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Turning pop into polska

I've always said that a hallmark of a truly great melody is that it can cross genres.
I recently came across this fun example of turning a Swedish pop song into a Swedish polska.

The tune is "Ring Ring", an ABBA tune off of their album of the same name (when the group was known as "Björn [...]

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A new take on an old carol

Norwegian National Broadcasting (NRK) has just released a video of the traditional Norwegian Christmas carol, "Det lyser i stille grender (The Lights In The Peaceful Villages)".

It's done by a group called "Julemorgen" as part of the NRK children's series, Super, and their "Jul i Svingen (Christmas in Full Swing)". I think the video – and the [...]

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Celebrating light

This Sunday is a special day — especially for Swedes. It is the feast day of Saint Lucy, known as Santa Lucia in Swedish and Santa Lucia in Italian. The day is not only celebrated in Sweden. Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway also mark the day.
The day is a celebration of light in the midst [...]

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Reisen til Julestjernen (The Journey to the Christmas Star)

One of Norway's most beloved holiday films is called "Reisen til Julestjernen (The Journey to the Christmas Star)". Released in 1976, it is now often played on Norwegian TV on Christmas Eve.
"Julestjernen" has a couple of meanings. It refers to the Christmas star that shown over Bethlehem. It also means the star that traditionally tops [...]

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A 10-minute chronology of ABBA

Sometimes folks produce some really impressive work on YouTube. One user spent eight months putting together a chronology of sound clips from more than 100 songs released by ABBA during their career.
If you think you "know" ABBA, you may want to think again — and give this video a listen. I was really surprised at [...]

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How Norwegian folk music influenced a blockbuster soundtrack

Did you know that an old, traditional Norwegian hymn was an inspiration and one of the influences for the soundtrack of James Cameron's 1997 film, Titanic?
Composer James Horner had heard a recording of Norwegian singer, Sissel Kyrkjebø, singing "Eg veit i himmerik ei borg (I Know In The Heavenly Kingdom There Is A Stronghold)" . [...]

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Astri Mi Astri…from folk song to Amazon.com

Over the years, I've met lots of people involved in preserving the heritage of the Nordic cultures in interesting ways.
One of those is Deb Nelson Gourley, who runs Astri My Astri Publishing. If you've ever met and talked to Deb — attired in her beautiful Hallingdal festbunad at a festival, such as Norsk Høstfest, or [...]

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Catching up with my roots

It's been a hectic time here at Multe Music.
I just finished appearing in a great musical here in Northfield, "Jesse". Then I went straight into a whole series of performances and presentation taking me from western Minnesota (Dawson, Montevideo, Milan, Canby, Mineota) all the way up to Minot, North Dakota where I spent my ninth [...]

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A tragic Icelandic song

As the frost comes, winter cannot be far behind and it seems appropriate to be in a melancholy mood.
Today's selection is a version of the haunting Icelandic folk song, Móðir mín í kví kví, done by Seth Sharp and the Black Clock.
One person explained the song this way:
In the old days in Iceland, unwanted newborns [...]

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An Icelander's call for independence

The Icelandic avante-garde artist, Björk, is strongly supportive of numerous separatist and national liberation movements across the globe.
She dedicated her song, "Declare Independence" (video below), to Greenland and the Faroe Islands — both Danish protectorates — which caused a minor controversy in the Faroes. Apparently, the 45,000 Faroe islanders are sitting on in the middle [...]

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A thousand thoughts about Triakel…

When the Multe Music crew was in Norway, we received an invitation to go to a concert by the Swedish group, Triakel, at the wonderful cultural heritage farm in Sør-Fron, Rudi Gard. Alas, it wasn't to be…
Triakel is a group well worth experiencing live. The name has a couple of meanings. There are three members [...]

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Mamma Mia — What an interview!

I recently came across excellent videos with Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus made just prior to the opening of the Swedish production of Mamma Mia! at Cirkus in Stockholm.
The interviews are done in Swedish with English language subtitles. The interview with Andersson and Ulvaeaus is interspersed with interviews of others involved [...]

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A MOVITS! swing dance for the tenant's union

Well, the Swedish swing/hip-hop/jazz group, MOVITS!, has certainly experienced the Colbert Bump this week.
After appearing last Monday on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, the group received plenty of attention. And it was pretty obvious here at Multe Music. We've received hundreds of hits on our postings about the tune "Fel del av gården [...]

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The Colbert Report – MOVITS!

It's not often that I can say I'm ahead of Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report, but in the case of MOVITS! — I can. I had already planned to feature a tune on an upcoming Multe Music show/podcast. You can be sure there'll be one this Saturday!
MOVITS! is a swing/hip-hop/jazz band from Sweden. [...]

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MOVITS!: Fel del av gården

MOVITS! is an unusual combination — a swing/hip-hop/jazz band from Sweden. I found out about them while doing some research on Swedish music and ran across their MySpace page and their YouTube channel.
It's unusual — and fun — music. The lyrics are fast paced (as you would expect with hip-hop) and seem to capture a [...]

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