Hi all!

Finally some news on Tori Amos: Gold Dust cd! Found out about the deluxe version, so here goes:

A selection of Tori's most loved songs, all newly arranged and recorded in studio with the Metropole Orkest. The release ties in with the 20th anniversary of her groundbreaking first album, Little Earthquakes. Gold Dust is a personal journey through Tori's songbook that reaffirms the timelessness of her music. Beloved gems like "Silent All These Years" and "Precious Things" take on new life alongside lesser-known treasures such as "Flavor". Produced by Tori with arrangements by long-time collaborator John Philip Shenale, the new album features reworkings of songs in orchestral settings which Amos recorded with the renowned Metropole Orchestra, conducted by Jules Buckley. "The 20 years is about celebrating different times that have happened - all the blessings, all the conversations which have taken place and inspired these songs. This is a collection of new studio recordings of where they are now and who they have become" Tori comments. Limited Deluxe CD + DVD 32 page hard cover booklet. The DVD features a music video for 'Flavor', performance clip for 'Gold Dust', and 'Behind The Scenes' footage.

Track Listing

CD

1. Flavor
2. Yes, Anastasia
3. Jackie's Strength
4. Cloud On My Tongue
5. Precious Things
6. Gold Dust
7. Star Of Wonder
8. Winter
9. Flying Dutchman
10. Programmable Soda
11. Snow Cherries From France
12. Marianne
13. Silent All These Years
14. Girl Disappearing

DVD

1. Flavor - Music Video
2. Gold Dust - Performance Clip
3. Behind The Scenes footage

Upcoming releases

Hi all!

Just found out upcoming releases from fantastic Pitchfork site and had to share some highlights with you!

07-31
Blur: Blur 21 [Virgin] [box set]

08-07
Antony and the Johnsons: Cut the World [Secretly Canadian]

08-09

Dead Can Dance: Anastasis [4AD]

9-04
Erol Alkan: Another Bugged Out Mix / Another Bugged In Selection [!K7]
Animal Collective: Centipede Hz [Domino]
Cat Power: Sun [Matador]
The Fresh & Onlys: Long Slow Dance [Mexican Summer]
Jens Lekman: I Know What Love Isn't [Secretly Canadian]
Sondre Lerche: Bootlegs [Mona]
Mono: For My Parents [Temporary Residence]
Bob Mould: Life and Times [Merge]
Mount Eerie: Ocean Roar [P.W. Elverum and Sun]
The Music Tapes: Mary's Voice [Merge]
Stars: The North [ATO]
T.I.: Trouble Man [Grand Hustle/Atlantic]
Toddla T: Watch Me Dance (Agitated by Ross Orton & Pipes) [Ninja Tune]
Two Door Cinema Club: Beacon [Glassnote]
Two Gallants: The Bloom and the Blight [ATO]
The Vaccines: The Vaccines Come of Age [Columbia]

10-15
Bat For Lashes: The Haunted Man [Parlophone/EMI] (UK release date, U.S. release date TBA)

Also coming up Tori Amos: Gold Dust in september I think

Joanna Newsom

Hi all!

Time to post some reviews and gig news. Sorry it has taken me so long to update this blog, I´ve just been too tired to do anything lately.

Let´s start of with Joanna Newsom:







 

MIlk-Eyed Mender is her debut and on the old side. I just listened to this and it still sounds fresh. A bit raw and simplistic maybe using Joanna´s child-like singing and harp, but still it captures attention like a spell. If compared to follow-up Ys, this is to me easier to listen. Ys has beautiful orchestrations, which support Joanna excellently, but the songs are really long. On this cd, she kept the songs tight and just right length. Eventhough the songs are melodically quite simple sounding, they have that something special.I´m not saying Ys is a bad album, I think it shows a lot of progression and how talented Joanna is. Her singing style will put some listeners definetly off, but I think her personal, child-like singing suits the songs perfectly. The Book Of Right-On is just amazing song and it was first one I heard from Joanna.

Sprout And The Bean

Cassiopeia

On the gig side of the things, I am happy to tell that Jens Lekman is coming to Helsinki! Finally, I might as well add.

Other gigs:

27.6 Christina Perri, Nosturi Helsinki
29.6. Regina, Tavastia Helsinki
30.6. Renegade presents Nero and Adam F, Circus Helsinki
6.7. Broken Note, Tampere
7.8. Afghan Wings Helsinki
10.9. Jens Lekman

And tons of festivals, clubs and raves

Hi all!

Sorry I haven´t updated this blog in ages, but I just haven´t listened to any new records. So this time let´s see what summer brings us and some interesting rumours.

There are rumours of new Tori Amos album during this year! It also could very well be Little Earthquakes anniversary release (most likely), but it sounds really interesting! According to rumours, Tori will work old songs with strings. That really would be something.

There are also rumours of Kate Bush Releasing another limited edition picture single during this year. This came from Kate´s web site.Lake Tahoe was sold out fast and prices now fetch from 30€ up to 60€ at Discogs. Ebay isn´t cheaper, prices going to $75.

Flow festival has announced some new artists! Lykke Li, Bola, Dj Murat Meric, Theo Parrish, Daniele Baldelli, Roberto Rodriguez have been added.

And Bat For Lashes will perform at Provinssi rock.

As for electronic music, this week we´ll have Angerfist Retaliate Showcase on saturday. This will be massive! Also for trance/househeads there´s Summer Sound festival with big line-up for example Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, Hed Kandi, Fedde Le Grand on line-up. More info and full line-up, go here

C ya soon!

Masters Of Hardcore Vortex of Venegance report

Do you like hardcore/industrial? If you answered yes, you´ll propably know Masters of Hardcore brand and know what it´s all about. And here´s a story of latest party: Vortex Of Venegance (Brabanthallen, Den Bosch)!

What can I say? Things runned really smoothly all the way long. Brabanthallen is really easy to get by train. There were luckily signs to show the right way too:) Doors opened 21.40, 20 mins before the party started so people could get in and see the start video in the main area. All the other parties I´ve been to, doors open when the party starts so this was positive surprise! And the locker system works really nicely. You can rent a locker (different sizes) for the party. You get your deposit back when you return the key. This really beat cloackroom 10 to 0. It was good to be able to visit locker any time necessary, especially when you bought shirts or cd. And you did get out of much quicker and smoothly. And you had to buy tokens to pay for food and drinks. Those were quite expensive, but got no choice.

And the party was huge! There were total of 6 arenas, food world, merchandise stalls and recreation area. Musical course was hardcore, industrial, early hardcore, early early hardcore, terrorcore and Raver´s Warehouse with classics. I ended up mainly hanging in main area thanks to too good music to leave. I did manage to goto signing sessions with Angerfist and Korsakoff though:) And had to take pics of other arenas too.

If I compare this to Mayday, they didn´t have that many screens (wall behind cool dj cabin was all screens) or that much lights but it worked well this way. Whole wall as screen allowed fancy animations between djs and live acts and suited the party really well. And huge lasers they had! Full marks for those! The lightning was just right for this kind of music as for Mayday it´s more trance/prog, so the production is different thanks to that alone.

And the djs really banged it big time! Day-Mar going really hard in end of her set like most of the djs:) That was bit too much for me. All the dj sets were back to back (or versus) and one highlight definetly was Evil Activities vs Korsakoff. As for live sets Masters Elite (=Catscan, Outblast, Angerfist) and naturally State Of Emergency presenting this years anthem Vortex Of Venegance. Wohoo! I just love that anthem! Only minus is all djs ending sets with pure terror/Speedcore fashion. That was way to hard for me. Otherwise I got absolutely nothing negative to say about this party. I am thirsty for more!!

Some concerts

Hi all!

There are some concerts coming in Helsinki. Biggest name is definetly Madonna 12.8.2012 at Olympiastadium. Availabe are tons of different ticket types, check them out at Lippupalvelu. The link is in english.

Also Festivals are revealing their line-ups. Here Provinssirock:
15.6. Nightwish, Snow Patrol (UK), M83 (FR), Example (UK), Amorphis, Eläkeläiset
16.6. Kyuss Lives! (US), Rise Against (US), Stam1na, Chisu
17.6. Mastodon (US), Slayer (US), Justice (FR), Jukka Poika & Sound Explosion Band

Flow in helsinki looks like this:

Bon Iver (US)
Flying Lotus (US)
A$AP Rocky (US)
Four Tet & Caribou DJ set (UK/CAN)
Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires (US)
Oneohtrix Point Never (US)
Jukka Poika (FI)
Gracias (FI)
Siinai (FI)
The Black Keys (US)
Ane Brun (NOR)
Horace Andy and Dub Asante (JAM)
Nicolas Jaar (US)
Jason Moran and the Bandwagon (US)
Pinch (UK)
Verneri Pohjola Quartet (FI)
Black Twig (FI)
Björk (IS)
Feist (CAN)
St. Vincent (US)
The War on Drugs (US)
Jason Moran and the Bandwagon (US)
Shangaan Electro (ZA)
A Winged Victory for the Sullen (US)
Bendagram (FI)
Kuusumun Profeetta (FI)

There are some interesting names, but not the best line-up they´ve had if you ask me.

Will keep you posted!

Gig Review: Lamb, Jay Leighton and Ramona Flowers

Hi all!

It´s time to write a gig review for a change:) I just saw Lamb in Helsinki last sunday and thought I´d share my experience with you. There were 3 acts in total, all hailing from Britain, so 22 euros was bargain. Sadly the opener Jay Leighton had to perform to an empty Nosturi..
So let´s start with mister Leighton then! Eventhough Nosturi was really empty at the time, Jay pulled of very good performance. He talked with the audience, joked and seemed to be at home on stage. I´ve never heard of him before, so I went early to check him out. Good thing I did! Jay has bit of a hint of Damien Rice in his voice and his choice of instrument was acoustic guitar. Songs were singer/songwriter vain and good ones! He´s really got good, strong voice. Song were also so good that I ended up buying his cd from the gig. Will write review for you:) If you like Damien Rice or singer/songwriters and have a chance to check Jay Leighton live, I recommend you do that!
Next up was Ramona Flowers, another band I´ve never heard before. The atmosfear moved towards Franz Ferdinand with this band, playing indie rock with electronic tones thrown in. Good band with varied songs and play well live. I really liked the danceable songs, others were not that much for my liking, but I ain´t saying they weren´t good. Energetic band live and that´s a big plus. Also worth checking out when you got the chance. Especially for the lovers of Kitsune, Franz Ferdinand and danceable indie.
And the last but not least fantastic Lamb! I honestly had no idea what to expect from Lamb, but boy did they really rock! Really energetic live act with neat back projections loaded with raw energy, tough basslines and Lou Rhodes´ fragile beautiful voice. Lamb played good, long set and talked with the audience. I´ve seen some dance music acts live (Massive Attack, RMB, Raver´s Nature etc.) and Lamb is one of the top acts. Most so-called live acts play everything from laptop and that´s totally boring. Lamb also had double bass player to add depth to the sound and it gave neat spice to their music as did other instruments they played. After the gig band decided to stay and hang out with the audience, which was really cool bonus:) Got autograph and a photo with my crappy mobile phone camera. What did I learn from this? Bring a camera every time!

New year, new reviews

Hi all and happy new year!!

Sorry it took this long to update this blog, it has been bit hectic over here lately. Finally it is slowing down and I have time to recommend some essential albums for you:)

Now here´s an album I just love. I´ve never been fan on P J Harvey, but this album is just essential. So beautiful melodies and lo-fi atmosphere which works like charm. I heard first White Chalk and just fell in love with that song immediately. It was breath of fresh air in these times of radio dominant crap. This album is rather short, tight package lasting less than 35 minutes. Not a single bad song on the record and all are personal lo-fi tracks. P J´s voice fits the simplistic piano melodies like a charm and is a match made in heaven. It is completely different kind of album I´d expect from her but absolutely essential. I honestly don´t know what to say more of this album, check it out yourself!

White Chalk

Dear Darkness



Wall Of Sound presents Tellé

This album is old (released 2000), but still essential and timeless. Tellé is Norwegian electronic label, who was home for Röyksopp for example. It´s very interesting label catering various styles of music and this compilation is very good showcase of Tellé. Album has some hits like Annie´s Greatest hit, but also less known gems. eventhough it is 13 years old it still sounds fresh today. Besides Annie and Röyksopp, my favourite was Björn Torske and his wicked disco tracks. Really sounding like nothing I´ve come across and having that disco vibe these were killers. It´s always nice to have compilation that isn´t only chill or house but mixes various styles.

Erot: Song For Annie

The Torske/Mundial Explosion: Indisco

Ralph Myerz & Jack Herren Band: Nikita


Here we have a compilation I discovered by accident and oh boy am I happy I did! Do you like Gotan Project or Astor Piazzola? If answer to either one is yes, read on. You will most likely love this cd. If answer is no, then this is not for you. What we have here is modern, electronic take on Argentinan tango. The sound championed by mighty Gotan Project has grown and seeds have blossomed to new artists. The cd has one Gotan Project track and all the rest were totally unknown ones for me. This cd is pure gem. Not a single bad/boring track on the cd and it is wonderfully electronic and chilled. All the tracks lean on tango but still have that personality enough not to make the cd repititive, which is hole most compilations fall. This honestly was a breath of fresh air at least to me. I have come across some similar compilation, but this is one of the best.

Otros Aires Milonga Sentimental

Petruchelli: Cantaba Asi