Monday, January 30, 2012

Top 11 Devil's Rejects of 2011

After listing my top songs and videos of last year, it's time for the final list. And yes I know it's a really bad name, but I couldn't come up with anything better. But basically the Devil's Rejects list is going to consist of tracks, which just in just didn't make it into the main lists, are something that others have shared with me, something that people don't believe I like, extremely catchy or just plain random.

Here they are:

11. iremembertapes. - Gossip
When I started my internship, the first task was to listen to this song. Me and my collegue were doomed for a whole month to instinctly have this on repeat and sing along.



10. EMA - Milkman
The first time I heard her music was when she was supporting Zola Jesus. One of the best support acts I've seen. Milkman is such an energetic rocking song with a cool video. You have to love her awkward dance moves.



9. Lana del Rey - Blue Jeans
First time hearing it, I disliked it. Now 'You fit me better, than my favorite sweater' line is something I find to be genius.



8. Isaac Parker - All I Know (Isaac Parker Remix)
I'm not a huge fan of remixes, but this is bad ass. And apparently it was his first ever remix, should we believe that?



7. Los Campesinos! - By Your Hand
This is one of those songs that have a chorus, which you can imagine everyone singing all together in some rock bar. Sad lyrics, but a fun night out.



6. Red n Pink - Badman
You either love it or hate it. And I looove it. This is one of the few up and coming bands, who actually have their image all figured out. Thumbs up to that, and to the dude in 2:21.



5. Hurts - Sunday
I'm not a fan of the band, but I'm a huge fan of the song. The lyrics and melody are amazing.



4. Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler - Home For The Holidays
Of course there has to be a Christmas song included in this list! The video is extremely cheesy, but Emma-Lee's awkward clapping in the beginning is ace.



3. Vektroid - Wild Wave
Three words for you: Summer. Skate. Tune.




2. Jimmy Wong - Ching Chong! Asians in the Library Song
Last spring a UCLA student posted a racist video on YouTube, which resulted in her receiving many death threats. And this;



And ladies and gentlemen after many great songs and videos it's time for the number one Devil's Reject of 2011. Some of you will hate me for this and some of you will think that using the devil's reject is in this case 100% compatible.

But there must be something done right, if this song pops into your mind every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Fun, fun, fun, fun.



What were your Devil's Rejects of 2011?

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Explosions In The Sky @O2 Academy Brixton, London

January 27th, 2012

I asked my South African friend Jordan, if he liked Explosions In The Sky. He told me this:

i find their music predictable, but incredibly transportive. visual.
you see stories when you listen.
you can feel their music with your body, live: it's huge, swallowing.

That's exactly how most of the people would describe the band, which completely owns the art of composing instrumentals that take its listeners inside a story. A story, which one builds in their mind and feels it being told forward with the help of the 'mini-symphony resulting into a catharsis'.

Some consider the music to be sad, having for example war pictures in their minds. No doubt that it does have the melancholic side in it, but it also transmits happiness. Thus I call it my 'happy melancholia'.

As the stories I build in my mind are joyful.

The first time I saw the band play was in The Netherlands last May (Explosions In Paradise). I remember being all depressed, because of leaving Ireland, the place which I very much enjoyed and then hoping that 'explosions in the sky in amsterdam would cheer me up'. I'm lucky that no one came to arrest me due to that Facebook status update.

Another lesson learned from that gig was not to drink beer. Otherwise, I would have ended up having a miserable time building stories, with a picture of a toilet.




The show couldn't have started better by playing one of my favorites 'Postcard from 1952'. And I love how they introduce themselves.









It's amazing to see how the audience at their gigs sway peacefully, eyes closed, so deep into the music. Then suddenly start to bang their heads, when the climax strikes. They are simply one of those bands, which everyone needs to see live.

I was so happy that this time they played 'The Birth and Death of The Day', the piece, which made me fall in love with them at the first place. What I was missing in Amsterdam, I got in London. I guess the 1½ hour of non-stop superb musical talent celebration, filled with several emotional purifications, was an enough dose to fill up my 'feel-good factor tank' for a long period.

Until next time;


Or like my Spanish friend Sara, who will 'super take care'.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Kakkonen on Ykkönen

22.1.2012

So we're off to the second round on determing who will be Finland's next president. Luckily we have the two most strong candidates, including my personal favorite. It's my first time to be able to vote for the president, and I'm glad that the election still continues, we get to take the most out of this experience. But I must admit if my favorite wouldn't still be in the run, my level of interest would have gone down.


Yesterday we were at the Finnish Seamen's Church in London watching the election coverage live. I wasn't surprised of the amount of young people, but the cans of beer and cider yes! And you know when there are Finnish people around you is when you can 'feel the excitement'. People elsewhere would jump around and scream of any result they would hear, but the most you could get out of a Finn is perhaps a smirk on their face or a spark in their eyes.







Nevertheless I enjoyed my pulla.


Exciting times are ahead. Please go vote, and don't let anyone or any party make up your mind for you when you decide who's fit for president. The only ones who you should be listening to, are the two candidates.

I know who I'm voting for.


Today I felt so honored when he started to follow me on Twitter. And I don't care whether it was him personally or his team. By far one of the proudest moments online.

And thank you to everyone, who's been working hard for Haavisto during this campaign, including my friend Janne, who promised to save a Haavisto badge for me! Quoting now Janne's words: 'How can someone's sexual orientation determine how well are they able to run the country's foreign policy and be represented as their country's leader? In my opinion, it can't.' No wonder Janne is a very loved guy.

Now saying all this, you still can't say that all of those who won't vote for Haavisto are homophobic, red necks, people who don't want to take issues forward and so on. As Haavisto would say it, there should be respect for the competitors. Chance to discuss and equality for all.

Number two is number one - Kakkonen on Ykkönen

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Top 11 Videos of 2011

Last week I presented you my Top 11 Songs of 2011, here's now my top videos;

11. Tellison - Edith
If you don't pay attention, you'll be surprised of the 'twist' in the end like I was. Somehow I can picture the ending to be my sister's future.



10. Radiohead - Lotus Flower
There's an anti-Radiohead rule at our office, which made me almost forget this mesmerizing video. Anyone who knows our dear Finnish friend Janne, would think that he would dance like that if he was on drugs. Janne's response to that comment was; 'I don't need drugs to do that'.



9. Crystal Fighters - Champion Sound
Of course I have to have the video, in which I am myself! The band just posted today on Facebook and Twitter that it has already over 200 000 views! And I'm the second last person to be seen in it. ;)
(Read here about the video shooting experience, here my feature on the band and here my gig review from last May)



8. Austra - Lose It
My face screams without any motion. Raise your hand if you've ever felt like that before. This is what my friend had to say about the video; 'It's just way too weird for me to watch it now'.
(Read here my gig review from last September)



7. The National - Conversation 16
Seems that I've forgotten the definitions of all sorts of terms. How would you describe this video? Satire? Anyways, great great great acting!
(Read here my gig review from last February)



6. Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Here you have an example of why you should have your top music of a year done after the year has ended. Arcade Fire released this video in mid-December, and they've done it again. With the interactivity in their videos I mean. In 2010 they released a video, which requires Google Chrome to work, click here to see the brilliance of it and dive into your childhood. This time the interactive video requires a web cam and some hand muscles, click here for that.

Those who prefer traditional music videos, see below and be amazed of Régine's and others' dancing.



5. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Stamp
This video is just way too funny and accurate. Don't tell me that you've never had any of those thoughts during a gig. And I love the cheeky marketing.



4. Bon Iver - Holocene
Who doesn't love a video, which wants you to travel to the place in which it was filmed? In this case it's Iceland.
(Read here my video review and here my album review)



3. Summer Camp - Down
Such a loony video. Top points to the girl with the Usher's 'Yeah' move in 1:50!



2. Friends - I'm His Girl
You'd have to be sitting next to me, so I could explain every single amazing detail of this video.
(Read here my feature on the band)



And after so many amazing moving images, ladies and gentlemen I present you my favorite video of 2011 and probably of all time.. Does this actually come as a surprise to anyone anymore?

ANNA CALVI - SUZANNE AND I

Like I described the song, I'm going to describe the video; Bju-ti-ful.
(Read here my review of the video and here my gig review from last April)



What were your favorite videos of 2011?

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

First scam and foreign accent syndrome

This morning when I opened my email, I had received this message;


Hello!

I just want to thank you for your wonderful blog jallunjupinat.blogspot.com.

I read the post "The Anfield Experience pt.2" and then I spent another hour on your blog by reading your posts with pleasure :) Every article is interesting and easy to read.

I work for Jooble company, we aggregate job adverts around the world.

My job is to persuade bloggers to link to our site.

I really love my job! We have a friendly team and good management, but unfortunately I have no idea how to convince a blogger to link to us, I'm afraid I might lose my job because of it :(

And that is why, instead of sending letters to thousands of different blogs, I am reading yours.

Honestly, I am not really sure if the link to our website in United Kingdom - jooble-uk.com, will be appropriate for your blog, but if you believe it will and you can add it, I would be really grateful to you! Our site is really cool, it can greatly help hundreds of people to find jobs.

I wish you to have a good day and excellent mood! Thanks again for your nice blog. Write more! Thanks!


Logo JoobleBest regards,

Serge Lavange
Account Manager 



Reading the first words was very flattering, but of course it was too good to be true. First of all 'instead of sending letters to thousands of different blogs..' -> yeah right and who even sends or actually uses the word letter. Second if you want me to add a link to your website on my blog, where's my money Serge? And of course after noticing many scams last autumn while looking for a place to stay here in London (read here the story), I needed to google this. The result wasn't shocking as Serge had been sending the same message with changing some bits to other bloggers too.

Serge, I thought you only loved mine.

Some bloggers are debating whether it can be classified as a scam, because it actually doesn't ask for any money just placing the link somewhere. Anyway,s can I call myself a pro blogger now ;)

Another funny, or rather tragicomic is this foreign accent syndrome I came across on YouTube. These are the things that you don't know if you're allowed to laugh at them or not.





I did laugh.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Sounds & Images

Here are last week's songs and videos worth presenting:

Arctic Monkeys - Black Treacle

This is the first single that I've really liked from all the singles they've released from their latest album 'Suck It And See' released last June. The video features a runaway bride, the Californian desert and a prisoner with a bouncy tennis ball.



The Kills - Last Goodbye

You know when people play Green Day's Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) at graduations, goodbye parties, funerals or so.. I say Last Goodbye could take that place. Though as a song, which actually can bring tears to your eyes (and with a different meaning). And I can't think of a better idea for a video than to have the two band members stuck with each other in a small photo booth.



Austra - Spellwork

Finally we have a new video! It took 8 months! Seeing this photo, and then watching the video, have to say I expected something different. First time watching it I was a bit disappointed, but watching it now again, there are many interesting shots and angles used, which make me want to watch it many times more. And I actually love how they make watermelon look evil.




Dominant Legs - Make Time For The Boy

A new band I've discovered recently. Being able to watch Twin Peaks from beginning to end last summer after the 4th attempt, there is no doubt that everyone who's seen that show thinks about it while watching the video. Just seeing the resemblance brings back good memories from that time. And the song is grrreat! A song to play at weddings?


Dominant Legs - "Make Time For The Boy" from stereogum on Vimeo.

And how would today's music scene look like, if she was still around? Only 22.. Would have turned 33 today.



Hope you've enjoyed and discovered new music and filming ideas!

Monday, January 16, 2012

When I find myself by the sea,

14.1.2012

in another's company, by the sea.

Just seeing the sea yesterday in Brighton I could not help thinking of those lyrics above.


The atmosphere, which the song has is the best way to describe how the atmosphere by the sea in Brighton was. Calm, relaxed..

Play the song again and check out these photos. Then you might know what I mean.







































The complete opposite of London, in other words it was nice for once not to be surrounded by stressed, yelling, annoying, miserable people. In Brighton they were actually smiling.

It was a great feeling to just listen to the waves and have the sun shining on your face. The coast reminded me of The Hague in Holland. I guess Brighton is a mix of The Hague, Nice and Verona.

And the shopping street reminded me of Camden. Loads of record stores in a tiny street, from which I got some Bon Iver, Explosions In The Sky and Elliot Smith.

Lovely.

Pics by l.lundberg excl. panorama and pics of her.