Not all messages are displayed:
show all messages (70 of them)
one year passes...
I've belatedly discovered Hedningarna and and Gjallarhorn (a roots-fusion band from from Ostrobothnia - Swedish speaking Finland) this week. Both are very similar in approach, almost frenzied percussive driven folk with close harmony or multitracked female vocals, occasional hardanger fiddle, and unafraid of production flourishes.
For Hedningarna, drone is provided by hurdy gurdy, jew's harp or other medieval instruments, with Finnish language close harmony vocals by a Finnish duo on their best three albums: Kaksi! (1992), Trä (1994), and Karelia Visa (1999).
Gjallarhorn audibly incorporates more multiculti influences (thumb piano, didj), and the overall sound frequently approaches later Dead Can Dance. One of Gjallarhorn's close associates is a professional studio engineer and custom microphone designer, and it shows in the sound - assuming you like a fairly wet and almost electric sound (though no electric instruments are present), their albums are some of the best recorded in any genre. Another member studied in Australia, and the drone role is taken by didgeridoo. Yes, I know this alone will turn off many with memories of the patchouli stink of mid-90s global fusion hippie excess, but trust me, here it works. Gjallarhorn's secret weapon is Jenny Wilhelms, whose multitracked voice carries the hockets with ease. Its pure, vibratoless, and free of the nasal timbre in a lot of the Nordic folk recordings I've sampled this week. The albums to start with are Sjofn (2000) and Rimfaxe (2006). Suvetar, the lead track off Sjofn illustrates their approach well:
As an aside, do not confuse them with the unrelated Italo-Norwegian death metal band that also adopted the name Gjallarhorn.
As an aside, please don't confuse
― derelict, Thursday, 18 December 2008 15:51 (fifteen years ago) link
yes RIP. the obits I read had no info on causes, I wonder if it was suicide? however it's sad
― sonderangerbot, Wednesday, 31 December 2008 15:52 (fifteen years ago) link
six years pass...
five years pass...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yuvO_5PCdE
just found this, hadn't thought to look before.
I picked up their 3rd lp a couple of decades ago probably because it was the one thing i could find at the time. I was trying to explore non english speaking prog cos I thought it might be a bit less obviously precious. I wondered if there had been much of a difference between that lp and the preceding 2 and it does seem like it lacks the psychedelic tinge that is pretty pronounced on those.
Not really thought about it much recently, got reminded of it earlier this week so checked out tracks on Spotify where I'd also been checking out Italian prog after getting the Ambropse croce book for xmas. Mainly been listening to podcasts on tehre recently.
I think there is a folk influence on here that may become more pronounced on teh 2nd lp but does seem that what they are jamming on are folk airs doesn't it?
― Stevolende, Saturday, 16 January 2021 11:14 (three years ago) link