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Reviews

Väsen — Live at the Nordic Roots Festival
(NorthSide NSD6065, 2001, CD)

by Jon Davis, Published 2002-04-01

Live at the Nordic Roots Festival Cover art

By now you all know that NorthSide releases folk-based music from Scandinavia, ranging from traditional solo fiddle to electronic expansions of the material. Väsen fits somewhere in the middle, not completely traditional, but still acoustic and playing some traditional material. Their main twist on the genre is provided by percussionist André Ferrari, who has a unique “drum kit” made up of various hand drums, tambourines, cymbals, and so on. Guitarist Roger Tallroth, violist Mikael Marin, and nyckelharpa master Olov Johnansson are the other members of the group, and they are joined by fiddle duo Harv on one track and by Annbjørg Lien on hardanger on another. The tunes are all energetically arranged, and Ferrari’s percussion is recorded high in the mix, which reflects their actual live sound. The caliber of musicianship is very high, and the spontaneity of the performance shines through — you can tell these guys are having a blast. The lack of electric instruments is not a detraction if you’re looking for music to move you. For fans of the more electric or electronic Nordic music who’d like to get a taste of the roots, this would be a perfect starting place, occupying the middle ground that it does.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 24, 2001 releases

Related artist(s): Harv, Annbjørg Lien, Olov Johansson, Väsen

More info
http://noside.com/vasen-live-nordic-roots-festival/

 

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