Tag Archives: Nordic music

Frigg’s Frixx

The Finnish folk septet Frigg is one of the world’s best known Nordic groups, having toured much of the world including Europe numerous times and North America at least seven. In early 2020 they marked their 20th anniversary with their … Continue reading

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Frode Haltli Avant Folk’s St. Morten

Everything new is old again for the holiday season of 2020. Everyone in the English speaking world knows the song “The Twelve Days Of Christmas,” right? Well, Norwegian accordionist Frode Haltli and his Avant Folk ensemble have a treat for … Continue reading

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Gájanas’s Diamántadulvvit single

The Finnish progressive folk band Gájanas (“Echo”) is releasing its debut full-length album in February, and released the first single from it in November. Gájanas comes from the Inari-Utsjoki region at the top of Finland, and its music is based … Continue reading

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Gary’s favorite ‘world music’ of 2020

This sort of exercise serves to point up one of the problems with broad genres like “world music.” It’s reductive and inaccurate and Western-centric, and you end up with some strange companions. However, I listened to lots of music from … Continue reading

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Morgonrode’s Du milde verden

The Norwegian alt-trad band Morgonrode has released its second album Du milde verden as a follow-up to their critically acclaimed self titled debut album from 2019. I haven’t heard that first one yet, but it received a nomination for best … Continue reading

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Emmi Kujanpää’s Nani

Finnish folk singer, composer, teacher and researcher Emmi Kujanpää continues her ongoing exploration of the intersection of Finnish and Balkan music with her first “solo” recording Nani. I put solo in quotes because this album includes the contributions of the … Continue reading

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Nous’s Nous II

What first attracted me to this recording was the presence of Shahzad Ismaily, the New York-based multi-instrumentalist whose playing, composing and arranging skills have made him a valued contributer to projects by so many musicians it’s impossible to list them … Continue reading

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Lumen Drones’ Umbra

Let’s see, how many of my musical buttons does this new release by Lumen Drones push? Hardanger fiddle? Check. Folk-based experimental music? Check. Nordic music? Check. And of course the big one, right there in the name: drones, drones, drones! … Continue reading

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Jens Carelius’s Opsi

Norwegian guitarist, singer and songwriter (and visual artist) Jens Carelius has turned a legendary figure in his ancestry into a unique album. Opsi is a song cycle based on the diaries of Carelius’s great-great-grandfather Fritz Doerries (known to his family … Continue reading

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H.C. Slim’s Sings

Rock critic Griel Marcus famously referred to the tunes preserved on Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music as remnants of the “old weird America.” By that token, the songs laid down here by H.C. Slim may someday be thought … Continue reading

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