One Chord To Another - A Finnish Pop Site - Page 657 of 709 - Country, Americana, Folk, Power Pop, Indie Pop

Review: Midlake – The Courage of Others

February 14, 2010 1 Comment

Midlake: The Courage of Others (Bella Union, 2010)

Everyone knows this one. So there’s no need to write a long review. This is more like a quick opinion.

Will I get hammered if I say that this actually a little boring? I probably should get hammered, but I can’t deny that I’m struggling with this album. If I listen to just one song (anyone of them will do), I can admit that it sounds truly wonderful, but after listening to three or four songs in a row I’m thinking of changing the record. The album is like a cat without a personality. I mean cats are pretty much the most beautiful creatures on the planet, but in the long run I would still get rather bored watching a group of cats if the cats didn’t have their own unique characteristics. This is just a steady flow of beautiful moods and sounds and there’s nothing that draws my attention. Maybe I should give it more time, but so far I’m not as impressed as I would like to be. Maybe I’ll just keep on listening to it in small doses. That way it stays enjoyable.

Midlake Website
Midlake at myspace

Reviews

Review: Eels – End Times

February 14, 2010 No Comments

Eels: End Times (E Works, 2010)

Am I a bad person because I always get drawn to Mark Oliver Everett’s music when he is in his most vulnerable and broken state and the happier moments of his music haven’t made equally lasting impression? End Times is the eight Eels album and it ranks among the better half of his wonderful catalogue of albums. It’s bare, intimate and painfully real album about broken love. More people should record albums in their basements with four track tape machines, because End Times sounds much more alive, pure and honest than 99% of the music you hear. End Times might not have much hit potential, but it’s a wonderful album that holds a lot of real dark-coloured beauty inside and in the end hope is an option, not a curse word. “One sweet day I’ll be back on my feet / and I’ll be alright / I just gotta get back on my feet”. I sure hope so mr. E. Even if I’m still a sad case and spent my time listening to these vulnerable masterpieces.

Eels Website
Eels at myspace

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oca-0wH9SyU]

Reviews

Review: Bobby Emmett – Learning Love

February 13, 2010 2 Comments

Bobby Emmett: Learning Love (Self-released, 2009)

I’ve already praised Bobby Emmett a few times and I’ve selected his solo debut Learning Love as the best album of the year 2009. Therefore I won’t write a long review, but still wanted to praise this awesome album one more time. After all, it would be cruel not to review the finest album of the year. It would also be extremely cruel and a crime against pop music if this stunning power pop album just faded into obscurity without people hearing about it and that’s why I NEED to do my extremely minor part in trying to tell the world (or those seven people that regularly read this blog) how wonderful this album is.

Bobby Emmett used to play in The Sights. A really good if not fabulous band from Detroit (I just picked up the albums from my record shelf and noticed that he didn’t play on the great debut album, but appeared as guest on the second album and was a full time member on the third album). Nowadays he is playing in Shooter Jennings’ live band and apparently writing some of the finest power pop songs of the last ten years when he is bored. Learning Love is his magnificent solo debut. It was recorded with vintage equipment and has that 70’s power pop feel on it and time to time it recalls several masters of the era (like Big Star, The Raspberries, Cheap Trick). One of the great things about the record actually is that it has a lot of bits and pieces that reminds me of my favourite bands, but the songs still don’t sound like just half decent pastiches of the old power pop heroes. This is because Bobby Emmett is such a great songwriter and he has written 10 songs that are all gorgeous, catchy and extremely enjoyable. Ok, maybe it isn’t anything completely original but why the hell should it be. It’s just pop music and I love it to bits. Why would I want to bore myself with Kid A’s if I can just dance around in my underwear listening to perfect pop music. Learning Love isn’t totally stuck in the past either. Actually Sloan is the closest comparison if I would have to namedrop one band. It has that same rockin’ but beautiful power pop perfectness going on and Bobby Emmett’s voice sound quite similar as well (Jay Ferguson is also a guest on the record). Anyway, I said I wasn’t going to write a long review, but in the end I’m finding it hard to stop. But I’ll stop now, because there’s no need to go through the songs. They are all either perfect or near-perfect. Learning Love is fantastic album. It might even be my favourite power pop album of the whole decade. At least it’s definitely in the top 10.

Bobby Emmett at myspace