Ladies and gentlemen!

Another week - another playlist! Today, I would like to introduce you to my favourite band as a child when I was between four and eight years old. The English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys is the best group of its genre and has released timeless hit singles and albums for three and a half decades and counting. The band also stands out for its colourful, diversified and imaginative live shows. The band members are openly homosexual and many of the duo's lyrics used gender-neutral language long before it became common to do so. The band has not only released regular albums, live albums and compilations but also four remix albums and six soundtracks. Even though the band members are now in their sixties, they have always created music on the pulse of time. Give this dynamic duo a chance by checking out my playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4EWA81l8cEE0gu2nH87oEq

1. West End Girls (1985)

2. Opportunities (1986)

3. Suburbia (1986)

4. What Have I Done to Deserve This? (feat. Dusty Springfield) (1987)

5. It's a Sin (1987)

6. Left to My Own Devices (1988)

7. Domino Dancing (1988)

8. So Hard (1990)

9. Can You Forgive Her? (1993)

10. Yesterday When I Was Mad (1993)

11. Go West (1993)

12. Se a Vida e (That's the Way Life Is) (1996)

13. New York City Boys (1999)

14. I Get Along (2002)

15. The Sodom and Gomorrah Show (2006)

16. Love etc. (2009)

17. Requiem in Denim and Leopardskin (2012)

18. Love Is a Bourgeois Construct (2013)

19. Inner Sanctum (2016)

20. Will-o-the-wisp (2020)

Ladies and gentlemen!

The regular season of the 2021 NHL season is coming to an end and playoffs will be starting very soon. I couldn't attend one single hockey game in fifteen months and I can't wait to go back to arenas and support my favourite teams. One thing that adds to the atmosphere of an excellent hockey game is the music played at the arenas. This is what inspired me to create a playlist with twenty quirky songs that have been played during hockey games that I have attended. Check out the following link and keep an eye on my blog to discover my incoming NHL playoff prediction podcasts as well: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4FvoZKIpiUxUMw5OzHse7A

1. Stompin' Tom Connors - The Hockey Song

2. Pursuit of Happiness - Gretzky Rocks

3. Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline

4. Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up to Boston

5. Wolfmother - Joker and the Thief

6. Ram Jam - Black Betty

7. Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire

8. The Tragically Hip - Fifty-Mission Cap

9. The Offspring - You're Gonna Go Far, Kid

10. Nickelback - Burn It to the Ground

11. Avenged Sevenfold - Hail to the King

12. Fall Out Boy - My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light 'em Up)

13. Blur - Song 2

14. Avicii - Levels

15. Skrillex feat. Sirah - Bangarang

16. Queen feat. David Bowie - Under Pressure

17. Journey - Don't Stop Believin'

18. Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer

19. Blink-182 - Darkside

20. Maxine Nightingale - Right Back Where We Started from

Ladies and gentlemen!

Another week - another playlist! Today, I would like to introduce you to my favourite band Amorphis. The Finnish sextet has evolved from death metal over progressive death metal and folk metal to progressive and psychedelic rock to heavy and power metal. Few bands have explored more soundscapes than this open-minded band and every new record is another exciting discovery. Despite that diversity, the band has never lost its charismatic identity based upon melancholic melodies and tales inspired by Finnish legends. The band celebrated its thirtieth anniversary last year and is an outstanding example for flexibility, longevity and resilience. On a personal note, I have seen this band in concert on three occasions in 2007 in Oberhausen, Germany, in 2011 in Bochum, Germany and in 2019 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The band has been excellent on every occasion. I was supposed to see the band in concert again in 2020 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada but the pandemic cut those plans short. I hope I can see these legends in concert again once this pandemic will finally be over. If you have never listened to this band yet, please give the Finnish sextet a chance by checking out my playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/215w32qRne7CQFH9tpr04J

1. Alone (2001)

2. Sky Is Mine (2009)

3. You I Need (2011)

4. Rusty Moon (1999)

5. The Castaway (1994)

6. The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu (1992)

7. Nightbird's Song (2013)

8. Daugter of Hate (2018)

9. Leaves Scar (2006)

10. Magic and Mayhem (1994)

11. House of Sleep (2006)

12. The Four Wise Ones (2015)

13. The Golden Elk (2018)

14. The White Swan (2007)

15. Mermaid (2011)

16. Crimson Wave (2001)

17. Silver Bride (2009)

18. Hopeless Days (2013)

19. Dark Path (2015)

20. My Kantele (1996) 

Ladies and gentlemen!

Another week - another playlist! Today, I would like to introduce you to Avantasia, a power metal project started by Edguy singer Tobias Sammet all the way back in 2000. His goal was to unite several of his childhood idols and record a metal opera with them. What was supposed to be a short-term project was later on revived and became much bigger than expected. The project has performed concerts all around the world and released eight studio albums with an ninth one currently in progress. I have had the chance to attend one of the band's concerts at MTelus in Montreal two years ago and the show that lasted for more than three hours was one of the very best shows I have ever witnessed in my entire life. If you like melodic metal, diversity and creativity, you should check out my playlist by clicking on the following link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3zPYdhVcnU2xuOT2LEXsxx

1. Stargazers (2010)

2. Reach Out for the Light (2001)

3. The Final Sacrifice (2000)

4. Promised Land (2007)

5. Scales of Justice (2010)

6. Death Is Just a Feeling (2010)

7. Invoke the Machine (2013)

8. Draconian Love (2016)

9. Moonglow (2019)

10. The Seven Angels (2002)

11. Mystery of a Blood Red Rose (2016)

12. Dying for an Angel (2010)

13. Avantasia (2000)

14. The Toy Master (2008)

15. Crestfallen (2010)

16. Symphony of Life (2010)

17. The Raven Child (2019)

18. Twisted Mind (2008)

19. Farewell (2001)

20. The Story Ain't Over (2007)

Ladies and gentlemen!

Once again, quite a few outstanding songs have been released throughout the month of April. My playlist of ten songs with a running time of forty-six minutes includes genres such as electronic rock, folk metal, heavy metal, jazz, melodic death metal, power metal, progressive rock and punk rock. Give this playlist a spin by clicking on the following link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2ZP1ODtKUPwNC7ofvBV2BS

1. Bodom After Midnight - Paint the Sky with Blood

2. Phlebotomized - GPS

3. Blaze Bayley - Warrior

4. Hämatom - Die Welt ist high

5. The Offspring - We Never Have Sex Anymore

6. NanowaR of Steel - Der Fluch des Käpt'n Iglo

7. Helloween - Skyfall

8. Mercury Circle - You Open Up the Earth

9. Hanging Garden - Kuura

10. Greta van Fleet - Trip the Light Fantastic