Oh, how TravelTracks does love a compilation album. And what’s better than one CD? Two, of course! That’s just what FolkeLarm: Oslo 2008 from the Etnisk Musikklubb label delivers, and it’s a gem of a collection. Folkelarm is Scandinavia’s premier world music festival, which is now in its fifth year. Here’s a quick sampling of what the artists offered at the 2008 celebration:
Picture a hippopotamus walking through the Left Bank of Paris, perhaps munching a croissant, and you’ve got the musical landscape of Johanna Juhola’s “Hippo”. It’s equal parts tuba and accordion, marrying the comical and the sophisticated.
Gilgamesh, a TravelTracks favorite, offers the intoxicating “Tigris Nights,” and Tassili, lead by Moroccan-born singer Aissa Tobi, adds another fantastic Middle Eastern element with “Nenea”.
The saxophones on “Tuss Ola” from Den Fule are captivating, and quick-stepping fiddles and vocals on Valkyrien Allstars’ “Eg Vil Ha Deg” keep the album’s energy high.
“Krummi” from Valravn is intense. Anna Katrin Egilstroed’s Bjork-like voice is small but forceful, and she rolls her ‘r’s with abandon.
On the more tranquil side is “Dod Spelemann” from Camilla Granlien Band, “Gamlestev” from Kim Andre Rysstad, and “Birrat Birra—Round and Round” from Niko Valkeapaa.
Trying to mention all of the valuable tracks here by name would quickly turn this review into a list, so instead, a bottom line: If you enjoy fiddles, lovely voices singing in languages both strange and familiar, judicious usage of electronica, and above all, the surprises that wait around every bend of a compilation album, buy this.