Kylmää jää jälkeesi

From what I've heard, Antti Tuisku, the third place-finishing Finnish Idol contestant whose popularity has surpassed that of those who beat him, has both a large number of people who adore him (apparently many of whom are young and female, though I'm not quite sure why) and a large number of people who absolutely can't stand him. Let's ignore that for a moment, though, because, though I'm still digesting it, his album New York (released at the same time as his pop album Rovaniemi; New York took the top spot on the album chart that week while Rovaniemi took the second) is shaping up to be a very good dance album, even if the vocal melodies on some songs could be hookier and I might go crazy trying to figure out where some of the samples are from (I have no actual proof that the album uses samples, but it somtimes feels like it does...or maybe the producers and writers just came up with some really good hooks that feel like they should have existed in the past).

Levoton--I am in love with the first minute of this song. Full-on, flat-out love. "Levoton" starts out with distant wooshing wind (accompanied by some clicks and building percussion) that gradually gets louder--but what is it bringing with it? Suddenly, the main drumbeat comes in, and oh my gosh, could it be any more '80's?! It's amazing (though simple)--is it a sample? It's got to be. This is going to be my test for speaker systems in the future--if I don't feel an instense desire to start playing air percussion at this point, the speakers aren't quality. It's still pretty minimal, though...but then the beat drops, a simple, glistening, repeated set of electronic notes. Then a little bit more accompaniment, the moving part of the beat, comes in...listen to it with really good headphones, or preferably on speakers; it's a must, or you'll think I'm crazy, and it's totally worth it--one of the most delicious sections of music I've heard this year. I think speakers--not car speakers--are the way to go. The main shame: the vocal melody, when it comes in, adds nothing to it; if anything, it gets in the way. I'm glad there's singing in the song, but could someone take the music and come up with something else to sing over it? "Sekaisin," which I posted earlier, is still the better overall song. In fact, there are other songs better than this on the album, but at the moment, I just can't stop listening to that first minute of "Levoton."

(Note: after forcing myself to listen to the rest of the song several times, it is a grower and does start to work better as a whole, but I can't help feeling that an intro that amazing deserves a masterpiece of a song).

Apparently, "Tunturibiisi" is going to radio next (after "Sekaisin" and "Levoton") which I don't understand; if they had to choose a song that started with "T" and had lots of vowels in it, I think "Tulevaisuus" would have been a better choice.

I still have no idea where you can go to buy Antti Tuisku's album New York, unless you can navigate through Finnish and this site ships everywhere (which I don't know whether or not it does). If anyone knows, please let me know--there are some other Finnish CDs I'd like to buy!

Lots of blogs I love are starting back up again after a bit of a gap (some more recently than others, but I thought I'd mention them all together): the incredibly detailed and surprising PopEatsPop; the eclectic, educational, and always fun Electroqueer; and the taste-expanding, Russia and nearby countries-focused Russkipop. Also, Enthusiastic but Mediocre has started its year-end countdown of the 100 best singles.

Next up: I'll probably return to Antti at some point in the future, but for now, maybe a French singer.