A founding member of the seminal Swedish folk band Hedningarna, Anders Norudde has finally gifted Nordic music fans with his first solo effort. Accompanied only by Goran “Freddy” Frederiksson on guitar and bouzouki, Norudde treats listeners to twenty-six full tracks of his eclectic talent, most of which are traditional instrumental pieces, drawn from folk sources across Sweden and Norway.
Norudde plays a limited, but very expressive, range of instruments on the CD: low-tuned fiddle, Swedish bagpipe, flutes (including one he amusingly dubs Tourist flute, as it is apparently a “cheesy tourist bamboo flute stamped ‘Made in India'”) and moraharpa (a very old form of nyckelharpa, or three-stringed keyed fiddle).
The single most striking tune on the CD is, without a doubt, “Blastrattlaten / Wind-Stuffed Tune,” which Norudde says he learned at the Peking Opera School, and which is apparently from northern China originally. I’m not certain a bagpipe — Swedish or otherwise — even when paired with a bouzouki, was ever meant to imitate Chinese flutes, but the end result is both fascinating and enchanting. And well worth a listen.
Although the bagpipes are clearly Norudde’s strong suit (there’s even a polska written by Frederiksson exclusively for the pipes, “Pentapolska”), three of the most noteworthy tunes are chanter-free: “Digerpolskan / Bulky Polska,” “Hamborgar,” and “KJK.” The oddly titled “Bulky Polska,” an original composition by Frederiksson, features the aforementioned cheesy tourist flute, which turns out to be the perfect accompaniment to Frederiksson’s delicate acoustic guitar. The other two tunes demonstrate Norudde’s skill on the willow flute, although the liner notes comment he first learned “Hamborgar” on the fiddle. Both are charming, bright little pieces.
Norudde provides ample notation for each traditional tune, detailing its lineage and how he came by his variant. All are informative and some downright amusing, as are his picture captions and the hand-drawn cartoon of the misadventures of Lars and the Swede-swallowing snake at the very back. The single most amusing title-caption combination has to be “Polska Ur Tvattistuga / Polska from the Laundry Room,” a nifty fiddle tune about which he says, “Some rooms give big inspiration.” Norudde must spend a lot of time doing laundry…
All in all Himself is an excellent window onto Norudde’s multi-instrumental talent (as well as that of his co-conspirator, Frederiksson). I certainly came away with a finer appreciation for the Swedish bagpipes (and cheap little flutes!) and a desire to hear more.
(Northside, 2000)
