Category: Denmark

Kata: 1902

December 8, 2021

The Faroe Islands are shrouded in subpolar isolation, tantalizing mythology and stubborn clouds, but their rugged terrain and spectacular landscapes are accessible to travelers, and examples of the archipelago’s fascinating culture are just a few mouse clicks away. One good starting point is the women’s vocal ensemble Kata. 1902, the group’s second album, is an extraordinary collection rooted in mystery and history, with dramatis personae remote yet somehow … More Kata: 1902

Helene Blum & Harald Haugaard Band: Strømmen

December 29, 2020

In poetry and prose, flowing water is a common metaphor for life and history, constancy and destiny. But there’s nothing common about Strømmen (The Current), which meanders with calm majesty through timeless landscapes. Helene Blum and Harald Haugaard are a lyricist-composer couple (in art and life), she a nightingale of club and concert hall, he a virtuoso fiddler, together peerless navigators and … More Helene Blum & Harald Haugaard Band: Strømmen

Mizgin: Lorin

November 13, 2018

Denied education, she taught herself. Denied a voice, she just sang louder. Mizgin, born in the Kurdish heartland of eastern Turkey, contracted polio at two and spent her early years at home, unable to go to school. Initially without crutches, she crawled; often alone, she listened to music and taught herself to play her brother’s saz. In her teens, against her parents’ wishes, she went to live with her sister in Istanbul, where she learned to read and write … More Mizgin: Lorin

Kata: Tívils døtur

February 5, 2018

The voices of the women’s quintet are celestial and the album was recorded in a church dating from 1250, but the words embedded in Kata’s enchanting harmonies tell mostly cautionary tales. Tívils døtur (Tivil’s Daughters) features mythical heroes and folk figures, trolls, witches, giants, slayers and, always in the middle, vulnerable women—all figures in traditional songs from the Faroe Islands. Kata performs a cappella save for light drum and … More Kata: Tívils døtur

Zenobia: Blot en Ild

January 17, 2018

Like campers kindling a fire with logs, twigs and dry leaves, the women of Zenobia stoke their music with every-life elements—joy and folly, love and sorrow, pride and prejudice. For their fourth album, Louise Støjberg (lead vocals), Mette Kathrine Jensen Stærk (accordion) and Charlotte Støjberg (piano), have composed 16 melodies in the Danish folk tradition, with the lion’s share of new lyrics by Martin Rauff-Nielsen, in addition to some classic … More Zenobia: Blot en Ild

Helene Blum: Dråber af tid

August 27, 2017

The great Jim Croce could only dream of capturing Time in a Bottle, but on her fifth solo album the Danish folksinger and songwriter Helene Blum succeeds in making the clock stand still. Each song on Dråber af tid (Droplets of Time) revolves around a defining moment—a marriage proposal, a lullaby, a separation, a war’s end—the narrative unit around which life stories are built. The album offers stunning music, evocative imagery and, above all, Blum’s spellbinding voice—bright and poignant, magically fusing opera house … More Helene Blum: Dråber af tid