Finland - Lapland Part II

 Next on our trip around Finnish Lapland we arrive in the municipality of Enontekiö, which sits sandwiched between Norway and Sweden.  This is where writer, poet, artist, singer and all round renaissance man Nils-Aslak Valkeapää was born in 1943 (died in 2001).  He is credited with being a central person to revitalise the ancient art of Sámi joiking.  Amongst his many achievements he featured on the 1994 Mike Oldfield album The Songs of Distant Earth on the song Prayer for the Earth:

Here's a fascinating historical documentary about his life, which also gives a great insight into Sámi life and culture:

He really comes across as a very special person.  For more of his music check out the 2014 compilation album The Magic of Sami Yoik.  

Also born in Enontekiö in 1968 was Nils-Aslak's godson musician Niko-Mikhal Valkeapää.  He was one of the first to combine Sámi joik and folk with pop and more modern influences.  He also acted as a politician on the Sámi council.  He now lives in Kautokeino in Norwegian Sápmi.  Here's a song from his 2019 album Birrat Birrat called Okta Ráhkkisvuohta (One Love):

Another stalwart of Sámi joiking is Wimme Saari (usually just known as Wimme), who was born in nearby Kelottijärvi in 1959.  He combines his joiking often with techno-ambient accompaniments.  He has collaborated with many other acts, most notably with Swedish/Finnish outfit Hedningarna.  Here is a piece they did together at the Riddu Riddu festival, which is held annually in the Norwegian Sápmi village of Kåfjord.  If you have at all been inspired by my ramblings about Sámi music and culture or are interested in indigenous music in general, the festival takes place from the 12-16 July this year.  Sadly I won't be able to make it this year, but would love to one day.  Anyway this song appeared on a compilation disc called Riddu Riddu 1991-2001, which I don't think is available any more:

Here's another documentary on Wimme giving more insights into Sámi life and Wimme's music:

Finally for something completely different as we travel to Rovaniemi the capital of the Lapland region.  This is where composer, guitarist and oud player Jussi Reijonen was born.  His style is much more international in outlook with his own style of ethno-jazz with Middle Eastern influences.  For his 2022 album Three Seconds / Kolme Toista he assembled a 9-piece orchestra with musicians from Finland, Jordan/Iraq, Palestine, Turkey, Japan and the USA to produce a suite in 5 movements.  Here is the third movement called III: The Weaver, Every So Often the Sands Shifting Beneath Her:

That's it from Lapland, next we are heading south to the regions of Ostrobothnia.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.

Finland - Lapland Part I

 After spending the last few months crisscrossing Sweden and Norway on our virtual musical journey, we finally visit a new country in Finland, the land of a million lakes (well 180,000 odd anyway...).  The language is totally unintelligible to the average human.  In fact when God gave letters to the speakers of all the different language, the Welsh were at the back of the queue for vowels, and also the Fins nipped ahead of them using them all up, leaving none for the Welsh.  That's my theory anyway and I'm sticking to it.  The Finns are also amongst the most stoic people I have ever come across, but with a very dry sense of humour.  Getting them to show any passion or emotion is like squeezing blood out of a stone.  Famously Finnish formula One driver Mika Hakkinen was giving monosyllabic answers to complex questions in interviews.  However, Finland also has recently been voted happiest country in the world and they have a word for getting drunk alone in your underwear, kalsarikännit

Finland is divided into 19 administrative regions, and we'll be visiting most of them in the coming weeks.  First up is the wild northern region of Lapland, reputedly home of Santa Claus.  I only visited Finland once very briefly, and that was that narrow strip of Lapland that sticks out between Sweden and Norway.  We just stopped for a Picknick in the snow before moving on.  It looked a bit like this:

Photo credit: By Čeština: Petr Vodička, Wikipedie

 Whilst technically we have crossed an international border, we are still very much in Sápmi, the country of the indigenous Sámi people, which stretches between the northern reaches of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia.  Our first stop in the far north is the village of Nuorgam, where Sámi joiker Ánnámáret is based (although she was born in nearby Inari in 1979).  She combines her joiking with the sound of the jouhikko, the Finnish bowed lyre and organic electronic patterns.  Here's a track from her 2021 album Nieguid duovdagat called Dolat:

Next we are heading a few miles down the road, hugging the border to Norway, to arrive in the village of Utsjoki.  It may be small and remote, but a lot of Sámi music comes from here.  First we have the yoik/pop duo VILDÁ, the name of which is a combination of the 2 first names of the duo, Hildá Länsman (joik and drums) and Viivi Maria Saarenkylä (accordion).  Now, you might think nothing much happens in this remote spot, but here the duo organise a disco, the Utsjoki-disco a song from their 2019 album Vildaluodda / Wildprint, which bizarrely features a banana, an inflatable flamingo and some llamas:

And talking about Hildá Länsman, she also performs with her mother Ulla Pirttijärvi to form the duo Solju.  Again it's a coming together of the traditional and the modern, with Ulla long established as traditional joiker and Hildá adding elements of pop and New Age.  Here is one of the more poppy songs from their 2018 debut album Ođđa Áigodat (New Times) called Muhtumin.  I don't understand the words, which are in North Sámi, but the pictures in this video are pretty self explanatory:

Hildá Länsman is also lead singer of Sámi prog rock band Gájanas (Echo), who have been awarded numerous awards including International International Artist-group Recording of the Year 2021 for their album Čihkkojuvvon (Hidden).  Here's a live version of a song from the album called Geažehis áhpi (Endless Sea):

And still staying in the family we're going back to Hildá's mother Ulla Pirttijärvi, who actually was born a bit further south in the village of Angeli.  She also heads a band called Áššu accompanied by Harald Skullerud on percussion and Olav Torget on guitar and African Konting.  They combine traditional joiking with West African influences, sometimes with quiet moods, sometimes with more up-tempo grooves.  Here is a song from their 2019 self-titled album called Jođedettiin. It combines traditional joiks from the villages of Karasjok, Utsjoki and Kautokeino:

And some more family connections from the remote village of Angeli in the form of joik group Angelit. They were formed back in 1989 by sisters Ursula and Tuuni Länsman (presumably related to Hildá) as Angelin Tytöt and also had Ulla Pirttijärvi in its original line-up.  Their recordings mostly have electronic, pop and techno elements, but sadly their last album Reasons was in 2003.  Here is a recent live recording of more acoustic set, with some of the songs from the album, finishing in the upbeat song Hobo:

There's more music from Finnish Lapland, but this post having been all but taken over by a single family, we'll continue with other unrelated musicians from the area next time out.  In the meantime, as usual, you can follow my virtual travels on my Tripline map.