Baba Yaga

Dirty Linen - "...Draws from the deepest, darkest wells of Nordic mythology...[and] on the ancient Sami cultural tradition....conjuring up the shape shifting Russian witch with Nordic, Russian, and Arabic melodies..."

With her first release for Northside -- an excellent fit, since they only issue Nordic music -- Annbjorg Lien continues to spread her wings, moving quite a distance from the traditional music of her Norwegian homeland. The influence is still very much there, both in her writing and playing on the hardanger fiddle (which has drone strings under the fingerboard) and keyed fiddle, in addition to her rare vocals. But plenty of other ideas come into play, in the influence of rhythms and melodies from warmer climes on "Inoque," a result of her visit to Mozambique with the Save the Children fund, or the title track, whose inspiration comes from Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" -- most specifically, the ELP version (Lien has stated she was a fan of the band and prog-rock), with a complex, pompous passage thrown in for good humor and good measure. "Iriandia" travels North to Sami territory, with its musical impressionism of the tundra and the folk tradition of joiking. But perhaps the most heartfelt track is the final one, "W.," another Lien composition, dedicated to the memory of master Norwegian fiddler Hans W. Brimi, whose music affected Lien for many years. She's long since moved on from being just a traditional artist. With this album she makes the transformation to important European musical figure. ~ Chris Nickson|