In the year 2009 - teh bestest

I had to make these "best of 2009" lists for this rock mag that i frequently contribute to, already a couple weeks ago. So i thought, why not post them here too (as a slightly edited version). Since our dudes at Top Billin just made their annual lists full of goodness.

So here goes, if any of ya'll are interested. And to be supa clear, this list was made in, like, 20 minutes and especially for a pop/rock mag. So it kinda leans toward quite poppy stuff, indie and hit singles. Not much rap/reggae/dancefloor shite/remixes/bloghouse craziness in here, sorry dudes. If not a lot of stuff i would play at clubs so much, here's some good pop shit, nevertheless. AND I also will retain the right to change my mind about any of these songs/albums, since tomorrow i will disagree with all of my dumb last minute picks.


International albums

1. Bat For Lashes: Two Suns
2. JJ: N°2
3. Passion Pit: Manners
4. Desire: II
5. The XX: XX
6. The Juan Maclean: The Future Will Come
7. Yacht: See Mystery Lights
8. Fever Ray: Fever Ray
9. Annie: Don’t Stop
10. Handsome Furs: Face Control


International tracks:


1. Bat For Lashes: Daniel
2. Desire: Don’t Call
3. Beyoncé: Halo (not quite 2009, though, i know...)
4. The Juan MacLean: One Day
5. Basement Jaxx: Raindrops
6. Gossip: Heavy Cross
7. Shakira: She Wolf
8. The Big Pink: Dominos
9. Passion Pit: The Reeling
10. Phoenix: Lisztomania

suomihitit

1. hannulelauri: Metropolis
2. Villa Nah: Ways To Be
3. Helsinki 78-82: Cruisin’
4. Randy Barracuda: Ketamine Strut
5. Helsinki 78-82: So Lifelike feat. Villa Nah
6. Ruudolf: Tööttää
7. Bääbs: Kun nainen lyö
8. Shine 2009: Higher
9. Regina: Tapaa minut aamulla
10. Top Billin: Playboy Anthem feat. So Hot It Hurts

Suomialbumit

1. Randy Barracuda: Randy Barracuda
2. Sister Flo: Au
3. Vuk: The Plains
4. Chisu: Vapaa ja yksin
5. Cats on Fire: Our Temperance Movement
6. Saurus: Neon Saurus
7. PMMP: Veden varaan
8. Manna: Songs of Hope and Desire
9. Michael Black Electro: Stripped Anatomy of
10. Jori Hulkkonen: Man From Earth


ps. Songs i forgot: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Whitney: Million Dollar Bill, Kelly Clarkson: My Life Would Suck Without You. Songs i found after making the list, that would have mos def made the list: Azari & III: Reckless For Your Love, Jackpot: Greased Lightning, House Of House: Rushing To Paradise...

pps. Also check out Hennyman's bestest reggae choices inna 2009 > here

Cat Found

When I was a yout...

I used to bun Cali weed inna Rizzla. Nuff said.

Blakkamoore, seen!

This is top notch stuff originating from Brooklyn,
Like we've heard with Major Lazer as well.

This may not be the new year party anthem, but works on many levels still, if you'ree feelin dubby.

Or try this for more dubsteppy version.

'This is Rock'n'Roll'

Yeah, but watch it until the end...

SMC Hoodrats // Helsinki North Side Nuggetit

This is north Helsinki in 2009 but how come it reminds me so much of La Haine?

Gaza Shop –mixtape out now!

The year's coming to an end so I put together those reggae songs that touched me in 2009. They also happen to be the ones that I’ve been spinning a lot on my dj sets this year as well.

Ok – you reggae nerds might point out that some of these song didn’t actually come out in 2009, but like I said, these are the ones that did the trick for me this year.

We have some banging dancehall tunes, nice rootsy lovers stuff, tasty one drop, fresh tunes & chart toppers, classic riddims recycled, odd choices, hip hop flavoured tunes, funny lyrics & dutty lyrics, newcomers & old timers, but it’s all good. So it’s 100 % Kriton Bangers style mixtape once again.

Download ”Gaza Shop” now for free (69 mins/159 Mb/320 kbps)

Here’s the tracklist :

Tarrus Riley ft. Konshens: Good Girl Gone Bad
Unicorn & Macka Diamon: Think Bout Mi
Estelle & Joni Rewind: Uptown Top Rankin
Konshens: The Realest Song
Demarco: True Friend (Buss A Shot)
G Whizz: Life
Ding Dong ft. Chevaughn: Holiday
Mr Vegas: Gallis
Busy Signal: Some Man A Pussy Face
Demarco: Keep The Lights On
Vybz Kartel ft. Spice: Ramping Shop
Major Lazer ft. Mr. Vegas & Jovi Rockwell: Can't Stop Now
Burro Banton: Nah Drop Di Ting
Perfect: 10 Pound Of Ganja
Buju Banton: Girlfriend
Prince Fatty: Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Mavado: Neva Believe U
Vybz Kartel: Go Go Club
Bruckup ft. Shaggy: Sunglasses (Keep Ya Shades On)
Mr Vegas & D’Angel: Good Life
Major Lazer ft. Mr Lexx & Santogold: Hold The Line
Vybz Kartel: Genie Wine
Mavado: Sweetest Time
Beenie Man: Bubble Gyal A Bubble
Vybz Kartel: Gaza Christmas
Munga: Doubble Troubble
Aidonia: When We Buss It

Enjoy & play it loud!

We ain't taking orders from snakes no more

I have always thought that Enter Shikari is at least interesting.

The first song that I heard from these guys was a weird combo of hardcore emo and trance synths... They we're like Arctic Monkeys' younger skateboarding cousins on speed.



And now I find these guys have gone dubstep. Or is this just just a remix?

Dub Fiya !!! // Aswad: Dub Fire

Free mp3's and apps from Apple

I guess Jobs is feeling the x-mas vibe and so Apple is giving away free mp3's and apps for 12 days starting from 26th of December.

That a nice gesture and a sneaky way to get peeps filling their new iPods and Macbooks with free / not so free stuff.

Hope they got their servers in order, I recall that a few years back their websites crashed at x-mas 'cos so many started trying their new iPods / Itunes at the same time

12 Days OF Christmas

Buju got caught

Like Mr Vegas informed us yesterday, Buju Banton has been in custody since Thursday and will soon be transferred to Tampa, where the U.S. Attorney is charging him with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilos of cocaine.
Read more here

BIG TUNE // Major Lazer: Can't Stop

Loving this now big time! And featuring none other than Mr. Vegas.

Man marries a videogame character

Basically superdupernerdy, but fascinating. I hope that Sal9000 and Nene Anegasaki will have a long and a happy life together.

Auto tune ads

Wow. I thought Jay Z announced the death of autotune, but it's alive.

There's even a facebook app that allows you to sing your status updates via autotune.

This is cool advertising imho.

Social Media Counter

This is pretty cool.

Cocomotion hits town before Santa!

Yay! It's Cocomotion time again, just to get it out of the way before christmas - 19th december at Nolla BAr. This time i'll have the mighty Ais-T (from the Music People radio show & blog, Bassoradio etc) joining me behind the decks, providing you with all things smooth - be it old or new disco, balearic pop gems, blissed out epic house music or the always so popular AOR evergreens. Come ya'll!

K-Pop

J-Pop

Funky Flag of the Day; Mozambique

Simply the coolest flag: Mozambique.

WTF Collective is here, bi*******ch!

I'm a huge fan Jon Lajoie as you might have realized before. This is the same stuff he's done before but still he does is so well that it makes me laugh.

Heads High - A Kriton Selection Of Mr Vegas

To celebrate the upcoming Mr Vegas show on Sunday I made a short selection of the hottest gallis anthems by Mr Vegas.

This time they're no mixed together or anything, just a simple Spotify playlist.

Enjoy.

Heads High - A Kriton Selection Of Mr Vegas

The Ambien Walrus

THIS IS NOT NORMAL ...

More BMX Radness // Brad Simms

Warming Up In NYC from Hoffman Bikes on Vimeo.

This is for our very own Alppila, old man riding around on a kids' bike... ;)

And them have anthems

These guys aren't not like Jimi Hendrix, but this will fit the independence day theme for today. They could have ripped a bit more though. Why so serious and straightforward?

Freefalling into a good morning

Once again the classic Tom Petty song sampled. I still think that Pimp C made better use of that riff.

Gringos were locos back in '88

Well, I was there.

I have later realized that Gringos Locos could have been a pretty good AOR band, if they didn't have so many bluesy riffs. And if they had dropped that weird cowboy-look. I mean, it never was cool to wear cowboy boots with your jeans tucked into them, and those belts with bullets - don't get me started.

The Home Town Anthem: Helsinkii

Old but still so good. For Friday!

Randy's Ketamine Strut

Who's Your Daddy

This song has been haunting me for weeks, but today I found out whut it was. Pretty uplifting hip hop with classic samples.

True Black Death Metal From 1977

Richard Pryor from 1977.

Pre-Spinal Tap Mystical Hobbit Rockers? Check.
Druidic cloaks? Check.
Smoke machines? Check.
Pryor throwing giant bags of drugs and pills into his all-white teenage audience? Check.
Pryor using a gas gun to kill the first few rows? Check.

And finally, Richard Pryor taking a machine gun to his fans, killing every white teenager in the place? Double-check.

Artbreak Motel presents: Juha Fiilin Wallride

'If not for art, at least come for the beer' ...

edit: Fiil Inc will be spinning them records on the opening night party (thu 3.12.)! Come y'all, Kriton in the building!

Ebay find of the day: Green Protective face shape Mask+multicolored Goggles

necessary equipment of plays WARGAMEif you buy,you will get this above picture two item in onetime,donot misswear it will

made you like a chivalrous man,very cool

when you see the below picture,are you feel the look are very funny?are you want to try it yourself?

Perfect for Shooting Skirmash, Skiing, Riding, Outdoor Activity, Hunting & Military Purpose Use

We <3 Azari & III

Holy goodness, this Azari & III single "Reckless With Your Love" is so GOOD! All I know about these dudes is that they are from Canada and theyre putting out an album next year. The first single Hungry For The Power was really good, but this one is just absurdly great. On Permanent Vacation records

This Youtube comment: "I just orgasmed all over my living room" justabout sums it up for me.

A Grim Unholy GIF

Happy Cat

Flip Clips Vol.1

push it a stop - flip clips vol. 1 from scott marceau on Vimeo.

Diggin' this for the vibes, sounds, slams & the NYC.

A logo that blows

This is the official logo for the London Olympics 2012. It apparently cost £400,000 to design and now some critics have found some really disturbing resemblances with some Simpson characters.

Look here, for some explanations, but be aware, there is some sexually provocative material there.

Pics of us monkeying around in the studio

Our good buddy Matti Tanskanen took some funny pics of us at the studio (unfortunately Jussi was absent. We'll photoshop him there later).

Wasted Potential

"Love it or hate it, people smoke marijuana - lots of it. In some states marijuana consumption and posession have been decriminalized, and even legalized for medicinal purposes. But, have you ever wondered how large the economics of Marijuana were? Us too. As a result ,have decided to put together this graphic, which illustrates the popularity of marijuana consumption, the federal tax dollars spent to keep marijuana illegal, and the possible tax revenues that could be generated if marijuana production were legalized and taxed like any other agricultural product. It is especially interesting, with regards to the Great Recession."

Butterscotch on the rocks

She really kicks out the jams and literally kills that guy.

Reggae names

Seems that nowadays many new upcoming dancehall and also some roots reggae artists seem to have pretty cool or weird short names, usually just 5-6 letters long. Or what do you think of these:

- Jagwa
- Bramma
- Smuji
- Jahfe
- Fambo
- Sadeki

If they wanna get more traditional names, they should check out the Reggae name generator

I shall refer to me myself and I as "Deyazmach Dread" from now on.

Street Viewin' Googlemaps

The Google Street View application thingy is apparently quite awesome. You see what really goes on on dem streets, worldwide too. Robberies, violence, peeing, people with big guns, puking, flashing titties, Samurai sword fights, people getting arrested and whatnot.

Some people's been complaining about the loss of privacy and shit like that but I say f**k that, if you do stupid/cool stuff on public place, someone is bound to see you, or even better you're actually asking for it. Damn, that what human life is like. Hatzios Kriton would approve.

Shimmy Shimmy Ya!

Cocomotion back in town!

The mighty Cocomotion club is back this week at Nolla Bar! And with yet another guest from Helsinki's dj elite. Fummer, that is!

Fummer's been the number one combatant for nu/space/beard disco and balearic sweetness in Helsinki for ages. He's been playing that stuff for years at club nites such as Workout, Low Phantasy, Family Man, Gods of Eden, doing mixes and blogging with his Music Must Go Beyond Itself crew. So the dude knows his stuff!

Come by on saturday, will you! I've even got a brand new edit done for the occasion, a little extended mix of a late 1980's post-new wave/pre-alt rock/AOR classic...

Guitar shirt

This innovation is for you who wants to play spontaneous licks and riffs at the pre christmas parties and look like a geek/rockstar.

There's one with a drum kit as well, but I'd like to have one with a turntable, so you could scratch your belly with old skool sounds.

Ghetto Tech Baile Funk Invasión !!!

El Macaquito Sound System "ghetto tech baile invasión" from Sarapuhy Beats on Vimeo.

"Circle Board"?!?

Mr Vegas Pon Di Scene

Yes, finally. I've seen Mr Vegas at Sumfest in JA 2002, but his career has been strong ever since, so it's gonna be fresh still in 2009. Actually Mr Vegas is one of the few dancehall acts that has had a long career and is still pon dem charts. Although the current hit"I Am Blessed" has a kinda .... annoying gospel chorus? Well he looks like an older preacherman in the pic above, so the shoes fits.

Hot Gal Today, Heads High, Lean With It, Mus Come A Road.... So def.

Täytyy olla Patron, minun täytyy olla rikkakasvien...

Google's translate -feature is quite hilarious (don't bother clicking if your finnish skills ain't kicking). I actually think that we should start talking and writing like this, like 12 year old kids text messaging and smoking trees at the same time.

Go Yankees

I'm not a big follower of baseball, but I luv the classic Yankees logo & clothing. And I appreciate the fact that they originate from the county of Bronx, the birthplace of hip hop.

But I am a big fan on anthems and here's one anthem for the Yankees , congratulations for taking home 27th World Series title.

Blaze De Weed

For no particular reason. Except that its a damn big TUNE!

Magic Wand

This is the real thing for all of you Potters and wizzards: Magic Wand -remote control.

"The Kymer Magic Wand is basically a universal remote control that is capable of learning up to 13 different infrared (IR) codes from your existing remotes and then replaying those codes when the spellcaster makes any one of 13 different gestures. Among the gestures that the wand can recognize are rotate, left and right flicks, something called Big Swish, Push Forward and Pull Back.

I saw this thing in action the other day and I'll haffi get me one of those thingies. Think about it: you could easily put a spell on your tv, xbox or macbook with flick of a wrist. I say whooooah.

Riddim Of The Day: What What

So, to start a new 'Dropping Riddim Knowledge' series here today's Riddim is called 'What What', as made famous by Capleton's 'High Grade' and which samples heavily The Neptunes produced classic 'Superthug' by N.O.R.E., check out the live version below.

And If I remember correctly, Superthug was The Neptunes' real breakthrough hit as a production team way back in 1998, or something.

Anyway, it's still a banger even if IHMO Capleton would kick Nore's ass any day because 1.) he dresses in way funkier style, and 2.) he's more likely to be seen blessing a hefty Chalice, instead of drinking Crystal out of some stupid blingy pimp cup or something.

DISCLAIMER:

I know hardly anything about Jamaican riddims in general. The most common databases do not say anything about the What What riddim but High Grade is supposed to done to Okay riddim instead... whatever.

Konshens - Winner

Reggae music is best served fresh, but sometimes even older hits seem to work. Just like with Jussi's recent post about Sizzla, A man who hasn't done too much interesting in the last few years, but his songs live on.

A newer artist Konshens has been popping up here and there. Today I heard this song once again on my way to work (babylon!) and it kept ringing in my head all day long. It's over a year old (means ancient is patois), but it still hot!

Sleng Teng Riddim Of The Day

Old folks tend to say something about 'eating an apple a day...' but I say: listening to at least one track made to the classic Sleng Teng riddim a day cannot do nuttin' but good for you.

So here's Reggie Stepper with his massive 'Under Mi Sin Ting' for your enjoyment.

Eli's Glass House

Eli Escobar is a way good dj and a friend of Finland who remembers to visit Helsinki often enough. He's also got the coolest music blog and he's a sought-after remixer, putting out official remixes as well as nice bootles (like this one on a Top Billin EP, for example). But the man is a renaissance hero: he's even done some tracks of his own. Like this new one called Glass House. And it has a really nice throwback video.

Sizzla Kalonji Haffi Get It !

You might think whatever about Sizzla's recent adventures and opinions on many things but this is ATMO simply one the most slammin' Jamaican tracks I've heard lately. And yes, I know it's waaay old but who cares? Worth several rewinds at any dance!

Kriton Bangers by kritonmusic

Kriton Bangers �by� kritonmusic

New outfit!

Lo and behold! We finally have a new layout and graphics done for this blog. And a new title too, "Life Of Kriton", which is basically what the whole blog is all about. Awesome!

It's right here in front of your eyes. Enjoy it!

Bold Style Back In The Day

... because you're HOT!

"OK, b***h, it's Weezer and it's Weezy"

Weezer and Lil Wayne, written by Jermaine Dupri... hands up, who saw this coming? Rivers Cuomo getting busy some the most generic jiggy-rap lyrics like "I gotta have Patron, I gotta have the weed..." Loads of trance-rap synths, Wayne's voice morphing into River's voice.

Sort of very ridonkulous and retarded, but still sort of amusing. On the chorus the production kinda sounds like Linkin Park, though...

The Zulu King !!!

Mad White Jamaican

Mad White Jamaican has been some sort of a Internet Phenomenon or Meme for some time. He may not be most hilarious comedian on earth, but you must admit there's something funny about this concept - an eminem lookalike with a trenchtown accent. Seen?

A Typical Stoner

From Juliet Elliot's Flickr.

Epitome of Finnish Hipsterdom ´09

Now pardon my rather bitter words but this is the true epitome of Finnish Hipsterdom circa 2009:

Couple of probably not-very-poor parents' daughters straight out of HEL Looks making highly irritating 1980s flavoured elektro-discopop -> produced by a dude who moved to Berlin -> who also used be a Nu Breakz DJ (Hi Jonas!) -> in a video with kids riding new production Jopos (-> as product placed by Helkama) and fixie-bikes around night time Los Angeles.

But hey, it's all great anyway, except that the song is just not that good at all.

Max Skate Bike

In case you're wondering what will be the next big thing after all those fixie bikes...

The Indian Condom Song...

... needs to be sampled!

At 4:20 pm

The Wizard

Whoa!

A cool bike ad

A pretty cool ad for Alta bikes. They are a norwegian bike manufacturer focusing on simpilified urban single speed bikes as far as I know.

This is the reason I find it difficult to fit in skinny hipster jeans myself;-)

Stylophone

I need one of these machines.

Or I could see an emulator for these made for iPhone or some other touch screen gadget.

RING! RING!

Cocomotion vol 6 - killing you smoothly this weekend!

It's on again this weekend. As guest deejay, we're having Mange from Sweden (and the ever expanding Nerd Network Helsinki crew) who knows his italo like his back pockets! Info from the flyer above.

And on top of that, Magnus made a special promo mix for Cocomotion! Get it here, track list on the comments section.

Magnus Blomkvist: Cocomotion Mini-promomix 2009

Grand Master Roc Raida R.I.P.

No matter what you think about turntablism, the man was a true master.

Most EPIC Surf/Skate/Snow Movie Evah!

This might be tad bit long but worth every second ATMO. Despite the truly awful soundtrack.

Vybz Kartel 'Bicycle' (Tripple Bounce Riddim)

We love bikes, seen?

Pot Records

I guess there could be a steady demand for these kind of records even today.

Follow the golden fox!

This song reminds me that I should repair my old Groovebox to get my hands on its' filter knobs & arpeggios. To get that classic, durttty arpeggio sounds!

Btw this duo is coming to Helsinki tomorrow, so be there if this is your cup of juice.

Suomalaiset people

Just have to bring this classic back! Suomalaiset people in Helsinki!

Remember to recycle: Jay Z & Forever Young

This brings me back....Waaayyyy back....

Tocar la Gorda -Touch the Fat One!

Sounds nasty, don't it. But that's the name of a new short film by Juha Fiilin (yep, that's my bro), containing even a clip of Kriton Bangers' music. Lottery, sleazy porn producers, yachts, all sorts of craziness. See it at the Helsinki International film festival, if you're in town this week!

Tocar la Gorda on fiilin.com

Because I Got High

Nuff said!

Funk Balls

Now this ish is crazy. Cariocas gone mad...

"Police believe at least 60 young Brazilians have lost their lives in funk balls; dozens more have sustained serious injuries. Some have been paralyzed, some blinded.

Funk balls look like ordinary nightclubs with one big difference: They play music that incites the crowd to bloodshed. Funk's anger is contained not only in lyrics of murder and revenge but wrapped up in the very sound of the music, in a rhythm that chimes with the speed of a fist smashing into an enemy's flesh."

Read the whole thingy here

I know this is an old article, but still...

iSnowWhite

We all operate on Macs nowadays and many people love to 'personalize' their laptops with stickers and whatnot. Anyway, this is seriously the coolest design on any Mac laptop I've seen so far.

Black (metal) humour

Soo, is this

a) funny
b) weird
c) pathetic
d) finnish
e) awesome
f) rocking
g) all of the above

It's for you to decide

Komposti Sound Respect!

Much respect to Bommi Tommi & Komposti Sound! And Lifesaver! And combined, the best youtube playlist for yer sorry asses.

http://www.lifesaver.net/keskustelut/read.php?6,149407