If ever there was a baritone voice made for this music, Bo Skovhus’s is it…Except for the Lange-Müller and Malling items here making their debut on disc, most of the songs on this CD have been recorded before, but mainly in mixed programs, and not, in my opinion, as consistently well sung and beautifully played as they are on this Chandos release. Bo Skovhus is phenomenal, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Michael Schønwandt is equally magnificent. This is a must-have CD.

The seventies were a magical decade for anyone interested in music that tested and pushed boundaries - the cross-pollination between the rhythmic music originating in the culture of the enslaved and currents from Asia, Africa and the Middle East created exciting results with microtonality, new instruments and unusual scales - some rock bands played with a symphony orchestra, others with saws. The most ambitious stretched the elastic so far that it almost broke… and occasionally it did. Jazz was unfaithful with rock, rock with folk music, pop with contemporary music, everyone was curious about the French gypsy jazz.

Norway's most famous composer, Edvard Grieg was one of the late Romantics whose music was infused with the folk tradition of his homeland. He dedicated his career to the pursuit of a national sound. The respect he had for his predecessors illustrates the sincerity with which he worked towards this goal. He wrote in the Romantic tradition with, in his own words, the determination to "create a national form of music, which could give the Norwegian people an identity." The clear mountain beauty of a Scandinavian landscape can be felt in the pure modal harmonies and sustained transparent textures combined with the warmth of a Schumannesque melodic sensibility. This is especially true of his hundreds of piano miniatures – many based on folk dance rhythms – and his songs.

HEILUNG don’t play “shows”. They perform a ritual. Christopher Juul, Maria Franz, Kai Uwe Faust and their Nordic collective sweep audiences into rapture with throat singing, primordial rhythms, subtle electronic textures, a mesmerizing light show, an army of warriors and bursts of fire. What better place on earth to experience their ancient ritual than the Red Rocks Amphitheatre? The world-famous venue - which is located outside of Denver, Colorado in the USA, tucked between two giant sandstones - was once home to indigenous tribes. When HEILUNG performed there in October 2021, they recognized this history by inviting Natives to join the prayer that opens all of their rituals.“ Remember that we all are brothers. All people, beasts, trees, and stones, and wind. We all descend from the one great being”. What followed was a night that no one would forget. Experience the magic of HEILUNG’s very first Red Rocks performance again and again!

This fascinating collection was put together by archivist Christopher Wagner, who assembled these vintage 78 rpms recorded between 1922 and 1959 by all manner of emigrant musicians – each addressing the hopes, dreams, fears and confusions of starting a new life in a new world – into an amazing statement on diversity. Some 50 million people migrated from Europe to America in the 19th century, with millions more coming from the Far East, the West Indies, and points in between, all putting to the test the melting pot theory of American democracy, a theory that is, in many ways, still being tested. Consisting of selections by Irish string bands, Scandinavian folk ensembles, ragged street corner calypso orchestras, conjunto bands and so much more, Stranded in the USA holds a mirror to a vital period in U.S. history, and also sheds light on a nascent recording industry trying anything and everything to reach pocket audiences, a process that is difficult to imagine in a contemporary setting full of corporate multimedia giants more intent on selling culture than reflecting or serving it. This truly is the sound of America singing. Kudos to Trikont Records, a German label, for recognizing the importance of these tracks.

After 10 years of releasing music, I decided it was time for a self-titled album. I’m so excited to finally announce that my new album “KYGO” will be out June 21st! I’ve worked really hard on this one the last 2 years and I can’t wait to share it all with you guys. - Kygo

2024 release, the fourth album from the Norwegian alt-pop superstar. What Happened To The Heart? is a journey from weakness to strength, from self-destruction to self-healing. A poignant and introspective musical journey that explores the loss of spiritual connection in modern society, the healing power of vulnerability, and the call to ignite change through reuniting the heart with politics and personal growth. Working with a selection of incredible producers, What Happened To The Heart? promises to cement Aurora as an artist like no other.

Send Dudes is the latest album by Aktiv Dödshjelp, released by Loud Media. This highly anticipated album showcases the band's signature blend of metal and punk influences, delivering a raw and powerful listening experience for fans of heavy music.

THE NEW, EPIC METALLIC ODYSSEY FROM THE LONGSTANDING NORWEGIAN DUO OF FENRIZ & NOCTURNO CULTO
With a legacy of audial treasures now spanning more than 35 years & with the fountain of creativity ever flowing, Norway’s Darkthrone return with their latest venture through classic riffs & vintage sounding metal in the shape of the epic new seven track studio opus, ‘It Beckons Us All’. Seeing the longstanding duo of Fenriz & Nocturno Culto uniting once more, ‘It Beckons Us All’ follows on the heels of 2022’s revered ‘Astral Fortress’ album, with what could be considered an even more refined, challenging & diverse set of timeless metal anthems from the uncompromising trailblazers; from the melodic, to the sombre & atmospheric, to the blackened dirges emanating from Darkthrone’s highly distinguishable riffing, as well as a nod to influences such as Celtic Frost along the way.

With Fastlandet, Torun Eriksen breaks new ground and does most things for the first time: The lyrics are Norwegian; the format trio; the soundscape electro-acoustic; and the music improvised and through-composed side by side, layer upon layer and simultaneously.

I'M DOING IT AGAIN BABY! is the eagerly anticipated sophomore album from Norway born, and Oslo based singer-songwriter, girl in red. This 10-song album chronicles the artist's last two and a half years with honesty and wit, and a willingness to play around with her music. With I'M DOING IT AGAIN BABY!, girl in red is building her music into something "more ambitious, and more exciting, and more idea-driven." Exploring themes like confidence, criticism, self-esteem, and vulnerability, girl in red produced the album with frequent collaborator Matias Tellez.

“This early 70's Norwegian band played together for years without ever releasing an album; that is, until label Record Heaven heard about them in the late 90's and convinced them to re-record songs they had played live at the time. We can now enjoy a collection of highly energetic, raw and aggressive 70's power rock recorded with pristine modern technology. The band's material is reminiscent of BLACK SABBATH, URIAH HEEP, early SCORPIONS and JETHRO TULL, albeit a very manic TULL as the flutes battle it out savagely with pounding guitars. “En Fix Ferdig Mann”, their 8th album, and the very first sung in their native Norwegian language. And just as their fellow rockers from Norway, Arabs In Aspic, did with their 2017 album “Syndenes Magi” (also on Apollon) they pull out a very impressive and unique album whilst singing in Norwegian, arguable their masterpiece.

An important release for the extreme music subgenre of Viking metal, Frost represented a sizeable creative leap for Norway's Enslaved. After only a few years of existence, several record labels, and a few member changes, Enslaved had settled into a bit of a groove on this 1994 release. Bassist/vocalist Grutle Kjellson leads the way with plenty of throat splitting call-outs to various Norse gods and apocalyptic battle descriptions, while Ivar Bjørnson (guitar, keyboards) and Trym Torson (drums) plow through plenty of destructive riffs of their own. The music oscillates between spooky, plodding keyboard intros to black metal so fast and furious, barely a beat or melody is descernable. Highlights include the relatively decipherable "Fenris" and the slow, dissonant "Yggdrasil," but in general, all the tracks on Frost bear enough of a resemblance to make this 1994 release a fine black metal listen…

Debut solo album from Wobbler’s Lars Fredrik Frøislie! Fitting perfectly into the 70s prog-rock tradition where the keyboardist makes a solo album between the band albums, this is music Frøislie has been doing, mostly alone, during the pandemic. Had it not been for the pandemic, much of the material would probably have ended up on a new Wobbler album - but then run through the Wobbler grinder and with English lyrics. In other words, this is unpeeled and raw, as spontaneous as possible without going through too many rounds of processing. Trying to preserve the impulsive - much of what you hear is improvised, and one-takes (preferably with playing errors and piano strings that break and the like). Trying to preserve the human aspect to a large extent, avoiding click tracks, auto-tune, MIDI or too much technology. Expect lots of old analogue keyboards such as cembalo, Mellotron, MiniMoog, Yamaha CP70 and Hammond organ.

Varg Vikernes is once again wasting no time getting new music out into the world as Umskiptar is now the third album since his release from prison in 2009. While both Belus and Fallen were powerful examples of atmospheric black metal that harkened back to the early Burzum material, Umskiptar finds Vikernes moving away from that sound and diving into avant garde and Bathory styled viking metal.
That's not to say that there aren't some similarities here to the previous two releases. Varg likes to stretch out the atmospheric passages, sometimes for a tad too long, and the plodding tempos here on a few tracks, especially on "Alfadanz" sound a bit familiar…