Search - Various Artists :: Nordic Roots 2: Northside Sampler

Something for everyone

heddo | Maitland, FL | 11/18/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This cd offers a great selection of music from Scandinavian artists trying to keep their heritage and tradition alive whether more directly (Boot, Hedningarna, and Vasen) or indirectly (Garmarna and Sorten Muld). Whether using traditinal music and instruments or traditinal lyrics, all the bands represented on Nordic Roots 2 excel. Everyone will find something they like on this cd and, at [the price] for 22 songs, it is a bargain not to be missed! The liner notes inside give great insight into the individual bands if you come to it as a first time listener like I did. If you like Celtic music or Appalachian folk music, you will probably like a bulk of what is on this disc."

My least favorite of the Nordic Roots trio

M. J. Smith | Seattle, WA USA | 05/20/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you've not heard a Nordic Roots sampler before, I would suggest you start with Nordic Roots 3 (or 1) unless your musical taste leans more towards new age than folk. That does not imply the music is new age, simply that the folk music arrangements and instrumentation move towards an electronic new age sound. As a sampler, the collection fails not because of quality but rather because the selection is less diverse than the other Nordic Roots samplers. All that being said, there are some real gems:Wild Honey by Boot reminds me of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra with a northern flavor. Secret Tears by Loituma reminds me of a Parisian Salon Orchestra and vocalist.The traditional Forest Maiden has wonderful interweaving of voices.My Wedding Day also is noteable for the vocalists, with some unusual intervals and harmonies somewhat reminiscent at time of Eastern European vocal traditions e.g. Bulgarian.As to be expected the cut from the album Seleniko by Vartina is excellent - the Seleniko album is superb. A pair of sisters from Vartina also appear in 'Tis Time to Celebrate from a Christmas album they did on their own.Polska Release also deserves mention for its vocals.Unfortunately among the instrumental and/or dance cuts on this sampler, all are well done but none stand out. I would expect fiddlers to disagree with me on this but ..."

Intriguing and Beguiling Music

Erika Borsos | Gulf Coast of FL, USA | 12/26/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Music from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland has magical qualities that are beyond word descriptions, as beautiful as the fjords and the night-time clear skies with falling stars, an Impressionistic painting as hard to describe as the Northern Lights. The female vocalists are enchanting like the Celts and Hungarians (& just as hard to describe, ancient languages with equally mysterious origins). There is violin music played on the hardanger fiddle which has sympathetic vibrating strings, that provide a drone, amazingly hypnotic and trance-like. The music is slightly familiar if you are acquainted with Appalachian fiddle music or bluegrass, add to it some Austrian waltzes, and an occasional Polish mazurka: then once-in-awhile give it a soft velvet feeling. The fact that much of it is over 100 years old, makes it true roots music, occasionally it is up-dated with an electrified sound amplifying the intensity and magical qualities ... sometimes flutes, other times a viola, the nyckelharpa, and other ancient Scandinavian instruments provide the intrigue and enchantment. Having heard "Nordic Roots" Volume 1 (& bought it), I looked forward to Volume 2. The best and most talented musical artists provide extraordinairy examples of this genre for an unbelievable price. Undoubtedly, the captivating musical sounds by these artists will hypnotize you into wanting a full CD by one or more of these musicians. Northside is truly providing us "food for the soul" and with gratitude! Erika Borsos (erikab93)."