I mentioned earlier that I’m heading to Scandinavia at the end of the month, so I’m trying to cram my cranium with as much Swedish and Finnish music as I can in preparation. I can reel off a bunch of Swedish bands without thinking (Hives, ABBA, Club 8, Nicolai Dunger, Moonbabies, Soundtrack Of Our Lives) but until recently I was hard-pressed to name a Finnish band, besides maybe Hanoi Rocks. I mean, it’s mostly death metal, right?
Thankfully, there is the excellent One Chord to Another, a vast repository of Finnish indie pop, and it was there that I discovered Tapes.
The alter ego of Jukka Salminen, who also contributes vocals and keyboards to Tigerbombs and Laurila (which rose from the ashes of Office Building), Tapes just released his self-titled debut album on the small Finnish label Aisti Records.
Chock full of intimate guitar work and autoscopic lyrics, listening to Tapes gives you the feeling that Jukka is so close he could be sitting in your lap strumming while his double is across the room watching. Okay, maybe it’s not that creepy, but this is some of the same heartbreakingly beautiful stuff you might find on a Nick Drake or Elliott Smith album.
- Listen to Outside From The Box.
- Listen to I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper’s remix of Eightythree.
You can purchase Tapes from Stupido Records in Finland (enter Tapes in search field/prices in Euros).
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Bollywood is remaking the David Fincher film, based on Chuck Palahniuk’s book questioning American masculinity and the culture of consumerism, into a musical. According to Ain’t It Cool News, Fincher, Palahniuk, and Trent Reznor have explored making the film/book into a Broadway musical, but I guess they decided to test it out with Indian director, Vicky Chopra, first.
The latest episode of Yacht Rock is up on Channel101.com! Oooo, I can’t wait to download episode 6.
If you haven’t yet heard of this show, Yacht Rock is a poorly acted, poorly shot, but well-written and wonderfully edited diversion. The show is presented as the “true story” of the development of the soft rock scene in America and centers around the 
adventures of Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins as they try to save smooth music from the evils of guitar rock. Series creators JD Ryznar and Hunter Stair play soul-stirring siren McDonald and soundtrack god Loggins. Ryznar also directs and writes most of the episodes, which are so bad, they’re
good. Hall & Oates have made their appearances (impersonated) as have Toto, Steve Perry, and Michael Jackson. But the best part of the show is the music. Lane Farnham, who plays Jim Messina, edits the show adding the original music over the lip-synching actors, thus creating montages of brilliance that make you wonder why you ever sold those Air Supply records. It’s funny funny stuff.
Come out of the closet, smooth rock devotees. Loggins and McDonald should be your heroes.
Or go to Channel 101 and download the episodes. The rating of a show on Channel101.com is based on how many downloads an episode gets.
Trivia bit: Michael McDonald is from St. Louis!
God bless the Canadians. I don’t know much about our Northern neighbors (except that they may actually be neighbours, and they are comedic geniuses, and they love donuts and tooks and Scottish people) but I revere them, if you’ll allow me the verb. They’ve produced some really wonderful music. Yes, I found a love for Leeroy Stagger blossoming in a corner of my heart I wasn’t aware of, but I also found many more fantastic artists on the same label, Boompa Records. Why just over yonder is Catlow. Hark! Are my ears deceiving me or has Elastica been resurrected with a more sonically attractive lead? Catlow hangs out in the meadow of Hot Hot Heat guitars and disco trash beats. Very satisfying tunes for the afternoon.
And over dale is the eccentric Run Chico Run, a two-man outfit out of Victo
ria. I first heard about these guys in the thank-you liner notes of a Hot Hot Heat album (sorry; I know, two mentions in only 4 lines?). Imagine the Count playing organ while cuddly monsters soft-shoe through Hotel California. Or don’t. Would you rather imagine a tighter more sophisticated version of the Unicorns? They’ve put out four albums so far, so you (and I) have plenty of time to figure out what they remind us of most.
Thank you, Canada. I’m sorry I wasted all that time comparing your music and instead of describing it. I still love you, you know. And not just for The Higgins Boys and Gruber any more.
- Catlow – Number One
- Run Chico Run – Lifestyles of the Living Dead
So I’m heading to Scandinavia at the end of the month and I’m trying to tease my palate with some tasty Swedish and Finnish pop in preparation. I’ve been nibbling Nicolai Dunger, chomping on Club 8, and partaking in Pelle Carlberg.
One of my favorite albums in 2005 was Veneer by Swedish-born (but of Argentinian parentage) Jose Gonzalez. The track Heartbeats was featured in a marvelously whimsical (or was it whimsically marvelous?) advertisement for Sony, but it wasn’t until recently that I noticed that the song was a cover. Fellow Swedes, brother-sister duo The Knife, recorded the original, a much livelier synth-pop version, as if Madonna fronted the Human League, on their 2004 release Deep Cuts.
- Jose Gonzalez – Heartbeats (MySpace)
- The Knife – Heartbeats