Kraja - Brusand hav/Jag såg dig (live videos)

Kraja, singing live on the streets and in the stairwells of Sicily.

MP3: Hedningarna - Tuuli

Besides industrial, the other thing I've been listening to a lot of recently is Swedish folk. Spotify has actually been a really great tool for this even if their genre tagging is less-than-stellar -- you just gotta know where to look if you wanna dig deep. For instance, how else would I know about Jonas Knutsson's various "Norrland" album collaborations with Johan Norberg? "Skaren: Norrland III" with Kraja? Maybe not as edgy as I usually go for, but it is undeniably gorgeous. Plenty more where that came from, too. Novices however, are very much encouraged to start with Hedningarna since they are (were?) an act that can do no wrong. "Tuuli", off the 1994 album "Trä" piles on the works: brilliant dense vocal harmonies, hypnotic beats, Wimme's excellent and unmistakable joik, witchy cackling and more -- everything the band is renown for, aside from their creative hurdy gurdy playing. Absolutely essential listening and a major influence on me and my interest in Scandinavian music.

Hedningarna - Tuuli

MP3: Kraja - Nu är det synd om de döda

Musical discovery often happens when you least expect it. I was at the P3 Guld afterparty making smalltalk with Säkert!'s violinist Frida Johansson and she mentioned that she mostly works in folk music. I have no idea what kind of reaction she expected from me, but of course I was very interested and happy to receive a copy of her other group Kraja's latest CD "Brusand Hav". Can't say that I know much about Scandinavian a cappella folk tradition outside of my limited experience with the excellent Trio Mediaeval, but I do know that I like Kraja a lot and was even more impressed to learn that almost every track on their new record is an original composition, quite an audacious tact! As for the wide-ranging lyrical sources they explore, I can't comment in detail because I am lacking proper liner notes, but if my Googling is correct, this particular tune is based on a poem by Verner von Heidenstam -- not that I follow the words too much, I'm far more enamored with their superb four-part harmonies. Definitely not the sort of new music I expected to stumble across on my most recent trip to Sweden, but definitely a discovery that is more than welcome. Tack Frida!

Kraja - Nu är det synd om de döda