Sweden - Värmland to Stockholm Counties

 I visited the county of Värmland once in the 'spring' of 1984 on our way north.  I was with my girlfriend and parents at the time, and we were given the use of a cottage somewhere in the countryside, and our first task on arriving was to shovel a path through 5 foot deep snow from the house to the outside privy.  So my memories are of an undulating countryside, interspersed by lakes and covered in a thick layer of snow.  We nearly froze to our toilet seats!  

As for the music, we'll start with something traditional.  Whilst fiddler and accordionist Mats Edén was born in Stockholm county, he has roots in Värmland and his style is very much influenced by the traditions of the region.  Here is an early recording in duet with Leif Olsson from a 1977 compilation album called Unga spelmän från Värmland (Young fiddlers from Värmland).  It's a polka called Djävulspolskan från Brunskog:

More recently Mats Edén was also involved in a project called Nordic Raga, creating a fusion of Nordic folk and classical Carnatic music from Southern India together with Bangalore born fiddler Jyotsna Srikanth as well as 2 other Swedish musicians in Dan Svensson and Pär Moberg.  Here is the opening track of their 2018 self-titled album called Vildhonung (Wild honey), which is almost like a call and response conversation between Sweden and India:

Norberg in the county of Västmanland is the birthplace of jazz percussionist and composer Erik Nylander.  Amongst many projects he is also the Swedish part of the multi-national project Monoswezi (whom we already met in Oslo) along with musicians from Mozambique, Norway and Zimbabwe. Here's the opening track from their 2017 album A Je called Loko U Muka:

Kolonien is the Swedish word for allotments or community garden such as the one below on the outskirts of Stockholm.

They are designed to be a refuge from city life, a place where people can grow a few vegetables or flowers and chat to their neighbours.  Kolonien is also the name of a family band from Järna in Stockholm county just south of the capital.  They consist of 2 brothers Erik and Arvid Rask, their cousin Anna Möller and childhood friend, neighbour and blood brother Mischa Grind.  Their music is an upbeat folk / folk rock dealing with the subjects of our time such as climate change, the pandemic and war.  They have been playing together since 2010.  Their latest 2022 album Till Skogen (to the forest), marks a return to their roots of growing up on a farm in the forest and their inspiration of Dylan-esque progressive folk.  Here is a track from the album called Drömmen:

Maybe we'll just leave it at this for today, before we head into Stockholm city next time.  In the meantime, as usual, you can follow my virtual travels on my Tripline map.