The battle for Finland. Burning Hearts vs. Regina. First song by Regina. I absolutely loved their last record. I am not sure this one is as good. Part of the appeal of the first one was the fact that the vocal arrangements were somewhat ambitious and there were voices that arrived from odd angles and oddly dressed and inflected and with the intricately arranged music it made it a miracle of discovery for me. First song, minimal-ish, her voice exceedingly helium-y, as if she had moved to Japan to absorb the adolescent obsessed culture and came home with a souvenir, a new voice. The music is still clever, it's minimal-ish. I've said that. Now the male voices arrive. It's a bit insubstantial. I am only slightly disappointed because i wanted them to turn more artfully complex on this record. I had no idea that this record was about to exist until I happened upon it somewhere on the interwebs. Thanks be to indie pirates then. I have written a short story about Finland, well it factors tangentially, it is about a parking space line painter with an art degree who is frustrated because the lead in the paint is causing her to go mad which she is cheered about for the hallucinogenic El Greco-ish content of her art but which is also affecting the dexterity of her fingers and only in Finland is there a cure, but she must paint more lines to make more money in order to get to Finland and it is a race between death that stalks and her arrival in Finland. It is not so great really. There was meant to be a side line in how all of the lines in the parking lots all over the world contain messages to other planets in some sign of subservience to our galactic overlords but it seemed silly. Now to Burning Hearts first song. It is more basic, the preset button pressed on the Casio and the vacant vocalizing, I am too cruel, the singing is nice. But the music sounds like a side project, my own thoughts are contaminated by the knowledge that this is a side project, I am a cheater. I did something deceitful and dishonest, out of the goodness of my heart, and yet yesterday I found a 20 dollar bill lying on the floor of the local grocery store where Harriet Wheeler's doppelganger works at the pharmacy and I turned in the 20 dollar bill to the store authorities. On reflection it seems a bit odd though to have done that, will they make an announcement over the public address system asking someone to come forward and describe the 20 dollar bill that they foolishly left on the floor in the bar soap aisle. I should have kept it but then I would have had another debit in the karmic column and surely I would have been destined for eternal damnation a a result. Lyrics about rainbows, ugh, not so great. First song goes to Regina. This might not be close. Seocnd Regina song now. It is in Finnish. All of the songs are in Finnish. Is that working as a detriment in this competition? No, because were these songs about rainbows and unicorns I would be blissfully unaware as it would be in Finnish and I do not speak Finnish. This is a bit less spartan than the first song, elegant and charming, a bit Bacharachian, a bit of thinking you know Shirley Bassey could have sung this, rather better than singer here, but I still enjoy it. I like how the parts don't seem to have a concrete outline, her voice striking out of the emptiness into the void. A tender clarion whisper to Fins in outer space. Has Finland sent a Fin to space? How many countries have sent Fins to space then? I am not sure, may we count those with Fins in their genealogy scorecard. Have Fins hitched a ride with the Japanese? Possibly, in exchange for opening the lucrative rice cooker marker to Matsushita. Lovely piano break now, this is why I love Regina, the music is not entirely conventional but it isn't difficult, the voices are coming in from different angles of descent, a vortices of voices swirling around a delicious pop center. It's pop music but it isn't to be dismissed because of that. Her voice still has a piercing quality that might need to be overcome by the weakly squeamish. Over. Now to Burning Hearts and whether they can even things up. Oh, a nice start, very Le Futur Pompiste. She is the singer for Le Futur Pompiste. They share more in common with Le Futur Pompiste than they do Cats on Fire. Cats on Fire have a new record out soon. I've heard two gentle, delicate songs from it and I am extremely excited about the future. I have listened to the new Camera Obscura track as well, the music is gorgeous but is she having any fun? Does she need love in her heart? Perhaps then someone from Regina could marry the singer from Camera Obscura. Ok now, Burning Hearts have won this on on the strength of the vocals alone. There is a smoky resonance in her voice, it conveys maturity and grace and poise, the Regina singer conveys the antithesis of all of these things. Sometimes unease is preferable. The world is soon to end and I feel fine, we're listening to pop music from Finland. Fin. Soon there will be protectionist amendments added to trade bills to bar the importation of Finnish pop music into Amerikkka. Ameircan tunes for american ears, to paraphrase Gordon Brown. It might be called the Fin-Less Garrity Bill. It will plunge the world into depression. We'll all be inconsolable. Next track from Regina, Totuus Minustra, so many vowels, it can't help but be clever and it is. It's her voice pitched down a notch to twang rather than a squeal. Music is all about building to a crescendo, it is understated and somewhat German aping, very very lovely. i am sure it will soon evolve into a bloom of great beauty. I've only listened to each of these records but once and so I am somewhat unfamiliar. They are only paired together because of their common origin. One day there will be a bicentenary celebration for the great Glenn Mcdonald tome(sarcasm) on the origins of twee pop where he takes a boat to all of the indiepop capitals of the world and absconds with specimens pin and mounted and writes about how Orange Juice evolved into Midway Still. There is a blog called Because Midway Still Still Aren't Coming Back, it is mostly filled with dreadful music from the 80s but I do love the title. Hey! Next song by Burning Hearts and hey I thought I wasn't much for this record but I am really enjoying this. Here again my initial prediction was for a Regina sweep but this is rather nice. Perhaps I need to do this with both songs playing simultaneously? There is a softness and romance in this that is merely inscrutable in the Regina record because of the language barrier. i could take a course and reassess then. Or not. Perhaps Regina represent the rustic to the bourgeois Burning Hearts. Better for Regina then when the re-education camps form and the rustics take the helm. Burning Hearts shall be sent for assignment, for rehabilitation, in their Mao suits and owl haircuts learning to make emotionally unavailable dance pop for public consumption, all beats are equal. This is very nice. I've said that. It has the crescendo that never quite arrived in the Regina track, another win for Burning Hearts. They still seem overly fond of the presets on the Casio but this is tremendously pretty. Does the drummer for Cats on Fire have much say in Cats on Fire songs? He might need some space for input, in the future, he could at least recommend they use the singer from Le Futur Pompiste on the next record. Next regina song, spaced out, her voice prepubescent and I like it. I am a foul old thing. Everything about them is synthetically produced, inorganic popular music, this is reminiscent of something dreamy and romantic until it turns to a brand of digital baroque a few minutes in and she begins whispering, enjoying this. They were once on the same label as Moto Boy. They released a single only. This is better than Gentle Touch. They, the powers that be, should have ditched Gentle Touch who are dreadfully depressing and grey and kept Regina instead. The baroque digitalism is the highlight of this song. They are architecturally sound, the music is well configured and sturdy but still somewhat surprising in where it ends up. This might be the closest pop battle ever waged on this blog! How exciting to be a witness to history then, how exciting for you, I mean. Not really. I am doing this combined entry to save the vapid exclamations that will have otherwise acumulated by explaining my incoherent reactions to these records separately. i offended someone I don't know in the post on Soap & Skin, apologies, it was a general insult more than one aimed specifically at any one person. But honestly Projekt was filled with silly people. Really. Next Burning Hearts track, starts off unpromisingly, a sample of some sort, these samples should be short, this is much too long. Repetitive noises on guitar and sampler, this is very first record OMD, primitive and not as clever as they imagine it to be. Her voice now, wordless, mirroring the keyboard melody. Dreary dreary dreary. Now back to the sample. This is filler, bah, it's only nine songs that are on this record and they have filler? Madness. Where is the work ethic? What is the work ethic of the average Fin, where do their rates of productivity rank on the scale when measured against other developed economies? Is Finland truly of the west? They were fancy with the Soviets for a long time, sweets for the crocodiles so that their teeth would fall out of their heads. Usually now I would turn to my limited knowledge of the brave Fins in the Winter War but I will not actually. That song was entirely pointless and offensive, easy win to Regina. Now Regina's next song and they are beginning to show off now, excellent doings, racing piano now rushes listener into something sinister seeming and falvoured exotically, fulminated richly by the oddly acented vocals, back with the trilling piano lines. Beautiful. Saanko jaada yoksi. It's warm and inviting and then a stark interjection of her voice unrecognizable and sharpened. This is a beautiful thing, it is almost acid house, almost reminiscent of KLF. Possibly. And now a flute break on top of a conventional piano melody, it's been antiqued for a brief interlude, now then back to technological innovation. Her voice in attempting a tempting come on, but it's as synthetic as the music, this is physical music though. Can we compare Regina with their physicality that makes me want to move my body in time with the guttural clenches at the end of verse and Burning Hearts who dwell in weepy, doe-eyed primitivism? Who cares. We shall. If only we were we. False ending, a breakdown, bongos, bass thump, drum machines, it is very early 1990s. people on I Love Music could possibly love this, what is becoming of me then? They are counting down the best 50 albums of the year and I have only actually heard one of the records on the list, the Fleet Foxes and I've only heard one song. I am so unaware. I am so un-hipster. I need more ironic izod shits next to my shabby trousers. After the bongo break back to dance music, do the electric slide, wooo. Acoustic guitar now, stolen from the wimps in Burning hearts surely. Excellent! Now to Burning Hearts, oooo!, they are getting a bit more daring on this one, almost Regina-esque, but it sounds tinny and unure of itself, these might be virtues though for their target demographic, oh but her voice is wonderful. it really is a battle between Regina's cleverness and her singing. Isn't it? it is. I am redundant for appearances of substance. Look at how long this entry is! I must have really considered each of these records. But I haven't. This song wins, it's marvelous. Well, when she is singing. Ths music is a bit silly. Imagine her singing for Regina? A dream. When is the Le Futur pompiste record coming then. It has been a while. They are having babies instead of pop songs. They are not considering their carbon footprint then, heretics. I am off to see a movie in 3d tonight. The last 3D movie I saw in the theater was Jaws 3. A young Dennis Quaid in a fight to save two dolphins from the menu, a tear jerker. This song still reminds of early OMD. I love early OMD, unfair. Next Regina song. Some When in Rome tinkling on the piano, atmospheric effects, 80s drum machine, sweet, her coyly harmonizing with herself, hmm...this is not nearly as good as the first album. Keyboards that mimic steel drums, her voice swirly and uninspired, but then comes the break, they have these amazing breaks, double vocal tracks, icy piano motifs, but then back to the verses that are sedate an unadventurous in comparison. Make all of the songs about the choruses and breaks and it would be epic. Her voice is average but when it's shooting or spitting or cutting and dancing it is more intriguing. Some electric guitar to color things and again we come to a seque into the wilderness, the more feral nature of their being, away from the sway on the dancefloor. Do they adhere to the taxonomy of their existence as a dance band? I couldn't really dance to this, I could awkwardly jerk various extremities and make uncomfortable grimaces in the wake but then really I can't dance to dance music. Next now to Burning Hearts' Sea Birds. I was reading a book of 300 curious facts and it claimed that Donald Duck was once banned in Finland because he did not wear pants. Random facts to accompany the random disassociated introduction that weaves it's way in and out of the mix, standard 1950s forbidden planet sound effects. She's not a gifted singer either, but there is an inherent warmth in her voice, no pipsqueak effects. The squeaks work when Regina get odd but when they are conventionally conventional they grow overly tiresome. Burning Hearts have embraced brevity. They have used Le Futur Pompiste as a template more than Cats on Fire. It's circular as Cats on Fire were originally billed as a side project for the drummer from Le Futur Pompiste and now the drummer from Cats of Fire whom is not the drummer for Le Futur Pompiste has a side project from Cats of Fire with someone from Le Futur Pompiste. All that is left to ponder is who will work with the Harry Hunks then. Nice movement into something a bit sci-fi classy, elegant futurist lounge tones and the boring music underneath. Presets and two note guitar. But somehow this is winning the day. My apologies to those interested in complexity. I am normally in your camp but the current facts on the ground support the absurd notion that Burning Hearts are the superior to Regina. Strange. The problem with these comparison entries is that i spend too much time talking about the music I am not nearly witty enough to make music interesting. Next Regina song, Tango merella, piano introduction, neatly treated, now her voice, oh I quite like this so far. It has the alien feel that haunted most of the first record. There are bird sounds, sea birds, the circle of erm...pop. "The universe is my home, my room is my pants, why are you in my pants?". Just the piano, her voice whispered, thus far, and birdsong, now bass throb and bongos. So many bongos. Her voice abundantly ethereal and lovely. This may be the best song on the album. I am not sure, I can't remenber what is still left to come. Accordion. Nice. Folktronica? No. They are clearly more talented than Burning Hearts, this is decideldy intricate and inventive. Do they record their own records? What might they do with a producer to encourage them to work a bit harder on the voices. The accordion is a sort of contrail on this, it has an almost jazzy samba feel, latin nordica, ski jumping with a sombrero. It snowed last evening, I woke up unaware, i thought it was meant to be unseasonably warm this weekend. But even now the sun shines, the music turns celestial with sea birds to the fore and romance and intrigue and all of that sappy stuff. Very nice. Will Burning Hearts be able to overcome this? What is the score anyhow? I will look back, Hmmm...I can't seem to figure it out. Ha. This song is a bit like all of the rest of their songs, presets, boring organ and nice voice, no points for lack of ambition. She is carrying all of the water, clever vocal arrangements, prettiness but not enough, chalk up one more for Regina. Next Regina track, another Finnish title with a tittle. I've only just finished Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, I allege that most read it when they are 8, I did not, but honestly someone should have told me how much I would have loved it. Please keep me in the loop. In the book of useless facts there was also a claim that female ferrets that go into heat will die if they do not find a mate. Is this true? Why then are there not more ferret metaphors for a heart's longing? This song is piano based, beats, nice vocals, cleverness incarnate, soaring bits now with squirrely sound effects and voices as sirens very nice, this could be a hit on top 40 radio somewhere other than Finland. Apologies for the capitalization. Perhaps another win for regina, going with my gut as to the overall picture as I can't interpret my feelings one week later. I would say it is neck and neck at the moment. Next Burning HEarts number, again it is not fair that she is essentially on her own going against the powerful troika in Regina. Smoky Birdie-esque composure and loveliness and dull music lying beneath these heavenly heights. Again the highlights arrive when her voice is multi-tracked and loveliness is increased exponentially but there doesn't seem to have been much thought put into the rest of the track. Who can reward jumping someone else's train? Not I! If i were to chose a record to play to the person that I can't stop thinking about then it would be Burning Hearts because clever people are often lonely people. Nice bit now with her voice and twinkles, so nice, but Regina is still holding on to the victory, they must, I want to appear as hip as the people who post all of the wonderfully obscure 7 inchers from the 1980s. You know, sometimes things are obscure because they are not very good. This is a distinct possibility, circumstance does not always triumph over good sense. But i was pleased that a 10 year old Sussex Spaniel(who knew such a breed even existed) named stump won best in Show. He's a much better representative of his kingdom than the chimp that stole that poor womans face. Regina track, excellent!!! So cool, her cooing voice, she is far better suited to the coo than the coy, and minimal electronics and now fake sitars in the break, and now fake scratches that might have been lifted from a Beastie Boys record. Look at all of the brainless references I am forced to fabricate for Regina when in comparison I am allowed to maintain the steady and singular use of 'preset' for every song on the Burning Hearts record. Now cool detached backing vocals getting with the subcontinent flavor. Tourists. Paul Simon's illegitimate offspring from his dalliances in pseudo soviet satellites. Nice nice nice. Next BH. Piano. Regina's piano sounds like it is played with fingers and yet BH's has surely been hammered senseless with rolling pins, thud thud thud and strum strum strum. Clunky, even the voice, this is the title track, perhaps this is the intro bit? The entire record sounds like a set of demos, piano softened slightly by the arrival of canned synths, still da da da blah blah blah. Hmmm...big win for Regina and seeing as how this is the last track on the BH record I believe that does tip the scale in Regina's direction, now it has turned to just BH gal's voice and washes and tambourines, all of the songs could have been constructed as such yet soon the music will resurface. Where is my hard hat? Aieee!!! Why is this the title track? This should have been the Japanese b-side. Ah well. Last Regina song, winner by default. Jungle! As in Chimpanzees not Roni SIze. Interesting. The lyrics seem like tongue twisters to a non-native's ears, English is so much slower than most other languages. Oh twinkly tenderness arrives witht he first segue, ah this is marvelous, this is the almost title track and it is understandable how they would imagine this best represents the album. I recant my earlier negative vibes, I quite enjoy this record, I quite enjoy saying quite enjoy. Stamp the anglophilia out on the concrete my friends. Regina Regina.