"This music will entrance you with its satisfying texture, and its hypotic rhythms will infect your mind (or at least make you want to jump around a lot). At times Whirled seems have Celtic inflections, though phrases are often delightfully asymmetric. Vasen sets up addictive grooves that remain clever throughout. There is even a touch of a more Eastern sound. Yet, Vasen's music retains a distinctiveness that makes it incomparable to anything else. This is some of the funnest, and still, most legitimate music I have ever heard."
Are you experienced?
Kenny b Natural | 06/20/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Stunningly beautiful melodies with quirky rhythyms played by the masters of the style. When I 1st heard this on the radio I thought maybe it was Breton or Celtic. I soon explored more Scandinavian music and it was everything I could hope for in a traditional music. The use of viola, middle eastern drumming and bouzouki backing up the native keyed fiddle or "nyckleharpa" is a superb blend that never seems old. The compositional talents of Roger Talroth, Mikel Marin and Olov Johannson combined is an unparalled marvel. I own almost every disc on this label, now. The sense of living with magic and unseen forces pervades this music and is part of the living culture that is Scandanavia."
This music makes my hair stand on end and my body shiver.
Miles Lane | Chapel Hill, NC USA | 10/25/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Complex harmonies, intertwined and subtly evolving melodies, incredible rhythm and absolutely huge energy make this CD the most riveting I have heard in years.No kidding, when I first heard the track "Whirled" on my local public radio station, I cranked the volume up until I might as well have been at a live concert. I had shivers running up and down my body and I wanted to do nothing so much as dance! This CD TOTALLY ROCKS!What I find most stunning about this band's music is that they take the instruments most often heard producing Celtic music and use them to make the most fabulously complex, rich, energetic and mesmerizing music I've ever heard."
Strikingly unique!
Brianna Neal | USA | 12/31/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This joyous celebration of ancient and modern takes the listener on a journey through another world. Andre Ferrari's varied and inventive percussion is a nice complement to nyckelharpist Olov Johansson, fiddler Mikael Marin and guitarist Roger Tallroth, and distinguishes Vasen from many of the other neo-traditional Nordic groups. Another feature that sets this band apart is their freewheeling approach to meter and melody, disregarding the conventions of both to create music with an unexpected freshness and fascinating wildness. The tone of the selections on this album alternates between lively and progressive to laid-back and quaint, but an overriding sense of folksy cheerfulness pervades them all. Track 4, "Shapons Vindaloo", has a Middle Eastern feel to it and resembles the work of violinist Claude Shalhoub on his self-titled album. If you like "Whirled", check out also Vasen's subsequent release, "Gront", which is somewhat darker but just as interesting."
Swedish music in a new package
Miles Lane | 11/05/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Being Swedish and having listened to traditional Swedish music growing up - this is nothing like it - they took traditional music to a totally new level! If you think traditional Swedish music is all about fiddles played by "dalmasar" on a summer meadow - you are wrong! Väsen captures the inner "väsen" of Sweden!"