Tor Lundvall — Paintings

Tor Lundvall is a painter and ambient musician. He has also done the artwork for a few neofolk acts such as Sol Invictus. America's landscapes, paganism and solitude are a recurrent themes in his paintings.

Myrninerest — Journey to Avebury

Journey to Avebury (The Spheres Five) is Myrninerest’s soundtrack to Derek Jarman’s movie of the same name. Myrninerest is a side project of David Tibet (Current 93) and pianist/composer Michael Cashmore. You can buy this song on Boomkat.

Wardruna — Runaljod - gap var Ginnunga (2009)

Some things take time. This band, for example. I've had the first album of Wardruna for more than a year and I didn't listen to it much. Maybe my musical taste has changed, or it is another of these intense musical phases that I have but it is now in among my favorites.

Wardruna is a band making music centered on the theme of Nordic spirituality and shamanism. It's members are Einar "Kvitrafn" Selvik (drummer of Black Metal band Gorgoroth), Lindy Fay Hella and Gaahl (famous for being the signer Gorgoroth). Up to now, the group has only released Runaljod - gap var Ginnunga, but two more albums are supposed to be in creation with the aim of creating a trilogy (called the Runajod Trilogy). Each album explores the theme of 8 runes. The group uses ancient traditional folk instruments (deer-hoof percussion, hide drums, bone flutes, goat horn), field recordings (water, thunder, birds), and vocals. The signing is really impressive here. Lindy Fay has a beautiful voice and she really can sing, there is also some throat singing by both Gaahl and Kvitrafn.

Wardruna has had a lot of success and recognition lately. They have played live on Norwegian television, had a concert in the Viking Ship Museum of Oslo and they are part of a lot of festivals. Their next albums seem to be expected by a lot of people.

This is great music for people who like ambient/tribal/medieval bands like Dead Can Dance. Sure it's not the only band to try to tackle the viking theme, but it is really a good interpretation of it. I'm not sure how historically accurate is Wardruna's music but I like it that way, very cinematic.

Apoptose — Blutopfer [Calanda Semana Santa]

"Nowhere are they beaten (the drums of Good Friday) with such mysterious power as in Calanda. They beat in recognition of the shadows that covered the earth at the moment Christ died" — Luis Buñuel [exerpt from his autobiography]

Every year, in the small town of Calanda, in Spain, a religious ritual takes place to celebrate the Holy Week. Up to 3000 people gather in the town's Plaza, dressed in purple costumes and play the drums until Easter arrives at midnight. Hooded figures march through the streets with the Virgin Mary statue while playing drums. This tradition has been immortalized and is now famous because it has been filmed by cineast Luis Buñuel, citizen of Calanda. I am not religious, but have always been fascinated by the theatral aspect of religious rituals, even more when music is involved. This really seems like something impressive.

In 2006, the german industrial band Apoptose, has made a recording called Blutopfer mixing sampling of the drums of Calanda with synth music. The result is impressive.

UPDATE: After some research I stumbled on another industrial group that has made industrial versions of the drums of Calanda. It is the Catalan band Vagina Dentana Organ. The album featuring the drums is called Triumph of the flesh.