Norwegian folk musician Sinikka Langeland, singer and player of the kantele (the Finnish table harp) is a distinctly non-traditional traditionalist, redefining "folk" in successive projects. 'Maria's Song' finds her in the company of two distinguished classical musicians - organist Kare Nordstoga and "giant of the Nordic viola" Lars Anders Tomter - and on a mission to restore Marian texts to sacred music, weaving folk melodies in between the timeless strains of J S Bach. Langeland made a lot of friends with her sparkling ECM debut Starflowers: "There are jewels everywhere on this arresting example of ego-free music-making. One of the albums of this or any other year" raved the Irish Times. Where Starflowers brought Langeland into the orbit of jazz improvisers, Maria's Song is a meeting and cross referencing of folk and 'classical' energies, and also a righting of historical 'injustice': Religious folk songs are amongst the most distinctive elements of the Norwegian folk tradition, yet the Virgin Mary rarely appears in them.

Til Klovers Takt is an album that stands on the shoulders of everything that came before it in Kampfar's catalogue. It draws inspiration from the first song written 28 years ago as much as it leans on any other period in the band's past. The surroundings of Hemsedal and Hallingdal with their rich history and awe-inspiring nature forms the background for the stories told within the six chapters as well as influencing the tonal and rhythmical approach to the songs. The result is a finely tuned album where each piece has its own voice and its own atmosphere, where nothing is accidental and where the band, having taken control of all aspects of the recording process, were able to create exactly the album they set out to release. Til Klovers Takt is the culmination of four lifetimes worth of experience in songwriting and musicianship, coupled with the hunger to always make the next work the best, it is the image of a band in their prime.

A smorgasbord album, the cast list includes Bjork, Siouxsie Sioux, Brendan Perry, and long-term sidekick Barbera Googan. As expected, the mood is cold, often somber in tone. Only on "The Long Voyage," a springy ditty fronted by Suzanne Vega and John Cale, does the album ascend from the depths. Some of the gloom works, like in "Havet Stomar," a brilliant slow burner with B.J. Cole's pedal steel guitar and ECM artist Lene Willemark's chilling howls. "Annukka Suaren Neito" presents what must be the closest to an Eskimo rap you can get. Mark Isham provides freestyle trumpet that almost sounds like seagulls swooping the skies. The Jane Siberry-fronted "She Is Like the Swallow" is a beauty, as soft as it is light. Hector Zazou's electronics are in fine check too. The canvas expands to new textures, such as metallic percussion in "Adventures in the Scandinavian Skin Trade".

Sigur Rós’s third album, and for many the most quintessentially “Sigur Rós” record, celebrates its 20th anniversary on October 28, 2022. The album has been remastered by legendary mastering engineer Ted Jenson at Sterling Sound, who also mastered every Sigur Rós album from Takk onwards.

After aging the past 24 years, Nils Henrik Asheim’s work “Salmenes bok” (“The Book of Psalms”) has now been released. The hour-long work was written for the dedication of Oslo Cathedral’s new Ryde & Berg organ in 1998. It features both organs in the cathedral (with Kåre Nordstoga on the choir organ and Asheim playing the main organ) to create a surround sound around the choir singing 21 texts from the biblical Psalms in a rich tonal language equally rich in contrast. The result is a unique listening experience, a magical fusing of voices and organ.

All the music on this CD has the countertenor as a common denominator. There is something beautifully unsettling about hearing a male singing in the register of a female singer. It throws us back to a, fortunately, bygone time when the same vocal properties were reached by the barbaric practice that produced the male “castrati”. Nowadays, male singers who wish to sing in this register develop their falsetto and head voice techniques in a natural way.

While the world came to a stop during the pandemic, the three-piece retreated in the studio to write and record upcoming album ‘Drif’. In the band’s fashion, they sought for forgotten songs, made ruffling leaves into instruments and wrote lyrics spreading messages of love for each other and respect for nature. ‘Drif’ will be HEILUNG’s most immersive and successful work to date. In their own words: “Drif means “gathering”. A throng of people, a horde, a crowd, a pack. In symbiosis with the album title, Drif consists of a flock, a collection, a gathering, a collage of songs, that much like little flames were seeking towards each other, to join, to bond, to create, and be greater together. This album has very clearly dictated its own path. Our attempts to tame it was repeatedly fruitless and once we came to this realization, the creative flow surged forward with immense force. So much so that sometimes it felt like the songs wrote themselves. All the songs on Drif have their own stories. They have each their place and sense of belonging, with inspiration not only from Northern Europe, but from the ancient great civilisations.”

In 2022, a year after the release of Kvitravn and as a prelude to the forthcoming live dates, Wardruna are presenting Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven; an audio-visual release captured from their lauded, boundary-pushing virtual live experience First Flight of the White Raven of March 26th 2021. This new release captures a special set list consisting of songs from Kvitravn and fan favourites from across their discography.

In the spring of 2018, Ketil Bjornstad realized that it was only a scarce year before 50 years had passed since he debuted as a pianist with the Philharmonic in the University's Aula on January 10, 1969. On that day this year, the celebration of what is Bjornstad's year began. 2019 started with a nice new release of "Rainbow Sessions" in a limited 4cd-boxset. "The World I Used To Know" is recorded at one of the world's most famous studios - Abbey Road in London, more specifically in Studio Two where, among others, The Beatles recorded their material. The album is released not only on cd and double-vinyl, but also as a magnificent box consisting of five cd's. The box contains the recordings from Abbey Road, but also three cd's of music from his entire career with various guest vocalists, and one complete new album recorded at Rainbow Studio in Oslo.

Pianist Ketil Bjornstad interprets poems by critically accliamed author Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold's collection "Litt trist matematikk" and performs them together with the vocalist Eva Bjerga Haugen. Transforming poetry and other writings into music is an important part of musician, composer and writer Ketil Bjornstad's work. Most well-known among his works are the interpretations of Harry Martinsson, Knut Hamsun, John Donne and Edvard Munch. Earlier this year he released the critically acclaimed album, "A Suite of Poems" with Anneli Drecker on ECM, where poems by Lars Saabye Christensen was the source of inspiration.

Ase Kleveland releases her first album in almost 45 years. Ase Kleveland and The Salmon Smokers played for the first time at the big tribute concert for Leonard Choen in 2017, where they together rocked a packed Oslo Spektrum with a spectacular version of Choen's "First We Take Manhattan". The concert and the television recording left viewers with thoughts about what an artist we lost when Ase chose a career in cultural bureaucracy and politics.

During his lifetime, Hugo Alfvén became known as one of Sweden’s principal composers of his time, with works that struck a chord with a wide audience. As a result of his popularity, a nationwide collection was held in celebration of his 70th birthday in 1942, with the proceeds used to build Alfvéngården, the composer’s home during his final years. Now, 80 years later, Elin Rombo and Peter Friis Johansson are releasing their tribute to Alfvén’s 150th anniversary, recorded at Alfvéngården using the composer’s own piano.

Swedish folk metal wolf pack MÅNEGARM take another stroll through ancient sagas and myths of long forgotten times on the successor of chart-breaking Fornaldarsagor (2019) – the upcoming 10th studio album Ynglingaättens Öde (Engl. the fate of the Ynglinga kin) – out April 15, 2022 via Napalm Records. In this multifaceted world of sound, MÅNEGARM incorporate Pagan inspired lyricism based on the old Norse poem Ynglingatal, that describes the fate of an old Norse dynasty - the house of Ynglinga. Ynglingaättens Öde offers balanced variety and atmosphere, breathing new life into ancient myths. With Ynglingaättens Öde, MÅNEGARM underline their standing as spearheads of the world of Viking metal once more and keep Pagan traditions alive, even after 25 years of existence.

A Finnish vocalist / bassist Atte KEMPPAINEN, who had been inspired by 70s British progressive rock scene like Pink Floyd, radically transformed and innovated his musical style into Zeuhl, just when he stumbled upon Magma via Ruins' medley. He's invited three musicians of the same 'Zeuhl-ish' spirit - Ville SIRVIÖ (lead guitar), Tommi RUOTSALAINEN (rhythm guitar), and Osmo SAARINEN (drums, voices) - and DAI KAHT was born in 2013. Atte, Ville, Tommi, and Osmo have changed their name into Cobaian ones - Alemaahr KEMPAH, Willargh SHIROW, Zwerie STÖBAH, and Ozamö SHARIF, respectively, and finally their debut eponymous album was released in April, 2017 … as another sunrise upon Finnish Zeuhl Turf.