anderyn
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response 1 of 18:
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Oct 1 18:26 UTC 2001 |
So. This is a recycled review from what I sent around at work. So...
Sunday, however, was another kettle of fish. Ken Josenhans, he of the
three thousand CDs, had spotted a notice that Ilgi was going to be
performing in Kalamazoo at a Latvian Cultural Center. Road trip! So,
sans our respective spouses (who aren't into Latvian folk-rock bands),
we started out to Kalamazoo. It was a gorgeous day for a drive, and we
managed to only get lost once, given that Cherry Hill Drive is an
oddly divided street (one section is off the main road, but unmarked,
then there's a house between it and the other section, which is
marked, but isn't off the main road...), so we got there just as the
concert was supposed to be starting. Luckily, the band was still
setting up, so we got to sit down and settle in before the concert
started. We noticed that we were probably two of the ten youngest
people in the room, and that most of the crowd spoke Latvian rather
than English (people kept talking to me, and when I'd answer them in
English, they'd be surprised!) -- and it was a healthy crowd, maybe a
hundred and twenty people? So. The band. We had a female singer slash
fiddler, two percussionists (one with a "normal" drum kit, and one
with bongos and a really cool chime set-up), one man on bass guitar,
one on guitar and a kokle (which is related to the kantele of Finnish
music), and the other a multi-instrumentalist -- kokle, accordion,
something that sounded very like a Breton bombarde, and bagpipes. The
three front-men also sang, but the percussion duo didn't.
Ken told me that when they were in Detroit, the blond bass player did
most of the talking, since he speaks English, but for this show, the
woman spoke. In Latvian. Very fast Latvian. So even if I spoke
Latvian, it would be hard to tell what she was saying! Before the
show, we'd struck up a conversation with the women sitting behind
us. Two of them were Latvian, orginally, one having emigrated some
fifty years ago, and she told us some stories about her girlhood and
what it was like. The other was a friend, who was also an "English"
person. We were wondering what they'd make of the band -- they seemed
surprised that anyone non-Latvian would have made the effort to come,
and even more surprised when we said we were fans.
The band played really well -- the sound system was a bit muddy, but
it probably wasn't set up for loud music -- the songs and rhythms were
just wonderful -- I felt as if I'd been transported into some kind of
otherworld -- the harmonies and the interweaving of the various
instruments were excellent.
About ninety minutes later, the show was over, and we turned to ask
the ladies behind us what they'd thought. "Awful! Terrible!" "Oh?" The
older woman, the one who'd emigrated fifty years ago, said that the
female singer was obviously not a native speaker, that she'd slurred
things terribly, and ruined something that was supposed to be
culturally interesting. Hmmm. We said. The other woman remarked that
it had been too loud, that her friend had had to leave with a
migraine, and that it was just "awful". Maybe if they hadn't had
microphones? Ken remarked that it was too bad they hadn't enjoyed
themselves, but that we had liked it. "Oh? So you must listen to
Metallica too!" Uh. Noooo. Apparently the woman's son likes Metallica
and she associates loud music with them. We just looked at each
other, then said we were sorry they hadn't liked it.
After, we spoke to the two English speakers in the band, briefly, and
got autographs. Apparently the one member lives in Stockholm, since he
was saying they were supposed to fly to the US for their tour on the
12th of September, and they weren't sure if they *could* fly at all
for several days, but that, finally, about the 15th, he checked the
airline's website and saw that they were re-instituting flights, but
that there was only about half-an-hour's warning for the Riga members
to get to the airport! So he called them, they made it, but it was
apparently a scramble.
Some clarifications -- Ilgi was supposed to be doing a US tour from about
the 12th to now? But of course, with the events of Sept. 11, they were
stuck in Europe for much of it, but they did make the Detroit festival of
the Arts -- which, btw, Ken, you should review! and their shows in Chicago
and K'zoo.
The songs which I've heard on the two albums I've got are all traditional
lyrics but jazzed up with more modern tunes/instrumentation. It sounds
quite a bit like Hedningarna, if you've heard them...
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krj
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response 6 of 18:
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Jul 27 17:53 UTC 2003 |
Hedningarna: "Hedningarna 1989-2003"
This new anthology has been a fun opportunity to revisit my favorite band of
the 1990s. Hedningarna (The Heathens) began as a trio of Swedish
multi-instrumentalists who put out an interesting, not too exotic album in
1989. For their next project, the band acquired two Finnish women, Sanna
Kurkio-Suonio and Tellu, and launched themselves into the stratosphere with
the album "Kaksi!" This new album was an end-to-end delight which enchanted
me as few albums have ever done; I bought it in January 1993 and played it
daily for about six months. Thundering percussion, folk melodies, sweet and
harsh sounds on bagpipes, fiddle and electric lute; on half the tracks, the
women sing vocal harmonies, sometimes sweet, sometimes with raw power
reminiscent of the Bulgarian choral style. There's even an extended musical
joke, an instrumental duel between electric lute and bagpipe set as a faux
heavy-metal concert piece, with fake crowd noises.
Hedningarna had one more near-perfect album in them, "Tra," with the same line
up. It doesn't achieve the same end-to-end perfection that "Kaksi" did, but
its high points may shine even more brightly. The song "Tuuli," which I
think is about a wind spirit, remains magical, with its rolling percussion
and whispered/loud song lines divided between the women and Wimme.
Since 1994, the band has been interesting but less divine. Sanna and Tellu
took maternity leave for a few years and the original band produced the
"Hippjokk" album, all instrumental except for some contributions from Swedish
singer Wimme, who mostly chants in the joik style. Sanna didn't come back;
another Finnish woman joined for "Karelia Visa," a much quieter, more
traditional-styled album exploring the music of the Karelia border region
between Finland and Russia.
And, on CD, that's been it. I got to see the band live in 2000 for two
performances at Detroit Festival of the Arts. That lineup contained the
original three instrumentalists plus a new fourth guy; the Finnish women
singers were now Liisa and Anita, both known to me from other projects. The
guys said they were working on a new all-instrumental album, but that never
appeared.
The two new tracks on "1989-2003" reflect a new permutation for the band.
For the singers, Anita is out, and Tellu has come back. Wizard drummer Bjorn
Tollin is gone, and it may take me a while to get used to his replacement.
Still, they are promising work.
As for the choices from the old albums: My two favorite songs from "Tra" are
here, as are my favorites from the weaker albums "Hippjokk" and "Karelia
Visa." I might have picked different songs from "Kaksi" but on that album
every track is perfect, so it's a moot point. At a price of $12 at Borders,
this 77-minute compilation by My Favorite Band of the 1990s is most highly
recommended.
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