Hirundo Maris – “Bendik og Årolilja” (Bendik and Årolilja”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

 

For today’s song of the day, I chose a beautiful and tragic medieval ballad. I guess every single country or culture has a similar famous tragic love story. I first heard Bendik og Årolilja back when I was just starting to acquaint myself with Scandinavian and Nordic folk music, and back then I happened to be quite a lot into folk metal, largely thanks to the influence of my late friend Jacek from Helsinki, so the first version of this song was by Gåte. In case you’re curious of Gåte I actually posted one song by them WAAY back in the beginnings of my blog, specifically, it was Inga Litimor. 

 

But back when I heard their Bendik og Årolilja, and then a bit later Bukkene Bruse’s version, the only Norwegian I understood was through Swedish, and since this song is in quite archaic language, I didn’t really understand much at all, I just knew that it’s some sad medieval ballad and suspected that it had to do with tragic love and someone’s death or something like that, and not much more. I first heard Hirundo Maris’ version in December last year, so I’d already been learning Norwegian for a while by then, but still my understanding of it was very patchy. It was thanks to Balladspot, a blog about Scandinavian ballads, that I’ve finally learned what exactly the plot line of this song is and if you’re interested in Norwegian folk music as much as I am, I highly recommend reading that post because it includes a few different versions of this ballad, including this one and one by Kirsten Bråten Berg, whose one song I’ve even shared on here in the past, but hadn’t heard her version of Bendik og Årolilja before. 

 

In the ballad, Bendik leaves home in search for a wife and subsequently falls deeply in love with Årolilja – daughter of a Danish king. – However, the king is not favourably inclined towards Bendik as his daughter’s future husband, or perhaps doesn’t want her to be married at all, because we are told that he built some sort of mysterious golden track, which is not to be treaded by anyone or else they will die. Supposedly, this track leads to where Årolilja lives and probably is a symbolic representation of Årolilja herself. Undeterred by that, Bendik embarks on this forbidden journey. He hunts during the day and visits Årolilja each night. Their happiness doesn’t last long though, because the king soon finds out about them through his young servant boy, which means death to Bendik. He is imprisoned and tied up with lots of ropes, which he breaks free from easily though. Thus, the same young boy who previously spied on young lovers, tells the king to tie him up with Årolilja’s hair. Those bonds indeed prove unbreakable for Bendik, as he says he’d rather remain inprisoned than break one of his beloved’s hair. Then we have all kinds of living creatures who ask the king to have mercy for Bendik, from birds and fish and trees to Årolilja herself and even her mother the queen who reminds him that he had promised to fulfil any request that she makes, but the king rejects all their pleas. Bendik is killed in the least appropriate place possible – beside the church – and soon after that Årolilja dies from sorrow. – It is only then, when the king finds out about his daughter’s death, that he finally regrets his actions. We are also told that on the graves of Bendik and Årolilja lilies started to bloom, which I think must be related to Årolilja’s name, because lilje and Lilja mean lily in modern Norwegian and Swedish respectively. As a name nerd I do have to add that I think the name Årolilja is really interesting and that it’s sad it’s not actually in use in Norway these days. 🙂 

 

I’ve already shared a couple songs by Hirundo Maris in the last few months so I don’t think I need to introduce them much, but for those who are unfamiliar with them, this is an early music group founded by Catalan soprano and harpist Arianna Savall and Norwegian singer Peter Udland Johansen. 

 

Emil Kárlsen – “Áhkku” (Grandmother).

   Last year, I shared with you a song by Resirkulert – a rock group from the north of Norway, in which Emil Kárlsen is the vocalist. – That song is one of the more popular songs by Resirkulert and, as far as I’m aware, is their only song in Sámi. It is a joik for Emil’s grandfather. Well, I’ve been listening to Resirkulert for quite some time, but only recently have I found also that Emil Kárlsen has also released some solo music, and collaborated with other famous Sámi musicians. It’s always a treat for me to come across new, good Sámi music, and I’ve been enjoying it very much. I was wondering what song by him I could share, but in the end I decided that, since I have already shared a joik of Emil’s grandfather, it would make sense to share one of his grandmother now. And it is also one of my most favourite songs by him. 

 

Anne Marie ALmedal – “Vi Har ei Tulle med Øyne Blå” (We Have a Little Girl With Blue Eyes).

   Hey people! 🙂 

  Today I want to share a very popular Norwegian children’s song with you. It has been sung by a lot of different Norwegian artists, but I think my favourite version is that by Anne Marie Almedal, who is a pop singer from Kristiansand. The song was first published in a songbook by Norwegian teacher and children’s writer Margrethe Munthe. The below translation was written by Bibielz. 

      We have a little girl with blue eyes 

With silky hair and with small ears 

And in the middle of the face a small nose 

As big as this 

As soft as velvet are her cheeks 

And she is lovely and plump and pudgy 

With doll-like hands and two small teeth 

In her mouth 

And she can bite her own toes 

And she can dance without clothes 

And she can eat and stand and show 

How big she is 

And the little girl pulls on dad’s hair 

And laughs and winks to whoever walks by 

And bakes cakes and lets us taste 

Everything she makes 

She splashes in the tub, you can believe 

We never hear her scream no 

Well you really should see our little girl 

How good she is. 

Hirundo Maris – “Trollmors Vuggesang” & Helene Bøksle – “Trollmors Vuggevise” (Troll Mother’s Lullaby).

   Hey dear people! 🙂 

   Today I have a funny little Scandinavian lullaby for you. I only know Norwegian versions, but apparently it’s also known in Sweden. The first version I want to share with you comes from Hirundo Maris, the early music and folk group founded by Arianna Savall and Petter Udland Johansen. I’ve already featured two of their songs, including Tarantela from the same album. THe other version is by one of my favourite Norwegian folk singers, Helene Bøksle, who hails from Mandal in the south of the country. I have also featured some of her other songs before. Here’s Bibiel’s translation of this song: 

      When troll mother has put to bed her eleven little trolls 

And wrapped them up tightly in her tail 

Then she sings for her eleven little trolls 

The most beautiful words she knows 

Hirundo Maris: 

   Helene Bøksle: 

Hirundo Maris – “Wayfaring Stranger”.

   As we approach the last week of Advent, a time for us Christians to reflect more on the Last Things and where we are headed, among other things, I’d like to share this classic, religious American folk song with you. I’ve chosen to share with you a  recently released version of this song, by Hirundo Maris, a quintet led by Arianna Savall and Petter Udland Johansen. – Arianna is a Catalan soprano, harpist, and composer who is also fluent in multiple languages and the daughter of composer Jordi Savall and soprano Montserrat Figueras. Petter is a Norwegian singer and composer. Both artists are equally comfortable performing early music, folk, and even more contemporary material. As Hirundo Maris, which means “sea swallow” in Latin, they blend Scandinavian and Mediterranean sounds, and the results are very intriguing. 

Anja Garbarek – “I Won’t Hurt You”.

   Hey guys! 🙂 

   We haven’t had anything Norwegian in quite a while, or so it feels to me. So for today I chose a song from an artist who is very much valued and recognisable on the Norwegian music scene, but whose music I’ve only really discovered quite recently, despite I’m generally into  Norwegian music  quite a lot and I tend to like Norwegian experimental music, electronic, alternative and indie stuff which are all genres that this artist is comfortable in. For people who are into jazz music, her surname will be familiar because of her father, the saxophonist Jan Garbarek. Even I who have very little to do with jazz, and the saxophone as such  is one of my least favourite instruments, knew about him way earlier than I first heard of Anja, thanks to our  sophisticated and highly cultured Polish Radio Programme 2 which I like to listen to sometimes or my Mum does in the kitchen. 

   As far as I’m aware, Anja released only one album in Norwegian, but despite the song I want to share with you comes from an entirely English-language release (Smiling and Waving Fromm 2001), the whole album feels extremely Norwegian, well, at least to me, in its dreamy minimalism, and there’s something icy cool to it but in a cool way (pun intended) at least cool to someone like me who really likes ice in all its forms. 

   This is a cover of the 60’s song by a psychedelic American group The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, and the original is also very good. 

Erika Norwich – “Ballerina”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today I have a very interesting song for you that has always intrigued me a bit. I first discovered it sometime in 2017-2018 which happened to be around the time when I started exploring Norwegian pop and electronic music. I liked it and listened to it a fair bit along with other Norwegian songs that I liked then so that now I associate it with my finals a lot because I was studying for them around the same time. But then I sort of forgot about it and was only reminded about the existence of this song yesterday. I still like it, so thought I’d share. I think it’s rare to find a song that would deal with such a niche topic as sleepwalking, or any sleep disorder really. Every time I listen to it I wonder what could have been the inspiration for those lyrics, is this based on Erika’s personal experiences or just something she came up with spontaneously somehow? Truth be told I don’t ever know if she did write this song at all or if someone else did for her as Spotify credits are silent about it. 

   As for Erika Norwich herself, I don’t really know much about her other than that she’s from Trondheim, took part in the Norwegian Idol in 2016 and then later in Melodi Grand Prix (Norwegian Eurovision preselections) together with Thomas Løseth. 

Cashmere Factory – “Love Bazaar”.

   Hiya people! 🙂 

   Today I thought I’d share another song from Norway with you all. This time, it’s from an alternative indie group called Cashmere Factory. I don’t really know much about them and haven’t acquainted myself with more of their music so far, but heard that song for the first time last year and I’ve been liking it  a fair bit ever since. 

Emelie Hollow- “Monster”.

   Hey guys! 🙂 

   Today I’d like to share with you quite a cool song from Emelie Hollow’s album Half the Story released last year. Emelie is a fairly popular singer in her native Norway, though for those who are not Norwegian/aren’t especially interested in Norwegian music but are from Europe or listen to European pop she might be known because of her cooperation with Alan Walker and singing the song Lily. Emelie also has roots in New Zealand. She wrote this song together with Eirik Tillerli, also known as Tirelli, who has also produced it. 

 

Susanne Sundfør – “Walls”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today I have for you a song from a singer whom I personally find incredibly interesting. I have become more familiar with her music last month (very late when you consider that I’m generally very much into Norwegian music, in particular all things folk, electronic and indie, and that she is very famous in her home country and not unheard of abroad, she seems to have a loyal fan base in the UK as well from what I’ve noticed) and it made a huge impression and stirred up all kinds of feelings for me, to the point that I was seriously wondering if this is going to be my next faza and perhaps she’s actually been a minor one. I suppose if I came across her music earlier, as a goth teenager who was into people like Emilie Autumn, it could have gone further. These feelings were really quite ambivalent though, hence why it took me so long to make up my mind whether I want to feature something from her in my song of the day series. 😀 

   I’ve known for years that there’s a singer called Susanne Sundfør, ever since I started to take an interest in Norwegian music, and knew a couple of her songs thanks to Spotify, like Undercover or Kamikaze, which I didn’t have any stronger feelings for. I don’t really remember now what prompted me to look at her music more closely, but when I did, it had a very strong impact on me from the beginning. Initially, I got an impression that her music and me are a very good match, because, well, she’s done both folk and electronic music, and she knows how to do both well, she also draws from many other genres as a classically trained pianist and someone who, according to what I read about her, is into a lot of different music, so she’s versatile and you guys know I like versatile people, she’s a great songwriter and composer (most musicians I really like tend to be extremely good at one but comparatively mediocre at the other), clearly puts lots of emotion into what she’s doing so that it not only feels authentic but can be properly overwhelming at times, and has great vocal skills and a freakishly versatile voice. Then when I went deeper into her music, I had a sort of similar situation that I had with Fay Wildhagen some four years ago, or more specifically her album Borders, perhaps except for the fact that with Fay Wildhagen I didn’t really like her music at all initially. But every time I heard some song from this album, somehow it always ended up grabbing my attention, so one day I became a bit intrigued and gave that album a thorough listen, and then I realised two things, that it’s actually a lot better than I originally thought, and that at the same time it gives me the sensory creeps, y’know like I often get when some sounds just don’t agree with my brain too well for whatever reason and my system gets flooded with adrenaline when I hear it, and it feels like that auditory stimulus seethes with aggression specifically towards me, even if objectively it doesn’t sound aggressive or creepy at all and other people may just as well perceive it as totally neutral or perhaps even calming. And sometimes I freeze while hearing such a thing and then whenever I’m in silence or am not focused on anything specific and my mind just wanders aimlessly this sound or sequence of sounds or music or whatever scary stuff it is just keeps playing over and over in my brain. It’s a really weird sensation when something creeps me out while at the same time a part of my brain actually likes the sound of it and thinks it’s interesting. It happens to me quite regularly. With Fay Wildhagen though, unlike with Susanne Sundfør, I got over the initial heebiejeebies quite quickly, and once I did, I noticed to my delight that, actually, for whatever reason, I felt in her musical soundscape like a fish in the water and listened to that album over and over again for like half a year till finally I got actually quite bored with it. 

   With Susanne it was a bit more complicated. As soon as I dove deeper into her music, I liked it right away, but I noticed that a lot of her songs turn on my heebiejeebies at the same time. In a way though, it only multiplied the haunting effect that her music had on me. What added to that creepy impression was that a lot of her lyrics, particularly from her later albums (think the Brothel or Ten Love Songs) are also objectively very dark. Not just simply a bit gloomy dark, but some sound pretty darn suicidal to me, others are full of violence, or kind of apocalyptical in their vibe. It’s often difficult for me to look in an unbiased way at music which sparks such sensory reactions in me but I’d say that generally her music, even a lot of her very “normal” songs to put it a bit simplistically, have some sort of tens e atmosphere about them, as if there was constantly something hanging in the air or something lurking at the next turn, and additionally like I said lots and lots of emotions, so honestly after having a careful listen through her whole discography one Saturday I ended up feeling quite a bit fatigued mentally. 😀 It was all the worse for me really because the whole summer was quite abundant in sensory anxiety for me anyway, perhaps if we met at some different point it would have gone better. 😀 So then I went down a proper rabbit hole, trying to learn about Susanne and her music as much as I could, reading reviews and stuff like that, wanting to know whatever inspires her, and whether other people perceive her music any similarly at all to how I do or is it just my screwed brain’s filter through which I hear it. Well, it seems that I’m not alone, which, for once, makes me feel comforted in a way, but then on the other hand it has only confirmed for my brain that it was right to have turned my sensory alarms on. 

   I don’t think I’ll ever reach that stage with Susanne’s music that I had with Fay Wildhagen’s, despite the beginnings of these two stories being similar. I don’t think I’d even want it, to be totally honest. I’d say that to me her music is a bit like fire – it’s exciting, it can be beautiful, but you have to be careful around it, ‘cause it’s easy to come too close and not even notice that the flames have begun to lick your clothes till it starts hurting. But still, once you discover that there’s such a thing as fire, it’s really good to know that such a thing exists and it’s nice to light it up sometimes and sit next to it and enjoy its crackling, warmth and glow. 

   So that’s why in the end I thought I’d share with you something by Susanne, but I decided on something from her debut, self-titled album from 2007, when she was only 21. It is quite a folksy, singer-songwriter type album and feels more, hm, how do I put it…? stable? than her later releases, although you can feel those little embers scattered throughout the album, gently signalling that there is something more to it and more to come in the future that is bubbling under the surface. 

   Usually when I share music on here I opt for studio versions, but today I decided to share a live one with y’all, because it showcases  how Susanne sounds just as good live as she does on her albums. 

Synthomania ft. Ary – “Darling”.

   Hey guys! 🙂 

   Today I’d like to introduce to you another Norwegian electronic song, as I’e been again listening to more Norwegian electronic music lately. This song, however, isn’t new to me, I’ve known it for a couple of years and I really like it. It’s really depressive but at the same time oddly soothing. 

   Synthomania is the stage name of Norwegian producer and composer Marius Bjørnson, who uses old and rare hardware synths to make his music. The vocalist in this song, Ary, or Ariadne Loinsworth Jenssen, is an Oslo-based singer and songwriter from Trondheim who seems to enjoy a fair bit of popularity in her home country. SHe also has some Trinidadian descent. 

Sval – “Something”.

   Hiya people! 🙂 

   Today I thought I’d share some Norwegian pop with you, from a young artist from Oslo called Sval Rosenløw Eeg, known simply as Sval. She is only in her early twenties, but has been making music for most of her life. I believe her fame has started out when she won in a Norwegian song competition for children Melodi Grand Prix Junior in 2011, with a song about friendship called Trenger Deg (I need You). She seems to be quite popular in her homeland, and her songs tend to be quite catchy. She is the daughter of novelist Harald Rosenløw Eeg. 

Travelle – “Fake Louis V.”.

   Hiya people! 🙂 

   Today I’d like to share with you another song by the Norwegian singer, songwriter and producer Travelle, whom both my Mum and me have been liking for quite some time and a lot of whose songs I’ve already shared on here, including a couple others which he released under the name Trollguten. This one, as is very clear from the lyrics, deals with the topic of the “fake it ’til you make it” philosophy. As he explained it for one Norwegian music blog, he actually did it at some point and bought a bunch of fake designer clothes to look cooler, but didn’t actually end up using them. He claims that whether it is buying followers on Instagram, embellishing your CV with things that aren’t necessarily true about you, or lying about how many people you’ve slept with, that’s not really a stupid idea, and that’s the point of this song. While I can agree that this can be sometimes helpful, I can’t say I agree with that. I mean, as someone with AVPD, I can sure get it that people can do such things as a way not to be criticised, but despite my AVPD, I’d sort of feel like I was untrue to myself if I bought fake clothes just because I wanted to look good for other people. If I wanted that for myself, I’d rather focus on creating my own style that would reflect my personality and work for my budget, and if I really did want designer clothes, I’d do all I could to actually one day be able to afford the genuine stuff. I just couldn’t be bothered to buy fake things for the sake of other people I think, but I guess I’m in the minority here because  I’m a hermit so I don’t have to care about such things, and for most people, especially those who are actually ambitious or something, the social pressure is probably a lot stronger, I see it even with our Sofi who fakes a lot of things for her peers’ sake. Similarly with wanting to have lots of followers and stuff like that, I’m totally disinterested in it, in fact I think it’s kind of nicer to have less followers because you can actually know all these people and have more genuine contact with them than with a whole crowd of followers. That’s especially true with blogging for me, I don’t think I’d like to have a huge blog with loads of followers, because it would no longer feel so nice and cosy and stuff and would probably start to feel a bit overwhelming if I wanted to keep up with engaging with all those followers. But then I don’t use your normal social media much at all and they have a bit of a different dynamic than blogging obviously. But, despite I don’t fully agree with his point, I like how he’s honest about it like that in this song, and I’m pretty sure it must be relatable for a lot of people these days, plagued with FOMO and other such difficulties that we’re having in the world these days. 

Masåva – “Klem” (Hug).

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today I’d like to introduce you to a Norwegian band, whose music I’m actually quite new to as well, and it could be described as a blend of jazz with the Nordic folk song genre called vise/visa. It consists of Selma French Bolstad, who is the group’s lyricist as well as the vocalist and fiddler, Martin Morland, who plays bass, Martin Sternberg, who plays piano, and Øystein Aarnes Vik who plays drums. I like this song for its cosy vibe, and lyrics which can be very relatable if you’re an overthinker or a ruminator. Below is my translation, although it probably leaves a lot to be desired, and there’s even one line that is missing because I had no idea what it was actually supposed to mean. 

  You said you were coming home
I’m here but you haven’t arrived
But I hope it was nice things that they said
[…?]
You said you were coming home 
Maybe you have to help a friend
Or maybe the tram isn’t moving again
I’m here when you need a hug
And everything you think about
It’s going to go well here now
Don’t need to think this thought again
I’ll take care of you when you get home
So can we say sorry?
You said you were coming home
So I think well to think well again
Oh I’m trying not to get jealous
You said that she is just a friend
And all I think about
It’s going to go well here now
No need to think this thought again
You’re going to take care of me when you get home
So can we say sorry?
Because you said you were coming home
You said it after all , I say it again
When you get home you will get a hug
And all you think about
It’s going to go well here now
No need to think this thought again
I’m going to take care of you when you get home
And all you think about
It’s going to go well, yes, this 
You can get rid of everything you think about
No need to think that thought now anymore 
So can we say sorry?
Because you said you were coming home
You said it after all, I say it again
When you get home you will get a hug
So can we say sorry? 

Travelle – “Small Talk”.

   Thought I’d share another song by Travelle  – the Norwegian electropop singer, songwriter and producer several of whose songs I’ve already shared before. – Like all of his songs, I think this one may be very relatable for people. It definitely is to me, as an introvert and sociophobic and hermit who really dislikes small talk. Although I cannot really relate to it in its entirety, because it seems like what he describes is more the “I-don’t-care-about-people” type of dislike for small talk, rather than, as it is in my case, because it’s really awkward and kind of stressful. I think people are actually very interesting and I usually don’t mind if someone randomly wants to share some details of their life with me, perhaps they really need it and I just happen to be the closest, and I’m okay with it as long as they don’t do that excessively, in a way that screams that they’re really self-absorbed, and don’t expect me to do the same just because it’s a rule, or don’t expect me to actually lead the conversation. But overall, yeah, it can be super draining and overwhelming. 

Ellen A. Oskal, Frode Barth, Manu Katché, Palle Mikkelborg & Trygvee Seim – “Sara Helena Bergström Skal”.

   I have mentioned it several times on here how one of the things that I like most about the Sámi joik is how very well it blends with all sorts of contemporary genres, better than any other type of folk music that I’m familiar with. ANd I’ve shared with you guys songs that blend joik together with such genres as electronic music, pop, hip-hop or bluegrass. Today it’s time for a fusion of joik with jazz. 

   This joik tune comes from an album called Árbi, which means heritage in Sámi, the result of a collaboration between Sámi singer Ellen A. Oskal and jazz musician, composer and guitarist Frode Barth, featuring various other jazz musicians. It includes joiks of various people, who I believe must be Ellen A. Oskal’s ancestors or family. Despite I’m not really a fan of jazz, I do like this album. This particular piece, as you can figure out from the title, is the joik of someone called Sara Helena Bergstrøm Oskal, and it also features  French drummer Manu Katché, Danish trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg, and Norwegian saxophone player Trygve Seim. 

Travelle – “Vacation”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

   We had some really warm and sunny weather over here for a while earlier this week, and when I was planning what to share with you in this song of the day series in the near future, I thought this song would be very fitting, with the weather that could possibly be making many people  think of taking a vacation already, but at the same time it not being the season for that just yet. Our Sofi definitely can’t wait for holidays but the harsh truth is that she’s actually going to have her exams this week, and there’s still a whole month of school ahead of her. But, as we all know, weather can change super quickly and, since yesterday, it’s actually been rather unpleasant outside, with loads of rain and cold winds and clouds. Not so vacation-like anymore. Nevertheless, I’m sharing this summery song with you anyway. It’s still fitting. This song is about being burnt out and wanting to disappear for a while, which I think are feelings that for some people might be even stronger when it’s yucky outside, or it might be totally unrelated to whatever the weather is like. Fromm what Travelle told Universal Music Norway, he wrote this when he was feeling a bit tired and dejected, when there was still ice and snow on the streets, and he had no winter shoes so he got soaked up on his way to the studio. So I think this may be quite a relatable song for many people. I myself am in such luxurious situation that I rarely feel this way these days, because I am largely in charge of my own time and have a job that isn’t particularly stressful or demanding, but I know the feeling very well from school, particularly the first and last weeks of every school year, which I’m sure is also a very common experience. 

Alexander Rybak – “Let the Music Guide You”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Continuing the recent Sámi theme on my blog, I thought I’d share with you one more song which is not Sámi, but inspired by joik and with joik influences, from the Belarussian-born Norwegian singer Alexander Rybak, best known (at least to Europeans) for winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 with his song Fairytale, and for playing the violin. Some of my readers might also remember that he is Sofi’s childhood crush, who, as it happens, was introduced to her by a certain Bibiel, who was totally unaware what sort of results it will have and that the whole household will end up having to listen to his “Oah” on repeat for two weeks, and whom she still listens to a lot and has a strong sentiment for. I definitely don’t like all of his music, but some of his songs are really good, and I have already shared three other songs by him on here, one children’s song sung in Norwegian called Dyrene i Afrika (The ANimals in Africa),  which is so easy that I had managed to translate it even though I wasn’t learning Norwegian then yet, then a cover of a Swedish song by Mats Paulson called Visa vid Vindens ängar (Song at the Wind’s Meadows), and the third one a song in English by another ESC contestant from Romania – Roxen – called Wonderland in which he plays the violin. I think this one is really nice and I like the Sámi influence in it. 

Elen Marianne Utsi, Piera Eira & Bernt Mikkel Haglund – “Movttegis Nieiddat”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

   I think I have already mentioned how I think that of all the peoples speaking my favourite languages, the Sámi seem to be most fond of mixing folk music (in their case of course joiking in particular) with more modern genres, from electronic, to pop, to hip-hop, all sorts of things really. Perhaps it’s because it seems so obvious that when you sing in Sámi, it’s almost impossible not to include joiking, so naturally it comes out sounding a lot more folky than it would be otherwise. But I also think that joik blends extremely well with modern genres, better than many other kinds of folk music do, so they may just be very aware of it and take full advantage of it. I find blending folk music with modern genres or modern instrumentation very interesting in general, even if I don’t always like the results. I feel like it either comes out very good and tasteful, or the complete opposite and on the kitschy side. With Sámi music, more often than not, it’s the former. 

   So since I’ve been listening to all sorts of music in Sámi lately, I thought I’d share with you one such song which blends together Sámi folk and pop/dance vibes into a quite surprisingly coherent-sounding whole. I don’t really know much about these three musicians behind it other than they’re all from Kautokeino in Finnmark in Norway. I don’t even know what the title of this piece means, other than that I believe nieiddat means daughters but I’m not even entirely sure of that. 

Ben Alexander ft. Mörmaid – “Somni”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today I’d like to share with you this interesting, dreamy electropop song which I’ve only recently heard. It’s the result of collaboration between two Norwegian musicians –  producer and composer Ben Alexander, and singer and producer Live Sollid Schulerut who is better known as Mörmaid and as far as I know is based in Norfolk. – This the first and so far the only song that I’ve heard by either of them, but I really really like it so I’ll certainly be checking out their other music. 

   Ben Alexander says that this song is about how a dream can be more appealing than reality, because of how things can look so perfect in it, so that one may end up desiring the dream more than reality. Thus, the song is a love story between the dreamer and their dream. Being a keen daydreamer and a vivid night dreamer myself, I can definitely relate to how dreams can be more attractive than reality, and I like even just the concept of this song, and it just sounds so great as a whole. 

   I suppose that it’s title is simply like the Norwegian equivalent of somnia in English, as in insomnia, coming from the Latin somnus meaning sleep, though it’s just my assumption that that’s where they got it from.