A Life-long Romance With Good Popular Music

Ten years ago I started raving about my favourite albums in a brand new blog, Maailman paras levy. To this day, I have written about 385 albums - and compiled a list of my favourite song and LP for every year from 1965 (the year of my birth) to 2015. It's been fun, and a way to rediscover old favourites as well as to rant about new ones, but admittedly I'm starting to repeat myself - there are only so many clichés for describing a good record, after all.

Still, this is something I want to keep on doing - but in order to keep up my motivation and stay relevant, I need to up my game a bit.

• Firstly, even though there still are lots of records to write about on my shelves, I doubt if I can maintain a steady flow of new entries - and looking back on some of my earliest posts, I also notice there are at least some records that I see (or hear) in a different light today than I did back then. So those of you who may want to read the full story will have to check back as well...
• And secondly, I have noticed that some of the visits to my blog come from countries where Finnish isn't a major language (which actually means all of the world outside Finland...). That doesn't mean that I'll be abandoning Finnish music - or Swedish, for that matter - even though readers in English wouldn't be familiar with the records and artists I write about. In a best-case scenario, I might even introduce someone to sounds they have never even known they were missing...

Therefore, I'm starting anew - tracking back and revisiting music that has lightened up my way during the last ten years, while also looking out for new favourites to rant and rave about. Incidentally, this December I also celebrate the 40th anniversary of buying my first record; I did have some cassettes before 1978, but they don't really count. My record collecting urge - first vinyl, then also CD, making no priorities among formats - started 40 years ago, and shows no sign of shrinking.

Another thing that just keeps on growing is my love for popular music - I've long ago realized that it's a life-long journey. If you wish, you are most welcome to join me.