INGA JUUSO/HARALD SKULLERUD
Juusk
Talik 04

www.talik.no
 

Joiking is the singing of the Sami people, songs that describe places, animals, people, even plants. It’s impressionistic, and raw as the music of a nomadic people must necessarily be, packed with secrets in a language we don’t understand. Joiker Juuso continues the tradition, with her own joikers and those pulled from the past. Accompanied by percussionist Skullerud, she creates a whole world in her voice. The inventive arrangements add a great deal, keeping things bare, but the percussion provides a frame for, sometimes raucous, at other times (as on “Biegga”) quite otherworldly. The chill of the Arctic pervades this music, giving it a daunting, craggy beauty.

— Chris Nickson