Mars Volta: Frabces The Mute
(Universal, 2005)

This has to be one of the most exciting things to happen in music for a while. 77 minutes of psychedelic rock with a lot of latin flavouring, makes you want to listen carefully, enjoying every single second of it.

OK, I have to admit, it's not one of the easiest pop-records available, but if you don't suffer from ADHD, you should be delighted by the sounds that Frances The Mute has to offer. On the 13th of March, I'll see these guys at the Brixton Academy and that one should be a blast. (23.02.2005)

The Killers: Hot Fuss
(Island, 2004)

I've had a problem with bands that started emerging to the scene in the turn of the millennium. all of them seemed to have the same name. The ****s. The Whatever's. I hated it. I decided to not listen to them at all. Not unless they would come up with a better name.

I'm pretty glad that I decided to make an exception with The Killers. They're the band I've been waiting for for a looooong time. Good rocking tunes, cool lyrics. The first song on the album (Jenny Was A Friend Of MIne) has the best bass riff of the 00's. It grabs your attention within the 3 first seconds of the album, and you're bound to love the rest of the album after that. The Killers truly live up to their name with the killer-tune 'Somebody Told Me', which has to be the best song in ages. Good job, boys. I've been killed. (15.10.2004)

Michael Moore: Fahrenheit 9/11
(Dog Eat Dog, 2004)

Whoa! Double whoa! It is ultimately rare these days to be moved by anything like Michael Moore's anti-Bush-documentary moved me. I'm not sure if a documentary should be objective, but at least I agree with the content, so we'll say it's close enough..;) (05.08.2004)

TV-Resistori: Intiaanidisko
(Fonal, 2004)

Whoa! If you like lovely Finnish acts like Liekki, Aavikko or Karkkiautomaatti, TV-resistori is the summer's greatest wet dream come true. Intiaanidisko is filled with heartwarming lo-fi electronica, which makes you want to sing all the way from work to the beach. The first three tracks on the album (pong a long, intiaanidisko, 1yy2aa3oo elektroo) are instant classics, which I know will be included to the soundtrack of my life for a looooong time. (04.08.2004)

Paul McCartney: Helsingin Olympiastadion 17.6.2004
()

Like the old saying goes: "We need two more bullets." (24.06.2004)

Prodigy: Girls/Memphis Bells (Promo)
(XL, 2004)

Prodigy tried to release some new stuff already a while ago, but the audience-reaction towards the horrible "Baby's Got A Temper" probably made them think again. Now they've finished the new album "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned", and I've got my eager hands on two of the songs, which should be on the new release.

The songs surprise me a bit with an old-school electro flavour. (Some electroclash, anyone?) However, that's the most surprising bit about these ditties. They're danceable and they're groovy, but still I'm not too impressed. Once they were the most exciting band around, but now they're just a bit too average for their own good. (22.06.2004)

Beastie Boys: To The 5 Boroughs
(Capitol, 2004)

The Beasties are back with a brand new album, and the rumours have it, that they still haven't grown up. Thank god for that. The new album is pretty old-school, which is good, but what's lacking from "To The 5 Boroughs" is a decent hit-single. In theory I love what they're doing, but to be honest, this is pretty boring stuff. (22.06.2004)

Infinite Mass: No. 1 Swartskalle (single)
(Warner, 2004)

One of the best feel-good hits of this summer. You might feel that the song is somewhat politically incorrect, but hey, who's counting? It's still better than your average Lambada, Macarena or Ketchup Song. Infinite Mass should be enjoyed in good company, with a sense of humour and preferably loud. (21.06.2004)

Penniless: All Good Things Come To Those Who Wait
(A Westside Fabrication, 2004)

Oh Penniless, how I love thee!

It would be great if I could say that this is a great album, because I sincerely love this band. I love their attitude, I love their songs and I love the fact that there is a band that isn't afraid to believe in themselves year after year even when commercial success doesn't seem to be anywhere near. Unfortunately it isn't.

AGTCTTWW has some great songs in there like Amen, Story Of A Punk, Tonight There's a Riot, but still the album is overshadowed by it's predecessor Anola, which is one of the greatest albums ever made in Finland. I hope that all good things actually do come to those who wait, and I hope that Penniless will wait for a couple of albums more!

Great band, not their best work, but still pretty damn good! (02.06.2004)

Rundfunk: Kings & Queens
(A Westside Fabrication, 2004)

Stylish Scandinavian production and a lo-fi attitude have always worked for me. However, Rundfunk comes across as bit boring. They've got some great tunes, but still I'm having difficulties on pinning the band down, and realising their true greatness. On the song "Low Battery, High Drummer" they pretty damn near succeed, but one truly great song just isn't enough. I would really like to see them live, though. (02.06.2004)

Tigerbombs: 1000 Sparks
(Johanna, 2004)

"Ugly musicians make the best tracks." This was the first thought that popped into mind when I found myself dancing along to "1000 Sparks"-single in my tiny bedroom. The vintage synths, the happy-go-lucky production, the Formula 1 English... I have to say I truly love it loud! If you haven't checked them out, do yourself a favour and do it now. Or wait patiently for the whole album, which should be out in a week or so. (27.04.2004)

Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters
(Polydor, 2004)

Somehow I feel that the "up-yours-ugly" -attitude of the SS is already old hat for scandinavians. For example The Ark has been doing the same ideas better for several years already. But since Ola & the boys haven't released anything for a while, I'll welcome the New Yorkers' debut album with a smile, and I'll turn the volume up a notch in my imaginary convertible pimp-mobile. After a while I'll Take My Mama out, and I'll grin all the way down to the beach listening to this superb summer-album-extravaganza. Sheryl Crow knows it best: "If It Makes You Happy, It can't be that bad". And it isn't. (06.04.2004)

Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand
(Domino)

I'm starting to see a pattern emerging with some albums. I tried to resist FF for as long as I could (especially after I unsuccesfully tried to get a work placement from Domino, and f**ked up the interview big-time..), but if you can't hear the great songs on the album, you must be deaf and dumb. Once again, my resistance has been proven useless. What'll be next? Britney? Xtina? (25.03.2004)

Loner: Road Songs EP
(Just Music)

You've got to love this EP. Geoff Smith's angelic voice and his wonderful folk-electronica is delivered in such a way that it's hard not to get emotionally attached to it instantly. This is the first relase from him and I am already waiting for more. (25.03.2004)

Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis, The Story Of A Childhood
(Jonathan Cape, 2003)

Whoah. This comic hit me in the had with a brick and ran away. It's just one of those times when you find out about something amazing, start to read it and just can't put it down. Persepolis is a cleverly conducted story about the artist herself, and how she lived her life in Iran in the 80's. The book combines historical events, personal drama and the troubles of growining up in a hostile environment in a way that is hard to match. Somebody better make a translation into finnish about this one pretty soon. Like-publishing, I'm counting on you. (16.10.2003)

Justin Richards Et al.: Dalek Survival Guide
(BBC Consumer Publishing, 2002)

Somehow this book just fell into my hand at the library. I just had to borrow it and read what it was all about. I had seen Dalek's somewhere, but couldn't even vaguely remember where. This book tells you in detail how to survive a full-blown attack by robots called Daleks, if it was to happen. Nice. Then it hit me! When I was a bit younger, there was this TV show called Doctor Who on the telly, and Daleks were in fact his enemies. It had a great tune in the beginning as well, if I remember correctly. I loved it. And now Doctor Who has come back to me. Faith? Possibly. (14.10.2003)

Hellacopters: By The Grace Of God
(Polar, 2002)

Hellacopters are at it again. It's not a new release, but it found it's place in my record collection not too long ago. Much in the spirit of their previous albun, 'High Visibility', 'By The Grace Of God' is a Rawking album full of feel-good tunes. And I have to add, that I really like the (european) 'Less-is-more' cover design as well. (07.10.2003)

Jim Pettigrew: The Billboard Guide to Music Publicity
(Billboard Books, 1997)

I totally enjoyed this one as well. Like the title says, it's about getting your music/artist/act/whatever seen in press, radio, TV and the Internet. Having said that, the information about the internet is really dated. You might want to grab a newer book on that subject. The book was extremely inspiring. I especially enjoyed the bits about constructing your media pack and a part which gives you an overview on 'a day in a life' of a PR-person. Worth your while, I promise. (07.10.2003)

Jodi Summers: Making and Marketing Music: The Musician's Guide to Financing, Distributing and Promoting Albums
(Allworth Press)

A great book for anyone who's planning on releasing music in the nearby future as a producer and/or artist. Great in-depth interviews with known and unknown artists and entrepreneurs of the music industry like Lars Ulrich from Metallica, Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones and Tom Viscount. The text is supplemented with useful pointers and warnings, which should help a great deal, when planning your release. A refreshing read. (02.10.2003)

: Monster's Ball
(Lions Gate, 2001)

Shame on you people for only remembering Halle Berry's ass from this great piece of movie-greatness. OK, she is pretty and all that, but there was so much more amusing things going on that I wouldn't consider underlining the (hot) lovescene too much. The movie moved me quite a lot and made me think about things quite a lot. I think Halle summarised love and life in general quite accurately by asking Billy Bob to "Make me feel good." Arrgh, this is probably turning into too deep a monologue, so I'll have to stop now. Watch it anyway. (17.06.2003)

White Stripes: Elephant
(XL, 2003)

I've tried to neglect them, I've tried to forget about them. Now I've fallen for them. Surprisingly enough, it was the bass riff of the single Seven Nation Army, which finally turned my head around. What is surprising about it is that they claim that they don't have a bass player, but heck, who's counting? The album needs some time to crawl under your skin, but do yourself a favour and let it. Sit comfortable, do not resist. Soon you too will feel overpowered by Jack, Meg and their Mississippi delta influenced blues-rock-n'-rollah. I love it. [Insert Frank Drebin voice to last phrase.] (15.05.2003)

Liekki: Korppi
(Ranka Recordings (2003))

The last time I reviewed this band, when their debut album 'Magio' had just come out, I told them basically to give up and start building houses. Since then I have come to my senses. I bow down before them and ask for their gracious forgiveness. The new album is full of beautiful and touching music. The most obvious killer song is the debut single 'Pienokainen', which I will hopefully deserve to listen to after the bad-mouthing I gave them earlier. If you're a Finnish speaker, you would be mad to miss this one. If you're not, this is probably the single best reason to learn. (07.05.2003)

Mew: Frengers (Not quite friends But Not quite strangers)
(Sony, 2003)

Alan McGee is at it again! Oh god, how I would have wanted to make this album. The Danish geniusses have filled their album with hooks, massive tunes, a personal vocalist and a dynamic wall of sound, which fill your heart with feelings you thought weren't there. (Maybe I'm a bit emotional right now, I'm going to see my girlfriend tomorrow for the first time in four months, sorry about that..)

The thing I like about Frengers is that Mew is an unconventional and a truly original band, but yet they're not your average artschool project either. They have a golden ear for choruses, which they shove down your aesophagus with songs like Am I Wry? No, 156, SheSpider, Snow Brigade, She Came Home For Christmas. I could rave about this for ages. I'm in love!

Even though I really enjoy this one, I am not over-enthusiastic about the slower songs on the album. Usually great bands like Mew have trouble producing songs that rock, but with Frengers it's the other way around. Not even the beautiful paper-thin voice of Stina Nordenstam will help the downbeat songs of the album this time around. (10.04.2003)

Paul White: Home Recording Made Easy: Professional Recording on a Demo Budget
(Sanctuary Press, 2002)

This one is extremely useful, if you, like myself, aren't very familiar with the basics of the recording studio. It's written with as little technical jargon as humanly possible when talking about quite complicated technical stuff. Good chapters on the EQ, microphones, processors and effects. People who are interested in the subject, will find it relatively easy to read and informative as well. Paul White has also written a series of smaller books in a "Basic"-series, but this book covers most of the subjects in them as well, so this is the one to get. (25.03.2003)

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds: Nocturama
(Mute 2003)

The latest work from the Australian genius Nick Cave has proved to be a somewhat disturbing piece of music. The new album, with the coined title of Nocturama, is definitely the one album from him, which is least worthy of the gloomy title. There are however some great tunes to the album. Wonderful Life, Bring it On and Babe, I'm On Fire are all songs, which once again show that he is one of the greatest tunesmiths in the world. And yes, He IS on fire. (13.03.2003)

Sigur Rós: ()
(Fat Cat, 2002)

This band is a current favourite, so 'objective' isn't going to be a word that I would use when considering this review. So many things done right on this one. Beautiful packaging, with all of the information reduced to minimum, even the barcode is kindly asked to be removed after the purchase. The contents of the album (i.e music hehe..) is divided into two parts with a 30sec pause. The beginning of the cd being more happy and latter being more dark and gloomy, which isn't actually as clear a breakdown of the songs as it could be, because 'happy' is a relative question to the icelandic minds of Sigur Ros. In comparison to their previous album, Ágætis Byrjun, this one is less dramatic, but in a good sense. Everything follows the great pattern of 'less is more', throughout the album, which, one could argue, is a defeat of style over context, which it actually is, but in a best possible way. (11.02.2003)

Valitse arvostelu:
Mars Volta: Frabces The Mute
The Killers: Hot Fuss
Michael Moore: Fahrenheit 9/11
TV-Resistori: Intiaanidisko
Paul McCartney: Helsingin Olympiastadion 17.6.2004
Prodigy: Girls/Memphis Bells (Promo)
Beastie Boys: To The 5 Boroughs
Infinite Mass: No. 1 Swartskalle (single)
Penniless: All Good Things Come To Those Who Wait
Rundfunk: Kings & Queens
Tigerbombs: 1000 Sparks
Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters
Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand
Loner: Road Songs EP
Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis, The Story Of A Childhood
Justin Richards Et al.: Dalek Survival Guide
Hellacopters: By The Grace Of God
Jim Pettigrew: The Billboard Guide to Music Publicity
Jodi Summers: Making and Marketing Music: The Musician's Guide to Financing, Distributing and Promoting Albums
: Monster's Ball
White Stripes: Elephant
Liekki: Korppi
Mew: Frengers (Not quite friends But Not quite strangers)
Paul White: Home Recording Made Easy: Professional Recording on a Demo Budget
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds: Nocturama
Sigur Rós: ()