Album of the Month: Pietarin spektaakkeli – Rakkauteen

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I have a confession to make. I kind of filed Pietarin spektaakkeli into the kuuntelematta paskaa -category. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Thankfully Aki had this playing at 8raita record store while I was there and it was an instant love affair. There was not a chance I was going to leave that store without the record in my bag. A few hours later I filed Rakkauteen by Pietarin spektaakkeli into the best thing ever category.

Rakkauteen is a magnificent album and I can’t seem to get tired of it at all. And I’ve tried real hard by listening to it for hours and hours. The video song Tyttö lähtee tanssimaan is my least favourite and maybe that’s why I had some doubts about the overall quality of the album. Nothing really wrong with that either and everything else sounds perfect to me. Easy going blues, 70s/80s Suomi-rock, hip hop. A refreshing combination. I’m not good at describing it, but I’m loving it wholeheartedly. I usually stay far away from the hyped albums, because I hardly ever like them that much. But this thing is so worth all the hype and more. I can already guarantee that this will be on my top 10 Finnish albums of the year 2014 list and even though many of my favourite bands will release an album this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if this takes the first place. I don’t really write proper reviews anymore, but I still have to add those hearts below, because Rakkauteen is so worth all those five hearts.

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Pietarin Spektaakkeli – Puerto Rico (haaveissani)

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Pietarin Spektaakkeli – Maalta kaupunkiin

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Pietarin spektaakkeli at Facebook

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Joutomies Aleksei – Joutomies Aleksei

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I briefly mentioned folk band Joutomies Aleksei back in 2010 after hearing the song Kolmipäinen koira. I haven’t really followed them that closely during the recent years, but today I was on a coffee break at work and saw their FB status mentioning the release of a debut album. When I closed the factory door behind me, I searched it on Spotify and had the most enjoyable drive back home. I liked it so much that I couldn’t leave the car before the record was over. Burning unnecessary gasoline was not an option, but I just sat there in the parking lot listening to Joutomies Aleksei until it finished. I laughed a little, I cried a little and I liked it a lot. Joutomies Aleksei’s excellent debut album is out now on the small but excellent Ei-No Records. This is the opening track Kolmipäinen koira.

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Joutomies Aleksei at Facebook

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Ochre Room – Other Side of the Town

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Finnish folk rock / americana band Ochre Room has been a huge favourite of mine during the last couple of years and their forthcoming album is definitely one of my most anticipated 2014 releases. Thankfully I don’t have to wait much longer for it, because the album called Box, Bar & Diamond will hit the stores and our hearts in April. A new single Other Side of the Town came out yesterday and it sounds wonderful. This is the new music video for the song. Directed by Sami Pöyry / Monadi-Filmi.
 

Ochre Room – Other Side of the Town from Monadi-Filmi on Vimeo.

Ochre Room Website
 

(Ochre Room photo: Sami Pöyry, 2014)

 

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M. Lockwood Porter – Chris Bell

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Singer-songwriter M. Lockwood Porter just released a new single called Chris Bell. The subject of the song is of course Big Star’s Chris Bell and I love that, because Big Star is one of my all-time favourite bands. Big Star, The Posies and Teenage Fanclub pretty much form the foundation of my music taste (and the latter two were obviously influenced by Big Star, so it kind of all leads to Big Star in the end). This is M.Lockwood Porter’s song about Chris Bell. You can download the single from his bandcamp.

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M.Lockwood Porter at Bandcamp
M.Lockwood Porter Website

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