Mikael Marin and Mia Gustafsson, Mot Hagsätra (Dimma Sweden, 2008)

As the violist for Väsen for nearly twenty years, Mikael Marin needs no introduction among followers of Swedish traditional music. Marin's wife Mia Gustafsson is not nearly as well known, but she has fiddled with the group [ni:d] who have one album out and are working on a second. Their first album together is titled Mot Hagsätra, in reference to a Stockholm subway line. Marin's viola and Gustaffson's fiddle are the only instruments on this recording. A handful of the tunes are traditional, and the tune "Cajunvals" was composed by Antti Järvelä of Frigg, but most of the pieces were composed by one of the two performers.

Predictably, Mot Hagsätra's biggest strength is the playing. Gustafsson is a fine fiddler who more than holds her own playing next to her husband and handling a wide variety of melodies. Marin, as he does in Väsen, supplies creative harmonies and countermelodies. There is no driving guitar or percussion on this album, so the listener can focus fully on the interplay between the two stringed instruments.

The album contains a typical assortment of polskas, along with a few waltzes and one schottisch and reel apiece. In contrast to what you might expect from a Väsen recording, the arrangements are quite easy on prospective dancers. Waltzes appear to be the duo's strongest suit. The opening tune "Hjärtklappen" sets the tone for the CD perfectly, and their joyous version of "Cajunvals" is my favorite track on the CD. The Swedish reel "Kung Harts," composed by Gustafsson for Marin's birthday and performed with the usual melody/harmony roles reversed, is another particularly strong track.

If Mot Hagsätra has a weakness, it's its length; eighteen tunes running nearly an hour is a bit much, especially when most of the best performances are placed in the first half of the album. Still, Mikael Marin and Mia Gustafsson give solid performances throughout, and the album on the whole is at least as good as the most recent Väsen CD Väsen Street. Fans of Väsen who are in the mood for something with a more purely traditional feel will like this recording a lot.

Overall grade: B+

reviewed by Scott

A cute animated video set to "Cajunvals"

Väsen, Väsen Street (NorthSide, 2009)

Over the past fifteen years, no band has epitomized new Swedish folk music more than Väsen. A superior live act with an unsurpassed sense of instrumental interplay, Olav Johansson (nyckelharpa), Mikael Marin (viola), and Roger Tallroth (guitar) have built up enough of a following internationally that the organizers of the Lotus World Music & Arts Festival have started lobbying the town of Bloomington, Indiana to name a street after them. Whether their efforts come to fruition or not, Väsen Street can be enjoyed by anybody for the price of a typical CD.

On the new album, Väsen provide the usual assortment of self-composed and traditional polskas, schottishes, and waltzes. The schottishes (bouncy tunes in 2:4) get a bit more emphasis than usual, and "Garageschottis" is my favorite track on the CD. There are a couple of twists on Väsen Street as well. "Absolute Swedish" veers off in a bluegrass direction about halfway through, with the assistance of American musicians Mike Marshall (mandolin) and Darol Anger (fiddle). "Hagsatra Brudmarsch" was originally composed for Mikael Marin's wedding and played by a wedding orchestra; for the recording, Väsen are joined by Marin's wife Mia (from the band [ni:d]) and Emma Reid on fiddle, along with frequently recurring fourth member Andre Ferrari on percussion.

Otherwise, anybody familiar with Väsen will know exactly what to expect. This is something of a mixed blessing, as dependability often goes hand in hand with predictability. And their recorded output, good though it is, still doesn't match their phenomenal live shows. Having said that, on Väsen Street the band continues to meet the high standard of musicianship they've set for themselves, and if you like the sound of Swedish fiddle music at all, then it's impossible not to love Väsen.

Overall grade: B+

reviewed by Scott

Hey, I was there! Väsen performing what would become the title tune of their new album at the 2008 Nordic Roots Festival in Minneapolis.

Väsen, Linnaeus Väsen (NorthSide, 2007)

The Swedish folk group Väsen began their career in the early nineties as a trio, with Olav Johansson playing most of the melodies on a Medieval keyed fiddle called a nyckelharpa, Mikael Marin providing counterpoint on the viola, and Roger Tallroth supplying rhythm on the twelve-string guitar. They quickly developed a very dedicated following among fans of the traditional fiddle music of Sweden, due largely to the tremendous on-stage musical chemistry between the three members. Väsen soon found themselves in the vanguard of the new Nordic folk movement, which brought contemporary interpreters of Scandinavian music around the world to audiences for whom the styles of music had, up to that point, been largely unfamiliar. Near the end of the decade Väsen decided to expand their sound by adding percussion, and André Ferrari was brought into the fold. Purists might not have known what to make of Ferrari, but Väsen's 1997 CD Whirled remains one of the definitive albums of the new Nordic folk genre, and their live shows were nothing short of superb. Ferrari balked at extensive traveling in the aftermath of 9/11, though, and Väsen have spent most of this decade recording and performing as the original trio. But for the first time in eight years, Ferrari went into the recording studio with the rest of Väsen, and the new CD Linnaeus Väsen is the result.

The concept for the new CD, curiously, revolves around the renowned eighteenth century Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, the founder of the system of scientific nomenclature used in modern biology. Described by biographers as having "no ear for music," Linnaeus nevertheless came from a family of musicians and was an avid dancer of polskas. Most of the tunes performed on this CD have some connection to Linnaeus, and would have likely been recognized by him. In fact, the opening tune "Carl Linnaeus Polonaise" was composed for him by his brother-in-law, Gabriel Höök.

The music on Linnaeus Väsen maintains the same high standard that the band have always set for themselves, whether as a trio or a quartet. As before, Ferrari makes his presence most strongly felt on the more energetic pieces. The highlight for me is "Grevilius' Polonaise," a polska taken from the notebook of a prominent fiddler from Linnaeus' home village of Växjö during the time Linnaeus would have been attending secondary school. This particular piece has a strong melody that lends itself well to the kind of dynamic shifts at which the band has always excelled. Ferrari's ominous pounding propels a breathtaking set of marches from the playing of Linnaeus' great uncle, Sven Tiliander. The brilliant interplay of the viola and percussion underneath the melody on "Söderblom's Polska" showcases the band's willingness and ability to innovate with traditional music.

Some people might be partial to the trio version of Väsen over the quartet, but while they've always been fantastic in concert regardless of which line-up I've seen, I always felt that the quartet did a better job of matching their live energy on disc. In that regard, Linnaeus Väsen picks up right where Whirled and 1999's Gront left off. Long-time fans of the band shouldn't need my recommendation to go out and get this, but anybody unfamiliar with the folk music of Sweden will find this an enjoyable introduction.

Overall grade: A-

reviewed by Scott