Journal

Best albums of 2011:
Originally this section was titled Best album, but I ran into troubles. How can I pick between a band that has influenced my musical taste more than any other, my all-time favourite female vocalists, and a new rising star with three kick-ass albums to her name? And of course, I'm talking about Eppu Normaali's acoustic, two-disc Mutala, Kate Bush's 50 Words for Snow, and Chisu's excellent Kun valaistun. I really can't, so the best album this year is a shared prize. Sorry for being boring...

50 Words for Snow:
One of the albums I bought in physical form in this year. After the first time I listened through this, I was regretting the decision to buy it. Luckily, it took just a few more times and the album started opening up to me. It really is a wonderful journey through snow. The only problem is the length: at one hour and five minutes, it requires some time to listen through. Call me old school, but in the past few years, I've really learned to appreciate shorter albums. …

Recommendations are most appreciated.

★★★★★- Perfection, all-time classic
★★★★½- Excellence, recommended to anyone
★★★★- Great, recommended to most
★★★½- Very good, enjoyable despite lacking outstanding qualities.
★★★- Decent, recommended to fans
★★½- Average, indifference
★★- Poor, recommended only to hardcore fans
★½- Bad, avoid
★- Terrible, please don't waste your time
½- An abomination to the ear

1349- Revelations of the Black Flame (black metal/dark ambient, ★★)

A Storm of Light / Nadja- Primitive North (atmospheric sludge/drone doom metal, ★★★/★★★½)
Abigail- Sweet Baby Metal Slut (black/thrash metal, ★★½)
Absu- Absu (black/thrash metal, ★★★½)
Achokarlos- Forget All You Know (progressive/technical death metal, ★★★
Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O- Lord of the Underground: Vishnu and the Magic Elixir (psychedelic rock, ★★★½)
Adrenicide- Kill (crossover thrash, ★★★/★★★½)
Ahab- The Divinity of Oceans (funeral doom metal, ★★★½/★★★★)
…

Artists

1. Scandinavian Music Group (527)
2. Pariisin Kevät (523)
3. Jukka Poika (498)
4. Raappana (488)
5. Moby (486)
6. Zen Café (437)
7. Soul Captain Band (436)
8. Puppa J (395)
9. Asa (362)
10. Anna Puu (349)
11. PMMP (332)
12. Florence + the Machine (331)
13. Rammstein (329)
14. Chisu (317)
15. Depeche Mode (298)


Albums

1. Puppa J - Oi Aikoja!
2. Florence + The Machine - Lungs
3. Pariisin Kevät - Astronautti
4. SOul Captain Band - Jokaselle tulta
5. John Grant - Queen of Denmark
6. Moby - Play
7. Raappana - Päivä on nuori
8. Cat Stevens - Collected Disc 1
9. Jukka Poika - Kylmästä lämpimään
10. Posteljoona & Ystävät - Irti


Tracks

1. Ultravox – Lament (68)
2. Puppa J – Omat jalat (54)
2. Plutonium 74 – Kaisa meni diskoon (54)
4. Pariisin Kevät – Astronautti (52)
5. John Grant – Chicken Bones (51)
5. Florence + the Machine – Cosmic Love (51)
7. Puppa J – Herra vartija (50)
7. John Grant – Jesus Hates Faggots (50)
9. Yann Tiersen – J'y Suis Jamais Allé (48)
…

At the beginning of a new year it's a good time for a little musical retrospection.

Top 10 most played artists of the last 12 months
1. Garbage, 821 plays
2. Iron Maiden, 766 plays
3. Mötley Crüe, 743 plays
4. Marilyn Manson, 741 plays
5. The Wildhearts, 705 plays
6. The 69 Eyes, 594 plays
7. Florence + the Machine, 470 plays
8. Reckless Love, 424 plays
9. Stam1na, 395 plays
10. Alice in Chains, 386 plays

Of my 2009 top ten, only Mötley Crüe, Iron Maiden and The 69 Eyes made it to the list for the second year in a row.

I finally saw Maiden live in August 2010 which, alongside the release of (surprisingly good) The Final Frontier, got me into listening to them more than I had done for years.

I've been a casual fan of Garbage for a long time but during the last year they completely took over my heart (and my charts).

Marilyn Manson is the most unexpected name on the list. I had a peculiar out-of-the-blue three-week obsession with their music in Spring; before that I only really knew a handful of their songs.
…

I removed two countries this week: Japan and Greece. Japan - for the reason that the official music charts in Japan are published by some morons manually in Microsoft Bullshit format that changes every week. Japan, sorry, looks like you're losing technologically to China or even Macedonia or Cyprus for that matter. Greece has the charts in a reasonable format but since I have started working on the charts, I have never seen just ANY greek artist on the list. IFPI Greece keeps promising they'll have a separate chart for local artists, but until then it doesn't make much sense to see Lady Gaga and Eminem on top of another country's charts. So we have what we have.


Charts from Austria: Top 40
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#1 Amigos - Weisst Du,was Du Fuer Mich Bist
Schlager, amigos, Deutsche Schlager, volksmusik, grand prix der volksmusik, Brutal Death Metal metalcore, pagan black metal, explicit, oldtimer, brutal death meta

#2 Nockalm Quintett - Mein Wunder Der Liebe
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