Greenland - Nuuk and the South

 We take the next ferry south to arrive in the capital of Greenland, Nuuk, which contains a third of the population of the country.  Inuk indie-folk singer/songwriter Nive Nielsen was born here in 1979.  She tours internationally with her band the Deer Children singing mostly in English, with a few songs thrown in in Greenlandic.  Here is one of her songs in Greenlandic from her 2015 album Feet First called Tulugaq with some nice shots of Greenlandic scenery:

Hip-hop band Nuuk Posse formed in 1985 and rap in Greenlandic, English and Danish.  They don't appear to have a website any more and might no longer be active, but here is a track to their 1995 album NP called Inupiliaqqat:

The indie-rock band Nanook was formed by brothers Christian and Frederick Elsner in Nuuk in 2008.  The brothers are half Inuit, half Danish and sing in Greenlandic.  They also run a record company and a musical instrument shop in Nuuk.  They are the most popular current pop act in Greenland, their name referring to a mythological Greenlandic bear.  This is a track from their 2018 album Ataasiusutut Misigissuseq called Aarnuaq (Talisman) filmed in Uummannaq in the north:

Finally we hop on a ferry again to the southern town of Qarqortoq, where singer/songwriter Simon Lynge grew up, although he was born in Holstebro in Denmark in 1980.  He quotes his early influences as Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and he sings mostly in English.  He comes from a long line of musicians in his family, and he has been the first to achieve international success.  Here is the title from his 2018 album Deep snow, which is available as a free download on his website.  The video is filmed in Nuuk:

That's it from Greenland.  In conclusion it seems the Greenlanders like the letter Q rather a lot in their language, I wonder what the Q is worth in their version of Scrabble (answers on a postcard, please)?  Next we'll return to Denmark to continue our virtual journey of that country.  Meanwhile you can follow my path on my tripline map.

Greenland - Part I

 For the next leg of our virtual journey we need to take a plane or hitch a ride on a fishing boat from Iceland to Greenland.  It's the largest non-continental island in the world, which geographically belongs to the North American continent, but politically is part of Denmark, with a population of only about 56,000.Donald Trump famously wanted to buy it off Denmark, but the Greenlanders were not massively impressed.  The population is made up of 89.5% indigenous Inuit and the climate is raw.  The settlements are connected by plane or a ferry service that runs once a week and fishing is the main economic activity with no roads in the interior.  Musically there is a surprising amount of it being put out.  Traditionally the frame drum and shamanic chanting are the main forms of musical entertainment, but various modern influences are now predominant.

Now, given the harsh climate and long winter nights, Greenland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, so I suppose they need to let off some steam every now and then and heavy metal and hard rock feature heavily in the music scene.  So we start our trip in the far northwest of the country in the town Uummannaq, situated on a rocky island and the northernmost ferry terminal in Greenland (and apparently where Santa Claus lives...), where heavy metal band Siissisoq hail from.  They were formed in 1994 and are one of most popular rock bands in Greenland.  Their name means rhino in Greenlandic and all their lyrics are in Greenlandic.  Heavy Metal is not my favourite genre, but we'll play you some to represent the north of Greenland.  This a song called Tunersuilo, not sure where you'd get the album:

Next we are taking the ferry southwards along the west coast of Greenland to arrive in Maniitsoq, where singer-songwriter Rasmus Lyberth was born in 1951.  His music style can best be described as jazz influenced pop-rock with a definite Greenlandic character.  He is one of the most popular artists in the Greenlandic music scene.  On his latest 2019 album Inuunerup opafigaanga/Livet skal leves på ny he includes a climate song in Greenlandic (with helpful English subtitles), a subject that affects this part of the world harder than elsewhere: 

There isn't much I can find out about folk accordionist Louis Andreasen, except that he was from somewhere in Greenland and died in 1988 aged 71.  However some of his music has survived in recorded form such as this polka called Saqisaaq which features on the Rough Guide to Scandinavian Music released in 2000:

In 1976 a Greenlandic rock band formed that initiated the start of a velvet revolution.  They were called Sumé (which means where in Greenlandic), and although they started off in Denmark, they were the first band to sing highly political songs in the Greenlandic language advocating independence from Denmark.  Whilst they haven't succeeded in their ultimate goal, Greenland now has a high degree of autonomy.  Their debut album Sumat (where to) was bought by 20% of the Greenlandic population and gained iconic status in the country.  In 2014 a film was released called Sumé - The Sound of a Revolution, documenting the story of the band and its influence on Greenlandic history.  Here is the trailer:

Here's a live version of their song Innuneq (with helpful Danish subtitles...), which features on their 1977 self-titled album:

That's it from Greenland for the moment, next we are visiting the capital Nuuk and the south of the country.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual ramblings on my tripline map as usual.

Iceland Part I

 From the Faroes we take another ferry to arrive in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, the land of the northern lights, glaciers and geysers, where everybody knows everybody else and singing and late night story telling is central to the culture.  Iceland's most famous person by a country mile is singer/songwriter Björk Guðmundsdóttir, who is better known by just her first name.  She is mostly known for her avantgarde rock, electronic and jazz influenced style, singing mostly in English in her unmistakably unique voice.  However she has also released songs in her native Icelandic such as this song from her 2004 album Medúlla called Vokuro:

Indie rock band Árstíðir were formed in 2008 in Reykjavik.  Their style has elements of chamber music with cello accompaniment and is sung both in Icelandic and English.  Here is a live and acoustic version of a couple of tracks from their 2012 EP Tvíeind:

The traditional folk music form of Iceland is the Rímur, a very old tradition of epic ballads, and one of its prime modern interpreters is Bára Grimsdóttir, who was born in Ryekjavik in 1960.  Here she performs the title track to her 2004 album Funi, which means fire in old Icelandic, together with her English partner Chris Foster:

Another proponent of the Rímur tradition is fisherman Steindór Andersen.  He is most noted for his collaborations with Icelandic rock band Sigur Rós.  Here's a song from their 2001 album Rímur called Á Ferð Til Breiðafjarðar Vorið 1922 (On a trip to Breiðafjarðar in the spring of 1922):

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Ásgeir Ásgeirsson combines Icelandic folk songs with influences from all over the world.  His mastery of a variety of string instruments such as the oud, tambura, saz baglama and bouzouki adds Eastern flavours to the folk songs of the far northwest of Europe.  He released a trilogy of albums collaborating with musicians from Turkey, Iran, Bulgaria and Greece as well as well known Icelandic folk singer Sigrídur Thorlacius.  This is a song from his 2017 Turkish inspired album, Two Sides of Europe called Hátíð fer að höndum ein:

That's it from Iceland for today.  we will continue exploring the music of Iceland next time.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual journey on my Tripline map.

Wales - The Middle and Southwest

Before leaving North Wales, I realise we should have stopped in Wrexham, where 2 of the members of The Trials of Cato come from, the third being from Yorkshire.  The band actually formed in Beirut, where they were teaching English and there is a bit of a Middle Eastern flavour to their folk.  They have been dubbed the Sex Pistols of folk and their 2018 debut album Hide and Hair has caused quite a stir winning the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for best of album.  Here's the opening track of this album, called Diffyrwch:

Brother and sister Roy and Linda Griffiths and their neighbour John Gittins from the village of Meifod in Mid-Wales formed the Welsh language folk group Plethyn, which was most active between 1978 and 1995.  They specialise in close harmony singing of the plygain tradition, which is based on a traditional Welsh Christmas service.  The name of the group means braid or bond.  This is the title song from their 1994 album Seidir Ddoe (yesterday's cider):

Based in Llanybydder near Lampeter in southwest Wales are Celtic folk group Ffynnon.  They have a contemporary take on traditional material with some Jazzy influences at times.  This is a song from their 2006 album Celtic Music fom Wales called Beth yw'r Haf:

From the Clettwr Valley in the Ceredigion region of West Wales hails Owen Shiers who started a project to reclaim some of the traditional music of his area and recording some of it under the name Cynefin.  They are some beautifully crafted Welsh language songs.  The debut album was launched this year called Dilyn Afon, Follow the River.   Here's a song from this album called Y Fwyalchen Ddu Bigfelen (The Yellow-Beaked Blackbird):

Now for something a bit different again with some Indie Rock from Carmathen in the shape of young, all-female trio Adwaith (Reaction).  They only launched in 2015 by Hollie Singer and Gwenllian Anthony, who have been friends since they were 3 years old, and who are joined by drummer Heledd Owen.  They are proudly Welsh and proudly feminist with all their lyrics in Welsh.  In their short career they have already been awarded with the Welsh Music Prize last November.  Here's a song from their only album to date, Melyn, recorded in 2018.  The song is called Fel i Fod (not sure what it means...):

Welsh harpist Catrin Finch from Llan-non apparently was the official harpist to the Prince of Wales from 2000-2004.  I didn't know anybody needed an official harpist, but there you go.  If anybody would like to apply to become my official harpist, please comment below... Some of her most exciting work has been when she collaborated with other world musicians such as Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita and Colombian dance band Cimarrón.  First up from her 2009 live album with Cimarrón, Yn Byw.  The song is called Quitapesares.  Have you ever heard the harp played like that?  And the dance steps towards the end are something else!

Next up the opening track from her 2018 album Soar with Seckou Keita called Clarach:

That's it for today from Wales.  We'll conclude our short tour of Wales next time in the southeast of the country.  As usual you can follow my virtual exploits on my tripline map.