VärttinäThe Best Unique Music You’ve Never Heard, from 2016 Galileo Griffin 2017/02/05 Albums (English), Genres (English) It’s that time of the year where we reflect on the best of the music that came out in 2016. The song that moved me most? Hard choice, but here we go! Den Sista Sången by Kent. I wasn’t at their last ever concert where this video was taken, but I was at the 3rd last, and this was also the final song they played. Kent were the first ever Swedish speaking band I really loved. I actually worked harder at studying the language purely to understand what they were saying and derive more meaning from their music. It’s something so special to see a band that good live, at the top of their form, playing one of their final concerts. I unashamedly cried while watching this. and my top albums? well, that wasn’t easy either… 5. Värttinä: Viena Värttinä’s sound is truly unique as they combine traditional vocal and instrumental elements of Finnish folk with more modern and creative arrangements. All 3 women have fantastic voices that blend perfectly and the album failed to disappoint simply because it was Värttinä to at. A band that sticks to something that has proven to be a good combination is just as good as a band that continues to find musical boundaries to push for a new sound. My pick: Kanaset 4. Leonard Cohen: You Want it Darker Losing Leonard Cohen is the greatest musical loss of 2016, which has been widely regarded as a pretty bad year. I’ve actually never really enjoyed his singing voice, and quite often I prefer his songs done by other people. However as a songwriter, he is almost unparalleled. You can hear the age in this album, and also that the distance from death’s door isn’t all that far, but that only adds to the dark beauty of it. My pick: Treaty 3. Various: The Rough Guide to the Best World Music You’ve Never Heard I have loved the Rough Guide series ever since I started listening to world music more than 10 years ago. They almost never disappoint and always seem to choose a wonderful selection of music from a country or culture. What I love even more about this album is that it’s full of obscure world music that is nevertheless great quality. My pick: Oratnitza: Mari Mariiko (Bulgaria) 2. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Skeleton Tree I have always had a soft spot for Nick cave, ever since he was my teenage goth crush when I was 16 or so. Actually, Nick Cave was rather tame, compared to what other goths listened to, but I still thought listening to songs about death was pretty hardcore. Nick Cave’s later works have however become much more subdued to his earlier, punk-inspired works which more often than not involved some sort of death, murder or violence. His turn of phraise is still profound, his voice still has that haunting quality it always did and the band sound tighter and tighter with every new release. My pick: Jesus alone 1. Kent: Då som nu för alltid I’ve pretty much been raving about this album and this band since this album was produced. Forget about the fact that every song is Swedish and consentrate on the fact that here is a band who have a career spanning decades at the very height of their musical ability. If you can speak Swedish, you will be able to appreciate jocke Berg’s poetic lyrics, or you could just read them in English here. http://kentfans.com/kent-lyrics-english-translations.php Aside from the songwriting, the album is full of layer upon layer of harmony and instrumentation and I fail to see how it could possibly be any better. This is Kent’s final studio album, as the band decided to call it a day as of December 2016, so it’s a real bang for them to go out on. My pick: Falska Profeter Réagissez à cet article / Comment this article commentaires / comments
