From the Nordic realms very unusual album White (EIGHTH NERVE AUDIO 8nerve014) credited to Torgeir Vassvik and Juhani Silvola.
Torgeir Vassvik is a unique folk singer and guitarist here representing the Sámi, the indigenous peoples who live in Norway, Finland, Sweden and parts of Russia…unenlightened souls used to refer to them as “Laplanders”, a term which is now considered inappropriate. The Sámi are fishers, farmers, and fur trappers; you’ve probably seen them on the telly when BBC Four broadcast The Great Reindeer Migration show (a rare piece of TV which was very long-form and dispensed with any annoying voice-over narration, much to my relief). Your current listener knows next to nothing of the traditions of the Sámi, but today’s record has a lot of experimental adventure and zest along with the folk elements…Juhani Silvola is supplying intense electric guitar licks and heavy strums, the better to showcase the eerie vocalising wails of singer Vassvik.
The growly expressions of the latter may put you in mind of throat-singing, but the combined effect of the duo somehow arrives at roughly the same area as LPs by Dredd Foole or (sort of) Jandek, or any singer who jettisons the restrictions of verse-chorus structure in their songs. The songs rarely depart from a root note and the joy of listening is to be found in the open-ended free-form extemporising of the singer, as he recounts these stories intended to connect the traditions of the Sámi with contemporary modes…so that “the past reaches out to the future”, selon the liner notes. Indeed the term “Joik Noir” has been coined to encapsulate the achievements of this duo, and the “noir” aspect reminds us that the songs are in fact quite turbulent and troubling, and even if we don’t speak the language it’s evident that life is difficult and all is not well on the snowy flats.
Norwegian-Finnish Silvola has amazed us on previous solo outings, such as the astounding Wolf Hour Roundelay which demonstrated his deep connections to ritual and mythic notions, making him the ideal partner for this very special musical adventure. (02/01/2025)