Tag Archives: Nordic music

Slagr’s Short Stories

Slagr is a highly regarded trio based in Oslo, Norway, whose music falls under the title of chamber folk. This deeply evocative music mines the intersection where Nordic folk, classical, and new music intersect. Slagr was founded in 2003 by … Continue reading

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Aallotar’s In Transit

Aallotar is a new duo making contemporary Finnish folk music. Finnish-American fiddler Sara Pajunen (who I previously knew from two albums cut with American guitarist Jonathan Rundman in Kaivama) and Finnish accordionist Teija Niku (Polka Chicks) met in early 2013 … Continue reading

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Ensemble Denada’s Windfall

Ensemble Denada is the creation of Norwegian composer and trombonist Helge Sunde. It’s a 15-piece orchestra whose music falls under the rubric of jazz, in much the same way that Frank Zappa’s music was considered rock — an arbitrary category … Continue reading

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Kaivama’s Kaivama

Kaivama, which is fiddler Sara Pajunen and guitarist Jonathan Rundman, is making big waves in the Finnish-American cultural community of the upper Midwest. She’s from Minnesota, he’s a Yuper (that’s a native of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula), they’ve only been together … Continue reading

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Väsen’s Väsen Street, and Mikael Marin and Mia Gustafsson’s Mot Hagsätra

Over the past fifteen years, no band has epitomized new Swedish folk music more than Väsen. A superior live act with an unsurpassed sense of instrumental interplay, Olav Johansson (nyckelharpa), Mikael Marin (viola), and Roger Tallroth (guitar) have built up … Continue reading

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Bára Grímsdóttir’s Funi

I still have much to learn about Icelandic folk music, but Bára Grímsdóttir’s Funi is an immensely enjoyable introduction. Having started singing at the knees of family members in the ’60s, Grímsdóttir is now a seasoned performer, composer and folklorist. … Continue reading

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Kristine Heebol’s 10 Point and Henrik Jansberg’s Omnivor

These CDs arrived in the same small package — I love international deliveries! They often use interesting wrapping materials, many are hand-addressed, and of course they are liberally ornamented with wonderful, exotic postage stamps. We are well-known to all the … Continue reading

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Habbadám’s Bornholmsk Folkemusik and Sussie Nielsen’s Pigens Morgen

In spite of Do You Know the Lollipops being the first LP I ever bought, I have never really taken an interest in Danish music. My excuse for that Lollipops album is that I was only 12 at the time, … Continue reading

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Hoven Droven’s Jumping At The Cedar

The Nordic Roots Festival, formerly held every autumn at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, has featured many renowned acts in the new Nordic folk genre. The Swedish band Hoven Droven, who combine the Swedish fiddling tradition with punk and … Continue reading

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Eddie Reader, Habbadám and Lau, Uddevalla Folk Music Festival, August 5, 2006

Some people may think it is a good idea to house a folk music festival in a museum, along with other artefacts showing life in ages past. I do not think the organisers of Uddevalla Folk Music Festival harbour such … Continue reading

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