response 50 of 206:

Mar 10 00:12 UTC 1997

I of course adore Hedningarna, and Garmarna, and Hoven Droven (all
Scandinavian folk). I also like some more *odd* stuff, such as MacUmba,
which is a fusion of Scottish music with South American percussion. It's
very neat, but unless you like bagpipes, you won't like it. The other
group that I like a lot is Baba Yaga, which I believe is defunct. Sob.
Russian (Georgian) choral singers, Yugoslavian musicians, and Irish singers.
I really really liked the choral music, but I've been afraid to try any
more traditional Russian stuff, since I don't think I'd like it.

response 52 of 206:

Mar 13 23:20 UTC 1997

Recently Ashley MacIsaac, who combines 'rock' music (don't even *start* me
trying to define that) with celtic fiddling, was at St. Andrew's Hall in
Detroit.  I had tickets, but then I got pneumonia.  :P

response 54 of 206:

Mar 15 22:21 UTC 1997

Ken, did you tell me that MacIsaac had a female singer associated with him?
A friend was trying to find out who the singer was on something that plays
on The River, and he mentioned that it was in Gaelic and that he thought
the name given was Susan or Sarah MacIsaac, but he did admit that there
was a whole lot of fiddling in the track.

response 56 of 206:

Mar 19 11:56 UTC 1997

I had the chance to go to the MacIsaak show, but the thoguht about how
Nanci Griffith walked off a tour with MacIsaak, so I decided to stand
behind Nanci.  Well, and I was pretty broke, too, so that made it
easier...

Twila, have you heard the _Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares_ album?  That's a
pretty cool one, and might be up your alley.  Very haunting choral music.

By the way, anyone going to see the McGarrigles at the Ark, Thursday,
March 20, 8P?

response 58 of 206:

Mar 20 02:59 UTC 1997

Hhhmmm. That definitely sounds interesting, Ken. 

Probably not doing McGarrigles, since I'm not volunteering at the Ark
lately. Sigh.

I've heard the Bulgarian choirs, but I haven't really listened to them,
if you know what I mean. 

Right now, my newest purchase is a Scandinavian group called Varttinna,
their latest album being Kokko. I have copies of their first and second
albums, and like them greatly. This one is more, um, polished, and bears
definite signs of having been pop-if-ied, or maybe jazz-if-ied -- I 
can't quite tell, but the instrumentation is lusher and more heavy, and
the vocals aren't quite as "ethnic" as they were in the earlier recordings.

response 60 of 206:

Mar 20 11:18 UTC 1997

No McGarrigles for me, alas.  And the last time I tried to see them
-- Philadelphia Folk Festival, 3 or 4 years ago -- I was driven under
shelter by a torrential thunderstorm.
 
I see Mark is a purist about Finnish accent marks.  :)  I'm told that 
the correct version would be Vaartinaa, if I remember correctly;
in ASCII, I'm a cultural imperialist and I lop off all accent marks.
 
I need to write some more about Varttina when I have more time.
News item: Sari Kassinen, who has been the leader, is reported to 
be leaving the band.  
 
I published a fanzine last year which had a good article on Varttina, 
written by a Finnish net-correspondent; it's quite the best article I 
have ever seen on the band.  I'll have to get you a copy, Mark.
 
Over on the Hedningarna front, I have finally started paying attention
to their new album HIPPJOKK.  It's much more groove oriented, less 
melodic than the last couple of albums.  The instrumental textures 
are still identifiably Hedningarna; the drummer comes much more to the 
fore with this album, I think.  More on Hedningarna later -- I'm just 
putting this in to torture Twila.

response 62 of 206:

Mar 26 10:28 UTC 1997

Anyone catch Tarika?  They played the Ark, yesterday. 
 
Article on Varttina and other related bands in March 1997 _Rhythm Music_. 
Some mention of Hedningarna...
 
Finally found the new Geoffrey Oryema album, _Night to Night_.  Wonderful
voice, but I think I favor his first two Real World releases, more.

Speaking of Real World...any thoughts regarding?  Sometimes, I've been
impressed, both for reasons I probably shouldn't be (wall of electronic
quicksand) and for reasons I should (introduction to some fascinating cultural
aspects).  Sometimes not, for roughly the same reasons.
 
Even given that ambivalence, I have to say that the soundtrack to _Last
Temptation of Christ_ is pretty amazing.  Ditto on _Passion Sources_.
 
And while we're on the subject, what of the modernization and/or
cross-pollination of world music?  Madredeus, Marta Sebestyen, Salif Keita,
Varttina, Enya, Tarika...some varying examples of one or the other, or both.
 
As much as I favor ethnic roots, the growth (and tangle) is pretty exciting,
too.  All of the above-mentioned people/groups fascinate me.

response 64 of 206:

Mar 27 13:08 UTC 1997

Well, if you ever get a chance to look at the East Lansing, MI Tower Records
world music section, please do so.  I worked pretty hard to organize it
respectably.  I'm not sure what's happened to it, since then, but I'm pretty
sure some of my original vision still remains...

response 66 of 206:

Mar 28 23:24 UTC 1997

Varttina was the first of the modern Scandinavian bands to attract 
my attention:  they'd been mentioned on rec.music.misc (back when it 
was the most wonderful music discussion group in the world) after
someone had caught a track of them on a shortwave program.  
 
At this point, I didn't know how to get CDs out of Scandinavia yet.
I ended up finding a kid in Finland to trade with: he got some sort of 
American classic rock disk, and some historical-reproduction New York 
Yankees baseball caps.  I got Varttina's second CD, MUSTA LINDU, 
and their breakthrough third album, OI DAI.  Getting historical NY Yankees
baseball caps was a real nuisance.
 
OI DAI became an instant favorite; it's the album where Varttina 
was working primarily with traditional material -- mostly songs about
sex -- but working with a pop producer.  Another Finnish correspondent,
Pekka, described Varttina's home image as "Five girls who sing 
naughty songs loud."  The Finnish vocal styles seem to have 
something in common with the Bulgarian.
 
Unfortunately Varttina's followup album, SELENIKO, was a complete 
bust for me.  I suspect it's because they were writing their own 
songs.  I have a copy of AITARA, album #5, sitting around somewhere, 
but I've never played it.  
 
I'm still thankful to Varttina to alerting me to some of the interesting
music which was being made in Scandinavia; without them, I would not 
have paid attention when the first mentions of Hedningarna and 
Hoven Droven flitted across my radar screen.

response 68 of 206:

Mar 29 08:19 UTC 1997

By the way, a wonderful guidebook for the world music tour is the _Rough Guide
to World Music_.  I've gone with many of their recommendations, and been very
happy.  I've also found a great deal of information about the performers and
the music in there.  Very handy book...

response 70 of 206:

Mar 29 18:34 UTC 1997

Twila-  I'd like to find out more about volunteering at the Ark...

response 72 of 206:

Apr 4 21:36 UTC 1997

I have usually seen this spelled "joiking."  As best as I can 
recall, it's a traditional Sami (Lapp) form.  One could almost 
compare it to improvisational rapping; the singer is improvising
in the Sami language on a given subject.  I think.

The improvised song is a "joik" (noun).

The joiking/jojking on the new Hedningarna album is done by 
someone named Wimme (last name forgotten); Wimme also appeared 
on a couple of tracks on the previous album TRA.
 
The style also comes up with Mari Boine and Annelin Liedat/Angelin Tytot
(Mari is a woman, Annelin Liedat is a group), who are also Sami.
 
(Lapp, incidentally, supposedly means "eaters of raw meat" and it is 
considered a derogatory reference to the people and culture of 
northern Scandinavia.  So when you see the term Sami and Samiland, 
this is what we learned in school as Lapp and Lappland: the folks
with the reindeer herds.  Conceptually they seem very similar to 
the Inuit in North America, and musically it feels like there are 
similarities though I have not done any real comparing.)

response 74 of 206:

Apr 6 21:58 UTC 1997

Not Inuit, but there's a nice Smithsonian collection I've been
meaning to get called WOMEN OF FIRST NATIONS.