They made so many albums in the sixties, and I’m finding it hard just to stop listening to Just One Look on repeat.. It’s quite hard to say yet which album I like best. Evolution is very good. Water on the Brain, Have You Ever Loved Somebody?, and You Need Love are some of the songs I tend to listen to the most at the moment. When Your Light’s Turned On, to me, sounds like a typical example of power pop before power pop.
The Association: Just The Right Sound - The Association Anthology
Enjoyable, sophisticated sunshine/baroque pop (It’s quite difficult to tell what it really is – it’s probably both most of the time) from a band who worked a lot with Curt Boettcher as their producer. This music certainly has some Beach Boys vibes in its harmonies. This is a huge 2CD collection, I still have a lot more to listen.
The Byrds: The Sweetheart of Rodeo (1968)
This is a very, very nice country album. It has great sounds, great songs, peacefulness and lots of melancholy. I always enjoy listening to this. In a way, it’s a bit hard to believe this is The Byrds, the same band that performed songs like Mr. Tambourine Man and I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better because the stuff sounds so different.. But it’s awesome that they decided to do some country, too.
The Turtles: 20 Greatest Hits
Pop, or should I say folk-pop from a cool American band with nice harmonies, energy, and awesome songs like Happy Together and Love in the City. However, You Baby is the ultimate hit song on this CD. Glorious falsetto wailing is something I can’t live without – at least for long.
Tommy James & The Shondells: Anthology
The new last.fm is not as good as the old one in some ways but the new recommendations function is brilliant! The recommendations are already starting to control my life.. There are so many great bands recommended that checking them out is really keeping me busy. I’m generally a very slow music listener (I listen to everything a hundred times before I think I can say I’m familiar with the music), but I really want to hear new stuff all the time, so it’s quite tough to keep up with all good music.
Tommy James & The Shondells is one of the nicest new things I’ve found through last.fm. The songs are awesome, and I Think We’re Alone Now is a wonderful song (I had only heard the Rubinoos version before). Timeless music, stuff you never get tired of listening to.
Not many country artists come to Finland to perform. Here, country music is generally quite unappreciated, even misjudged due to misunderstandings about what kind of music country actually is. For instance, people in this part of the world don’t know much about its various forms since it is not mainstream music even a bit. However, there are also enthusiastic and active country fans in Finland, there is no doubt of that. For instance, I’m probably developing into one, I hope.
Famous country artist and actor Kris Kristofferson played two gigs in Finland. I saw the gig in Tampere. Kristofferson is known not only for his acting career, songwriting and several hit songs but he was also part of the country supergroup The Highwaymen with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings in years 1985-1995.
Kristofferson performed alone with his acoustic guitar and harmonica in the great hall of Tampere-talo. It was a very stripped-down performance, but it really didn’t miss anything. I was very moved by Kristofferson’s absolutely sincere performance and the warmth of his vocals. 72-year-old Kristofferson still has a lot of charisma, it’s like all his life’s experience is congragated on his presence, and especially audial output. His strong performance brought such legends as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson to mind.
Kristofferson didn’t talk much between the songs – instead, he basically sang everything he wanted to say. For a non-lyrics-focused person like me this was extremely refreshing since I realized right in the beginning that you really should listen to the lyrics. They were very easy and pleasurable to listen to. Kristofferson has written them in a style that is very down-to-earth – typical of country music. There are no unnecessary verbal decorations, it’s just the straightforward content presented in an honest way. Kristofferson sang songs he had written for his children, their mothers, and his dad. George W. Bush also got some verbal treatment (not too positive, though), and Kristofferson’s heroes such as Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. were mentioned.
It really was a wonderful gig. All that peacefulness, beauty, and melancholy made an impression on me. I didn’t know Kris Kristofferson very well before this gig, but I’d really like to listen to more of his stuff – all kinds of great country music, in fact! Kris Kristofferson at MySpace
It took me very, very long before I started listening to this. Good is worth waiting, they say.. This stuff is amazingly good, beautiful, melodic.. It’s everything you need from perfect pop. Beautiful instrumentation (those violins in (Do I Figure) In Your Life and She Sold Blackpool Rock!), excellent vocals and harmonies.
It indeed is a huge shame if anyone ends up seeing this band as a one-hit wonder. I Can’t Let Maggie Go is certainly wonderful in every possible way, but there are a plenty of song that are equally good. I recommend Throw My Love Away, Girl of Independent Means, Would You Believe, Story, and Black Mourning Band for starters. I haven’t even listened to the second CD yet and I already feel I’ve got more than I ever could’ve hoped for.
Pink Floyd: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
A while ago I thought to myself: “Why not listen to some Pink Floyd?” I grabbed their debut album from 1967 and liked it very much right away. In fact, I liked it so much that I will certainly keep listening to this band. This stuff is magical. It’s psychedelic, it’s dark, it’s mysterious.. Something about this music is simply mesmerizing, it’s different from the stuff I usually have been listening.
This band is famous for progressive rock (20-minute songs, concept albums and stuff). I’m seriously going to check that music out. I’m not afraid of long songs, especially when they sound so good (already listened to some other albums/songs, too).
So, it’s a bit different from your basic pop, but it’s still very enjoyable. My favourite songs from the debut album are Matilda Mother, Flaming, and Chapter 24.
1910 Fruitgum Company: The Best of 1910 Fruitgum Company – Simon Says
Ah, here’s some very, very good bubblegum pop from the sixties. Goody Goody Gumdrops is my personal favourite. You really don’t encounter such catchiness all the time. However, Candy and Dee-Licious are also extremely brilliant songs that always bring a smile to your face. This compilation is actually very good all the way from beginning to end. There are no weak tracks.
1910 Fruitgum Company sounds very much like The Ohio Express. They had a similar approach to bubblegum pop. Both recorded extremely catchy and fun songs with perfect melodies and careful instrumentation that featured organs (and saxophones). While this music is influenced by both garage rock and nursery rhymes, the lyrical content focuses quite often on sexual metaphors. It’s almost childlike music but I’m not sure if it really is suitable for kids.. Anyway, it’s perfect stuff for anyone who enjoys power pop.
I’m very happy to say that I just played my first gig.. It was yesterday at a private party that was arranged by my dad’s friend and his wife. The happening was dubbed “one of Europe’s smallest country music festivals” which meant that I played country music at the gig.
Originally, I intended to go to this “festival” to help my dad as a roadie, and listen to some great country tunes. As my dad’s band was missing both their lead guitarist and bass player at the time, it became possible that I might be needed to fill in the band with some instrument(s). I was presented to the audience as a cowbell player. As one probably might not expect, I didn’t play cowbell at all during the set. Instead, I was invited to the stage to play acoustic guitar, and later bass.
It was cool to perform. I wasn’t nervous at all, and it really felt good having some real musicians play with me. I played about 6-8 songs including On the Road Again, True Love Travels on a Gravel Road, and Wonderful Tonight. The strange part of it was that I didn’t know the chords to a couple of the songs, and no one had them written down.. It wasn’t actually that bad, however.
So, this really was my first gig! I had performed to relatives before but this time there were only unknown people in the audience. The gig apparently went so well that my dad told me that the band might need me to fill in some other time, too. Here I am, turning into a country musician before I’ve even got to know very many country artists.. I’ve surely listened to my dad’s band play numerous times, but my knowledge of country music in general requires some serious further studying.
Obviously, my dream about a pop band of my own has to wait (since I don’t even have friends who might be interested in playing pop-rock).. I don’t mind. Playing country music is awesome!
It’s summer – what would be a better way to spend it than listening to awesome 60s pop? British Invasion is hot stuff (Beatles and DC5 are pretty good bands..), but this invasion isn’t really limited to just British music. This is an American Invasion, too, and maybe a bit Australian. My latest passion #1: The Hollies.
I found The Hollies three years ago. I listened to their stuff a bit and noticed they had some excellent pop tunes and harmonies. Also, I noticed they had one amazing lead singer, Allan Clarke. The result was utter bliss and happiness. The hype subsided after some time but I think it’s about to start again..
I can’t help it. I love nasal male pop singers – their voices, I mean.. But I guess you just can’t help loving the person a bit, too, for having such a great voice. Unfortunately, representatives of this wonderful talent seem to be very few and far between. Or maybe I’ve just missed all the best nasal singers somehow. If this is true, I really hope someone will tell me where they (and their recordings) are..
On the other hand, there might be a huge number of nasal male singers right behind the corner. I’ve even found some already – there really seem to be quite a few Japanese male singers with nasal voices! But but.. Whether they sing pop music or not is another thing.
The Hollies have lots of brilliant tunes: I’m Alive, Here I Go Again, On a Carousel, Bus Stop, Just One Look, Would You Believe, Look Through Any Window, Stay, Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress). The Air That I Breathe is one of the most heavenly tunes ever, and He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother is beautiful. So good, so amazing stuff.. I have to have some more right now!
Tammerfest 2008 is far behind already but I want to make some notes about what I witnessed in Vanhan kirjastotalon puisto in Tampere on Saturday 12th. As a wannabe music journalist I enjoy writing gig reviews as well as album reviews (This blog, however, is not intended to be very journalistic in style because it’s only about blabbing about things I like or find interesting).
My Own Summer is probably the most interesting thing about Tammerfest city festival. It is a one –day happening, it’s free, and there are always new, promising Finnish indie rock bands performing (and some metal bands too). This time there were definitely a bit too many glam metal bands – too little variation, too few happy, pop-rocking, melodic bands.. There was something seriously worth seeing, however.
The first band was Lob Nor, a nearly all-girls band, the winners of some rock competition for junior high students. Their music didn’t make a huge impression on me, but they played well, and they had a good singer. It was nice to see such young people playing together as a band. That’s something I’ve never accomplished, even though I surely would’ve wanted to..
On Volcano played an amazingly strong set of shoegazer rock. It was magical. I don’t know much about shoegazing yet but it sounds brilliant with all the noise, good energy and atmospheric sound. I will definitely go to see On Volcano’s next gig, too. The band has released one EP so far.
The highpoint of the day was the folk-punk duo Jaakko & Jay. Jay had a snare drum and one cymbal, Jaakko played acoustic guitar and sang. There was lots of wild energy, and the songs were very, very good. It was so great fun that I hardly recall a gig that would’ve been more fun. The extremely simple instrumentation (a drummer with a two-part drum kit – that’s crazy!) was a big part of the fun, and Jaakko’s excellent vocal expression combined with great pop punk melodies was awesome. These guys don’t seem to want to release anything official but they have some music samples on MySpace, mostly live recordings. There are also a few downloadable songs at mikseri.net. I recommend seeing them live. You won’t be disappointed – it’s fresh and extremely lo-fi.
After Jaakko & Jay started the almost unending cavalcade of glam metal bands, none of which sounded particularly interesting to me. There were T.A.P., Lines of Leaving that sounded so much like Lapko that it was quite confusing, and Renoise. These bands had many young female fans standing in front of the stage, but even they didn’t seem to be very excited about the bands. It was quite strange.. But Jaakko & Jay had already made my day.
Here’s another band I think everyone should pay attention to. The Dave Clark Five were a glorious and successful English 60s pop band. Apparently, DC5 was one of the few bands that were able to challenge The Beatles commercially. There is one strange thing, however. How come hardly anyone has heard of them? I, for example, had never heard any of their songs before I heard… a song called Because played on some power pop radio station on the internet. After some time, I decided to dig deeper into this band.
It’s quite interesting that the band was named after the drummer instead of lead singer (whose name was Mike Smith, by the way). As a founder and band leader, Dave Clark positioned himself in the front, just like can be seen in the picture above. DC5 wasn’t a usual British Invasion band in too many ways. Their hit songs such as Glad All Over and Do You Love Me showed such wild energy that The Beatles had a hard time keeping their tempo up!
The Beatles were and are maybe too famous. The problem about them is that their enormous popularity leads to ignoring dozens of other bands that were as good as they were. There are even people that don’t seem to want to give a chance to any other British Invasion or 60s band.. I don’t get those people. Also, I don’t get anyone who thinks the best music is always the music that sold/sells the most. However, I don’t think commercially successful bands should be boycotted, either. In fact, there are two important facts that everyone should think about when discussing music:
1) Commercial success doesn’t make music better. 2) Commercial success doesn’t make music worse.
I myself tend to have problems mostly with rule number two. I have some attitude problems every now and then, even though I constantly find myself listening to some million-selling music. It’s nice when a good band succeeds, but too much is always too much..
Back to Dave Clark Five before this blabber gets out of hand… Listening to The History of The Dave Clark Five has revealed that DC5 has so many awesome tracks that it’s almost hard to believe how good this stuff is. It’s exactly as good as The Beatles, and it actually has some features that The Fab Four’s (and generally British Invasion) music doesn’t contain, such as frequent use of saxophone and certain influences (I hear some doo wop in DC5’s music, for instance). I think it’s especially the saxophone that gives this music similar warmth that appeared in the music of The Beach Boys.
When every song sounds excellent right from the start, it gets a bit overwhelming.. I don’t mind, however. Checking out this stuff brings out new favourites all the time. Right now, I have to mention a song called Little Bitty Pretty One. It’s a one and a half minute-song and it struck me instantly. It’s brief, it’s catchy, it’s magical - hear for yourselves.. Geez, just listen to this stuff!
I truly wish I hadn't missed their recent concert in Helsinki.. They sound so good! It’s of course Sparks I’m talking about. The band’s been around since the early 70s, and the members Russell and Ron Mael still make new records and play live shows. Recently, they performed all 21 albums of their prolific career in London. I also heard that their gig in Helsinki on June 16th was tremendously good. These brothers are nearly in their sixties and they’re still going strong!
This music is exciting, it’s distinctive.. At first it’s not even very easy to say which genre it represents. Mael brothers have actually made lots of different kind of music during their career. Their first albums, however, are clearly pop-rock, and they may have some psychedelic features, too. I’ve been focusing mostly on their most famous album Kimono My House (1974), and also given some attention to the two following albums, Propaganda (1974) and Indiscreet (1975).
Kimono My House is a very good album. This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us opens it and it’s followed by another great track Amateur Hour. These excellent songs represent Russell Mael’s brilliant, very, very distinctive falsetto voice. However, this album has a lot more to offer than just a couple of hit songs: it’s very interesting all the way.
Sparks lyrics apparently contain lots of fun and peculiar stuff - a treat for lyrics-interested listeners. These songs have quite weird titles already (e.g. Thank God It’s Not Christmas).. Something about this music also strongly reminds me of Queen/ELO. Hasta Mañana Monsieur is a good example of that effect.
One of my favourites is Lost and Found, a song that didn’t appear on the original album, but it is included on the 21st Century Edition. It was a b-side to Amateur Hour single. Equator is a brilliant song for checking out Russell Mael’s vocal capabilities. In that song he really uses his voice as an instrument. That sound is amazing – I think I’m going to fall in love with it as I keep listening to this music.
If you haven’t checked out this band, I highly recommend it. The music really is worth listening – be it new or old. I’ve heard, for instance, that their 2008 album Exotic Creatures of the Deep is really good. Should check that out..
Here’s an album that belongs to my every summer. It’s loud, it’s distorted, it sounds like Weezer and The Beach Boys at the same time.. Silver Sun’s self-titled debut (1997) made a huge impression when I found it in the summer of 2005 (if I remember correctly). Since then, I’ve returned to listen to the album countless times and my reaction has always been stunningly positive. I remember writing a personal review on this album some time ago. Expressions like “too good to be true” appeared there..
To me, these tracks are pure joy in musical form. Golden Skin, Dumb, Far Out, and Service are all amazing tunes, and the harmonies are really good. Yellow Light is really stunning with its melancholic and dreamy feel and great dynamics. That same dreamy feel actually keeps appearing on this album (e.g. 2 Digits), and I think it’s really good. I’d call Julia my favourite song, but there isn’t much difference in how much I love each of these tracks. The ultimate hit song is of course Lava, a wild pop-rocker with some interesting lyrics..
On this album, the lyrics are crazy, apparently mostly complete nonsense. To me, that is probably the best alternative, since I’m terrible in understanding songlyrics.. When there isn’t much to be analyzed, mostly just funny rhymes and stuff that doesn’t mean anything, you can focus completely on the melodies. On the other hand, these lyrics may contain some hidden meaning..
James Broad’s great lead vocals are bubblegummy and a bit geeky, I’d say. A very nice arrangement detail is the use of some sort of wind instruments in Julia and Far Out. I guess they are clarinets. They sound very good.
The album has 15 tracks, 14 of which are songs. Everything looks amazing during the first 11. I don’t know why, but for some reason I often end up thinking there is something wrong with the end part of the album. Songs like Wonderful, Bad Haircut and Nobody are not exactly Julia or Golden Skin, but they aren’t bad in any way either. It’s obviously just my brain working again.. Sometimes all it can remember of a good song is a small hint of doubt about whether a song was perfect or not.
What a summery distortion packet! It’s gorgeous, it’s melodic, it’s harmonic, it’s sentimental, and it will drive your mom crazy!
It’s time for another moment with a specific sun-related band that I simply love too much. The Sun Sawed in 1/2 still remains as my most frequently listened band, and I don’t see a change coming any time soon.
Fizzy Lift (1997) is the ultimate Sun album. It is the band’s fourth full-length album. Bewilderbeest (2000) is surely amazing, it’s Slavic and a lot of other wonderful things, but you just can’t mess with Fizzy Lift…
Denny’s Girl is a solid opener, and it introduces the gorgeous saxophones right away. It’s a wonderful track that has excellent melodies and harmonies. Mary Celeste is also a really amazing tune. The happy chorus is so good that my words can’t describe how much I like it. Timpani Heart is one of the most overly sticky-sweet songs ever.. I simply love it. The sweeter, the better, you know.. Timpani Heart is a perfect example of the fact that it is impossible to write a power pop song that I would find too sweet.
Then comes Sing You Fast Alive, a song that is enough to sing me unconscious with delight.. The folky violins are exactly in the right place. They really give this song character. The melodies - pure perfection. As always, when it comes to this band, my biggest compliments go to the lead singer.. I doubt if any other singer could ever make this song sound sweeter.
Ten Ways Amazed is amazing. It’s a very sad song with extremely happy, loving lyrics – sounds like sort of a contradiction to me. The song is excellent. Annie Emptyhead is a special song because it’s basically the only Sun track I’ve never learned to love 100%. However, there’s nothing wrong with the song, it is very good. Sleepwalker and Dragonfly make a wonderful rocking song double. Both tracks are top class powerpop: energetic and happy, yet both contain some angst and melancholy.
Heart Is Dim is a song that seemed good already a year ago, but it didn’t become a favourite until recently. Almost all of these songs seem to become my favourites one after another. The truth is, however, that nearly every one of these songs is my favourite, I just keep forgetting it for some strange reason..
Four Letter Girl is basically too good to be true.. Such a wonderful track in every possible way. Brighter Than God’s Canary sounds like the weirdest song of the album. The wild and exciting arrangement creates a wonderfully psychedelic atmosphere. There are also a couple of very peaceful songs on the album: Starting to See and All Is Said Tonight, both great (surprise, surprise..).
The thing that keeps me so effectively attached to The Sun is the lead singer Doug Bobenhouse. He is a 100% confident singer. There really doesn’t seem to be anything he isn’t vocally capable of (except for singing badly, of course..). His vocal style is suitable for power pop in every way: it’s absolute sweetness added with a perfect portion of angst when needed. To me, the sound his voice is like chocolate. I never get tired of it, and it really is one of the greatest and most enjoyable things ever.
Doug sounds so much like Andy Sturmer.. It’s so cool! They should sing a duet.. Also, the former bands of both the guys should get back together, make new albums and come to Finland to play some gigs!
However, Bobenhouse is actually just a messenger (an AMAZING one..). I should praise the man who wrote most of these songs alone, and I do praise him: Tim Rose is a real hero. He has written some of the greatest modern pop songs and melodies I’ve ever heard (although I have to admit that I’m definitely not the right person to objectively assess his songwriting, since nothing about my attitude to The Sun Sawed in ½ is objective..). Tim Rose’s talent and work is not to be left unnoted.
This album (and generally this band) has changed much more in me than just music listening habits. I now have developed a huge love affair with wind instruments, especially saxophones.. And when it comes to singing voices, it has to be bright, happy and nasal – at least in order to become one of my favourites. So many great things bring The Sun to my mind these days.. I don’t know if I’ll ever find music that would please me as much as this does, music that feels so right and perfect all the time. However, saying this aloud might just lead me to find a new Sun tomorrow.. That would really be something but I don’t think it’s gonna happen.
While waiting for a new sun to rise, I’ll just listen to The Sun some more..
Just like last year, I attended Lumous Gothic Festival, the biggest goth happening in Finland. On Saturday, I put on some black lace and lots of eyeliner and headed towards Klubi, one of the best live venues in my hometown Tampere. When I arrived, I bought a ticket, stepped inside the club and sighed with delight.. The place was full of goths! It was so beautiful a sight that I couldn’t believe it for a while..
The first act was Desiderii Marginis alias Johan Levin, a one-man band from Sweden specializing in dark ambient. The gig started with the biggest and loudest bass sound I’d ever heard. The whole place was trembling.. It was wild. Levin performed many interesting songs and sounds, and in the background you could see an old gothic mute film. I’m not much of an ambient expert but the music sounded quite good to me. Belgian Star Industry was the second band. Their music was indeed traditional modern gothic rock. It reminded me of The 69 Eyes, a nice Finnish goth band. I liked Star Industry’s music very much. There were catchy choruses and lots of energy. Lead singer Peter Beckers performed excellent low vocals and wore a black cowboy hat. The whole concept of rock music with a much darker approach soundwise was very refreshing and exciting to me. The band also performed a couple of songs with electronic elements, such as a very beautiful song called Like a Ghost that can be heard on their MySpace page.
The third act was Canadian synthpop group Psyche lead by Darrin Huss. Psyche is already a 25-year-old band and I’d say their sound is very modern these days. There are gothic elements in the music but it is also suitable for any dance music club, I’d say. Again, there were catchy choruses and energy. Lead singer Huss has a very strong voice. He sounds quite a lot like Bono and his appearance has something in common with Dave Gahan. You could really see that he is a skilful and experienced performer. This gig was all about dancing, and that’s what I like..
This evening was intense. The music was good and the people looked amazing.. If only I hadn’t got so tired sometime between the end of the second gig and the beginning of the third, I would have enjoyed the gigs even more. I really don’t know what it was – summer flu, general holiday fatigue or what..
However, this experience gave me some encouragement so that I just might start checking out some newer gothic stuff at some point – instead of sticking to The Cure and other 80s and late 70s bands. In fact, I still have a lot of those bands to listen to, too.
Jimmy Eat World gained my attention when I read a review on their latest album in a Finnish rock magazine Soundi several years ago. According to the review, Jimmy Eat World is like Weezer but even more geeky. The comparison to Weezer and the geekiness fascinated me, although I still don’t know what that geekiness actually means. Jimmy Eat World didn’t turn out to be particularly geeky kind of rock music, so it might refer to the band’s hobbies or something..
I listened to a couple of Jimmy Eat World songs from their 2001 album Bleed American (that was re-released as Jimmy Eat World due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks) in 2004 or 2005 but for some reason I didn’t listen to the entire album then. That sometimes happens to me. I don’t have time to listen to an album more or I somehow feel it’s not time to listen to more of it yet. However, last autumn I listened to this album in its entirety several times and discovered its beauty.
This album and the single The Middle gained Jimmy Eat World success, which is very nice. Genuine, high quality melodic rock deserves to be heard by as many people as possible. Bleed American is a wonderful album filled with emotion, it’s all very human and at many points has a very personal lyrical approach. What is also important is that it rocks!
The album starts with a track that has two names: originally it was Bleed American but later it was also named Salt Sweat Sugar. It’s an excellent rocking track with amazing sounds and quite claustrophobic lyrics. The next song, A Praise Chorus is one of my biggest favourites. The song contains some serious kick! It’s perfect for its drum beat alone, the kind of beat that constantly seems to turn upside down. It sounds so fresh and energetic. Add great song – the result is perfect. The lyrics have a carpe diem theme and deal with praising several famous songs (check ‘em out here).
The Middle is good, although I don’t find it the most interesting thing on this album. Sweetness, on the other hand, is awesome! It has a very exciting, dynamic, agitated, intermittent, hard rocking arrangement and great structure. I really enjoy the woo-oo-oo’s in the song. Jim Adkins has a brilliant singing voice, I love his vocals.
Your House and Hear You Me represent the softer side of the band. Especially the latter song is very, very gentle. If You Don’t, Don’t follows Hear You Me with a nice yet highly bittersweet feel. It’s another song that is not so very dramatic but gives me shivers anyway. Get It Faster is also awesome. It’s actually quite scary.. In the song Jim Adkins takes a highly cold attitude. With a huge barrier of distorted guitars the result is very impressive.
In the end of the album there is Cautioners, a very pretty song with again a very interesting arrangement. The Authority Song is upbeat and frustrated at the same and has great melodies. My Sundown is a peaceful ending track – good but not very memorable.
The songs on this album are in excellent order. The running order helps to display all the brilliant dynamics, and when the songs are also all good, it’s impossible not to enjoy it. This album is a real experience.
My summer holiday has begun. This means I’m gonna have lots of time to blab about whatever type of music I choose, and I really don’t have much else to do.. However, I intend to do lots of other things, too, such as watch good movies and my favourite science fiction TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation!
Today, I think I’ll blab a bit about great 90’s alternative rock/power pop (someone might even call it emo..). Already for four years one of my ultimate summer soundtracks has been Weezer’s self-titled debut album from 1994, also known as The Blue Album. The first Weezer album that I listened to was The Green Album in the summer of 2004. I remember I liked it instantly: although it didn’t really sound like anything I’d listened to before, something about it struck a chord with me. It was very loud and distorted music with harmonies and a sympathetic feel.
Soon, I found out Weezer had made a great debut album back in the 90s, produced by Ric Ocasek. I studied the band’s interesting history and started listening to The Blue Album. It sounded very good right from the start and as weeks and months went by, I noticed I never got tired of the album. My little brother liked the album, too, and it’s still one of the few albums that we both love very much.
What is so great about The Blue Album is that it’s quite simple. It’s not very fast-paced and there aren’t dozens of different instruments or basically anything too complex on the album. Instead, there are excellent Rivers Cuomo compositions and melodies added with very economical arrangements. Those features and the huge wall of distorted electric guitars that were to become Weezer’s trademark make this music magical. Personally, I find that distorted sound very comforting. The loud, yet soft, kind of fuzzy but tight sound always makes me feel good.
All in all, this music is very genuine and sincere. Rivers Cuomo’s brilliant lyrics add a very important layer to this geeky rock. In songs like No One Else his straightforward style of writing very emotion-appealing lyrics is clearly displayed. No One Else is one of my favourites, although all ten songs on the album are worth serious attention – and appreciation.
Buddy Holly is a classic. The Happy Days-themed video for the song is also memorable. I remember seeing it on MTV although I was only six years old at the time. The song is a great example of what Weezer, in my opinion, is at its best: easy-going (and perhaps happy, too). The entire album is quite easy-going and happy although there certainly are a couple of more melancholic tracks. The World Has Turned and Left Me Here is beautiful and sentimental. It’s amazing how effective it is despite its relatively discreet, peacefully sad feel. Say It Ain’t So is also quite melancholic, and its totally enchants me with its gorgeous dynamics. Only in Dreams ends the album wonderfully, with its bass line bringing Pixies to mind.
In the Garage is a salute to all garage musicians, such as myself.. The song and the sound of it is amazing, listen to that low-tone guitar - it’s insanely crunchy! My Name Is Jonas, Holiday, Surf Wax America – they’re all great. Debut single Undone -- The Sweater Song is another song not to be missed. It includes hilarious geek lyrics, and everything about it is brilliant.
The Blue Album is such a classic. I’m so happy that so many people have discovered it and its greatness, and new people keep discovering it, too!
What would be a better match to a sunny summer day than a nice winterly music video that is filled with tremendous emo/gothic beauty! Since I don’t have time to write anything big now, I’ll throw here a nice YouTube clip that has given me some pleasure during the past few days.
So, here’s a video from AFI, a band which I like quite a lot. Love Like Winter is an excellent and catchy song – great pop in every way! Lead singer Davey Havok looks gorgeous. His fake eyelashes are so cool…
I wish they’d show more videos like this on MTV – songs with good melodies (melodies of any kind seem quite often to be too much to ask for, though..), and no naked women at all. Gothic visual themes are also really good!
Right now I just feel.. restless. In fact, I’ve had this feeling for a few days now. There is nothing unclear about the reason to this. Yesterday, I saw 30 Seconds to Mars live at Helsinki Ice Hall. There were two warm-up acts, Killer Aspect and Sara. I couldn’t concentrate much on the gigs but they sounded good.
There was quite a lot of waiting after the warm-up bands finished their sets. Finally, the ice hall went totally dark – the audience SCREAMED! The dramatic sound of O Fortuna filled the air.. and soon the gig started with A Beautiful Lie, continued with Battle of One and From Yesterday. There they were: Tomo Miličević on guitar, Shannon Leto on drums, tour bassist Tim Kelleher on bass... and Jared with a paste hairdo and some war paint on his face.. They were really there. They were too far, though. I used binoculars during the entire show to see what was happening on stage.
The songs.. They sounded so, so, very good! It was probably the best and most pleasant mix I’d ever heard. The music wasn’t too loud, it even could’ve been louder. It was good the way it was, though, because the audience screamed so loud that it made everyone’s ears ring.
What a thrill it was to hear Jared say “Minä rakastan teitä”! He praised our country quite a bit and put on a nice apron with the Finnish flag that was passed to him from the audience. That apron made him look like a baker.. The Finnish audience sang along to many songs – not very loud, though. Still, they surely knew how to scream their guts out after and during every song of the set.
The set consisted mostly of songs from the latest album. All songs from A Beautiful Lie except for The Story were heard. It was great - Savior and R-evolve were received with huge enthusiasm. I was also happy about Was It a Dream because it’s such a beautiful tune. The Kill drove the audience wild. Jared stirred the hype a bit by walking on the safety barrier and in the end running around the floor, chased by a few fans. Then, Jared threw in a couple of acoustic songs. Capricorn (A Brand New Name) was awesome, but A Modern Myth was the song that gave me real chills. With Jared singing “goodbye, goodbye, goodbye” and the whole ice hall filled with his emotion-filled and melancholic, almost desperate vocals.. It was all so beautiful. It didn’t look too bad either when a few thousand cell phones illuminated the darkness.
At the end of the show, Jared picked up a young male 30STM fan named Lassi from the audience to help him prepare Finns for the last song that would be The Fantasy. The result was somewhat hilarious, definitely the funnest part of the show. It included some unsuccessful communication and cool lyric translations performed by Lassi.
This was 30STM’s last full-length gig of A Beautiful Lie era. The show ended with lots of red and black confetti, which was nice. I would’ve wanted to get autographs from the band but it wasn’t possible. It kind of left me very disappointed but I also realized that I just might get that chance if I go to their next show in Finland (or somewhere else) – and reserve tickets FAST.
They really are going to start working on a new album very, very soon. I wonder what it’s going to be like.. They’ve already made two albums that represent totally different music genres, and the third probably isn’t going to be similar to their previous work. Can’t wait to hear new stuff.. and see the videos! Video clips from the show on YouTube
In this blog a Finnish pop music fan blabs about music and albums she has recently found interesting and good, and music-related live experiences. A lot of that music can be labeled as sixties or seventies pop, classic rock, power pop, baroque pop, bubblegum pop, psychedelic pop/rock or alternative pop/rock. However, there are no boundaries, and there will occasionally be talk about jazz and classical music, for instance.
The point of this blog is sharing (and hopefully receiving) music tips, joyful experiences and personal opinions - not files. Feel free to comment on anything you'll find here.
The Hollies: Evolution (1967)
The Association: Just The Right Sound - The Association Anthology
The Byrds: The Sweetheart of Rodeo (1968)
The Turtles: 20 Greatest Hits
Tommy James & The Shondells: Anthology
