The mostly best of 2021
Soliti artists pick their highlights of 2021! See you on the other side!
Ville Hopponen from Verandan
Having gotten weirdly used to life during a pandemic now (not necessarily in a good way, just that you feel like you are starting to forget how it could be otherwise), the year felt like it just passed somehow, quite quickly too. For me it was year which felt like it had no time periods or any particular touchstones that defined them, save for some moments here and there. Not that nothing happened, things happened and there were changes, but somehow the year felt like just a long stretch where you can’t really remember if something was in the spring or two weeks ago.
I haven’t attended any concerts, nor had time to read much at all (I did enjoy Mats Jonssons comic book novel När vi var samer, and a few music books not worth mentioning). The upside is that I got more songs written than ever before, and also released three singles. Got a new day job, the kid started daycare, and I got more grey hair because of stress and lack of sleep.
Attached is a playlist of songs I came across that stuck with me during the year. The first 16 were released in 2021, the rest are from other periods in the history of music. As always, slightly older music played the biggest part in my listening, a lot of Beach Boys as usual. And there is always so much old things to discover! I didn’t really listen that much to any new whole albums except for ”The Bewildered Mind” by Astral Brain, and “Dina Ögon” by Dina Ögon. Writing music a lot tends to make you crave silence more than listening to music sometimes.
Series and films I enjoyed
The Rider
Succession
Get Back
Summer of Soul
Scenes From A Marriage
White Lotus
Sarra Keppola from RULES
In 2021 I…
Got myself a new occupation
I finished my pedagogical studies and became an English and Finnish teacher and started working on the fall.
Got a dog
The best quarantine coping mechanism purchase! His name is Bono and he’s a good boy.
Travelled in Finland
For winter holiday we went to a resort by lake Saimaa and on summer we got a tent and did some camping and hiking around southern Finland. We visited Pori and Savonlinna and Kotka and realised we need to leave Helsinki more often.
Listened to Rakkaudesta – radio program by Lasse Kurki at Radio Helsinki and had a long breakfast each Sunday
The best!
Started Salsa dancing
..and continued ballet, no year without dance is a good one.
Finally read Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle
It wasn’t a struggle at all.
Second-hand-listened to David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest
Somehow similar to Knausgård!
Fell in love with Colm Tóibín
By reading Nora Webster and Mothers and Sons
Got obsessed with watching all the Marvel movies
In timeline order
Got my piano back home
And started learning to play Clair de lune, got one and a half page, there’s always next year!
Didn’t yet have time but am looking forward to watch
Drive my car: a film based on Haruki Murakami‘s short story which was the inspiration to one of Rules’ songs
The Beatles Get Back: I’m saving it as a christmas treat for myself.
West Side Story, Tick, tick… Boom! and In the Heights; what a year for musicals!
Anttoni G J Hill from Ghosts on TV
2021 All Time Greatest Hits of All Time for The Whole Family
There was probably a lot of proper good shit that came out in 2021 and Joona Kinnunen will tell you all about that, but from what I can remember I checked out (at least) the new records from Idles, Radio Supernova, Hooded Menace, Throat, Mogwai and Black Midi this year. That’s actually quite a few records, a lot more than I checked out last year! Nice! Those were some proper good shit though. I also really dug Pambikallio’s single “Antaa Tulla Vaan”, which is a cool mishmash of stuff I like. It’s a bit psychedelic, a bit schlager, a bit dream pop, it’s got that Smashing Pumpkins – Cupid De Locke kind of pilipali harp thing going on in the background – Very nice! Also, it sounds like they’re singing about septic wounds?? That’s fucking metal.
Other than that, it was pretty much the usual playlist at home: Electric Wizard and Taiska – Mombasa at full blast, with some Neil Young & Crazy Horse (especially Zuma) and Madonna’s Ray of Light thrown in the mix. But I don’t need to tell you that those are some proper good shit.
Molchat Doma at Ääniwalli, Radio Supernova and The Mes at Mitäs Mitäs Mitäs Festival as well as Muska at Superwood festival were some shows this year that stood out. Luckily I went to see those as I was going to stay at home and listen to more Electric Wizard and Taiska – Mombasa, but my partner said we should go to those shows. Good call.
I watched a lot of films too; I don’t think any of them came out this year though. I watched some Hellraiser movies, and I’ve pretty much tackled all the films in the Herschell Gordon Lewis “Feast” box set now. I also watched this crazy trashy sci-fi/horror film called Mutator from 1989, which was about a secret laboratory trying to cover up a litter of genetically mutated cats they’d accidentally created. Yeah, murderous mutant cats. The effects were great for a b-movie though, the mutant cats look very similar to the werewolves in Dog Soldiers and there’s a good ten years between those flicks, so that’s pretty impressive in my book. Speaking of which, also re-watched Dog Soldiers for the first time in forever, which is always fucking awesome, as is Juan Piquer Simón’s Slugs (or Muerte Viscosa…) Maybe creature features were the movie-theme of the year for me… Along with the usual unhealthy dose of slashers/giallo, John Carpenter and classic Hammer Horror flicks, of course…
Praise Iommi!
Astrid Swan
2021 was a year during which I suffered from the side effects of a row of cancer treatments. This meant that I relied on plenty of streaming, reading and music that was not published this year, but came out a long time ago and functioned as confort. I also went through the making of my album D/other this year and finished and defended a doctoral dissertation, so my time for new creative efforts was very limited. Then there was Covid-19 always lurking, making me seek for those familiar comforts too. Still, I did find some brilliant new art this year and will highlight three books in my list below.
1. Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark (2021)
Being that I am obsessed with all things Sylvia Plath, I had to read Red Comet the second it came out. This biography is over a thousand pages long (with endnotes) and I admit I was not sure if the world needed another Plath bio in 2021. But turns out we did need this one. Clark’s approach is both minutely in-depth and contextualizing in a manner that I have yearned to read about Plath but hadn’t until now. It appears that finally, enough time has passed and enough insight is available about the mid-20th century and what it was like for girls and women; or talented, creative women. I remember being told as a young university student studying American literature that Sylvia Plath cannot be studied from a feminist perspective. This upset me then and now. Clark’s book shows that in fact, a feminist understanding of the structures of society and culture in the US and the UK are helpful in seeing Plath and her life and art not from one angle but the multiple facets that constructed them. Clark elevates Plath into the status of one of the most important poets of the 20th century and backs up her statement with the evidence she pools from archives, through her analysis of poems and her readings of Plath’s diaries as well as all the material produced about her over the decades. Finally, a complex, multi-faceted artist who is also a mother is not just seen through mental-health struggles or her suicide. If you wish to call someone a genius, make it Sylvia.
2. Last Chance Texaco: Chronicles of a Troubadour by Rickie Lee Jones (2021)
Like Rickie Lee Jones songs, her memoir is full of characters that drive through the pages in their curvy pastel colored convertibles, say something funny and to the point and are never to be seen again. Still, more than this jazzy jive vibe, her memoir paints fragmented narratives of sorrow. Rickie Lee has been as wild a child as she appears in her songs. But this wildness appears a response to a family that didn’t hold together and was always changing places, cities and towns. Rickie Lee ran away from home many times. Sometimes she ended up somewhere exciting like San Francisco and other times a juvenile jail in the midlands. What this memoir illustrates is how a childhood forms us and tattoos patterns to us that are nearly impossible to escape. Against her stories from childhood and youth, the narrative of becoming a rockstar-musician in the 1970s is not as interesting, but luckily she doesn’t try to tell all. What is more important in her writing is the emotion she held: how the sorrow like a seed sown as a baby of a line of vaudevillians and runaways burrowed in her until she was nearly drowned.
3. Bechi by Koko Hubara (2021)
I’ve never had a novel dedicated to me until last spring. It’s amazing!
What an honor that it is that it is Bechi. Hubara‘s novel is about a novelist mother who has moved to Finland from Israel and her adult daughter whose experience of life differs greatly from her mother’s. The novel describes Shoshana‘s experience of Finland after leaving behind Israel and her relatives and their expectations. Also, the book addresses the silenced history of disappearances of Yemenite Jewish babies in the newly founded state of Israel.
This book should have won some Finnish literary prizes already. I hope they are coming. And also, it should be translated into English and published by FSG in the US. Just saying, that’s how good it is. The language of Bechi deserves a special mention. It is so visceral, embodied, poetic and flowing that the book is impossible to put down. It makes you feel like maybe you can be fed by literature afterall and need no other nourishment.
Olli Happonen from New Silver Girl
Something new for me that I believe will live forever (some are brand new some are older)
Helsinki Panic: really good band from Helsinki that has true rock and roll soul with beautiful poetic lyrics
Blind Blake: the bass, guitar, drums, voice in one man ragtime blues band that produced only good songs
Stephen Stills (album): The eponymous album from 1970.
Larry Weiss “Rhinestone Cowboy “(Glen Campbell did a really good version too.)
Cosmic Turtle: Fantastic radio show hosted by Anssi Lihtonen (IDA Radio, americana, folk, country gems!)
Merja Rantamäki: Jossain (it is just too good!)
Henrik Heselius: “Inlindad/Cirklar “-single (Leonard Cohen of 21st century)
Aleksi Peltonen from Verandan
Highlights of 2021
I became a dad!
And then music wise…
Alabaster Deplume – To Cy & Lee: Instrumental Vol. 1
This actually came out in 2020 already, but I got into it this year and it’s one of the greatest jazz albums in my opinion.
Haruomi Hosono – Paraiso, Philharmony Great experimental and electronic pop from the 70’s and 80’s
Astral Brains – The bewildered mind Really liking the mood on this psychedelic pop record.
Kate NV – Room for the moon One of the most interesting Russian artist nowadays
Michael Rault – It’s a new day tonight Easy pop record with a great retro production
Anthony Moore – Out Great folk rock album with a retro vibe
John Andrews & the yawns – Cookbook A solo record from the Woods’ keyboard player<
Photo by Jake Lin
Ninni Luhtasaari from Pintandwefall
The year 2021 has been hectic, stressful and painful – yet full of love.
My selection of soothing go-to albums have stayed the same for a while now:
Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire de Melody Nelson
Tampo – Yömies astuu päivänvaloon
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
Sur-rur – Ajan paksu lakana
Can – Monster Movie
Carole King – Tapestry
I have also been listening to a lot of Radio Helsinki and Levonille lasken luojani podcast. They’ve kept me company and made me feel like I truly was among friends on the isolated days.
In the literary world Kazuo Ishiguro‘s warm hearted observations on human behaviour stole my heart thanks to my partner. The narration can be adventurous, dreamy and stagnant at the same time. It’s difficult to pick a favourite since each novel is so different but maybe start with The Remains of the Day (Pitkän päivän ilta).
Some other things that I’ve found comforting this year are
Family life and our new baby
Niki de Saint Phalle‘s installations and fountains
Simon Hanselmann‘s comics on instagram
Succession tv series
Panda choco & lakrits salty caramel candy
Pokemon Go mobile game
Making of the upcoming pintandwefall album
Kirsi Kunnas – Tiitiäisen satupuu poems
Downton Abbey tv show and Maggie Smith‘s character
Seinfeld tv show
the Finnish public health care and the Neuvola system
Tuomas Alatalo from Cats of Transnistria
2021
This year I have been working on my solo project Azis Funck. The album Decompositions will be out on January 28th 2022. 8 tracks of drony ambient, blusterous experiments, soft noise of the violin, Field recordings and audio litter.
On repeat:
Kymmenen välivuotta by Ydinperhe
Favorite albums of 2021:
Nappy Nina & Jwords – Double Down
Heta Bilaletdin – Nauhoi
Ty Roxy – Music
Generacion Suicida – Regeneracion
Les Filles de Illighadad – At Pioneer Works
Fake Fruit – s/t
Tvärtom s/t
Joona Kinnunen from Ghosts On TV
“People returned to gigs this year, hell yea”
Top 5 gigs I played
Francis North x Ghosts on TV @ Kapsäkki
Äiti Heresia @ Espan Lava
Ghosts on TV @ Superwood
Ghosts on TV @ On the Rocks
Knife Girl @ Solitifest
Top 5 gigs I saw
Stam1na, Viimeinen Atlantis show @ Nordis
Teksti-TV 666 @ Viikki
Plutonium 74 @ Keran hallit
Marko Haavisto & Poutahaukat @ Superwood
Astrid Swan @ Malmi-talo
Great Finnish albums from 2021 that deserve more attention
Musta Huone – Hälve / Huove
Palmpillows – All Well
Tvärtom – Tvärtom
Rebekka Holi – Posliinijättiläinen
Juuso Avautuu – Yksin kotibileissä
Nasu ja Penkojaiset – Siinä liikkuu vuoria
My favourites
New GY!BE, Lingua Ignota, Pharaoh Sanders/Floating Points/LSO, Lil Ugly Mane, Tyler, Dawson x Circle and so on!
Ocelot
Ocelot’s musical dream board. For the past year/for the coming album.
