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In this interview, I’m humbled to be joined by Lindy-Fay Hella of both Wardruna and Dei Farne to talk about her new album “Islet”, her undying love for Depeche Mode, and the mysteries of the sea. Thank you for joining, Lindy. As a long time fan, you have no idea how starstruck I am by the opportunity to chat with you about your music and our shared love of birds. 

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Hailing from beautiful Värmland in Sweden, Andreas Axelsson of the project Nattramn joins Jameson to talk about his latest album Gravmarken, his inspiration, and what brought him to the Dark Folk scene. Like myself, he's of the mind that "less is more" and we dive into our philosophies around writing and performing dark folk music.

And he's NOT the singer for Silencer!

https://nattramnsvitjod.bandcamp.com

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In this interview, I am humbled to invite Jacob Hee Lund for his first appearance on the Nordic Sound Channel. Mostly known as a member of Heilung, Jacob is actually a man of many, many hats and is a seasoned performer in the medieval reenactment scene in Denmark. In this interview, he walks us through his background, his countless music projects he’s contributed to as a percussionist, and offers advice and reflection for young musicians looking to make a full time career. Also, as a veteran of this music scene over the last two decades, Jacob gives us some much needed perspective on the evolution of this genre we begrudgingly call “Viking music” for want of a more satisfying name. We close with a discussion of his new drum project Thrymskapr and reminiscing on Heilung at Red Rocks. Considering how much we still had to talk about after almost two hours, let’s call it a safe bet that Jacob will be back on the channel before long.

Jacob’s associated bands: Asynje (Viking, electronic, folk); Auroq (folk, early music, fusion); Heilung; Mallebrok (folktronica); Virelai (medieval/ Viking); Fabel (renaissance early music); Fortuna (early, classical music); Huldre (folk metal); Leikarar (medieval); Norerne (Viking music for Moesgaard Viking market 40 anniversary celebration); Wicked strings / Lilly and the wicked strings (gothic metal); Eldjudnir (black metal); Bo-Nordmand (Danish folk music); Maja Kjær si orkester (Danish raw folk music). He’s also a session musician for Efrén López and Eivør.

For those who want to further explore the musicians Jacob mentioned: Jordi Savall (viol da gamba) and Otava Yo (Russian folk)

0:00 Preamble
1:53 Introduction
4:25 Jacobs background
8:20 The drum in early Europe
13:05 Back to Jacob’s background!
34:15 Versatility and working as a professional musician
43:04 Heilung
49:36 Reflections on “Viking” music scene
54:30 How genres evolve
1:06:00 Collective imagining through music
1:13:58 Thrymskapr and knowing your roots
1:26:55 Heilung at Red Rocks

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PLEASE READ:

This audio was stripped straight from Youtube, so I want to clarify for podcast listeners: I will be keeping up with reviews dedicated to podcast listeners even though this format will be leaving youtube. What this means for you all is, instead of getting audio from youtube videos for the podcasts, I will from here on out be recording these reviews specifically for podcast.

Support music journalism through the Nordic Sound Journal: patreon.com/nordicsoundchannel

Change is coming with the spring winds to the Nordic Sound Channel, all for the better. Stay tuned for a larger “state of the channel” address, and for a new battery of interviews.

0:00 Preamble

4:16 Torulf

6:00 Akleja

9:05  Tvinna

10:15 Aegir

11:05 Jonna Hinton

12:43 Tyr

14:58: Kati Rán

16:27 Lindy-Fay Hella and Dei Farne

18:29 Korpiklaani

19:38 Afterword

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Live from University of Colorado Boulder, I sit down with the one and only Nicolas Schipper of Heilung after the last stop on their U.S. tour.

In this conversation, Nic tells us about his journey in Heilung as an immigrant from Ecuador, shares his thoughts on the ever-contentious conversation of cultural appropriation, and works through what "music as healing" means to him and his work for Vidaya Community. And, of course, everything in between.

At the end of the video is a q/a section with the audience which also brings us to the beautiful story of Nicolas' body paint he wears on stage, what spirituality means to him through Heilung's music, and more.

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January is usually a slow month for music in the post-holidays hangover. In spite of this, we've been given some pretty awesome singles from a wide range of bands and musicians since the new year. Let's get into the awesome singles Nordic musicians revealed to us so far in 2024, teasing some highly anticipated new albums from some of our favorite bands.

Featuring: Gåte, Lindy-fay Hela and Dei Farne, Byrdi, Jonna Jinton, Aftenstorm, Iterum Nata, Robert Santa and Folket Bortafor Nordavinden, and Tvinna.

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And I thought it was hard coming up with a top 5 list in 2022! Little did I know that in 2023, Nordic musicians - Norwegians in particular - would go so hard that I'd be forced to expand it to a list of 10 this year just to feel like I can paint a meaningful picture of this year's Nordic music scene. 2023 was an incredible year to be the Nordic music guy, and I look forward to the years ahead, especially considering how many of the bands towards the top of this list are just getting started. 

So, without further ado, let's bid farewell to 2023 and show it our appreciation by revisiting 10 albums that showed Nordic music, and the Nordic sound, as a force to be reckoned with this year.

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To offer at least something festive to the channel, the holiday season gives me the perfect excuse to talk about the legendary Norwegian vision poem Draumkvedet, which has inspired so much music for such an old poem. This is also a little experiment for testing out content that ties folklore and music together because the relationship between the two in Nordic music is just so intertwined that it can’t be ignored. 

Lastly, as a little easter egg, for those of you who have been around since the days of this being a classical music podcast, some very familiar names of Norwegian music history are going to come back around to emphasize the part they played in Nordic folklore and music history, featuring a wonderful piano sonata. So, let’s dive into Draumkvedet, or the Dream Poem, for a very pagan Christmas story

To look closer at the history of the poem: https://www.visittelemark.com/vest-telemark-museum/our-heritage/the-dream-poem

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The November 2023 installment of "this monthish in Nordic music" is here with great music from Gåte, Mari Boine, Sigrid Moldestad, Sowulo, and Kalandra! Also, some more band announcements for Midgardsblot 2024!

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With this interview, I'm excited to introduce Noiduin as the first Finnish band to come onto the podcast! In this chat, Noiduin discusses their background as musicians, how Noiduin came to be (more romantic than one would expect!), and how Finnish folklore, rune singers, and witchcraft feed into the band's music.

Other finnish musicians/bands recommended by Jemina and Henri:
Nest
Tenhi
Ruumisto
Gói
Kallomäki
Karneh

Support Noiduin at:
noiduin.bandcamp.com

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