Country, Americana, Folk, Power Pop, Indie Pop
Esa Linna’s debut single She’s Not A Human Being is now out and available (at least on iTunes, other digital stores should follow soon). It’s a great power pop song, Roger Joseph Manning Jr. sings backing vocals and plays keyboards, Ty Tabor mastered it and it’s about a cat. I love power pop, I love Jellyfish and I really love cats. So what could be better than this?
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/30635089″]
Australian Hurricane Fighter Plane is one of my new favourite bands. I really enjoyed their self-titled EP few months ago and I’ve been a dedicated follower of Hurricane Fighter Plane ever since. New vinyl single I Can’t Win / Leaving Town is coming out soon. Launch gig for the single is on friday 16th of december. You probably don’t need further details about the concert, because it’s pretty far away from Finland. However, you really should check out this cool video Alistair Walsh directed for the a-side I Can’t Win. That’s one amazing song and a late candidate for the top 10 songs of the year list. If you are into this, check out the excellent b-side Leaving Town on their facebook.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppSxyudL1fE]
Hurricane Fighter Plane Website
Hurricane Fighter Plane at Facebook
More huge favourites from the year 2011. One of these will also be my album of the year. And at least three of them are in the top 10.
Dolorean – Country Clutter from the album The Unfazed
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGFRPQeMLAU]
The Deep Dark Woods – West Side Street (from the album The Place I Left Behind, not the best track on the album, but amazing nevertheless)
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/18245045″]
Dawes – If I Wanted Someone from the album Nothing Is Wrong
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZJWeFU9gA4]
Glossary – A Shoulder To Cry On from the album Long Live All Of Us
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/25480105″]
Ryan Adams – Lucky Now (from the album Ashes & Fire)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp064T7rQSk]
JOHN K. SAMSON
I’ll take a small break from selecting the album of the year 2011 and focus on the album of the year 2012. John K. Samson is releasing his first solo album Provincial on january 24th, 2012. This guy is a poet, one of the best songwriters in the world and his band The Weakerthans has released some of the greatest indie rock albums of the past 10-15 years. The last three of them have been top 10 albums at onechord.net and I’m sure the solo album will be equally brilliant. Check out Epitaph’s album sampler below and start counting days. It looks like the Christmas might be a month late and this time it will arrive on the 24th of january.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfqLrWMMPZ4]
And why not post a couple The Weakerthans classics:
Tournament of Hearts (the greatest rock song ever written about curling.. ok the competition probably isn’t very high)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQF5xuLrjpY]
And here’s John K. Samson singing One Great City by The Weakerthans at Songwriting Panel. I recommend checking out other videos from that panel as well. I’ve watched them a few times over the years. Other great songwriters there as well.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK8x-77GqB0]
John K. Samson at Facebook
The Weakerthans Website
JOHN STATZ
It looks like the singer-songwriter Johns are taking over the world on the january 24th, because also John Statz is releasing a new album on that day. Mr. Statz might not be as household name as Mr. Samson is at this point, but he is also able to craft some really fine songs. I enjoyed the previous album Ghost Towns and really look forward to hearing this new one. It’s his first release on the great Yer Bird records and the label recently gave away the first single Distance as a free download. Sounds great to me. Check it out yourself below.