Twenty Years of Trä

Tonight, it hit me- the best album of the 90's Trä, by Hedningarna was released twenty years ago. The music, which features both traditional Scandinavian instruments and electronics, simultaneously sounds progressive and prehistoric. The album is an "all killer, no filler" affair- the sort of album which is even better than the sum of its amazing parts. Seriously, folks, seek this one out- you'll never believe that you've lived your life without it.

Here's the official video for Vargtimmen





Wildly different, but obviously from the same band is the sultry Gorrlaus:





You don't need to know any Finnish to understand exactly what that song is about!

The entire album is spine-tingling. From the enigmatic opening Tass'on nainen to the rage-filled Min Skog through to the (literally) magical Tuuli and the heartstring-tugging final track Tina Vieri, the album is an emotional roller coaster ride... and it manages to pull this off even for listeners who can't understand a lick of the lyrics!

I've blogged about Hedningarna before, and I sure hope I've inspired some of my readers to buy some of the band's material. While even the "alternative" radio stations were playing crap bands like Oasis, there was some really amazing music which largely flew under the pop culture radar.