Carrying on with the silly year-end routine with my favorite Finnish EPs of the year. I kept this one short, because I’ve maybe heard about a dozen and maybe the idea of a year end list is not to list everything one has heard during the year. Lokit 3 EP could definitely be here, but I’ve only heard it once when I write this. And obviously if you count Jari Raaste as an EP that would be the top pick, but I think that falls under the singles category.
5. Eden Prairie – Ana Lucia (2019)
Starting from Helsinki with the new Eden Prairie EP and some excellent folk rock storytelling.
You quite rarely see synth pop on my year-end lists, but Tams and Ian Daniel Kehoe are exception to the rule. They are just too good to be ignored even by such a narrow-minded music blogger as yours truly. Maybe this should not be my cup of tea, but all the barriers I have built just fall into pieces whenever I hit play and I find myself humming along to every song and loving every second.
Perfect jangly guitar pop from a new band called Tvärtom. Something that I would have loved madly back when I started it this blog. No wait.. something that I still love madly and will continue to love madly as long as I breathe. Bonus points for one of my favorite music videos of the year. Iltariennot is also one of the best Finnish songs of the year, but let’s get back to that when that song list arrives.
And my favorite Finnish EP of the year is Yö Saimaalla by MeriTuuli. A really beautiful folk/pop EP written by twin sisters Meri and Tuuli Wallenius. The whole thing is great, but I’m especially fond of the first two songs Ruusut and Minä odotan. The first one is also available in form of a really beautiful music video.
Finally continuing with the year-end lists. Sorry for the delay. The flu took its toll. I was only away from work for two days, but damn it’s been hard to fully recover from this one. Going straight from the flu bed to the Christmas rush at work didn’t exactly help and probably delayed the recovery a bit. Anyway, I still try to get these year-end lists quickly done within a week or so and then either quit, take a break or move on to 2020. Not a whole lot of writing here, because I just want to get these done.
Starting with my favorite international EPs of the year. A couple of disclaimers. None of the Erin Enderlin EPs are here, because the songs came out on the album later in the year and it will make the aoty list. Courtney Marie Andrews acoustic EP and Erin Rae 4-track demos are also missing even though I love the songs as much as you can love songs. They were just more important in 2018 when the album versions came out. These three would have all been really high on the list. As usual, the numbers here are mostly arbitrary and just helping me to count to 20 with my limited math skills. Music is love not a competition. And I’m sure I forgot something that should have been here. Sorry in advance. And of course this is just a tiny fraction of all the great releases. I’m just one man and there’s tons I have not even heard once let alone enough.
20. Molly Taylor – Summertime Blues (2019)
A brand new favorite Molly Taylor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana starts the list with her excellent debut EP Summertime Blues.
18. Kate Teague – Kate Teague (Muscle Beach Records, 2019)
Back to the new favorites and onwards to Oxford, Mississippi. Kate Teague’s wonderful self-titled debut EP came out in September on Muscle Beach Records.
14. Drew Danburry – Pallid Boy & Spindling Girl (2019)
One of those that got way too little recognition on this blog during the year. I’ve been listening to Drew Danburry for 15 years or so and this EP is one of his best works.
10. Wojtek the Bear – Old Names for New Shapes (Scottish Fiction, 2019)
Some perfect indie pop from Glasgow, Scotland. Wojtek the Bear released four awesome pop singles in 2019 and Scottish Fiction later released them as a four-song collection.
A really moving EP from singer-songwriter Tiffany Williams. Big Enough to Be a Mountain is one of my favorite songs of the year and everything else is almost on the same level.
Songwriter Matthew Ryan released one of my favorite songs of the whole year, but it’s not on this particular EP Fallen Ash & Embers. You’ll find that later from the songs of the year list, but there’s plenty to love on this great EP too. In fact, I think I love this song Warm Lightning just as much. All Matthew Ryan’s 2019 songs can be found from a collection called The Future Was Beautiful. Super highly recommended.
Singer-songwriter Carla Geneve from Perth, Australia is one of the new finds of the year of me and I really love her self-titled debut EP. The final song I Hate You (For Making Me Not Want To Leave The City) has been my biggest favorite from the start, but 2001, Things Change and Yesterday’s Clothes are also brilliant songs.
Twain will rule these year-end lists and you’ll find the songs of Mt Davidson from the forthcoming aoty and soty lists too. Oh and if I did that decade list too, Twain’s 2017 album Rare Feeling would be among the top picks. New Miami Sound is kind of a side C of Rare Feeling and contains songs from the same sessions that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another.
1. Black Sea Dahu – No Fire in the Sand (Mouthwatering Records, 2019)
My favorite EP of the year is No Fire in the Sand by a Swiss indie folk band Black Sea Dahu. The band led by singer-songwriter Janine Cathrein created a poignant and deeply captivating EP. How You Swallowed Your Anger and Thaw were some of my biggest song addictions of the year and the rest are almost equally brilliant. A treasure.
Starting with this pointless year end routine. So between now and Christmas, there will be a lot of lists. Well at least unless this flu really kicks in badly. I will do these rather quickly this time and don’t write a lot of ramblings, because a) life has been hard for a couple of months and I just want to get these done b) the music matters not the ramblings. I’m starting with the Finnish albums of the year. It was a great year and I could have easily come up with at least 10 more that I really liked. There’s some sort of vague order, but the numbers are mostly there to just help me count to 25 with my non-existent math skills. So don’t focus on them too much, because depending on a day any album could move like seven places up or down and even flipping it upside down wouldn’t make much of a difference. Music is love and not a competition and every year I think about moving on to unranked version. Still I feel that even the vague order can be helpful to the reader. Especially because unlike myself, some folks have a life and don’t have time to listen to all and everything and my lists tend to be on the long side.
There will be a playlist of Finnish music when I make the songs of the year list. This ongoing playlist will have songs from most of these, but some might be missing because I haven’t updated it as well and frequently as I should have. Anyway, here’s 25 Finnish albums that I loved during 2019. I hope I didn’t forget anything important.
25. Pasi Salmi – Preerian upottaa kuu (Way Beyondo Records)
My favourite Finnish album of the year 2019 is Linnut by Ylva Haru. It came out in early January and stayed with me throughout the year. This beautiful folk album resonates with me deeply and gives me a lot of those this is exactly how I feel moments and (or even more so) this is how I should feel moments. An absolute treasure of an album.
Hey it’s mid-year and a perfect time for pointless lists. So count me in. Here’s some of the music I’ve listened and loved the most during the first half of 2019. I didn’t spend ages on this one, so I’m sure I forgot something super important. Obviously there’s so much I just haven’t listened to enough at this point of the year. That’s why there’s no Bill Callahan for example. I know I will love that record, but I haven’t listened to it all that much so far. These are in pretty random-ish order. Just picked the biggest favorite of each category and then just wrote what popped into my head. Maybe they are a bit top heavy, but flipping them over wouldn’t really make them any worse. Steve Sloane’s song Let All In and the albums from Matthew Milia and Ylva Haru have shaped my year and are able stand out even from this brilliant crowd. Nevertheless, I love all of these and I could also quite easily triple these lists without any drop in quality. Doing the playlist every week has really skyrocketed my already excessive listening habits and I’ve already heard over 100 albums that I like. So this is just a small sample of all the great music 2019 has given us. I have to quit the blog before the actual year-end lists. Otherwise I will end up doing something absolutely ridiculous like a list of TOP 200 albums. Anyway, here’s the quick mid-year report. Back to normal duty on Sunday with the weekly playlist.
ALBUMS – INTERNATIONAL
Matthew Milia – Alone at St. Hugo (Sitcom Universe)
Anna Tivel – The Question (Fluff & Gravy Records) The Delines – The Imperial (El Cortez / Decor) Caroline Spence – Mint Condition (Rounder Records) Steve Sloane – Near Death Damien Jurado – In The Shape of a Storm (Mama Bird Recording Co / Loose Music) Shane Leonard – Strange Forms (Wayward Chicken) Erin Durant – Islands (Keeled Scales) Julia Jacklin – Crushing (Transgressive Records) Ian Daniel Kehoe – Secret Republic (You’ve Changed Records/ Tin Angel Records) Tiny Ruins – Olympic Girls (Marathon Artists) Pony Bradshaw – Sudden Opera (Rounder Records) Ian Noe – Between the Country (National Treasury Recordings) Kassi Valazza – Dear Dead Days Bob Sumner – Sings Wasted Love Songs Craig Finn – I Need a New War (Partisan Records) Clara Baker – Things To Burn Robert Ellis – Texas Piano Man (New West Records) Katie Spencer – Weather Beaten (KRS Music) Steve Lambke – Dark Blue (You’ve Changed Records) Charles Wesley Godwin – Seneca M. Lockwood Porter – Communion in the Ashes (Black Mesa Records) TK & The Holy Know-Nothings – Arguably OK (Mama Bird Recording Co) Natural Bridges – Residual Daydreams (Royal Oakie) China – And Then Nothing Happened (Royal Oakie) Jeremy Squires – Poem Bedouine – Bird Songs of a Killjoy (Spacebomb) Steven Lambke – Dark Blue (You’ve Changed Records) Small Houses – I Don’t Know What’s Safe Yola – Walk Through Fire (Easy Eye Sound)
Bonus: Harrison Whitford – Afraid Of Everything (Screwdriver Records) (first time on LP/CD)
ALBUMS – FINLAND
Ylva Haru – Linnut (Soit Se Silti)
Sur-rur – Hattarahiukset (Joteskii Groteskii / Roku Records) Salaliitto – Puolet (Soit Se Silti) Hullu Ruusu – Rehab (Helmi Levyt) Janne Tapion Sisäinen Avaruus – Maapallon Hautajaiset (Lumpeela Julkaisut) H.C.Slim – Sings (Svart Records) Joose Keskitalo – En lähde surussa (Helmi Levyt) Lokit – Lokit LP (Combat Rock Industry / Joteskii Groteskii / Roku Records) Tomi Nordlund & Syvä Joki – Viisi vuotta myöhemmin (Soit Se Silti) M – Näytän missä asun (Solina)
EPS – INTERNATIONAL
Twain – New Miami Sound EP (from two EPs) (Keeled Scales)
Tiffany Williams – When You Go Charlie Whitten – Tiny Horse Kathryn Legendre – Making It Up (Shotgun House) Johanna Samuels – Have a Good One (Basin Rock) Charlie Marie – Charlie Marie Lydia Cole & Hailey Beavis – Among Horses IV (Son Canciones) The Rumblings of Spring – The Rumblings of Spring Erin Rae – Putting On Airs 4 Track Demos EP (Single Lock) Courtney Marie Andrews – Acoustic EP (Loose Music / Fat Possum / Mama Bird Recording Co)
EPS – FINLAND
MeriTuuli – Yö Saimaalla
Tams – Aikahyppy 1 EP Eden Prairie – Ana Lucia
SONGS – INTERNATIONAL
Steve Sloane – Let All In
Joanna Sternberg – This is Not Who I Want to Be (Team Love) Matthew Milia – Alive at the Same Time (Sitcom Universe) (or well any other song from his album) Matthew Ryan – On Our Death Day Anna Tivel – The Question (Fluff & Gravy) Caroline Spence – Sit Here & Love Me (Rounder Records) Le Ren – Love Can’t Be The Only Reason to Stay Erin Durant – Rising Sun (Keeled Scales) Christian Lee Hutson – Northsiders Julia Jacklin – Don’t Know How To Keep Loving You (Transgressive Records) Pony Bradshaw – Josephine (Rounder Records) Charles Wesley Godwin – Seneca Creek (Seneca) Tiffany Williams – Big Enough to Be A Mountain Ian Daniel Kehoe – Evil People (You’ve Changed Records / Tin Angel Records) Micah Schnabel – New Shoes Craig Finn – Something to Hope For (Partisan Records) Esther Rose – Don’t Blame it on the Moon (Father/Daughter Records) Kassi Valazza – Mama Robert Ellis – Father (New West Records) The Delines – Holly The Hustle (El Cortez / Decor) Damien Jurado – South (Mama Bird Recording Co) Rachel Toups – Foxes (Peconic) Emily Scott Robinson – Dress Ryan Tanner – A Hymn for Me and You Bob Sumner – Ticket To Ride Katie Spencer – Weather Beaten (KRS Music) Ian Noe – Letter To Madeline (National Treasury Recordings) Charlie Shafter – Chainsaw Twain – Death (or S.F.?) (Keeled Scales) red steppes – Madera (Native Cat Recordings) Black Sea Dahu – How You Swallowed Your Anger
And here’s an ongoing “best of” 2019 playlist. I put these on top, but there’s about 150 more that are equally good. I think that Steve Sloane song is the one that I love the most, but other than that I could have just as well put this playlist on shuffle and the result would be as good as the list above.
SONGS – FINLAND
Amuri – Halla (Helmi Levyt)
Ylva Haru – Oikeiden luona (and/or Tähän hetkeksi jään) (Soit Se Silti) Janne Tapion Sisäinen Avaruus – Kaikki oli paremmin ennen (Lumpeela Julkaisut) Sur-rur – Fleetwood Macin villi välikausi (Joteskii Groteskii / Roku Records) Iron Country Sisters – Leaves (Soit Se Silti) Astral Brain – The Field Trip (perhaps this should be on the international list) Kielo Kärkkäinen – Keitä me olemme (Texicalli) Hulda Huima – Outo tyttö (Helmi Levyt) Jari Raaste – Ilmalaiva (Fonal Records) Maustetytöt – Se oli SOS / Tein kai lottorivini väärin (Is This Art?)
And same as above. Lots more finnhits on this ongoing playlist that features my favorite Finnish songs of the year.
