Irish indie pop/rock band The Thrills plays sunny melodies in the footsteps of The Beach Boys. Harmonic singing and catchy melodies put a smile on my face every time. There are a bit of country music influences to be heard even though the main atmosphere is created by classic pop instruments. If I was to list best songs, Big Sur would definitely get a high position on that list. It shows the hit making potential of this band. The later albums from this band are great as well, but this first one, I think, is the best one. Even though the first half of the album is brilliant, the other half sort of repeats itself. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Ed Harcourt has one of the greatest singing voices in the world. He can sing rugged low whisky tunes as well as beautiful and clear falsettos. His singer-songwriter songs range from beautiful piano ballads to experimental rhythm jams. I especially encourage you to go and see him live if you have the chance. I've seen him live three times and all of those shows have been fantastic. He's extremely polite, funny and knows how to make a good show. He usually plays a lot of instruments by himself recording loops on stage. This second album of his is among his best albums with Here Be Monsters and Strangers. Everything works from lyrics to melodies and from sounds to production. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Lemonator is one of the best Finnish bands of all times. Their melodramatic power pop always gets me sentimental. The songwriting skills of Lasse Kurki are phenomenal. Grandpop features crunchy guitars, americana sounds, power ballads and heartbreaking lyrics. I especially encourage all of you non-finns to listen to this album, since I think it's a shame that the band is mostly unknown outside Finland. Hit songs like these should have taken over radios all around the world. Especially listen to Broken Record and Is It You? The whole album is full of great songs though. The album cover features dancing on the beach in what seems to be a Finnish summer with sun shearing light even in the middle of the night. Listen to the album on Spotify.
The Cardigans from Sweden came to be known for their few hit singles such as Lovefool and My Favourite Game. In my opinion though, this beautiful album is their greatest. Country sounds meeting beautiful ballads expressing happiness and joy, hope and sorrow. There is an extraordinary number of highlights on this album, but just to mention a few: Communication, Please Sister and For What It's Worth. The singer Nina Persson's beautiful singing voice is the main characteristic of this band even though the songs are beautifully written and the band works perfectly. Once again the Swedes proove their amazing capability when it comes to making music and producing terrific albums. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Ben Gibbard, who is best known as the front man of Death Cab for Cutie was involved in this electronica project and first I thought why, since the Death Cab records were so phenomenal. Later I've gotten to see the greatness in this project as well. Even though the electronic sounds take the main stage, there are clean guitars and other organic sounds in the background. Gibbard's vocals and lyrics are as good as ever. The highlight of this album is probably Such Great Hights. Iron & Wine has made a beautiful cover verison of this beautiful song. If electronica is not usually your thing, don't be alarmed. I usually like more organic sounds myself but this album is definitely worth a listen. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Faroese singer-songwriter Teitur Lassen makes absolutely beautiful and cute music. It's sometimes a bit cheesy but at least I don't care since this debut album of his is amazing piece of work. His intimate singing voice gives me shivers in my back every time. The absolute highlights of this album are I Was Just Thinking, Josephine and Amanda's Dream. The album cover is beautiful painting of a lonely man walking in the rain with nothing but his thoughts. It represents the mood of the album beautifully. These songs tell stories about good and bad sides of love. The second album from Teitur was still okay, but later albums have not reached the same endearing atmosphere. This is his absolutely greatest album. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Grandaddy makes beautiful songs using traditional indie rock sounds topped with synth effects. The melodies are really beautiful and Jason Lytle's singing voice is exceptionally brilliant. Sumday is not as melancholic as its preceding Sophtware Slump (which is by the way one of the best albums ever). Sumday features sunny melodies, crunchy guitars and experimental effect sounds. The two last songs on this album remind me of their previous album with melancholic but brilliantly beautiful melodies. Grandaddy's style was sometimes described as skateboard-lumberjacks. This was exceptional at that time in the early 2000's. Nowadays everyone looks like that. Listen to the album on Spotify.
The second album of The Shins is in my opinion their best album as a whole. Every song is brilliant. Combining exceptional pop melodies with endearing singing and organic sounds The Shins is just impossible to resist. The cartoon-like cover is amazing and illustrates this music perfectly. If I must point out any highlights on this amazing album, I'd say that Mine's Not a High Horse, Saint Simon and So Says I are strong contestants. All of these songs are really nostalgic to me. I used to listen to them all the time when I had just started my studies at university. It still reminds me of those moments of enthusiasm about philosophy, meeting new amazing people and obviously the parties as well. Listen to the album on Spotify.
There are two versions of Shout Out Louds' first album. This first version was only released in Scandinavia and in my opinion it portrays better array of songs than the later international version. I was very disappointed when I bought the international version, that it didn't have Sound Is the Word on it. This song was the one that really caught my attention. Fortunately that song is not by far the only brilliant song from this amazing Swedish band. Please Please Please and Comeback are also terrific songs. This music is perfect for indie discos and parties. Fine guitar melodies and that great indie style in singing make this one of my favourite albums in 2000's. Listen to few of the songs on the album on Spotify.
This year's number one album is simply put brilliant. Amazing songs, amazing vocals, amazing lyrics, amazing album cover. Death Cab for Cutie has never been better than on this album. Plans is also a great piece of work, but I must say that it's no match for Transatlanticism, although I might have said something else in the past. The ballads such as Lack of Colour are hauntingly beautiful and quiet. Songs like We Looked Like Giants are larger than life and songs like Sound of Settling are radio hit material. I cannot over emphesis the beauty of this album. If you're not familiar with it, listen to it now. Unfortunately this album can't be found on Spotify but here's a link to this magnificent album in Grooveshark.
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