Country, Americana, Folk, Power Pop, Indie Pop
Michigan-based folk troubadour Jeremy Quentin aka Small Houses took onechord.net’s song of the year 2011 award with amazingly beautiful song Late July. So i’m definitely a big fan and some good news arrived last week. Small Houses have a new seven inch single Oh Hiding Out / Our Sweet coming out on november 5th and you can already pre-order this lovely release. This one below is Our Sweet. Stream/buy the whole thing on his website or bandcamp.
The man behind Lenzie Moss is Finlay Macdonald. If you are a scottish pop fan like yours truly, I think you are quite familiar with Finlay already. Speedboat disc back in the day was mighty fine and of course he has been a member of Teenage Fanclub and BMX Bandits in the past. So Finlay probably doesn’t need an introduction in the indie pop world, but maybe Lenzie Moss needs one. Introducing Lenzie Moss just came out digitally (maybe vinyl later, but so far only digital) and it’s a really good album. The opener Kelvin British Summertime is a song about late 80s Glasgow, but the lyrics “It was cool time to like Big Star, Dinosaur Jr and loud guitars” fits quite well to late 90s in Jyväskylä as well. That line makes me a little nostalgic for sure even though my friend(s) kindly pointed out that nothing has changed since then and it’s still cool to like Big Star and Dinosaur jr.
This is Kelvin British Summertime. Stream/buy the whole beautiful pop album at lenziemoss.com.
This is a good week. Ken Stringfellow is touring in Finland and visits my hometown on friday. Hopefully I will get out of work in time to see the in-store concert at 8raita, but Dynamo in the evening for sure. The tour starts tomorrow at Telakka, Tampere and continues throughout the week. The full schedule is:
Ti 9.10.2012 Tampere, Telakka (+ Cry Bar)
Ke 10.10.2012 Joensuu, Kerubi (+ Ville Härkönen)
To 11.10.2012 Helsinki, Bar Loose (+ Bon Jouni)
Pe 12.10.2012 Turku, Dynamo (+ in-store show at 8raita record store, 6 pm)
La 13.10.2012 Oulu, 45 Special
I’m extremely excited. He’s the guy. Only guilty of writing the finest pop songs though. I’m a huge fan. Been ever since I found The Posies and Amazing Disgrace back in 1997. Times are good also because there’s a new Ken Stringfellow solo album entitled Danzig In The Moonlight. The album came out last week on Lojinx and it’s obviously the new album of the month here at the onechord.net headquarters. It’s also leading my imaginary album of the year contest by a huge margin and someone has to release one amazing album, if Danzig in The Moonlight won’t be One Chord to Another’s favourite album of the year 2012.
Danzig in The Moonlight doesn’t play it too safe. It’s an ambitious pop album. I normally prefer simple things, but a pop genius like Ken Stringfellow has the talent to keep this constantly transforming beauty in line. Classic pop songs, fragile, intimate ballads, soulful moments, country-flavoured duet, progressive elements, a hint of electro. Despite the range of styles, it feels very comfortable to listen to it. Everything works. Well other than Odorless, Colorless and Tasteless and the ending of 4 am Birds The End Of A Light The Last Radio, but I won’t get stuck on those, because I love everything else about Danzig in The Moonlight. If I had to pick a favourite moment, it would be the last song You’re A Sign (with History Buffs as the close second). In my heart, it somehow feels like a companion piece to my another big KS solo favourite The Lover’s Hymn. Such a beautiful song, such a beautiful record. I suppose this was not an actual review, but Danzig In The Moonlight most definitely is a five hearts album.
Listen to Superwise from Danzig In The Moonlight:
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/60998801″ iframe=”true” /]
I’ve been really lazy with the blog lately, but the release of this magical album cannot go completely unnoticed. Ochre Room’s debut album Evening Coming In came out today on Lumpeela julkaisut. I’ve had the chance to listen to it for a few weeks and it’s a really wonderful record. It’s an album that can even challenge Viljami Kukkonen’s Mörönsyötti on the Finnish album of the year contest. Mörönsyötti and Evening Coming In are certainly the top 2 Finnish albums of the year in my books. It’s almost frightening to think how good Ochre room might be in the future, because this debut already works for me perfectly. They are mastering the art of writing captivating folk rock / americana songs, the singing is gorgeous throughout the record and the arrangements are magically beautiful. This is the first single My Summer.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_QZQEU37DM]