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| Foto: Paula Suhonen |
Både visuellt och musikaliskt så tar Olli Happonen och hans New Silver Girl med mig till en tid där allt var mer levande. Istället för att se till det som får människor att brinna nuförtiden så bygger vi istället bara på världen som om den vore ett stort varumärke och allt ska bara bli större, snabbare och mer likformat. New Silver Girls album Wild Carnation, som släpps idag, låter som ett svar på det där. Detta är modern retro i sin finaste form. Varje ton och rad känns mänsklig och långt bort från vad vi ofta bjuds på idag. Det här är musik jag gärna reser till i sommar och jag lovar att jag kommer njuta av varje sekund. Storfavoriten Heaven lies beneath her feet kommer golva mig många gånger framöver. Idag, dagen till ära, gästar Olli serien "Fem album" och Spotify-länkar till albumen, där det är möjligt, hittar ni genom att klicka på det specifika albumets titel.
The lyrics and the music of this rock and roll poet are always universal - it spoke to me, even if I
did not understand all of its lyrical beauty when I grew up in a small town of Rauma in Finland.
Berlin is the album that combines Reed’s fine poetry and storytelling to amazing session band and
of course Bob Ezrins fantastic production - for the Finnish rock history Ezrin is also important for
producing another classic Two Steps for the Move by Hanoi Rocks. Is this even better than
Transformer or Velvet Underground milestones: only Lewis Allan Reed knows the answer.
MC5 - High Time (1971)
Talking about the revolution during the days of absurd US war in Vietnam is it’s own history and all
the cultural aspects with it would need a book of some hundred pages at least. Musically (and
sonically!) speaking this album is worth of pure gold too. Probably the best guitar duo of its time
Kramer/Smith perform magic tricks with their instruments but still believe in good songs too (the
aspect that lack with so many good sounding rock groups). Give a chance to masterpieces like Over and Over or Sister Anne and you won’t be let down. In the heart of this rock and roll
temple preaches the wild but yet sweet and tender voice of Rob Tyner with an attitude that uplifts
your soul to seven days weekend mood every time you hear it.
Patti Smith - Horses (1975)
Patti Smith is in my opinion Luis Buñuel of music. Dream scenes contrasts with the hard realistic
picture and on the other hand the beauty of life and joy within it. The stream of consciousness
work free but still in complete control in auteurs mind and with her inner aesthetics. And it still
rocks and rolls your Saturday night too with so good taste - the band behind him delivers
masterful garage rocking background for Patti. Horses is probably the best justification for rock
and roll to be something more than just dance music or entertainment.
Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson (1971)
I could have chosen any of the seminal three jazz fusion pioneer works (other two are In a Silent
Way and Bitches Brew) by Miles or any of the many other classics by him. With A Tribute to
Jack Johnson I really got myself into his fusion work for the firs time. Not trying to be a jazz critic
here, but in my opinion he democratized the way to approach music with these fusion works. He
lets the instrumentation to be independently in their own sections still letting some space for
himself to intervent the scene once in a wild to take over with his transcendental trumpet playing
(with those overwhelmingly beautiful phrases). The band behind him is not bad either and Teo
Macero as a producer is simply a master.
Sonic Youth - Murray Street (2002)
It was June 2002 when this album came out. I was already a huge fan of Sonic Youth. I’ve loved
everything from Confusion is Sex to NYC Ghosts and Flowers. But still Murray Street was,
and still is, something unique and fresh. It starts with an epic poem Empty Page - I still don’t
know to whom it has been written for! - and keeps going so strong until the last beats of Sympathy for the Strawberry. There are simply too many good aspects with this one: the
absolute interplay between Thurston and Lee with their guitar work (how the hell they managed all
that album after album!), The wonderful voices of Kim, Thurston and Lee (They are like the
Beatles of the alternative rock: taking turns when it comes to singing and keeping the wholeness
interesting all the time) and not forgetting Steve Shelly’s great drumming (he always serves the
song in the best way: the most underrated drummer of all time).
/ Olli Happonen, New Silver Girl
Lyssna på New Silver Girls nya album här nedan!
