Albums Listened to in 2013

This is one awfully pretty album. The debut solo album from former front of the band Tuvalu, Annina Antinranta. I haven't heard any of their stuff, but if this is any indication, it ought be good. There's this border-line musical sense to the CD, and I don't mean that in the sense that it has music, but I mean that it feels occasionally like a narrative told through music. The lyrics don't hold up that end as well as they should, but regardless, this is probably the most melodic and melodramatic album I've heard all year long.

Finnish rap trio Ruger Hauer bang out a third album. It isn't their best work but even their worst is better than the mainstream rap scene in Finland nowadays. The lyrics are not as potent as before as some of the themes and repeated motifs such as contrasting their image with various governing bodies, be it religion or the state, fall fairly flat.

This album is like turning your TV to static in the middle of the night. Then you walk into the static, only to notice a flying saucer hovering above you. As the UFO beams you up, your earpiece begins to emit strange signals to you. Just as you're about to make impact with the alien aircraft, it turns into a giant, mooshy banana that sucks you up. All the while you have a vibrating itch at your lower back but are unable to reach it as your hands are tied together by a dead squirrel.

It's very trippy in a pretty good way, and an album I'd definitely say requires no knowledge of the language in order to be enjoyed.

An oddly aspirational album from Iceland. Soley sings about odd buildings and dead things, and the odd pauses that occur mid-song create a discomfort unlike any other. There is a wonderful aura of sorts to the whole thing.

Arcade Fire talk about existentialism by using our dreams and wishes as a playground. Gender roles, stereotypes and communal aspects of our society are thrown into various shredders all the while melancholic rock plays.

Nick Cave does his troubadour-thing with good success. The first song is fantastic.

I didn't get it, and probably won't give it enough time to open up to me. Heck, I'm too much a lyrics guy for this probably anyhow.

Indie band LAKE went into a studio and recorded this thing. It really sounds like that's all the effort that went into it.

Rap-lady Skylar Grey debuts with an album full of womanly troubles. It sounds alright, the lyrics are perhaps a bit too packed and that's about it.

Finnish pop band goes out with a bang as their last album ditches the original composer of their hits and the band covers them their selves. The result is a weird art-pop thing that I honestly would want to hear more of. If the rest of their albums would've been like this, some of them would've been so much better. Especially the songs glamorizing girl-on-girl friendships or partying all night long finally get the touch of irony to them not only from the lyrics but from the sound, something earlier albums were lacking in.

Jessica Curry's orchestral score packs a mean punch and bears with it powerful emotions even to those who haven't played the game. A wonderful combination of touching piano and dark ambient create a vibrant and colorful, albeit very sad album.

Ashley Eriksson comes into her own. And sounds as good as she can.

Ashley Eriksson sings about random crap for an hour. It isn't very enjoyable, but she's a hell of a singer.