Video of the Day #148: Nat Johnson
The day job has been brutal and lately it has taken all the energy I’ve had. Several 10-12 hour work days during the past few weeks. But I did pay the domain bill for another year, so I hope you still check this out every now and then. Your laziest and lousiest blogger still writes occasionally. I hope things get a little easier now and I can actually think about doing something else than just somehow battling through each day. There’s so many things I’d love to share.
Nat Johnson’s new song and new music video Dog is definitely one of them. So let’s start with this adorable little song. The combination of the video and the song is just perfect. It makes me happy. Kind of like it makes me happy to see my cat greet me at the door after a long work shift. Dog is an outtake from Nat’s forthcoming album Neighbour of the Year. You can buy the single from Bandcamp.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWg7-AfoLAY]
Flavour of the Month 25.4: Nicolas Kivilinna & Toni Hautamäki ja Ydinrauha
Flavour of the Month takes place this friday at Pikku-Torre, Turku. Nicolas Kivilinna & Toni Hautamäki ja Ydinrauha are the artists of the evening. Read all about if below, if you can handle the beautiful Finnish language.
That is actually Toni Hautamäki with Mot Mot. I haven’t heard Toni Hautamäki ja Ydinrauha yet. But I will on friday.
FLAVOUR OF THE MONTH esittää:
Nicolas Kivilinna
Toni Hautamäki & Ydinrauha
+ Flavour of the Month DJ team
pe 25.4. klo 21-03
Pikku-Torre, Yliopistonkatu 30, Turku
vapaa pääsy!
Debyyttialbumiaan valmisteleva 21-vuotias Nicolas Kivilinna on jo ehtinyt herättää huomiota ja haltioitunuttakin innostusta Tampereen ja Suomen laulaja-lauluntekijäpiireissä ja alakulttuuriporukoissa rohkeilla tempauksillaan, kuten kirjoittamalla pokkana EP:llisen uusia lauluja Eino Leinon teksteihin, versioimalla tuoreeltaan J. Karjalaisen Mennyt mies -hitin ja kääntämällä suomeksi vanhoja amerikkalaisia folkkappaleita sekä Beatlesiä. Monipuolinen ja lahjakas musiikintekijä on jo ehtinyt keikkaillakin melko tiiviisti, joten Flavourissa on odotettavissa mielenkiintoista ja vaikuttavaa kuultavaa jostakin folkin, punkin, suomirockin ja vanhan Love Records-kaman välimaastosta.
Folkista ja suomirockista ammentaa myös mm. kuvataiteilijana ja ainakin Since November- ja A Spokane-yhtyeistä tiedetty Toni Hautamäki. Kovana Neil Young-diggarina tunnettu mies on uuden suomenkielisen Ydinrauha-bändinsä kanssa ryhtynyt sekoittelemaan melankolisia, jopa iskelmällisiä ainesosia taikinansa folkrockjuureen.
Soittoajat (noin):
Hautamäki: 23:00
Nicolas Kivilinna: 23:45
I Was A King – Isle Of Yours
I Was A King recently released a new album Isle Of Yours. This is a fact that I like.. no wait a second.. I love this fact. They are my Norwegian heroes of harmonic pop music. The previous album You Love it Here is one of the finest pop albums of the last few years. The first outtake from the new album was still a bit of a shock, because One Of Us was nothing like that TFC-esque pop heaven of You Love It Here. After listening to it a few times, the early shock turned into a long lasting admiration. I really liked the song and it was clear that the band is still in great form and have just added more dimensions to their music. And yeah, this album does have also some of those perfect pop songs like Bygdøy 30 and Oslo Share that I included on the playlist vol 2. I could listen to those two songs all day long. I could listen to Frode and Anne Lise sing all day long. The voices fit together so perfectly. It’s a pure bliss to listen to them sing. The Blades of Grass would say Just Ah.
This is the first single One Of Us.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JYvsNW9deI]
Zachary Lucky Finland Tour 16.4 – 20.4
Canadian country/folk singer-songwriter Zachary Lucky will be heading over to Finland next month. Big thanks to Fredrik Johansson for making this happen. I’ve been following Zachary Lucky for a few years and I’m really looking forward to see him perform at Bar Kuka on the 17th of April. You can check out the full tour schedule below.
Zachary Lucky Finland Tour 16.4 – 20.4
4/16 – Helsinki (Tavastia)
4/17 – Turku (Bar Kuka)
4/18 – Loimaa (Bar Edgar)
4/19 – Turku (8raita instore)
4/19 – Parainen (PIUG)
4/20 – Vaasa (O’Malleys)
I first got into Zachary Lucky a few years ago through Slowcoustic, which was my primary source of music information at the time. I bought the beautiful folk ep/mini-album Saskatchewan back then and have been a fan ever since. Last year Zachary Lucky released his latest album The Ballad Of Losing You. He took a turn towards country music with the new album, but it wasn’t a wrong turn. The song material is excellent and I love the way the album sounds. Even my digital download sounds incredibly warm. I need to buy a vinyl copy after the concert. You can stream Zachary’s music over at Bandcamp, Spotify. 8raita.fi also has the CD in stock already and vinyl later. Here are a few examples.
Lawrence High School Classroom Sessions: Zachary Lucky – Leaving pt 1 (from Saskatchewan)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSbzsY_gX8I]
Zachary Lucky – “Ramblin’ Man’s Lament” on Exclaim! TV (from The Ballad Of Losing You)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwGMIPFjaC4]
Zachary Lucky – Waitin For The Day (from The Ballad Of Losing You)
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/114528682″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]