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.
A couple more quick round-up things, but in a few days I start scraping together the EOTY lists. First we are heading over to New Hampshire to revisit the Sidney Lindner & The Silver Wilderness Collective album Summer Ghosts/ Nightfalls that was co-released by Burst & Bloom Records and Broken Sparrow on the 13th of September. I’ve loved Sidney Lindner’s songwriting since I heard The Shining Example Is Lying on the Floor by The Hotel Alexis back in mid 00s and therefore this is really a big one for me. Here’s a couple of personal favorites from the new album with the Silver Wilderness Collective. You & Me Kid from Bandcamp where you can buy/hear the whole thing and a music video for the opener Sweet Brother. Ryan Prows also directed a must see epic three part short movie for album tracks Mother’s Tongue, You & Me Kid and Who Are You When No One’s Looking. Start from here and check out the whole story.
From the long time favorites to the new favorites and across the border to Hamilton, Ontario. A little over a month ago, I stumbled upon a music video of Heather Valley singing a song called Lovejoy and I instantly loved it. The interest grew even higher when I read the premiere interview where she named some of my biggest favorites like Jason Molina and Jennifer Castle as her influences. The album Desert Message followed on the 22nd of November and it was able to match my high expectations. Here are the wonderful singles Lovejoy and Ohio River, but make sure you hit the bandcamp player links too to hear/buy the whole great record.
Next this dark but beautiful blog entry takes us to Paris, France. Songwriter Flora Hibberd is originally from London, but resides in Paris these days. Her powerful debut EP The Absentee came out on 1st of November on ClearLight Records / Declared Goods. All four songs are strong and haunting, but here’s my personal favorite As Long as There Is Night.
The last one for tonight comes from Rothesay, Isle of Bute, Scotland. My blissful obsession to the new Josienne Clarke album In All Weather is rising all the time, so I have no other choice than share this brand new video for song called Host along with another big favorite called Dark Cloud. This remarkable record is now out on Rough Trade.
