Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is my personal favorite Hedningarna CD, December 1, 2002
By A Customer
I have come to believe that at least one Hedningarna CD is a requirement for any music collection that is trying to be interesting. For me, their music is so engaging no matter which way I come at it: sonic textures, musicianship, energy, emotions, engineering, unusual instruments, vocals, insight to other cultures, composition, rhythms, etc, etc. Having said that, I have three Hedningarna CDs (Hippjokk, Tra and Kaksi) and I like Kaksi the best because it seems a little more diverse than the other two I have. Tra is good and dark and HippJokk is excellent too but I really like the sound of the female vocalists and the diversity on Kaksi. It's also a little more buoyant, I think, a little more uplifting. The instrumentals are exquisite and tight and often make me think of powerful landscapes. The sound of this CD on headphones is a real treat, I often use this CD to show off my stereo. It's also fun to try to get friends to categorize this work. Good luck with your music searches!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scandinavian!, July 25, 2003
I've lived in Norway all my life, so Hedningarna's music doesn't at all sound strange to me. Hedningarna has a lot to do with the traditional music of Scandinavia. And I love every single note of it! "Kaksi" is definately Hedningarna's best album. Listening to it is like taking a good, long walk in the dark and mysterious forests of Scandinavia. I recomend it to anyone with an open ear for good music. This is one of my favorite albums.Period.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The spirit of Sweden's uncivilized past.Out in the fields., October 18, 2004
On paper, some experiences sound cliched.For example, 'dancing around a campfire at night in the woods'.But in practice, they can be amazingly natural and fun.Well, this music is perfectly suited to such a cliche-inducing experience.
There is an overwhelming sense of nature about Hedningarna.Their wearing of drab, woolen clothing of heathen peasantry in publicity photos, doesn't at all seem an empty gesture.As interviews and personal photos (which double as publicity shots) will attest to, they have a genuine rapport with animals, and are very resourceful with anything the land has to offer.They've been known to forrage for wood, bones and skins of already dead animals.With the wood they find, they homemake anciently designed native instruments, and attach modernity to them in the form of electric pickups.And the skulls accompany their unscripted dancing onstage."Unruly!", it must seem to conservative eyes and ears.The artfully painted skins of ancient drums, provide the back beat to the wild performances.But contrary to popular belief, it is professionally made instruments that grace their albums.But, these offstage activities eliminate any possiblity of this Hedningarna group being purely an act.There is an inherent 'lived-in' feel to their artistry.
These 'people of the heaths', send electricity thru the frail old sentiments of traditional Scandinavian instruments.Incessant bag-pipes and grinding zithers are a blessing to odd ears (such as my own).The didjeridou is an instrument native to a 'dark-skinned' peoples in a 'hot' country on 'another' side of the globe.All this would seem to guarrentee that didjeridou sound like a 'foreign fusion' in Nordic music.But for some reason, it sounds like it was here in Sweden from the begining of human time.Hedningarna, along with many Nordic acts, have seemlessly integrated the didjeridou into a polarly different culture from its homeland's.
Thoroughly thoughtful lyrics are sung by Finnish witches (the good kind).These charismatic females are either in the froes of dark and frightful expression, or they're uncomprimisingly exuberant.The ancient drums, sometimes studio assisted, thump away until the fire burns out.These here Hednings, are all flawless in their execution of their respective instruments.
But despite their expertise, this is a wholy uninhibited affair.
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