Finnish songwriter Rami Vierula released his debut album Ikuinen yö last week. Several excellent releases have preceded this full-length album, but this body of work seems to tie them all together perfectly. What’s always struck me with Vierula’s music is how skilled he is at fusing different styles of music, managing to weave them into his […]
From the moment you set foot in Skellefteå you can feel it. There’s something about the towering, humbling forests of northern Sweden and the vast barren earth, that makes you feel both intimidated and protected at the same time. The last time I visited there, I landed in the middle of a snow storm. I walked […]
Hey, how’s it going? Hope you’ve had a great summer. Sorry for not blogging! I really should have, considering there’s been so much good music released lately. One of my favourites of the past few months is a double EP by Rami Vierula. Released in May on Sitrustapes, it ties together his two previous Finnish […]
Listening to Finland’s Delay Trees has always been a soft, lulling experience that shuffled you away from reality. Dreamy music tends to have that effect. It mesmerizes and hypnotizes, it makes rows of grey buildings appear cinematic from a bus window on a rainy day. But reality catches up with you sometimes – a terrible experience which […]
I was listening to a radio programme the other day where they were discussing Finnish expressionist painter Ellen Thesleff, who lived and worked during the latter part of the 1800’s and early 1900’s. In a time when female artists weren’t acknowledged to the same extent as their male peers, to put it mildly, her bold work […]
[Caldo Verde 2014] After over 20 years in the music business Mark Kozelek, the king of melancholy, has released Benji, a record with his band Sun Kil Moon that despite its heaviness and darkness is also his brightest record to date. One thing that makes the record so dark is that most of the songs […]
More often that not bands with amazing potential fall by the wayside. Whether it’s due to bad timing, bad press or simply not being trendy enough, some bands fail to resonate with a larger public. But good music always prevails. Sooner or later, be it a decade or two, these bands are bound to get […]
Black Lizard S/T Soliti; 2013 When The Jesus and Mary Chain began exploring the hypnotic effects of blending distorted guitar noise and pop songs with a bratty attitude back in the 80’s, they did more than just invent a whole new sound. They invented a whole new approach to life. Their music saluted the urgency […]
Lord Huron Lonesome Dreams IAMSOUND [2012] Jan Lindholm The excessive flow of Folk-oriented pop, after the success of Fleet Foxes and the likes, have been overwhelming. Yet this trend seems to bring forth some talent that otherwise would have gone un-noticed. And I for one welcome these with open, embracing arms. Lord Huron might […]
Baroness Yellow And Green Relapse; 2012 Trying to figure out where Baroness fit in on the metal scale has become increasingly difficult. At the same time it’s becoming increasingly uninteresting. During the Savannah quartet’s decade long career they’ve continued to evolve and grow, aging with grace. They’ve crafted their own special brand of sludge metal, […]