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December 16, 2004
Random chanting monks
Here's a review I wrote a few years back for Trip magazine:
"Garmarna: Swedish folk rock group. Hildegard von Bingen: tenth century abbess and mystic, one of the first female composers on record. The new album Hildegard von Bingen by Garmarna: crazy good! Garmarna blends old school (really old school) Latin lyrics and melodies with modern programming and musical textures to create a haunting album. At first I feared this was going to wind up sounding like Enigma - generic, watered down beats, with random chanting monks from an old Library of Congress LP scattered about. Not so! Garmarna compare favorably to Afro Celt Sound System, although they've been around longer, and on this album, they're more of a Medieval Swedish Sound System, but hey, who's complaining? The music is pretty and dark, gothic and spiritual, and lead singer Emma Härdelin's wonderful voice is perfectly suited for rendering the straight tones of von Bingen's compositions amidst the lush mix of acoustic instruments and synthesized sounds."
Garmarna - Euchari (Eucharius)
Garmarna - Salvatoris (Savior)
Garmarna - O Frondens Virga (O Growing Branch)
Posted by Scotto at December 16, 2004 09:00 AM