Gierran

Gierran

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
From the first notes, this is something special and adventurous. Wimme continues to expand the idea of the joik, the song form of the Saami people. On the tracks he performs alone, his voice is mesmerizing (and the effect is very reminiscent of Native American chants). But when he's backed by Rinneradio, as he is for most of the tracks here, then his voice takes off for the stratosphere. With a sound that mixes European art rock with the fairly free jazz of John Zorn, the ensemble helps take the joik far from its home, without ever losing its primal feel. The result is, in the very best way, electrifying. From the sublime ("Iras") to the whimsical ("Samil"), this is an album that takes chances--and they all pay off beautifully. --Chris Nickson

Tracks:

Skittish
Havana
Whirlwind
Enchantment
Rainbow
Snow Grouse
Vision
Destiny
Draft Reindeer
Hardly
Angelica
The Importance Of Moss

Amazon.com

From the first notes, this is something special and adventurous. Wimme continues to expand the idea of the joik, the song form of the Saami people. On the tracks he performs alone, his voice is mesmerizing (and the effect is very reminiscent of Native American chants). But when he's backed by Rinneradio, as he is for most of the tracks here, then his voice takes off for the stratosphere. With a sound that mixes European art rock with the fairly free jazz of John Zorn, the ensemble helps take the joik far from its home, without ever losing its primal feel. The result is, in the very best way, electrifying. From the sublime ("Iras") to the whimsical ("Samil"), this is an album that takes chances--and they all pay off beautifully. --Chris Nickson

Customer Reviews:

unique music.......2003-03-04

This cd is so beautiful, with so much to offer -- joik chanting, ambient electronic, some crazy experimental music, some slow good rhythms for night journeys, some other strange experiments. Wimme's recommendable, & of the self-titled album, this, & Cugu, I think this is the best.

Amazing and unusual sounds.......2000-08-29

Wimme conjures up some breathtaking sounds with his unique combination of yoik and industrial sounds on this release. The best track on the CD, "Enchantment," sends the listener into a bleak, melancholy, and yet strangely beautiful world. The ancient form of the yoik balances the very new musical sounds provided by Finnish band Rinne Radio in a mesmerizing way. This is definitely a one-of-a-kind listening experience.

Jojk Superstar.......2000-02-16

Wimme is a really interesting jojker. While not traditional, he represents a tradition that is living. And that in itself is worth buying it for. It is not Smithsonian, or musicologist in approach and a lot of fun. Check out the interview at cbc.ca if you can find it. Wonderful guy. Same reasons as before for the four stars. I think he can do more

Spiritual healing for the not-necessarily spiritual.......1999-08-30

I met Wimme Saari while doing a story for the newspaper I work for last spring. He was in town for the Nordic Roots festival, which I'd rave about here - if it weren't for the space - because of all of the other "New Nordic" bands represented at the festival that Amazon carries.

Anyway, the man is a Saami (pejoratively known as Laplanders), an aboriginal people of northernmost Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. He's also a musical genius.

He takes a traditional Saami chanting form, called the joik (entrancing in its own right), and expands it, transforming ancient music into a call to the modern masses through modern instruments and recording techniques.

Conjuring the forms of animals, spirits, and forces of nature, Wimme at once educates audiences of the value system of an ancient and nearly vanished *European people* (in case any of you post-corporate caucasoids were falling asleep) and the eternal need for humans to feel alive.

It probably helped that I had some American Saamis to consult with about the lyrical content; but, the bottom line is that this is soulful stuff - passionate electronica (yes, it's not an oxymoron) with a pre-historic bloodline. It's also eminently listenable, if you have an experimental bone in your body and are willing to give atypical music a chance.

It's too bad that I'm the only person to write about this artist here, so far. Wimme is a captivating personality with a purpose that runs as deep as the Scandinavian glaciers.

Would give Wimme 5 stars, but his best work is yet ahead of him.

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