Check out Pre Develske Drom from Henning Gustavsen. It’s a recent release from Etnisk Musikklubb, and it is captivating. Gustavsen’s voice is clear and compelling, and it is put front and center on this album. A few early tracks are sung a capella–little to no instrumentation and only an occasional harmonizing voice. These tracks are stark […]
Etnisk Musikklubb
Vanishing Craft
Etnisk Musikklubb‘s recent release Merakerklarinetten I Solo Og Samspell (bet you can’t say that three times fast) features the almost forgotten Meraker clarinet, a handmade folk clarinet that was rediscovered and modernized by Harald Gilland in the 1950s. Since Gilland’s passing in 1992, the instrument has again fallen into near obscurity. To try to keep the […]
Rammeslag II
Norway’s Etnisk Musikklubb label is offering up another page from its traditional music playbook: Rammeslag II from Daniel Sanden-Warg and Sigurd Brokke. Two instruments dominate this album–the fiddle (both regular fiddle and the Hardanger fiddle) and the jew’s harp. The jew’s harp (or mouth harp) is a small instrument with a big, unusual sound–think low-tech […]