As you may have noticed, I'm a person who reacts to new music approximately 20 years after releasing. However this year and especially this autumn I tried to make a difference and checked out some new albums mentioned in different magazines and social media. What I learned from this experience was -- in contrast to my doubts -- that new music is good. I can't say I've explored all the albums of 2014, not even nearly, but what I have listened to has been indeed enjoyable.
So here's my list of the best albums of 2014. I must emphasize that I prefer albums over songs. Even though my list here contains only one song from each album, I recommend to listen to them wholly. The albums are not in any order, they're equally good in different ways.
Jack White - Lazaretto Aphex Twin - Syro Pöllöt - Pöllöt Opeth - Pale Communion Morrissey - World Peace Is None Of Your Business (sadly not on the Spotify list) The Pineapple Thief - Magnolia Pepe Willberg - Pepe & Saimaa
One of the world's greatest progressive metal bands (and bands in general), Opeth, delighted us fans with their presence in Helsinki on Wednesday 12th of November. Here's my short commentary on their setlist and the atmosphere of the gig.
Before Opeth a French shoegaze band Alcest played some of their songs. I hadn't heard about them before, but I was very impressed. Especially their song Opale was extremely beautiful. I'm looking forward to listen to them more in the future.
The main performer was fantastic. As we know, Opeth's guys are most talented musicians. They can do incredible things with their instruments and they're completely synchronized. Still, they're not one bit arrogant. The front man of the band, Mikael Åkerfeldt, is just lovely when he jokes around between the songs. It was in this sense a very amusing concert!
The setlist was also golden: we got to hear songs from every period of their career.
1. Eternal Rains Will Come
2. Cusp of Eternity
3. Bleak
4. The Moor
5. Advent
6. Elysian Woes
7. Windowpane
8. The Devil's Orchard
9. You Suffer (Napalm Death cover, it was fucking hilarious!)
10. April Ethereal
11. The Lotus Eater
12. The Grand Conjuration (a friend of mine who regreted not coming to the gig told me that it's highly possible to become pregnant for Mikael Åkerfeldt when this song is heard live. Guess I'll give birth to a tiny progemessiah in nine months then!)
13. Encore: Deliverance
It was perfect. I can't complain about anything! I'm utterly happy I had the possibility to experience this. It was ~three hours of pure ecstasy.
In the last post I brought out the sad side of my life and now I'm going to disclose it a bit more. ...Like Clockwork works well in the darkest hour, but when I'm looking for comforting music there's an immense amount of songs to listen to. I made a playlist of some of them:
1. The Smiths - Rubber Ring
2. The Doors - People Are Strange
Faces look ugly when you're alone
This comforts when I feel like an outsider.
3. The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored
I gotta be adored
This is expressing the most basic need very well.
4. Morrissey - Disappointed
'Cause I have spent my whole life In ruins Because of people who are "nice"
When I'm feeling bad about others' actions.
5. Orange Juice - Rip It Up
I hope to God you're not as dumb as you make out
(A person speaking to him/herself) Even though I make stupid mistakes I can try again.
6. Morrissey - Do Your Best And Don't Worry
This is you on a bad day, you in a pale day
Comparing yourself to others does no good.
7. The Smiths - You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby
You must suffer and cry for a longer time
Maybe some day I have suffered and cried enough?
8. Orange Juice - Falling And Laughing
'Cause I want to take the pleasure with the pain
This is such a pleasurefully bittersweet song.
9. The Smiths - Ask
If there's something you'd like to try
Ask me - I won't say "no" - how could I?
This is an encouraging song.
10. Talk Talk - It's My Life
How much do you
Commit yourself?
If I'm giving it my best, would be nice if others did so too.
11. The Smiths - Accept Yourself
Every day you must say
Oh, how do I feel about the past?
--
Anything is hard to find
When you will not open your eyes
It's good to question depressive thoughts that go over and over in my head and make my life so difficult. Sadly it's not easy to stop them, but when I'm not in the worst place this helps. I'd love to accept myself, and some days I even succeed.
12. The Stone Roses - I Am The Resurrection
You're a no one nowhere washed up baby
Who'd look better dead
Even if this song was written for anti-religious reasons, it's angry and even aggressive lyrics satisfy me properly when I'm blown up and very frustrated because of someone. It lets my steam off.
13. Morrissey - You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side
And here I am
I just love the thought that Morrissey is my ally in life. And all the other lovely people I have around me.
14. The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??
You realize that life goes fast It's hard to make the good things last
This is a truly soothing song. It works with every kind of sorrow, because it puts things into perspective.
A couple of months ago a friend of mine recommended me an album from Queens of the Stone Age, ...Like Clockwork. I've been listening to it ever since and it feels evolving all the time. It's like some kind of a soundtrack of my life in this particular period of time. I've been through some huge life changes this year and concurrently fighting with depression. In this post I'll try to analyze what the songs and the entire album mean to me. Be aware of some depressive and extremely personal shit.
1. Keep Your Eyes Peeled
This song is pretty straightforward, which is good, because I don't trust my interpretation skills very much. For me this is about the ultimate negativity that depression can create in one's mind. It makes us lonely and bitter. I know there's happiness somewhere, it might even be within reach, but with the dreadful hate towards myself it's impossible to find. This feeling is deeply buried in my heart. I can sometimes forget about it, but it hurts me more and more viciously every time it comes up again. I'm sure there's a countless number of people feeling the same way, but we just can't ever know, because this is something we never talk about in this perfect world. Musically this song is intriguing. As I'm a friend of clever basslines, this one-note bassline could be a problem. But it isn't, because the bass is giving such a nice rhythm. It's almost like another percussion, it has only a small melodical purpose, yet it's still powerful.
2. I Sat By The Ocean
This piece isn't lyrically the most essential for me. It offers good rock music and a pause between two quite painful songs. Of course for someone else this would be a royally important song.
3. The Vampyre Of Time And Memory
To be vulnerable is needed most of all If you intend to truly fall apart
I guess being sensitive and frail are the worst features in a person, if you are the person yourself. With the hate I carry inside me I'm very weak. You think the worst of all is far behind The vampire of time and memories has died I survived. I speak, I breathe, I'm incomplete I'm alive - hooray! You're wrong again 'Cause I feel no love
Self-hatred makes life so empty. What's the difference being dead or alive? I despise myself so much that I easily forget how to love. Every now and then I remember, but it's very dangerous as love can end and that would break me again. I've seen it so many times. For people it's easy to have a crush on me, but as soon as I begin to trust it all disappears. I disappoint myself and I disappoint others in the way I don't even understand. It's not easy to be cheerful, when you have almost no control over the life you're living.
Everything can be summarized in this question: Does anyone ever get this right?
4. If I Had A Tail
I love this song's attitude, the rhythm is confident. I think the lyrics are criticizing the shallow lifestyle and living up to others' expectations, not thinking on your own. For me this song is healing and empowering. Even if I had problems in my life, I don't have to accept everything from everyone (yet I still do). After all, being yourself and alone is far more better than being surrounded by superficial people.
5. My God Is The Sun
This song is my least favourite from this album. Probably I just don't understand it. Musically it's pretty unsurprising, too. To be honest I usually skip it,
6. Kalopsia
It's hard to decide what song is the best, but this definitely belongs to the top 3. The lyrics are brilliant, here's my interpretation: I never lie To myself Tonight.
Rose, tinted eyes Color my sorrow A shade of 'why?'
Bye bye black balloon See you real soon Wave bye bye Bye bye
In my case this is about questioning your sadness/self-hatred. For a moment you might be able to let it go, knowing it'll come back at some point. But the feeling of letting go is as beautiful as this song. Why were you so sad What have they done? Forget those mindless baboons They're off playing God
Copy cats in cheap suits All playing it safe While cannibals with their noose Consume a parade
Is it wonderful?
As a depressed person, you easily put thoughts to other people's minds. At least I do, I create some distorted conversations with incognitos in my head. But have they really done anything? Mostly no. But I might think that they're "off playing God" and other stupid stuff. When I'm looking down on myself, I easily think that others do so too. It's way too easy to see them as a threat, like everyone wants to insult me whenever they get the opportunity. I feel that I'm no one, a disposable, easy to replace kind of a person. This is of course an unreasonable way to think, and I'm doing my best resisting it.
Well, there are a plenty of ways how to interpret these lines, so I don't blame you if my way seems wrong. I guess QOTSA meant the lyrics more straightforward: there's no reason to be sad because of the others, they're assholes who have no originality and who just want to destroy everything. Kalopsia, kalopsia, kalopsia Kalopsia, kalopsia
Wiktionary says that "kalopsia is the delusion of things being more beautiful than they are". This is a phenomena easy to be seen everywhere. I'm trying to break the delusion and show you how fucked up I am. However, I'm certain that when someone likes me, they just can't see how disgusting I am. At the same time it's awful, but somehow soothing too. It makes me feel like a liar. Far, far from shore The land of nightmares Gone forever more
And I love you more Than I can control I don't even try Why would I?
This could be about looking for a shelter for myself. It's hard to explain. Maybe life would be less messed up, if I just hated myself and not loved even a little bit? Because I do love I can't just end this. And maybe someday I will also love someone else and everything will be even more complicated. Sorry, this makes no sense. Oh why the long face? You've got it all wrong Forget the rat in the race We'll choke chain them all
Fates favor the ones Who help themselves The rest feel the sting of the lash As they run, as they run To hell I think this concludes to the thought that you're the only one you can trust. You're the only one who can help you. It's kind of lonely, but luckily there are people with whom you can be lonely together. I love my friends and family, because they let me be this way even though sometimes I'm so difficult.
7. Fairweather Friends
I guess this is about how easy it is to go back to old habits and return to those who have deserted you. They feel safe, no matter how many times you realize they aren't doing any good.
8. Smooth Sailing
I really like this song. For me it's about the feeling when nothing matters anymore and you just do what you want. Sometimes I can feel this too, that there's nothing to lose, I'm already on the bottom. Every temple is gold Every hook is designed Hell is but the temple Of the closed mind
Wrong and right are such relativistic concepts.
9. I Appear Missing
This is about being dumped, I guess. I can relate strongly. At first love feels so good, but at some point the loved one realizes I'm nothing but an empty shell. Then I'm left alone heartbroken and nothing will be the same. I go missing, No longer exist One day I hopeI'm someone you'd met Maybe there's still hope for recovering, but I don't know. I don't even know if this is about any particular break up in my case, I just feel unloveable.
10. ...Like Clockwork
First of all, this is probably the most beautiful song made by such a band as QOTSA.
Everyone it seems Has somewhere to go And the faster the world spins The shorter the lights will glow And I’m swimming in the night Chasing down the moon The deeper in the water The more I long for you
Most of what you see my dear is purely for show Because not everything that goes around, comes back around you know Holding on too long is just a fear of letting go Because not everything that goes around, comes back around you know One thing that is clear it’s all down hill from here My love in your hand cleverly disguised All the promises of stone, crumble in the light Most of what you see my dear Is worth letting go Because not everything that goes around, comes back around you know Holding on too long is just A fear of want to show Because not everything that goes around, comes back around you know Not everything that goes around, comes back around you know One thing that is clear It’s all down hill from here For me this is about how seeing others following their ambitions makes you feel even more lonely. You're the only one who has nothing, no one. Still, you know it's not good to build up an unreal scene of perfect life, perfect love. People are doing same mistakes over and over, because they think that's the way things should happen. Like clockwork. But why bother to do anything, when everything's so shallow and hopeless?
This album fits perfectly to my darkest moments. It understands the pains of being a deeply insufficient human but also comforts and soothes. I may be alone, but I'm not the only one who goes through these things. It is really scary to write about these feelings, because there's always the possibility of stigmatizing. I didn't write this to acquire pity or different kind of treatment. I wrote this because "I am human and I need to be loved just like anybody else does" and because this album is conversing on the different sides of that very basic need. This is an important album.
Today I felt like listening to groovy bass lines, so I looked for songs with a walking bass. The sensation walking bass gives is absolutely swell and I'd like to share it with you, so here are some of the best lines I found! To be honest I'm not sure if all of them are technically walking, but it sounds like that. So, here we go...
Sorry for such a short post, but this music calls me to the dancefloor!
7/27/2014
Here are some songs that I love to listen to these days.
I just love Soft Cell's twisted and dark lyrics. These are one of them.
Two words: slap bass. And of course Stevie Wonder's brilliant lyrics.
New, beautiful Finnish music.
I have no idea what this song is about, but it doesn't matter because the spirit is so emancipated!
This new song is killing me with it's unique melodies.
The Style Council is my new love. It's a mixture of my favourite bands and artists: groovy as Jamiroquai, sweet as Prefab Sprout. And still The Style Council sounds really original.
OMD <3
Blur's rock songs are really tickling my brain from the right spot.
----------------
This last one is devoted for some of my old friends.
Especially the In my life, oh, why do I give valuable time To people who don't care if I live or die? part.
In Facebook there's been this "Make a list of ten songs that have moved you in some way" thingy going round. I've felt pretty sad that nobody has challenged me to do it, so I'm going to write my list here. The point is not to think about it too much, just drop some songs that come to mind first. Certainly I can't name just ten songs and be happy with it. The list could go on almost forever, but I guess it's the same for everyone.
The list is not in any particular order. Here it comes:
1. Gorillaz - Empire Ants
This song is just really really beautiful. It's a masterpiece. Listen to it and you will know. (Okay, sorry, it's not my style to put pressure on anybody, if you don't feel like listening I promise not to get mad. [Well maybe a little though.])
2. David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
I'm very much an anti-war person, and these lyrics are genious. The song itself is crafty and groovy, one of Bowie's best.
3. The Beach Boys - Friends
This song makes me feel like home.
4. Opeth - Closure
Once again beautiful lyrics and amazingly beautiful music. This song brings back lovely memories from the summer of 2006.
5. The Smiths - Rubber Ring
Rubber Ring reminds me of my true hero, Steven Patrick Morrissey. I feel safe when I listen to this song.
6. Robbie Williams - Supreme
As a teenager I was listening to this song in French because in early 2000s it was the only version of this song that I knew. Later when I learned that there's also an English version it opened for me even more and thus has left a warm feeling towards Robbie Williams.
7. The Smiths - I Know It's Over
This song is just full of feels. I'm pretty sure this is the most touching song of all time.
8. Morrissey - I Don't Mind If You Forget Me
I like this song a lot even though Morrissey himself has said that this is his least favourite one.
9. Sonic Youth - Kool Thing
First of all, I love Kim Gordon. I wish I could become as cool as she is.
Second of all, as a person who's concerned of (especially gender) inequality the song's telling me an interesting story.
10. Depeche Mode - John the Revelator
At the university my major is church history. What interests me the most is how people abuse religion. I think this song is critisizing the way people are using religion (perhaps especially Christianity) for their own ends, even though many times religions are teaching the exact opposite.
Extra song 1: The Smiths - Miserable Lie
While floating in self-pity this is the best song to listen to. I've done it many times.
Extra song 2: Holograms - Ättestupa
The bass line moved me quite a bit!
Extra song 3: Super Furry Animals - Juxtapozed With U
This song has a great message that I try to follow, but often fail.
I want to challenge all the people who make the mistake to read this post to make their own list!
I want to kick off this blog by giving credit to bands and tracks that became dear to me last year. However, this is not my All Time Favourites -list. It will come later (if it's even possible to make a list like that)!
Anyway, to the point...
The best song released in 2013:
There were many songs that could've deserved this award, but what makes this track so special is that I can listen to it in every mood, any day. It's got attitude, but it's also funny and playful. The lyrics, the rhythm and the melody work together really well. And the bassline! Simple but groovy, just the way I like it. I also have to emphasize that the music video is pure awesomeness. Evil Eye is certainly one of the best songs of 2010s, and definitely the best song of 2013.
The best album released in 2013:
Once again, there were some remarkably good albums released last year, but none of them moved me like The Badger. This album is brilliant from the beginning to the end. It feels like an endless flurry of warm emotions and epic sounds. The Turku boys know how to put their guitars into good use! I really admire how they can create such a flow in the album, but at the same time there are a couple of really catchy and distinguishable hits too. If you feel like listening some lovely music, please consider The Badger! And if you long for a nice gig, I recommend this band since they're really sweet and cute chaps!
Sadly, The Badger isn't avalable in Spotify yet, but luckily their older album is.
The best song released before 2013:
Okay, now would be the time to make a confession: I'm a bass maniac. And last year, when my friend introduced Jamiroquai to me I was amazed. The basslines are incredible! I love intriguing melodies and I guess a bass guitar is the perfect instrument for playing them. Runaway's bassline is the best and I spent almost the whole of 2013 listening to it's awesomeness. I guess it goes without saying that I like the other parts of the track too: Jay Kay's lovely voice, the brisk rhythm and all the instruments playing along making the song vivid and full of sounds. All in all, this is an excellent piece of pop music.
The best album released before 2013:
This album is a classic, and it's my favourite from Happy Mondays. I recognized the band after watching the movie 24 Hour Party People last May and I'm a bit ashamed that I've ignored them before. Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches is a great combination of weird (I mean really weird) lyrics and psychedelic indie rock. Even though I prefer pretty voices, I must admit that Shaun Ryder's chaotic and uncontrolled singing style is refreshing. Compared to other Happy Mondays' albums, I think Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches is the most comprehensive and it contains my favourite tracks such as God's Cop and Kinky Afro. On the other hand, Bummed is also an album worth exploring.
As a bonus, here's the 24 Hour Party People movie's theme song that got me interested in Happy Mondays:
Now that the serious business is over I'm going to award the songs that made some particular areas of my life more bearable and cheery.
The best song for starting a new day:
I'm again a bit ashamed that I got to know this song only in last year, even though this is the mother of all synthpop, which I'm a fan of too. Anyway, after the happy day when I found this song, I've been listening to it almost every day. This song is especially nice because of the rhythm, while listening to it I can walk up to the central campus of university of Helsinki really fast! ...Oh yes, the name of the song is of course Blue Monday!
The best album for studying:
I've been listening to Pekka Pohjola's Harakka Bialoipokku already in earlier years, but this year I found out that it stimulates my learning. I really love this kind of progressive music. Usually I prefer music where there's singing too, but this album is perfect the way it is, without words. I'm 100% sure, that Finnish progressive rock and/or fusion jazz is good for the brain. If I was your doctor I would prescribe you at least one track per day!
The best song for waking up:
This song was my alarm clock sound for a long period of time. At some point I started to hate it, but later again I realized how epic song it is. All the weird sounds and everything. I have no idea what the song is about, but hey, who cares in the morning? I have to admit that this is not my favourite song from Win, but using their other songs as an alarm sound would be wrong. (I must change You've Got the Power away immediately!)
The best song for a bad mood:
I don't relate much to the lyrics of this song, but when I'm feeling sad or angry the pain of this song feels very real. Del Shannon had the rare ability of express sorrowful feelings so that I can feel them too. I'm sad that he's already gone because I only just got started with him last summer.
The cutest song of 2013:
As you could've guessed, I have a soft spot for cute music. The kind of songs I like to listen while walking around and watching all the nice lamps people have hanging from their ceilings. My Bloody Valentine is the band for that. Of course at first I said I loathed When You Sleep, but deep in my heart I fell in love at first sight.
The best summer album:
In the spring/summer of 2013 Daft Punk released their new album Random Access Memories. It brings back lovely moments with my high school friends, who hyped the album a lot. And yeah, it is a great album indeed. It's a mixture of disco and modern synthpop, and for me both are delightful type of music. While I was working in summer I listened to this album every day. Now while listening to it again I can almost smell the last summer.
I guess I'll end my list here, because this post sums up my last year pretty well. Many impressive songs were left unnoticed, but they will definitely be discussed later. I hope this year brings me plenty of good music to listen to, and of course for you too!
