So Fresh, So Clean

For the last few days I've mostly been washing or cleaning something, clothes and windows mostly. Yesterday I was back in Joensuu, probably for the last time (for now at least), just for the day to take care of some things at work. I was planning to take some more photos there, but I didn't because it was so cloudy and rainy. But here's one of where I'm sitting at the moment:

Today I went to get some books from the library of the Theatre Academy and to get the keys for my room at the university (that I'll be sharing with Merja), and ended up spending most of the day in the city. Among other things I wanted to buy some CDs to get some new music to listen to. And I did, just not the ones I had been thinking about (The Roots & Sting), but these four, all of them were on sale:

• The Five Corners Quintet: Chasin' the Jazz Gone By (2005)
• Daniel Lanois: Shine (2003)
• OutKast: Stankonia (2000)
• Tom Waits: Bone Machine (1992)

A funny selection, all of them are so different from the rest. Although Tom Waits and Daniel Lanois are actually on the same record label these days. Daniel Lanois sounds the same as he used to when I listened to his songs the last time, must have been like ten years ago (I feel so old!), but there are more intrumentals. Maybe I should dig out the old ones, I have them somewhere on cassette, I like his sound, but the songs on this album don't seem very memorable. Bone Machine was also a favourite of mine back then, I thought it would be nice to have it on CD. It still sounds good and it's still almost impossible to know what's supposed to be serious and what ironic.

The Five Corners Quintet album (yes they are from Finland) might become the album of the summer for me, seems like something nice to have playing in the background when the sun is shining but also worth listening to more carefully. Or that's the first impression. Except for the track This could be the start of something (an old song by Steve Allen), the vocals by Mark Murphy on that one remind me too much of Frank Sinatra, very annoying. Apart from that it the album sounds kind of traditional (jazzy) and very trendy at the same time.

And OutKast, well, there are the hit songs + Humble Mumble with Erykah Badu. The rest isn't that interesting really.