Folk music was a big deal in Sweden in
the 70s. It connected well with the progg ideals of a locally
cultivated music against the American influence on Swedish culture
that was often declared an example of US imperialism. The importance
of Swedish folk music is obvious when listening to bands like
Kebnekajse, Contact and Arbete & Fritid, but there were several
bands that took it one or several steps further, such as
Skäggmanslaget and Norrlåtar.
Norrlåtar evolved out of Lulelå's
ever-changing musical collective Anton Svedbergs Swängjäng and were
situated in Norrbotten, a large area in the northernmost of Sweden
bordering on Finland to the east. Despite being important to the
national economy due to the mining and forest industries, a lot of
Sweden's Northern areas weren't properly recognized politically,
slowly exposing them to the risk of being depopulated regions. This
caused alarm especially among the people living there, generating a
sense of protectionism of the local communities. Several progg bands
addressed these problems, such as Fria Proteatern and Norrbottens Järn. Norrlåtar dealt with it in their own way, trying to preserve
as much as possible of the regional music, including making field
recordings of the local musical traditions. Being geographically
close to Finland, Norrlåtar's music has a strong Finnish strain,
including several songs sung in the Finnish language.
Folkmusik från Norrbotten (Manifest,
1975)
Instrumental, Finnish vocals
International relevance: **
International relevance: **
Norrlåtar's first album was aptly
titled ”Folkmusik från Norrbotten”, ”folk music from
Norrbotten”. It's a straight up traditional album of dance tunes
predominantly performed on fiddles but also includes a few vocal
tracks in Finnish. Perhaps an acquired taste to many, but tracks like
”Visa från Erkkiheikki” and
”Lanna-Villes schottis” have a transcendent mournful and touching
quality about them.
Meikäläisiä/Folk
som vi (Manifest, 1976)
Instrumental,
Finnish vocals, Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
International relevance: *
The
bilangual title means ”people like us” in English and further
emphasizes Norrlåtar's concern with their native region. The
instrumentation is augmented by bass and acoustic guitars, possibly
making ”Meikäläisiä/Folk som vi” more accessible to
people unfamiliar with Swedish traditional music. In a way a more
fluent and upbeat album than the previous one, but still with dashes
of fine melancholy in ”Ringlek från Övertåernå”,
”Emigrantvisa” and ”Visa från Roknäs”, the latter sung a
capella by Maria Rosén.
Urminnes hävd (Manifest, 1978)
Instrumental, Finnish vocals, Swedish
vocals
International relevance: *
Similar to ”Meikäläisiä/Folk
som vi”, and again the elegiacal songs are the most touching tunes
– ”Trälens sång”, ”Astridin Valssi”, ”Sorgmarschen”,
”Maa un mustta” and ”Farväl till Jokkmokks skogar”. With
more songs of that feel than previous albums, this might be
Norrlåtar's best album.
Framtidshopp (Manifest, 1980)
Instrumental, Finnish vocals, Swedish
vocals
International relevance: *
”Framtidshopp” is the last and weakest Norrlåtar album for the Manifest label. While the style isn't much different from their previous outings and a decent share of sad and beautiful tunes, the album just doesn't sound as inspired as the ones before it.
Mention should also be made of ”Dans
på Sörsidan” by accordion virtuoso Börje Zettervall. While not a
progg album (although some people want you to believe it is), it was
released by Manifest in 1979 and features several Norrlåtar players,
including key member Hans Alatalo.
Norrlåtar continued releasing albums in the 80's and 90's.
Folkmusik från Norrbotten full album playlist
Folkmusik från Norrbotten full album playlist
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