Another high
quality Songlines compilation focusing on music from Norway, and more
circumspectly, beyond Norway. Lovers of Scandinavian music will find no
surprises in the Norwegian selections. They’re stark, fiddle driven ditties
that could just as easily been sung by an attractive Scandinavian witch in a
hut with turf for its roof or by a snaggle toothed sailor on the bow of a
Viking longship. I think being ginger gives me a predisposition to like this
kind of stuff, it’s a genetic throwback.
Sadly this is
a game of two halves, as the ‘beyond’ Norway selections are much weaker and
break the flow and atmosphere of the CD. But that’s a small criticism as
there’s so much to enjoy here.
My personal
favourites are the timeless ‘L’Autre Jorne’ by Five Men in a Boat, the ultra
stark ‘Stev’ by Gunhild Tommeras, and the eerie ‘Tankens Runer’ by Bodil Haug.
Best of all is the nasal sea shanty from Jon Anders Halvasen ‘Skomakarvisa’.
It’s another
low key, slow burning Scandinavian gem from Songlines and well worth hunting
down from www.emcd.co.uk.
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