-
Meta
Editorial Staff
Cat Eldridge
Gary WhitehouseSearch
-
Recent Posts
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Our Greensward
- What’s New for the 10th of May: books reviewed by Jennifer Stevenson, music by Teddy Thompson, Americana music from all over, and some live music from John Fogerty
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Walk
- What’s New for the 26th of April: the nature of Stories; some new and newish SF, plus new world, jazz, folk and Americana music
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Spring Day
- What’s New for the 12th of April: Some new and recent SF; new Americana, Norwegian folk rock and jazz; and thoughts on War For The Oaks
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Unified Theory of Libraries (A Letter to Anna)
- What’s New for the 29th of March: Beer and spirits, in song and text, some new Scandinavian fiddle music and jazz flute music, and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Ghostly Librarian
- What’s New for the 15th of March: some DeLint stories for early spring; lots of polskas, Serbian folk rock, progressive jazz, and Nordic music from the archives
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Hedge Witches
- What’s New for the 1st of March: Emma Bull’s War for The Oaks, Rosanne Cash’s ‘Runaway Train’, Johnny Cash at San Quentin, plus new Americana and jazz music
- A Kinrorwan Estate story: Cranachanh
- What’s New for the 15th of February: Some Seanan McGuire fantasy, Alison Bechdel’s latest, Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin; Nordic sounds, old time, Americana and Tex-Mex music
- What’s New for the 1st of February: Kage Baker retrospective; new Americana, Buddhist chants and Finnish songs, new and reissued jazz, and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Fireplaces in Kinrowan Hall
- What’s New for the 18th of January: World music and fiction by Amal El-Mohtar
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Bridges and Paths plus a Troll
- What’s New for the 4th of January: Favorite books and music of 2025
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Mythologist John Campbell
- What’s New for 21st of December
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Pub Ghoulies
- What’s New for 7 of December: books by Alan Garner, and holiday music new and old, Celtic, Americana, jazz and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Several Annies, Part Two
- What’s New for 23 November
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Several Annies
- What’s New for the 9th of November: rhymers and ravens, folk songs and folk tales, jazz guitar and dark forests and constellations put to music, Hungarian tunes and knights and rakes and tinkers and fools, and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Kedgeree
- Whats New for the 26th of October: some Patricia McKillip books and an interview, ’70s jazz reissues, Nordic Americana and American Americana, and some Samhain seasonal albums
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Charles and Alice Pay a Visit (A Letter to Owyn)
Tag Archives: Nordic music
Gangar’s Dreng
My favorite head-banging Norwegian metal prog folk rock band is back! Gangar’s second full-length Dreng continues in their established vein of playing knock-em-dead versions of Scandinavian folk songs and dance tunes on Hardanger fiddle plus rock instruments. The Oslo based … Continue reading
Henriette Eilertsen Trio’s Moder
Some of my favorite jazz music is made by jazz flutists. Or flautists. I’m pretty sure the first jazz record I bought with my own money was Hubert Laws’s In The Beginning, and pretty soon after that I procured Milt … Continue reading
Hans Kjorstad’s Dålågjel
Listening to this album is like sitting on the perimeter of an after hours fiddle jam at a Scandinavian folk festival. Five fiddlers sawing away at hoary old Norwegian dance tunes, each of them occasionally swapping out the fiddle for … Continue reading
Lena Jonsson & Johanna Juhola’s The Power of Polska
A Swedish fiddling icon and a Finnish accordion innovator come together to explore the deep and wide tradition of the polska in Nordic music on Lena Jonsson & Johanna Juhola’s The Power of Polska. I’ve covered both of these musicians … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged Nordic music
Comments Off on Lena Jonsson & Johanna Juhola’s The Power of Polska
Tuuletar’s Maammo
“Ancient heritage meets global influences, contemporary expression and modern production.” That’s a pretty good description for a lot of the music we review here at GMR, but it applies particularly well to the Finnish vocal quartet Tuuletar. Maamo (Mother Earth) … Continue reading
Wör x Kongero’s Songbooks Live
The Belgian ensemble WÖR (pronounced “were”) plays new arrangements of 18th century Flemish melodies on a blend of old and modern instruments. The Swedish women’s folk quartet Kongero performs traditional Nordic songs in modern a capella arrangements, and composes new … Continue reading
Various artists’ Folk and World Music Galore Vol. 4
I’ve come to look forward to the annual Folk and World Music Galore compilation from the German labels Nordic Notes and CPL-Music. The 2025 version of this comp, Vol. 4, is no exception, and even perhaps the best one yet, … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged Balkan music, Nordic music, world music
Comments Off on Various artists’ Folk and World Music Galore Vol. 4
Trond Kallevåg’s Minnesota
Drawing from the same well of history, culture and human experience that informed his previous Hubro release, 2023’s Amerikabåten, Norwegian guitarist and composer Trond Kallevåg delves even deeper into the Norwegian American immigrant experience with Minnesota. I’ve been a big … Continue reading
Mojna’s Mareld
Nordic contemporary folk trio Mojna has followed up their critically acclaimed second album, 2024’s Väntenätter, with yet another deep dive into the space where composed contrapuntal music meets purposeful improvisation. Once again the music on Mareld treats boundaries as nonexistent, … Continue reading
John Taylor’s Tramonto, and Liv Andrea Hauge Trio’s Døgnville
Some days I’d be happy listening to nothing but piano trios. Here are two recent releases that satisfy that urge. From the ECM vaults comes this splendid live recording by the late UK pianist John Taylor’s trio with Americans Marc … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Tagged Jazz music, Nordic music
Comments Off on John Taylor’s Tramonto, and Liv Andrea Hauge Trio’s Døgnville