once again amazingly beautiful. This is one of the many highlights, Full Moon Rising.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/49515829″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

 

16. Denver: Denver

And we do need some traditional country music as well. Denver from Portland, Oregon, released an album full of marvellous country tunes. The band shares some members with Blitzen Trapper, but this is even better than the great Blitzen Trapper. Here’s one great example titled Reno.

15. Lightships: Electric Cables

Lightships is Gerald Love from Teenage Fanclub. Lightships isn’t as good as TFC, but nothing is as good as TFC. And then there’s no reason to compare. Astoundingly beautiful album from Gerald Love. This one below is Sweetness In Her Spark.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/35330433″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

 

14. American Aquarium: Burn, Flicker, Die

Again we have something very different than the previous choice. Southern rock’n’roll, alt.country, indie rock from Raleigh’s American Aquarium. Their new Jason Isbell produced album Burn, Flicker, Die is very convincing effort. You can stream the whole thing on their website.

13. BMX Bandits: BMX Bandits in Space

The last addition to the list. I’ve only had this for a week, so it’s pretty hard to decide where to put it. But it’s certain that Duglas and co have again created a mighty fine album that is one of the highlights of the year. I especially love the song Fireworks. Perfect song and perfect last line. Hit the youtube link to find the video for a song titled Listen to Some Music.

12. Pickering Pick: Prayer Flag

Pickering Pick has been extremely important this year. I’ve been listening to his whole back catalogue throughout the year. His 2012 release Prayer Flag is again beautiful and poetic folk album. The last song Seasons On The Run is one of the most captivating moments of the year. You can listen to it below. He also has a new single, which you can find by following this link. More about that after I’m done with these pointless lists.

11. The District Attorneys: Slowburner

It’s rather hard to rank this one, because on the other hand it contains some songs that are only good, but then there’s the mid-part of the album that is absolutely magnificent. Especially from the 5th song Cherry Glow to the 9th song The End this album is perfect and I can never get tired of those songs. Believe me, I’ve tried really hard. Listen to Cherry Glow and The End below.

Top 10 to follow sometime soon. Hopefully tomorrow, but might go until next weekend.

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Featured, Finnish music, Headline, Top lists

Albums of the Year 2012: The Finnish Edition

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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.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/60193347″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

 

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.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/57841084″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

 

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.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/45416619″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

 

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.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/13846337″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

 

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.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/37607153″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

 

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.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/48433772″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

 

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?.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/34167893″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

 

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.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/31040979″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

 

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.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/61253763″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

 
And here’s acoustic A Little Cloud from Luomustudio.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3jz_3nAIVc]

 

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.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/34067102″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/39044257″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/51301952″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]

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Reissues & Compilations of the year 2011

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One more list to go and then it’s finally done and I can focus on 2012.

TOP 5 Reissues & Compilations (ok, I know it’s actually a top eight)

5. The Poets: Wooden Spoon – The Singles Anthology 1964-1967

This was my first proper introduction to Scottish 60’s band The Poets. I think previously I had only heard That’s The Way It’s Got To Be on the Nuggets II box sets. That’s a really great song and so are the other 11 cuts on this singles anthology.
 
 
 
4. Mickey Newbury: An American Trilogy (4CD)

I’ve had the Frisco Mabel Joy vinyl for years and even included it on some all time favourite albums list on the old website. This American Trilogy was a must have box set, because it also contained two other albums I’ve never heard before and a rarities disc. Four CDs in a row might be too big one time dose of Mickey Newbury, but one at a time these work perfectly. Mickey Newbury was a magnificent songwriter.
 
 
3. Miettinen – Pieni rockhistoriikki 1979-2000

I thought about putting this as #1, but maybe that wouldn’t have been an honest thing to do. On a purely emotional level this is the number one, because I love Miettinen and he is one of the main reasons I came so addicted to music (+ started One Chord to Another). However, I’ve always been more pop-orientated than rock-orientated and therefore I’m not that into everything on this box set. Roughly put, I really love 1/3 of this, I really like 1/3 of this and 1/3 of this is not really my cup of tea.
 
 
2. The Left Banke: Walk Away Renee / Pretty Ballerina & The Left Banke Too

Sundazed get one of those onechord.net’s imaginary culture awards for releasing these two The Left Banke albums. Beforehand it was pretty impossible to find these baroque pop treasures, but now I finally own these beauties. Especially the debut Walk Away Renee / Pretty Ballerina is a perfect album. The Left Banke are one of the best bands there is.
 
 
1. Fading Yellow Volume 11, Volume 12 and Volume 13

I’ve been aware of this compilation series for a few years, but because I knew most of the compilations are/were out of print, I didn’t start buying them at the time. I kind of knew that if I buy one, I want them all. This is exactly what happened when I finally did buy volumes 10, 11, 12 from Stockholm in september 2011. I instantly fell in love and have since bought also volumes 1, 2, 8, 9 and 13. Unfortunately volumes 3-7 seem to be pretty impossible to find unless one wants to pay $100 for a used CD and I don’t. Hopefully JJ will eventually reissue volumes 3-7, because I’m dying to get them. Fading Yellow gave us three near-perfect CD compilations and one vinyl (which I don’t have) during the year 2011. Volumes 11-13 are all utterly wonderful and therefore I let them share the #1 spot on this list. If I had to choose just one, I think I would go with Volume 12 – A Lighthearted Life: Another Collection Of Euro, UK & Australian ‘60s/Early ‘70s Pop Sike And Other Delights. It’s just contains a huge amount of songs that I now love, but would never have found without Fading Yellow compilations. Like Like It Never Was by Paul Vigrass.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2jy18heTtI]

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