Thursday, October 06, 2011

MUSIC: Lodger - [2004] Hi-Fi High Lights Down Low [CD]


Lodger's 2004 debut album, Hi-Fi High Lights Down Low, was originally released exclusively in Finland to much critical acclaim. Cynical and nihilistic lyrics abound, with songs that condemn the drudgery of average individual's life, Western society's superficiality, overeager sexual consumption, blatant drug abuse, overzealous gambling, and the general truth concerning the conquest for "the American dream." The result was an album unmatched in originality, musicality, and lyrical content. After gaining a cult-following subsequently after the release of two self-produced album promoting music videos, the group remastered and reissued their debut album in 2005 to keep up with worldwide demand. The re-release featured a slightly different track list, dropping two original album songs in favor of adding a popular single released post-2004 debut.

Lodger originated in late 2002 as a music project for Finnish-native singer/songwriter Teemu Merilä as an outlet for his songwriting abilities. Since then, the project has expanded, becoming an indie rock-based five piece. While recording their self-financed debut album demo, group bassist/lyricist Hannes Häyhä flash animated two music videos in under the moniker "One-Eyed Films", referring to the hapless one-eyed anti-hero stick man the films follow. The videos (which unabashedly feature smoking, drinking, sex, masturbation, rape, and death, often times in a humorous manner) garnered much attention from animation festivals, won numerous awards, and helped popularize the group outside of Finland, resulting in the necessity to re-issue their debut album merely one year later. Due to the popularity of the music videos, the group adopted the iconic one-eyed individual as their logo. To date, they have released three full length albums, one reissue, and seven music videos/singles. Unfortunately, their international record label, Recall Records, declared bankrupcy, leaving the band to more or less fend for themselves


Music Videos

Lodger (Currently down due to record label closure)

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