Sjofn (album)

Sjofn
Studio album by Gjallarhorn
Released 2000
Genre Folk music
Label Vindauga
Producer Gjallarhorn
Gjallarhorn chronology
Ranarop
(1997)
Sjofn
(2000)
Grimborg
(2003)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Sjofn is an album by Gjallarhorn.[2] It was the band's second studio album, and was released in 2000. It combines striking singing by vocalist Jenny Wilhelms with vigorous Swedish folk-style accompaniment, but with a didgeridoo as an updated drone.

The album was brought out with the help of Finlands Svenska Folkmusikinstitut [3] (Finland's Swedish Folk Music Institute) and Svenska Kulturfonden [4] (The Swedish Culture Fund).

Reception

Steven McDonald, writing on AllMusic, described Sjofn as "a thoroughly Pagan delight of an album", explaining that it is "essentially dedicated to the goddess" Sjofn.[1] He felt that the album was supported "quite well" by the two videos supplied on the 'enhanced' CD, specially liking the 'Suvetar' video[5] which seems to show a fertility rite, though he also admired the 'Dejelill Och Lagerman' video which has "the local equivalent of" horned god Cernunnos/Herne watching Gjallarhorn playing in an urban environment. The CD, McDonald concludes, is "great stuff, and very, very highly recommended."[1]

Track listing

  1. "Suvetar (Goddess of Spring)" – 5:14
  2. "Tova och Konungen (Tova and the King)" - 4:20
  3. "Dejelill Och Lagerman" - 3:23
  4. "Menuett from Jeppo (Polska) - Intro" - 1:05
  5. "Menuett from Jeppo (Polska)" - 3:12
  6. "Kom Helge Ande (Come, Holy Spirit)"
  7. "Näcken och Jungfrun (The Water-Sprite and the Maiden)" - 3:15
  8. "Su Ru Ruskadirej" - 3:55
  9. "Bergfäst (Mountain Haunted)" 7:41
  10. "Oravaismenuett (Oravais Minuet)" - 3:33
  11. "Lille Dansa (Dance a Little)" - 2:46
  12. "Hjaðningaríma (Heathen Song)" - 2:26
  13. "Sinivatsa (Dolphin Calling)" - 7:37
  • Recorded at Martin Kantola Audio, Karpero, Finland between June and August, 1999

Personnel

References

  1. 1 2 3 AllMusic Review, Sjofn [Enhanced], by Steven McDonald, http://www.allmusic.com/album/r505545
  2. Gjallarhorn (band's website) - Innovative Nordic Sounds, http://www.gjallarhorn.com/main.html
  3. Finlands Svenska Folkmusikinstitut (Finland's Swedish Folk Music Institute) supported by Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland (The Swedish Literature Society in Finland), http://www.sls.fi/folkmusik/
  4. Svenska Kulturfonden (The Swedish Culture Fund), http://www.kulturfonden.fi/start/
  5. "LinkTV". World Music: Gjallarhorn, Suvetar (Goddess of Spring). linktv.org. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
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