Whirled

Vasen

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 1997)
• Original Release Date: September 23, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Northside Records
• ASIN: B000003THZ
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #91,591 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Swedish folk. Who would have thought?, December 3, 1999

By	Sara Wells (Lexington, KY) - See all my reviews

This music will entrance you with its satisfying texture, and its hypotic rhythms will infect your mind (or at least make you want to jump around a lot). At times Whirled seems have Celtic inflections, though phrases are often delightfully asymmetric. Vasen sets up addictive grooves that remain clever throughout. There is even a touch of a more Eastern sound. Yet, Vasen's music retains a distinctiveness that makes it incomparable to anything else. This is some of the funnest, and still, most legitimate music I have ever heard.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Are you experienced?, June 20, 2001

By	Kenny b Natural - See all my reviews

Stunningly beautiful melodies with quirky rhythyms played by the masters of the style. When I 1st heard this on the radio I thought maybe it was Breton or Celtic. I soon explored more Scandinavian music and it was everything I could hope for in a traditional music. The use of viola, middle eastern drumming and bouzouki backing up the native keyed fiddle or "nyckleharpa" is a superb blend that never seems old. The compositional talents of Roger Talroth, Mikel Marin and Olov Johannson combined is an unparalled marvel. I own almost every disc on this label, now. The sense of living with magic and unseen forces pervades this music and is part of the living culture that is Scandanavia.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strikingly unique!, December 30, 2003

By	Brianna Neal (USA) - See all my reviews

This joyous celebration of ancient and modern takes the listener on a journey through another world. Andre Ferrari's varied and inventive percussion is a nice complement to nyckelharpist Olov Johansson, fiddler Mikael Marin and guitarist Roger Tallroth, and distinguishes Vasen from many of the other neo-traditional Nordic groups. Another feature that sets this band apart is their freewheeling approach to meter and melody, disregarding the conventions of both to create music with an unexpected freshness and fascinating wildness. The tone of the selections on this album alternates between lively and progressive to laid-back and quaint, but an overriding sense of folksy cheerfulness pervades them all. Track 4, "Shapons Vindaloo", has a Middle Eastern feel to it and resembles the work of violinist Claude Shalhoub on his self-titled album. If you like "Whirled", check out also Vasen's subsequent release, "Gront", which is somewhat darker but just as interesting.