40. Olavi Uusivirta: Preeria

There won’t be many major label releases on the list, but I suppose also those big boys need to get the credit when they deserve it. Olavi Uusivirta’s latest album Preeria was a beautiful 70’s kind of pop album. A couple of horrible songs as well, but I can forgive that, because this is mostly either great or really good pop music.

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39. Belle & Sebastian: Write About Love

Oh yes, I know this is a shocking place for Belle & Sebastian. Maybe I just haven’t really listened to this one enough, but you have to earn your ice time on hockey and I suppose an album has to earn the “air time”.  Write About Love is definitely a good album. Even a really good album. It might be a bit unfair, but I always expect something special from Belle & Sebastian and therefore just a good pop album feels like a minor disappointment.

38. The Hold Steady: Heaven Is Whenever

Pretty much the same goes here. Basic goodness from The Hold Steady, but nothing really earth-shattering this time around. Well apart from Soft In The Center and Weekenders. Those two songs are pretty damn wonderful and I love them to bits.

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37. Kim Curly Band: Kim Curly Band

Kim Curly Band’s beautiful debut album has gotten criminally small amount of attention on this blog. It ain’t perfect, but it’s still a pretty convincing debut album. If you are looking for finnish americana, look no further. For example Beauty and Through My Window are such a magnificent songs.

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36. Chatham County Line: Wildwood

Chatham County Line wrote possibly the greatest song of the last decade, The Carolinian. New album Wildwood doesn’t  contain equally stunning songs, but the band is still in very good form and deliver beautiful bluegrass and americana songs.

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35. Kasey Anderson: Nowhere Nights

Kasey Anderson was a new find for me and what a great find he was. A wonderful singer-songwriter capable of writing powerful country rockers and captivating folk ballads. Nowhere Nights isn’t perfect from start to finish, but there’s a bunch of really fantastic songs in here.

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34. Drive-By Truckers: The Big To-Do

Certainly not their greatest album, but the highlights like Fourth Night Of My Drinking and Birthday Boy are freakin’ awesome. I think that this time they really succeeded with those rockin’ country tunes, but some of those slower numbers didn’t quite rise to their standard level.

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33. Topi Saha: Verta ja lihaa

I’ve been waiting for this album since I heard Hämeentie 61 a couple of years ago on myspace. Topi Saha is a young finnish folk singer-songwriter and this is his debut album. It’s mostly gorgeous. Hämeentie 61 still sounds perfect and there’s at least 5-6 almost equally wonderful songs. There are a couple of “just ok” tunes, but hey.. it’s a debut and pretty damn impressive one.

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32. The Gaslight Anthem: American Slang

Maybe the weakest The Gaslight Anthem so far, but still pretty impressive stuff. And I’m not sure is it the weakest either. It could be just the fact that the thrill of finding them is gone and therefore it’s harder to find the same kind of excitement as before. It sounds like they have just one song, but thankfully that one song is so damn good.

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31. Lemonator: Shake, Shake, Shake

TOPI SAHA

I’ve been waiting for this album since I heard Topi Saha’s song Hämeentie 61 on myspace a couple of years ago. Now Topi Saha’s debut album Verta ja lihaa has been released by Ei-No Records. I have not heard it yet and I’m still waiting for my copy to arrive to the local record store. However, there are some great songs on myspace and I expect this to be a great album.

Topi Saha at myspace
Ei-No Records Website

HILJAINEN MIES

Do we already know Hiljainen mies. I think we do, but I can’t be sure. I think he is from Hi-Lo & In Between. The vocals sure sound similar, but I could be wrong. I do know that his debut album Puiden ylle kaatuu aurinko ja muut is out on 11th of october. It will be released by Lumpeela Julkaisut. Based on the songs on his myspace, it will be a wonderful album.

Hiljainen mies at myspace
Lumpeela Julkaisut Website

Topi Saha at myspace