Life in a piece of luggage

Last week me and my most loyal travel companion, for almost two years now, were off to another destination. Luckily this time we didn't have to leave the country, which meant that I would be living in another Finnish city for the first time.

In my new room I finally got the decoration I've always wanted.

Not really. They belong to my newest and noisiest flatmate yet.

my nephew nate

It's weird to be living under the same roof with my brother again. Also I will have to adjust properly into the nightlife. Not parties, but night shifts at my summer job. The rest of the day hours are invested in sleeping, writing my thesis and eating. Blogging of course now and then too, but don't be surprised if you don't hear much from me for a few months.

Here's some pictures of a sunny Sunday in Helsinki.

The ice-cream flavors I had are called wanhan ajan terva and wanhan ajan salmiakki. The direct translations are old-fashioned tar and old-fashioned ammonium chloride. Yummm.

One day I wish to be able to unpack my suitcase in a place of my own. With a wall full of setlists I've collected...

Friday Feature: Oberhofer

Brooklyn’s  4-piece, Oberhofer, has been spending their time making philosophically- minded, energetic melodies that make people smile. The band is led by Tacoma native Brad Oberhofer, who has a tendency to write songs about how he feels in the moment, which can clearly be heard in their songs. Perhaps this is why they put themselves in the genre of ‘coincidence pop’. 

Oberhofer’s debut album Time Capsules II has been praised to be the best guitar music many have heard in a while, despite the riffs being simple.  But the life we live in today’s society, simple is very welcome. 

Wild Beasts @ Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

November 24th, 2011

Sometimes the best way to realize a band's true talent is by going to their live shows. English Wild Beasts sound great on record, and they look even greater playing music. Their way in working their instruments and singing is something everyone needs to witness.

In my opinion a sign of a successful live show is when you start loving songs, which you before hadn't. In this case I can honestly say that the band's whole third album finally opened to me. Actually it wasn't about loving, but more of understanding. That record is a difficult one compared to the two others.

So basically all we needed was perfect acoustics, lighting and London's most beautiful venue to get me all smothered by musical enlightment.

I remember it was Thanksgiving Day that day,and naturally I was thankful for being able to see Wild Beasts play (and Zola Jesus the day earlier). Also, next to me were these Spanish and Italian guys, who I'm glad to have met -> good reason to go to gigs alone.

Friday Feature: Haim

Three sisters from LA, whose parents tried brainwashing them into little classical rock monsters, while the girls' 90s R&B enthusiasm rebelled back... What could sugar, spice and everything nice result into, when mixed with chemical X?

The answer is not The Powerpuff Girls this time, but Haim.

And damn it's hard to explain their music! Though, looks-wise imagine a part of The Kelly Family forming a band of their own, and not having their hair look like it's inspired by Conan the Barbarian. Or simply a female version of Hanson (ie. the pretty version).

Ok this will be the best I can do for now; Haim's music saves the music world as much The Powerpuff Girls save Townsville. I'm assuming that my older readers (mama) won't understand my references, so just give their songs a listen below and download their debut EP Forever for free here.

Moving on

After the tragic seperation with me and my Converse, I decided to try to move on. However, I felt that I couldn't get white ones this time, as it would have been too painful to handle. There isn't really much to say, except for the fact that it isn't joyful to wear those type of shoes anymore.

Also the new ones became like this only after a few months.

 

This just proves the theory of people, who after long relationships are capable of maintaining only short-term ones.

Zola Jesus + EMA @ Heaven, London

November 23rd, 2011

Last autumn my musical crush was Zola Jesus. After the Nevermind exhibition, I went inside a record store, and they had her new album playing. That's when it really hit me. I guess it was because of the good speakers, which were able to showcase the bass, which I think is important for her songs. There wasn't any other choice, but to get myself a ticket for her London gig, which was set two months after. Super stoked I was.

Just some hours before the gig, I checked who was the support. It was some teenager from Austria, then the excitement was gone. Apparently, EMA is quite a popular artist name, so the support act was actually a bit older and American.

In fact she was this extremely tall indie amazon princess- liked rocker, who could have starred in Xena. She had this captivating stage presence with music, which made you really concentrate on and a few dedicated fans, who seemed to drive the front audience mad.

Then something happened that I had never believed an indie act would do. Let along an indie support act.

I remember hoping that the guitar pieces she threw into the crowd wouldn't hit the camera. I managed to talk about it with her after the gig, and apparently it was her first time to wreck a guitar, which was a cheap one. She felt ashamed about it, as she realized how dangerous it was. I'm pretty sure though that people were rather excited of heavy pieces flying above their heads.

What could I say now about Zola Jesus' performance, except for that I didn't want it to stop? Well, she was tiny, and whenever she jumped into the crowd, it was hard to see where she was. Maybe now and then you could have spotted a glimpse of her hair.

It was cool to watch how concentrated she was in singing, and then all of the sudden she could turn into this Tazmanian devil with her crazy moves.




It was a great evening of music, but what made it perfect was to literally look back and see a familiar face; there was this guy standing behind me, who during Austra's gig was in front of me. That was the moment, when London became small. Me and my friend got to know him and his sister, who both of them moved from South Africa to London to work. They taught us this little trick what to do during gigs; when everyone else is standing, go down and it will feel like you've dived into another world. X

Friday Feature: Poliça

When I listen to Minnesota band Poliça (pronounced Police-a), I imagine myself being in a smoky bar with dimmed lights, black clothes and a pint of Guinness. By myself.

That can be a very dark scenario for some, literally too, but it isn't when you have the world's two best things complementing each other. Those happen to be great music and great beer.

Funky bass lines, intense drumming, Mac, R&B- flavored lead singer with the grace of a ballet dancer.. what else do you need to know? Aa yes, the band released their debut album Give You The Ghost a few months ago. Here are the two best songs, which just happen to start and end the record. The rest in the middle, they do a pretty good job in keeping me in the bar.

Where does Poliça take you?