Europavox 2010 - The Whole Story

Almost all Europavox 2010 ambassadors

Seems like this lazy blogger is getting used to living normal life in Finland again, which means it’s time to write about the Europavox festival experiences before memories start to fade. Earlier this spring I wrote about 50 words telling why I should be the one to go Europavox. I was one of the two Finnish winners. In all EU countries, similar contests were organized and eventually more than 50 people were chosen to represent their countries as ambassadors of Europavox.

Early in the morning of Thursday May 20th we took our flights to Paris and continued by bus towards Clermont-Ferrand where the festival was to be organized for the fifth time. Most of Thursday was spent in the bus trying to get some sleep and gather energy for the festival and even more getting to know each other. There were too many new names and faces to keep in mind so people called each other by their countries. We arrived to the festival very late missing most gigs. All I saw on Thursday was a couple of songs from Tokyo Sex Destruction. To my surprise, I didn’t feel very interested in the gigs then nor in the following days. This was for the simple reason that there were 50+ new interesting and open people I wanted to get to know.

During the following three days, we had some activities in the afternoons and of course all the happenings in the festival area in the evenings. We had a small conference about music and politics in the Internet, some walks around the beautiful city of Clermont-Ferrand and a trip to an ancient volcano in the area. As ambassadors, we were video interviewed at times about Europe and we also got to interview some artists performing in the festival. I interviewed the Greenlandic singer-songwriter Nive Nielsen, the Danish band The Kissaway Trail and the only Finnish band at the festival, Joensuu 1685. I will try to write about Joensuu 1685 separately later since I had a chance to do a longer interview with their bassist Risto backstage after their gig.

Nive Nielsen [photo by Eleni Hoefsloot]

Nive Nielsen is originally a real Inuit from Greenland now living in Canada studying and making music. She began writing songs after receiving a red ukulele from her boyfriend in Canada. She still plays the same ukulele these days and had it with her on stage at Europavox as well. Among other things Nive talked about her belief in ghosts, a fact I surely thought to be a joke when read it from myspace, but not anymore. Apparently it’s not that rare in Greenland to believe in ghosts and she has had some strange experiences leading to the belief like stones flying inside her car. Nive’s honest and charming character remained from the interview to the gig later that night. It was a very positive experience although I felt there was a bit of a contradiction between the shy and inexperienced-looking singer and the other musicians who seemed very professional.

As I said, I wasn’t too excited about most gigs and probably missed a lot of good performances. Still, there were some shows to remember. Seeing The Black Box Revelation for only a couple of songs convinced me of their great live energy and duo power. The Requesters put up a great party while JJ was even more confusing than in Helsinki five months ago. Bigott surprised me with his great voice and a band that seemed to be full of interesting personalities, although there was no doubt who was the leader of the bunch.

Russell Marsden (Band Of Skulls) [photo by Eleni Hoefsloot]

Band of Skulls impressed most ambassadors, including me, with their energetic garage rock performance and probably made the most solid rock gig of the festival despite the fact that they constantly reminded me of a dozen other bands. Nevertheless, they do have great songs and a fantastic attitude. After Band of Skulls, Peter Hook’s tribute to Unknown Pleasures didn’t feel very rewarding. Yet, once they got to actually playing Unknown Pleasures, I had to admit Hook’s voice wasn’t that bad at replacing Ian Curtis. The moment they came back on stage to perform "Love Will Tear Us Apart" was naturally magical but otherwise I have to say I was somewhat disappointed.

Peter Hook [photo by Eleni Hoefsloot]

Joensuu 1685 and The Kissaway Trail were both great as expected. Perhaps the biggest surprise for me at the whole festival was The Moroccan singer Hindi Zahra who performed self-confidently with an equally talented band. Her music combines beautifully elements of jazz, Arabian and African music, folk, blues etc.

Peter Doherty was the last artist in the program I had a glance at but I left after a couple of boring songs. The main venue was of course full during his gig but it seemed a lot of people wanted to see the much talked about rock star rather than listen to the songs. I was very pleased to find myself soon watching a local folk musician sing his songs outside in a tiny stage. Once again I have to say that instead of the gigs I enjoyed a lot more hanging out with the other ambassadors, reporters or local musicians from the wonderful Kûtu Folk Records label.

On our last night I slept less than an hour and I wasn’t the only one since the last night deserved a proper party. Monday consisted mostly of sleeping in the bus, at the airport and in the plane. Despite the sunburns and the sleepiness that I was left with, I have to tell you: If you have the chance to visit Clermont-Ferrand, to visit Europavox or especially become an ambassador of Europavox, I promise you will enjoy it.

The Middle East - The Recordings Of The Middle East

This Australian band already broke up once after their first album was released in 2008. Soon they started to play together again and some songs from the debut were released as an EP called The Recordings Of Middle East last year.

All six songs are carefully crafted folk songs. It took several listenings for the EP to leave a mark on me, but persistent listening payed off. The songs are rich in melody, structure and dynamics. "Blood" is the definitive highlight growing almost in a post-rockish manner from the softest and most intimate folk song to an Arcade Fire -like orchestrated celebration.

The Recordings Of The Middle East @ Spotify
themiddleeastmusic.com
The Middle East @ Myspace

Castle Rock Session: The National - Terrible Love

Only a week to go until the release of High Violet. While waiting, watch The National play the opening track in an abandoned castle on Pitchfork TV.


EDIT: There are also two other songs from the same session behind this link: http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/episode/2354-the-national/1.

Sounds of summer

For a few weeks already, I’ve been woken by the rising sun. As I’ve watched and smelled the sand and grass being revealed from under the snow, I’ve had at least one clear theme song for spring, Yona’s “Kevätfiilis”. It has the best spring lyrics I know and a real feel of spring, just like the name suggests. I’ve also dug out some albums that always seem to appear on my playlist in spring and summer. The two most important of these are Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not by Arctic Monkeys and Kaksi Mannerta by Emma Salokoski Ensemble.

In addition to the general sunshine records, every summer gets its own soundtrack. What I mean are those songs and albums that you sing along with your friends in the park, jam along to while walking on the street, and the ones which bring you back to the best moments of that summer still years after. My last summer’s soundtrack based strongly on Fantasies by Metric, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix, Manners by Passion Pit, the self-titled debut of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

Naturally, I need to speculate next summer a bit. During the fall, winter and spring there has been a bunch of new releases that have been waiting for the summer to give them the right listening environment. These include Summertime EP by The Drums, Surfer Blood’s Astro Coast, Gorilla Manor by Local Natives and the self-titled new albums of Fang Island and Yukon Blonde. New Vampire Weekend and Delorean albums will probably be playing in my speakers as well. There are also several highly anticipated new releases coming during the following months. The Drums are releasing their first full-length album and Wolf Parade, Ratatat and LCD Soundsystem will all be releasing new albums. Even more important will most certainly be the new albums by The National and Band of Horses. They don’t have the most summer-suiting sound but you need something for the long nights and rainy days, too, especially if you happen to live in Finland.

The best thing about this kind of speculations is the fact that they’re seldom right. It’s great to have something to expect but even better to find surprises, new artists and songs which unexpectedly happen to be playing over and over on the stereo, mp3 player or someone’s guitar while you sink your feet in the soft sand and watch the waves break on the shore.

The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme

Comparison to other artists is often the easiest way to describe a new music. However, when I try to do this, I usually end up feeling that I’ve mislead the other person. As with most records, I hear a lot of familiar sounds in this new Radio Dept. album, but like all modern artists, they have such a vast number of influences behind their music, that separating individual similarities to others becomes useless. Thus, I could pick out some sounds and song parts reminding me of The Avalanches or Phoenix, but that would give an entirely wrong impression.

Another widely used way of describing a new album is comparing it to earlier recordings of the artist. The Radio Dept. is, however, yet another band whose name I’ve read and heard dozens of times but haven’t had the time and interest to dig in to their music.

Then of course there’s for example the possibility of going through individual songs and analyze them but that’s something everyone should have the right to do themselves instead of reading about the structure of a song they haven’t yet heard.

Sticking to easy ways of writing about music instead of doing analyzes that reflect the overall state of music industry or whatever, I’m left with an album cover and a couple of abstract remarks like: “perfect rainy summer day music” or “chilly Scandinavian indie meets electronic summer grooves”. No matter how I put it, what I’m actually trying to say is: I’ve been listening to this album on repeat for a week. Listen and see if it has the same effect on you.

Clinging to a Scheme @ Spotify
The Radio Dept. @ Myspace

Go Flow!

Flow Festival turns Suvilahti in Helsinki into a indie and rhythm music fanatic's paradise once again next August. Most of the line-up was released today and it looks more current than ever. LCD Soundsystem has it's first appearance in Finland on the separate opening concert on Wednesday August 11th along with other yet to be announced artists. The actual festival takes place from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th with headliners such as M.I.A, the xx, Air and Jónsi. I myself am very excited to see the US indie bands The Drums, Beach House, Surfer Blood and Girls on the list. Clubs in the festival area will feature among others Four Tet and Diplo both solo and with Major Lazer. There are also plenty of rhythm and world music artists and Finnish indie bands performing. More artists will be added to the line-up later and if I recall correctly from previous years, some of the biggest names are announced last.

More info at flowfestival.com.

The Tallest Man On Earth - Wild Hunt

The Tallest Man On Earth is a Swedish folk singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson. Having seen him live twice I can tell you that the pseudonym is rather ironic. I can also tell you he is one of the most capturing and original folk performers I've seen. His magnificent gruff voice and innovative guitar playing along with a strong stage presence make impressive live performances. His music takes clear influences from American folk tradition and he has drawn a lot of comparisons to Bob Dylan.

The Wild Hunt is Matsson's second album. Its atmosphere and song material is quite similar to the debut Shallow Grave. On The Wild Hunt, he explores a bit further the extremes of his music. There are more aggressive songs such as "You're Going Back" and "King Of Spain" as well as softer pieces like "Love Is All" and the record-ending piano ballad "Kids On The Run". Throughout the album he's personal voice and impressive lyrical delivery create haunting, bigger-than-life songs. Songs that, just like the songs on his debut, after persistent listening come close to being as personal and important to the listener as they are to the man behind the mic.

The Wild Hunt @ Luisterpaal
The Tallest Man On Earth @ Myspace

Fang Island - S/T

Fang Island’s own description of the band’s music is “everyone high-fiving everyone” which well describes their self-titled new album full of positive energy. That positive energy isn’t, however, given as sugarcoated pop hooks but instead as grand, unstoppable guitar rock.

The album is a solid entity and not least because of the clear intro and outro tracks. Between the fireworks (!) of the opening and ending tracks it’s all about combining rhythmically interesting punk rock with fanfare-type guitar melodies and vocal harmonies. Vocals are used extremely rarely and often without actual lyrics.

Despite of their huge energy, Fang Island has a sense of structure and dynamics, which is perhaps best shown in the five-minute crescendo of “Davey Crockett”. Other top moments include the concise first single “Daisy” and the simply marvelous second half of “Sideswiper”. Their live performance must be quite a therapy session.

Fang Island @ Spotify
fangisland.com

New Material from The National

The National is going to release a new album, High Violet, in May. The cover is above and below you can watch them play its opening track "Terrible Love" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Sounds as promising as you'd expect from them and also turning even more to the rock side than before, I think. They also have a website for the new album with some pics and videos (short and low quality though).



The National @ Spotify

OK GO: The kings of music video

OK GO might not make the most interesting music, but they sure now how to make jaw-dropping videos. A few years ago, they became famous of their treadmill-dance-video for "Here It Goes Again". They released a new album Of the Blue Color of the Sky early this year and have already made a couple a cool videos for its songs. The new video for "This Too Shall Pass" features a Rube Goldberg machine built by some sixty people inside a huge warehouse. Check out the new video as well as some of their previous masterpieces below.

This Too Shall Pass RGM


This Too Shall Pass featuring Notre Dame marching band


Invincible


WTF?


Finally, the legendary Here It Goes Again


OK GO homepage

Live Report: Florence + The Machine

On Wednesday, I proved Florence + The Machine’s first visit to Finland at Tavastia. Florence was one of last year’s most interesting new artists and it was great to see the debut album Lungs become such a commercial success. They definitely stand out positively among other top-sellers. The success was not a real surprise, though, with an album full of original-sounding potential hit singles.

The warm-up artist was changed just a couple of days before from Sian Alice Group to an unknown Finnish singer-songwriter Anastacia Mouna. She played an extremely short set alone with a piano and didn’t really impress with her songwriting. However, I have to give her credit for a self-confident performance replacing a rock group as an opener for a British platinum-selling artist.

Right from the point when Florence entered, the stage was hers. As the name Florence + The Machine suggests, the band has an important role, but Florence is the star. She has an impressive voice which she uses very skillfully. She sang sentimentally but had a close contact with the audience between songs. From song to song I could tell she was really living with the music, even though my view on her was blocked a lot of the time by others’ heads. When this happened, it was easiest to close ones eyes, since the atmosphere was based mostly on her performance.

The band played very well, but apart from Florence there wasn’t much else to follow than the beautiful playing of the harp. That’s something you don’t really see anywhere and I hadn’t realized that it was the harp played on the album. Seeing it played live was a pleasure both musically and visually.

They succeeded rather well in reproducing the large sound of the album. In the strong percussive parts, especially on Drumming Song, Florence and the bassist did their share of the banging along with the drummer. The final level of the massive sound wasn’t, however, reached. I felt that in order to give room for Florence’s voice, the volume of the band was kept a bit too low at times. Or perhaps I just had too strong filters on my earplugs.

The audience in the sold-out Tavastia comprised of people of surprisingly large variety ages. There seemed to be also both regular concert-goers and the ones attending gigs more infrequently. As the case is on most gigs at Tavastia, the crowd moved very little and kept rather quiet for a long time. However, towards the end of the gig, there was more activity including the synchronized jumping during Dog Days Are Over. Considering their large sound, catchy tunes and Florence’s charming personality, I’d say they will answer for some fantastic gigs on festivals this summer.

Florence + The Machine homepage
Florence + The Machine @ Myspace
Lungs @ Spotify

Live Report: Disco Ensemble, Rubik

I haven’t had the time and energy to write here as often as I would have liked to and therefore this report comes two weeks late. On February 16th, I decided to attend a student party in one of the bigger nightclubs in Helsinki, Circus. I haven’t been interested in that sort of parties for a long time but now there was a clear reason to attend: the two Finnish bands booked there were both among my favorite bands of the past decade.

First off played Rubik. I had seen them, if I recall correctly, three times before and all those gigs within year 2009. They’re one of my favorite live bands. They’ve got 8 guys on stage each having fun with a variety of instruments. This suits well for their playful songs with big arrangements. Rubik has released two albums: Bad Conscience Patrol (2007) and Dada Bandits (2009). I enjoyed their first album which seemed to bring something fresh into the Finnish music scene, but the second album was in a whole new level. It took a while to get inside its mix of positivity and experimentalism at the same time being distracted by the fact that the results of the record’s mastering didn’t fit well in my ear. Quite soon, however, I was ready to call it the best Finnish album of 2009. Now I could expand that either to best album of 2009 anywhere or best Finnish album of the whole past ten years. Even though some like to compare Rubik to Radiohead (mostly on first album) or Animal Collective (mostly on second album), I feel they’ve really got some fresh ideas and a unique sound.

There was a huge queue outside and I missed a couple of first Rubik songs. It didn’t really matter since I had seen them so many times before. On the other hand, I must say that it’s hard to get enough of them and their live performance. They played with enthusiasm even for the drunken audience in the half empty nightclub. I love the fact that regardless of the audience they seem to play their most progressive tune, Indiana, which of course pleases us fans. Otherwise the set list, for the parts that I heard the gig, included a large number of catchy tracks from Dada Bandits and only one song from their debut, the single City and the Streets. At least one other would have been expected: the riff-driven, perhaps the heaviest song in Rubik’s catalogue, Buildings. But you can’t get it all in a short gig.

What makes Rubik such a great live band is the positive energy that the large group seems to perform at all times. Drummer and bassist are the only ones with only one instrument and I think even the bassist plays something else at times. There are three guys with both guitar and keyboards, including the lead singer Artturi Taira, and additional three guys offering horns, percussions, keyboards, vocoder, you name it. All in all, it’s a beautiful balance between chaos and order, just like on their records.

The headliner of the evening was Disco Ensemble from the same label, Fullsteam Records. DE was one of the bands to bring this fine Finnish label to surface some five, six years ago. They are currently working on their fourth album. The two previous ones were also released outside Finland and since their minor breakthrough album, First Aid Kit in 2005, they’ve done a lot of touring aboard. I found them some time after the release of First Aid Kit and became a huge fan at the time. I enjoyed their energy, how tightly their played together and especially Jussi Ylikoski’s fantastic guitar work and of course the great songs.

Disco Ensemble are known for their amazingly energetic gigs and this was no exception. They played very confidently and well together and made the audience go crazy as always. The set list comprised mostly of tracks from their latest album, Magic Recoveries. For most of the audience that was probably the most familiar material, but I was disappointed since I’ve enjoyed their first two albums a lot more. Of course they played some of the hits from First Aid Kit like Black Euro and the simply marvelous We Might Fall Apart. However, I didn’t hear any songs from their debut.

They played some new stuff including the new single White Flag For Peace. I’m a bit skeptical about their upcoming album. I don’t think I’ll ever be as excited about their music as I used to be. Nevertheless, they seem to be constantly capable of creating catchy, energetic songs and keep their own sound. With the talented Lasse Kurki as a producer they might as well make a very interesting record. At least one thing’s for sure: next summer many people will leave their festival gigs bruised, sweaty and happy.

discoensemble.com
Disco Ensemble @ Myspace
Rubik @ Myspace

The Amazing - S/T

The importance of punctuation: The Amazing debut album from The Amazing vs. The Amazing, debut album from The Amazing. All though the tag on this post refers to the band rather than the adjective, this album is well worth checking out.

The band including members of Dungen, and therefore Anna Järvinen’s band, offers a record full of pleasant, airy and organic sound. The band’s playing really feels relaxed and proves once again these players’ thorough understanding of their instruments.

The Amazing @ Spotify
The Amazing @ Luisterpaal
The Amazing @ Myspace

Wish I lived in Stockholm

Even though I will hate the Swedish ice hockey team, the arch enemy of the Finnish team, during the forthcoming Olympic Games, I actually like Sweden in many ways and not least because of the fantastic music made there. However, I’ve had controversial feelings for Sweden lately since I happened to see what kind of live shows Stockholm has to offer. I admit that many great indie bands have entered Finnish soil during the past few years, but Sweden is way ahead of us.

The key venue seems to be Debaser, which actually consists of two venues in different districts. This spring there will play for instance the following bands: Local Natives, Delphic, Japandroids, Midlake, Blur, The Temper Trap, Tallest Man On Earth, Beach House, Florence + The Machine, Yeasayer, Girls, The Antlers and Owen Pallet. That’s one stunning list for one club from my point of view. Hopefully, I’ll have the time and money in the summer to visit festivals or clubs in Sweden or Central Europe. Maybe I’ll even spend a weekend in Stockholm during the spring. While waiting for that, I’m going to enjoy live shows by the likes of Florence + The Machine and Mono right here in Finland.

Midlake - The Courage of Others

I was just explaining to myself that there’s no need to try to listen to Vampire Weekend’s hyperactive new album or other summer records in midst of this continuous blizzard, when I found the perfect album for the weather and time of year, Midlake’s The Courage of Others. I’m not familiar with Midlake’s back catalogue but this new album blew me away. It’s melancholic and grand. It’s traditional and organic, but imaginative. It’s skillfully played and arranged, but humble. It’s poetic, but honest. It’s close and it’s far. It’s music from the woods and music from years ago. And now I’m just spoiling your listening experience by praising it too much.

The tracks actually sound very similar, but in this case it’s positive. The ability to create such a firm, solid but detailed background and such powerful melodies gives the band right – or rather obliges the band – to use those elements throughout an entire album. I do, however, find a clear favorite track right in the middle of the album called “Rulers, Ruling All Things”. Certainly haven’t heard a comparable chorus in a while. And referring to it’s lyrics I think you will stand in awe of the Midlake’s creation as I’ve done.

midlake.net
Midlake @ Myspace
The Courage of Others @ Luisterpaal
The Courage of Others @ Spinner

Yona - Pilvet liikkuu, minä en

Here’s an interesting new artist from Finland presenting a surprising mixture of influences blended with a beautiful voice almost comparable to the wonderful Johanna Iivanainen. What’s more, they have the same first name. In the cover above, Yona (Johanna Louhivuori) is standing in misty water like a spirit of the forest. In the back cover she’s standing in an empty container terminal wearing urban clothes. Inside the booklet she even does a breakdance move. These covers are actually very descriptive for this record that mixes jazz, iskelmä and hip-hop seamlessly. Even though the first two are most obvious on the record and fit well Yona’s voice, for me the highlights of the album are “Pilvet liikkuu, minä en”, “Kevätfiilis” and “Vedenpaisumus” all of which combine elements of all three music styles and also show Yona’s skills as a lyricist. Like the music, the lyrics combine elements of traditional Finnish poetic song-writing and rhythmic and rhyming writing of hip-hop artists. Not all songs on the record are as capturing as these, but this album feels like a new approach and makes me enjoy some musical element I have despised before. Pilvet liikkuu, minä en is also a must listen album next midsummer.

Yona @ Myspace

Music for the mind

I just listened a new track by one of last year’s most interesting newcomers, jj. The song is called “Let go” and it will be on their forthcoming second album jj no 3. It’s available for free download on Secretly Canadian’s web site. “Let go” starts with a haunting harmonica, and along with some sounds of soft waves comes jj’s distinctive airy sound. This very short song takes the listener to a world similar to the one heard on their debut album. One can imagine sitting on a beach in August enjoying the little warmth trapped in the sand while the winds from the sea already force you to grab a blanket around you.

Listening to these three minutes on repeat and feeling that August wind in you makes it even more strange to think that this is the same duo I saw live two weeks ago. They were then visiting a club in Helsinki on a Thursday evening. It really wasn’t the best time for me to go to see any gig, but I had to find out what this mysterious duo was really about. I already thought I’m going to miss most of their gig having to leave early, when electronic beats changed to a classical orchestral piece and people started to gather around the small stage. After that came some hip-hop samples, and a shy girl with a huge hairdo sat alone behind a mic. My hopes were still up when the familiar rhythms from jj no. 2 filled the room while wide sceneries where displayed on the screen behind the beautiful voiced singer. Very soon, though, it started to seem more like a farce. Everything came from the tape, a short song after each other. The singer smiled shyly and looked away most of the time. A few times she chose the wrong moment to drink her beer and one could hear some vocals coming from the tape as well. And what’s more, after 20 minutes it was all over. The tape was over and she climbed down.

Although I was disappointed, I realized that jj’s sound would be impossible to recreate live with a large band. That dreamy sound doesn’t really ask for anyone to present it live at all. For me, this sort of music deserves to be listened with an open mind that creates its own imagery. Therefore, after the show I chose jj no. 2 from my mp3 player, and suddenly I was flying above savanna in the heat of the African sun. The next moment I was diving among colorful fish and finally sitting on a beach at midnight watching a bon fire and the people dancing around it.

There are bands that drive us into crazy euphoria along with the ten thousand other people in the crowd. And on the other hand, there are albums that take us to places on earth, and beyond, where we’d never get to go otherwise.

Listing music

I’ve always loved lists of music. As a child I used to record songs from the Finnish weekly top 40 chart to a c-cassette and loved to watch TV shows listing best music videos. Nowadays I avoid looking at the best-selling charts but instead wait eagerly for year-end lists – and lately decade-end lists – by music magazines and web sites. There’s always excitement in the air while going down the numbers, finding many of your own favorites and speculating the number one.

On the other hand, I can’t help but to think about the insanity of placing albums in a numerical order, especially when some albums have been given a whole year time to affect you while others are brand new. The effect of different release dates is the more relevant the longer the time span observed. So in addition to the problem of making lists of twenty or even hundred albums out of all the albums heard during a time span of ten years people making lists of a decade’s music have the impossible task of comparing albums like Is This It and Kid A, which have had time to effect the musical world, to albums like Merriweather Post Pavilion or the XX, which still seem quite fresh and whose effects on future releases are yet to be seen.

The consideration of the effects a music release has on other music leads us to another problem in making lists: the criteria on which to compare albums. The listings I’ve been talking about, as well as traditional album reviews, tend to emphasize on originality or uniqueness of the sound and the effects on the musical world that the music or the phenomenon around it have caused. This is natural for music media since these are two of the most objective criteria for judging music. However, when a listing is made by a single person, who represents only his or her own opinions, there are no obligations to be objective. Instead, a personal list of albums is a list of albums important and meaningful for an individual. The albums can be pieces of a person’s history with strong memories involved or just great sounding albums which you feel you never want to stop listening to.

Whether a list of music is made according to the music’s cultural effects, memories connected to the music or just by thinking what feels right at the moment doesn’t really matter. As I see it, the task of a list is to allow us to organize the music, as well as knowledge, memories and feelings connected to it, in our minds. For an active music listener, especially in today’s world where all music is a few clicks away, there is an enormous amount of information to deal with. Making lists is one way to keep it all together and bring forward the more important things while leaving behind less relevant ones. In year-end or decade-end lists this listing is combined with the units of time used in our culture. This allows us to group all that musical information in our heads in a hierarchy and network of overlapping categories and subcategories. We use this network as a map when travelling on our own world of music and when we explore areas of the musical world previously unknown to us.

Firekites - The Bowery

Today I was checking 3VOOR12 Luisterpaal for records they had for free streaming. I noticed one album, called The Bowery by Firekites, was tagged "kings of convenience" and I wondered if there was yet another side project to this great Norwegian duo. I found the album from Spotify, pressed play and was instantly taken away by the music.

The Bowery is 38 minutes of gentle, warm guitars, simple percussions, beautiful violin, some additional instruments and two soft voices, one male, one female. Percussions consist of snaps, claps and a few carefully played drums. All instruments sound great together and the guitars create a very solid atmosphere. And it's not just the atmosphere but the songs are capturing as well.

Turns out Firekites are from Australia and they don't seem to have anything to do with Kings of Convenience. They just represent the same acoustic, soft and harmonic sound based on guitar and singing as KoC does. The Bowery, released 2009, is their only album so far.

It's extremely rewarding to find albums like The Bowery that feel so perfect right from the first notes. I don't know if this record will start to sound like sleepy background music (which wouldn't be too bad either), but for now I'll enjoy every little note on it, make friends with each ten songs and probably press play for the sixth time.

http://firekites.com/
Firekites @ Myspace
Firekites - The Bowery @ Spotify

Also check out the stunning video for Autumn Story:

Firekites - AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation from Lucinda Schreiber on Vimeo.

Pikku Kukka

The band I’ve listened most during the past few weeks is the charming finnish band Pikku Kukka. Their music is characterized by harmonized singing of the two girls Emilia and Lotta who both write songs and play the keyboards. They’ve released two albums Palma (2007) and Pois ympäröivä maa (2009) with a backing trio including the bassist and guitarist from the Finnish “wire-metal” band Viikate.

Covers of Palma (2007) and Pois ympäröivä maa (2009)

I bought the previous album a couple of weeks ago and the second album just before New Year. Right now I’m listening to songs from both records on shuffle while shaking my head, singing along and playing imaginary drums along with the catchy rhythms. I find the two albums very similar although Pois ympäröivä maa has a slightly refined sound and includes a bit more solid song material. At any case, I see Pikku Kukka more through their songs, not by albums.

I find Pikku Kukka’s songs playing in my head all the time. There are lots of hooks, but it doesn’t mean that they are boring easy-come-easy-go songs but instead I can listen to the same songs again and again finding myself still not having enough. The combination of beautiful, catchy melodies sang with full voice (which I learned to love recently seeing gigs by First Aid Kit and The Tallest Man On Earth) and harmonies and the tight rhythmic work by the backing band is simply irresistible.

The first band that Pikku Kukka brought to my mind was Ultra Bra, a Finnish band from the late 90s, because of the lyric-driven multi-voiced songs. Another comparison could be made to PMMP which is similarly a Finnish duo with two female vocalists writing impressive lyrics and performing with a three-piece band. I also find Pikku Kukka’s sound a surprising combination of naïve junior high school band sound and skillfully-played progressive rock. I usually like a sort of rough, realistic sound instead sterile, over-produced sound but with Pikku Kukka I feel that a bit more modern sound could suite the songs. On the other hand, it could take away the organic, oldies sounding side of Pikku Kukka that I’ve learned to like.

For me, having listened lately to a huge number of indie bands singing in English with lo-fi sound, electronic influences and all that, Pikku Kukka feels fresh, interesting, personal and real. Even though knowing the band for only a short time, it’s hard to imagine that I’d get bored of songs like Hiljaisuus, Tyttö ja poika, Hän tanssi minut, 14 varista, Kaarnalaivat or Valtaosa.

Pikku Kukka @ Myspace
http://pikkukukka.blogspot.com/