Discover This!

Now... Stuff I wrote actually a few weeks ago but still very topical!

I have been a huge fan of ELO's Discovery (1979) ever since I had listened to it enough to get into it... Which isn't all that many months ago. To me music is really quite a lot about memory: having some kind of familiarity with the music always seems to make it easy to fall in love it. In the process my brain might even create a memory of listening to the music in some specific place or situation. For me, that often nowadays becomes a memory of listening to the music while riding a bike to school and/or grocery store. Cool, right... Well, you can mostly turn the memories into something else, if you start listening to the music somewhere else.

Shine a Little Love opens the album and reveals a perfect disco song. I enjoy disco and don't mind at all that it is present even in Jeff Lynne's music. While the first track gets you into a good mood the next two songs go straight to the point. First comes Confusion: a song that is just as incredibly catchy as it is comforting. Need Her Love is the next song, a very traditional love ballad with such a loving mood, added with a hint of ELO melancholy.

Last Train To London returns to the disco theme. Don't Bring Me Down in the end of the album is another classic dancing song. I love everything on this album.. How could I not? The music is so catchy, happy, classy, 70s baroque disco/ballad/pop song gold! Jeff Lynne wrote this music from his heart and made it sound interesting, yet pleasant for anyone to listen to. How come I can only think of about three people that I know who care even a bit about this stuff, or this kind of stuff...

Well, if I knew more people who cared about this kind of stuff, I probably wouldn't be here, writing.

In the Heart of Pop

For some reason it is not very easy to discover new excellent bands. I don't work too hard trying to find them but I think I have discovered a new one. Originally I saw the name Secret Powers in email newsletters from Not Lame. I had even ordered myself an album by the band but never really had time to get into it... I got several other cool CDs at the same time.

A few days ago I decided to check out an album by Secret Powers: Secret Powers and the Electric Family Choir (2009). The album cover seems to refer to a sunshine pop band of the 60s but the music is something a bit different. The overall feel surely is all about spectacular 60s pop hooks in the spirit of the Beatles. There is also a lot of influence from ELO: big harmonies, beatlesque melodies. The result sounds quite a bit like Wondermints which is always a good thing. Extra points go of course to great songwriting and arrangements and musical variety – a country song in the middle of the album is just cool. To cut a long story short, and even though my acquaintance with this band surely has been short, I am most definitely willing to announce Secret Powers as classic pop perfection!

So, even at first this album sounded really interesting. I was probably too stressed out to be able to hear the absolute beauty but now I am starting to hear it. One of the best things is that Secret Powers has released several albums during a relatively short time period. I am going to get them all.

I can't help loving the dramatic feel of Lazy Men, soft pop of By the Sea, Treat Your Mother Nice (Beach Boys, anyone?) and Misery (ELO alert!!), country of Ghost Town, Wondermints psych-pop of You Know It's Time... Everything here is really good. Gee, I am just really excited about this stuff! It is melancholic (but so is ELO, too), creative, carefully arranged and has soul.

Many popsters have already checked this band out but if you haven't, go ahead... There are some really excellent songs at MySpace. On the website there are some videos, including one for Orange Trees which is a song from the Electric Choir album. The video has some quite violent imagery but I guess that is the point of it.

All in all, lovely music... I'm in love.

Secret Powers WebsiteSecret Powers at MySpace

Welcome, Mr. Lynne

Hooray, hooray, I have finally discovered Electric Light Orchestra! By ”discovering” I of course mean the beginning of active listening. Now that I think about it is quite strange that it didn't happen earlier. ELO is a dream come true for a popster like me but I never got round to checking out the band until about a month ago.

It all began almost Out of the Blue. One day I noticed I had put some ELO into my mp3 player and thought about trying something ”new”... I listened to the album once and immediately heard a lot of pop beauty. Repeated listening revealed new dimensions and soon I was hooked to everything on the album.

The sound... The songs! The string arrangements... The mood! Based on my current listening experince of Out of the Blue and Time (1981) I can only say that I have discovered some sort of a missing link that explains certain common things about many bands that I admire. I feel I understand now why many bands sound like what they sound like. Even right now, as I listen to ELO, I constantly think to myself that the music really sounds like the Flaming Lips, or the Apples in Stereo. While being pure 70s pop gold ELO is a link to both the past and present. ELO is an intriguing combination of 60s influence (the Beatles etc.) and being the influence for countless later bands.

Out of the Blue was released as a double LP in 1977. By today's standards it doesn't feel like a double album but it doesn't matter at all... I can't really think of any other album that contains as many songs as 17 all of which are really great. In addition to great songwriting, beautiful melodies and hooks there are stunning strings everywhere. The album has a good balance between classic single hits (Turn to Stone, Sweet Talking Woman, Mr. Blue Sky), rock-oriented material (Across the Border, Birmingham Blues), powerful ballads (Stepping Out, Big Wheels) and songs that, in my opinion, are memorable especially because they are instrumental-driven (Standing in the Rain, The Whale)

So, what else would I like to mention about this album (or ELO in general)... Of course it has to be said that the harmonies are gorgeous – very Queen/Styx, I think. But there is a lot of the Beach Boys as well. On the other hand, the vocals often remind me of disco-era Bee Gees... Another really interesting thing about ELO is that the music tends to have a nice, gentle psychedelic vibe. The songs with their arrangements create such a strong atmosphere that it almost scares me! Music like this is from another world – a world more interesting and colorful but also more dramatic and sometimes wondrously melancholic, when you think about it..

Perfect, catchy symphonic pop/rock with big harmonies, rich sounds, a wonderfully grandiose mood and impeccable songwriting. Gee, ELO's got everything! Why doesn't music like this sell millions anymore, why oh why... (If it did it would probably have many nice by-products - more frequent concerts, for instance.)

There is so very much to cherish on this one album [Out of the Blue] alone... But I intend to listen to the other ELO albums as well. I don't want to rush but sometimes I just can't keep great pop waiting. And there is of course the Move. We'll see what happens next...

Like the Summer Never Ended

It is time for some updating. Getting around to doing that seems to be way too challenging for me these days. I do think about writing almost all the time. The problem is that I have schoolwork to do and writing extra stuff doesn't feel appropriate very often. I need to relax sometimes too! However, I have also noticed that writing to this blog may be the perfect means of relaxation and therapy.

Anyways, my favorite band from Finland, Lemonator, released a new album on September the 1st. What can I say? They did it again: made the sun shine right when I needed it as the leaves started falling down from trees. The album carries the name Shake, Shake, Shake.. What a good indication of the lightheartedness it represents! It is the band's least rocking album yet but it is just as good as the other albums.

Lemonator is, in fact, one of my dearest and also oldest favorites (if you don't count childhood favorites). This magnificent Helsinki band made its way to my heart in 2003 when I saw the music video for a song called Broken Record on TV. Lemonator had just released a new fourth album Grandpop. I bought it and was instantly very impressed. Now that I think about it, Grandpop was the album that introduced me to power pop as a music style. It was a great introduction because of its great songs, rock & roll edge and capability of also showing the fabulously atmospheric and melancholic gentler sides of the band. In 2010, they are still my favorite Finnish band.

Well, yeah, there was that thing with Tehosekoitin and whether I might like them more than Lemonator. Tehosekoitin is (was) also very, very good.. But I still think Lemonator has the #1 spot in my heart when it comes to the loveliest Finnish bands.

It is easy to fall in love with bands that have made excellent albums - and if they also happen to sound like the Posies and the Beach Boys there is really no escape! So far, Lemonator has only released excellent albums the first being Yellow (1997), a happy, fun, fast-paced and loud album - perfect music anytime when you wish to hear high-energy pop rock (to me that is often...). The second album, Maison Rilax (1998), was a clear response to Yellow's overflowing happiness. Maison Rilax was a slower-paced album that dealt with lost love. The album included more complex song structures and various influences signaling that there was much more to Lemonator than just fun, rampaging rock'n roll. Maison Rilax was an impressive sophomore effort. The biggest hit, however, was yet to follow.

Most Lemonator fans probably consider the third album, The Waltz (2000), as their favorite. I do, too, of course... The Waltz is the culmination of Lemonator's best sides: it has an amazingly heartfelt and comforting mentality, spectacular songs that all have something important to say melodically, emotionally, soundwise and as well as lyrically. The album also shows Lemonator's sense of the dramatic. Even though the album presents a pretty broad variation of themes and moods - quite a few dark or melancholic ones too - the result as a whole is an album so deep, loving and touching that I still regard it as the Finnish Pet Sounds.

Following Grandpop (2003) came out At the Presence of Great Beauty (2006), the fifth album by Lemonator. This album was another really heartfelt effort. It had the heart of The Waltz, the rocking edge of Grandpop and the melancholic shades of Maison Rilax. All this made the album a simply unforgettable listening experience. The song material is gorgeous. Also, the string arrangements are a pretty good match for ELO's best work.

As I said, Shake, Shake, Shake is the latest album. It is lovely, of course it is lovely.. California Fun and I Always Wanted to Be a Drummer are some of the catchiest songs of the year and Hold Me Now is clearly the loveliest song of the year... At least to me.

Thank you Lasse Kurki, Risto Eskolin, Antti Karisalmi, Kelly Ketonen, and Mikko von Hertzen (former drummer). You always make my day!

Lemonator at MySpace

Lemonator website

Psychedelicious

It wasn’t an instant love affair, but I must admit - it’s getting more and more difficult for me to keep my ears off Flight of the Knife (2008), the latest album by Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears. It was recommended “extremely highly” (or something like that…) by Bruce Brodeen, so I listened to a few soundclips. When I was finally able to find time to listen to the whole album properly, I felt like I had begun a new exciting journey.

Based on the photographs I’ve seen, Mr. Scary and his Tears’ live performance looks like a scene from an old horror movie – a pretty good reason to end up being characterized as a cinematic pop act. However, most of the people I know would probably understand the expression psychedelic rock better as a description of Scary’s psychedelicious pop-rock. You might hear echoes of Queen, ELO, XTC, and The Beatles (and I bet there are many other influences too) in the fascinating mix of psych-rock, melodic pop elements and lyrics that are practically science fiction. Personally, I have to admit that Scary’s sweet voice is also something that most certainly appeals to me (and will get me addicted to this album, I bet..).

Flight of the Knife utilizes a fairly traditional set of instruments – one of the highlights being Scary’s powerful piano work - although the experience definitely comes with many psychedelic effects, intriguing tempo changes, unpredictable song structures and other cool tricks. Thanks to those, listening to the album will certainly not get uninteresting. It is actually quite suitable to call Flight of the Knife an experience. Listening to the album is an audial adventure.

The songlist is awesome. Venus Ambassador, being good all the way, has an absolutely delicious melody part that is heard in the beginning, and then again in the end of the song. The wild rocking chorus of The Purple Rocket is another favorite moment – here you can really hear the psychedelic rock, not to mention the awesomeness of the ELO-influenced layered vocals. Imitation of the Sky rocks too: “This is the mourning of the Susie High” – Scary’s melodic genius is clear here. That phrase, along with numerous others, may actually get stuck in your head, and you'll love it. Also one of my favourites is Mama Waits - an obvious should-be hit single. It is extremely catchy, somewhat Sgt. Pepper-like, and one of the most traditionally-constructed songs on the album. The Zero Light is happy – uplifting, I’d say. The Curious Disappearance of the Sky-Ship Thunder-Man (what a title!) is a completely delicious ballad that won’t go unnoticed. Heaven on a Bird is another ballad, totally wonderful.

This album gives me an impression that Mr. Scary has found a way to realize his musical potential to the fullest. I believe it will be difficult for him to make an album even better than this one. Will he succeed anyway? Someday we’ll find out… If only his music got the attention it deserves, the world would be at least a bit better place.

Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears at MySpace
Flight of The Knife site (listen to the album here)

[Hooray, my 100th post!]

Ho Ho Ho, It’s Magic

Here’s a most brilliant song that I discovered some days ago. It is a song by Scottish pop band Pilot and it’s called Magic. Pilot was founded by ex-Bay City Rollers members David Paton and Billy Lyall in 1973. This song is utterly wonderful, catchy and memorable. It sounds probably more like Electric Light Orchestra than Bay City Rollers but hey, we all love both bands, don’t we?

In a way this song is kind of Christmassy. It goes “ho ho ho” which I believe is something that Santa Claus says.. So, enjoy! This video is from the Top of the Pops show, year 1974. I’ve already listened to this song a couple of times too many. Maybe it’d be good to check other Pilot songs too..

This is the classic problem with perfect pop songs. You can’t get enough of them, they become an obsession and as a result stop you from looking for more perfect songs because you can’t stop listening to your previous perfect pop find.. This happens to me constantly. It’s fun, I have to admit.

Sweet Apples

It was a few years ago when I started listening to The Apples in Stereo. The band is associated with the famous lo-fi/indie pop collective Elephant 6 that I definitely wish to explore further. I’ve already checked out some material from Beulah and Of Montreal (I also remember listening to a couple of songs by The Olivia Tremor Control), but there are also many other interesting bands to listen to. The collective is big, so I believe there is a whole lot of fun ahead of me – fun and quirkiness. The bands that I’ve already listened to have all proved to be quite unique.

The first Apples in Stereo album that I properly listened to was New Magnetic Wonder (2007). At the time it was the group’s latest. Once I got around to listening to it several times it started showing promise, and it didn’t take long before I start enjoying Robert Schneider’s wild ELO-like backing vocal effects and energetic, upbeat songs. The vocal effects are airy and magnificent, and usually successful. There is a moment or two when the vocal effects are slightly OTT but it’s not such a big sin.

Can You Feel It? and Same Old Drag are examples of successful vocal effect experiments. Both songs are also very catchy. Energy is a hit. It sounds like a mixture of Oasis and Electric Light Orchestra, and probably something else too. Hilarie Sidney who has since left the group provided New Magnetic Wonder with a couple of good tracks: Sunndal Song and Sunday Sounds. Play Tough is a beautiful melody, definitely reminds of The Left Banke’s Walk Away Renee. In the end of the album there are a couple of very grandiose songs: Open Eyes and Non-Pythagorean Composition Pts. 3-4 – perhaps not personal favourites but definitely not bad either.

The album’s biggest problem is the huge number of instrumental interlude tracks. Many people have already stated how unsuccessful the idea of placing them all around the album is. I guess everyone would still agree on the fact that once you’ve removed the interlude tracks from your playlist or mp3 player, New Magnetic Wonder works well as an album. It’s probably best listening to those instrumental tracks separately.

There was a long pause between New Magnetic Wonder and its predecessor Velocity of Sound (2002) which is also one sweet album. While New Magnetic Wonder is ELO-oriented Velocity of Sound sounds like Weezer. It’s clear right from the first moment of Please. Although the album easily brings Weezer to mind with its loud, distorted guitars, it’s not geeky – at least in the same way as Weezer.

One of the absolutely coolest things about The Apples in Stereo is Robert Schneider’s voice. There’s definitely some good nasal vibe there, and the way he makes himself sound like a 6-year-old.. It’s simply amazing - and really sweet. There are many moments on Velocity of Sound album when Schneider’s vocals blow my mind. That’s Something I Do and Do You Understand? are wonderful, as well as Please. Baroque is also brilliant. There is not much baroque instrumental quality but one melodic part definitely is baroque! Another really cool track is Yore Days, a song in which the album’s vocal style suddenly turns completely different.

This band has made many albums and EPs – I don’t even know how many.. They’ve also released a new creation quite recently. It’s called Electronic Projects For Musicians.

The Apples in Stereo at MySpace

Bleu’s Had Me Goin’

Since I’m such a huge Mike Viola fan, I decided to check out L.E.O.’s album Alpacas Orgling (2006). The album was and is a big joy. It sounded good right away and only got better with more listens. Bleu is the main character of the album and many people join him by singing and playing. I’m not very familiar with Bleu’s other stuff yet, but I just might get to know it.. His work is very convincing.

This is one of those great supergroup projects that seem to pop up every now and then.. There are lots of visitors on this album, and I don’t really recognize them all at this point, but I do recognize Andy Sturmer and Bleu’s Major Labels bandmates Mike Viola and Ducky Carlisle, as well as Isaac Hanson from Hanson, my childhood favourite band..

Alpacas Orgling is a great album with pleasant songs and melodies. It’s also nicely produced with rich sounds that leave the songs air to breathe. I’m especially happy with the amazing space-psychedelia. Distracted is for me the song that always sounds even better than other songs on the album. It’s pure melody magic – simple, yet probably the most complicated thing there is.

I hadn’t listened to much Electric Light Orchestra before but L.E.O. sounded so good that I started taking first steps towards becoming an ELO fan.. As you might expect I immediately found several cool songs from ELO’s Greatest Hits. We’ll see what that evolves into.

L.E.O. at MySpace