Sjofn (album)
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| 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
- "Suvetar (Goddess of Spring)" – 5:14
- "Tova och Konungen (Tova and the King)" - 4:20
- "Dejelill Och Lagerman" - 3:23
- "Menuett from Jeppo (Polska) - Intro" - 1:05
- "Menuett from Jeppo (Polska)" - 3:12
- "Kom Helge Ande (Come, Holy Spirit)"
- "Näcken och Jungfrun (The Water-Sprite and the Maiden)" - 3:15
- "Su Ru Ruskadirej" - 3:55
- "Bergfäst (Mountain Haunted)" 7:41
- "Oravaismenuett (Oravais Minuet)" - 3:33
- "Lille Dansa (Dance a Little)" - 2:46
- "Hjaðningaríma (Heathen Song)" - 2:26
- "Sinivatsa (Dolphin Calling)" - 7:37
- Recorded at Martin Kantola Audio, Karpero, Finland between June and August, 1999
Personnel
- Jenny Wilhelms - vocals, fiddle
- Christopher Öhman - vocals, viola, mandola, kalimba
- Tommy Mansikka-Aho - harp, didgeridoo, djembe, udu drum
- David Lillkvist - drums, bongos, congas, darabuka, cymbals, djembe, kalimba, shaker, surdo, tambourine, triangle, udu drum, chimes
- Sara Puljula – acoustic bass
References
- ^ a b c AllMusic Review, Sjofn [Enhanced], by Steven McDonald, http://www.allmusic.com/album/r505545
- ^ Gjallarhorn (band's website) - Innovative Nordic Sounds, http://www.gjallarhorn.com/main.html
- ^ 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/
- ^ Svenska Kulturfonden (The Swedish Culture Fund), http://www.kulturfonden.fi/start/
- ^ "LinkTV". World Music: Gjallarhorn, Suvetar (Goddess of Spring). linktv.org. Retrieved November 23, 2011.