Aitara

It must be admitted that Värttinä is not for everyone. The quartet of high-pitched, rapidly singing Finnish women who front the group would be a migraine-sufferer's worst nightmare. But if you like vocal enthusiasm and precision, this album is for you.

Aitara prominently displays the band's secret weapon: its instrumentalists. These four men and one woman coax a big, rich, and varied song out of bouzouki, accordion, sax, Hammond organ, violin, drums, and Finland's traditional instrument, the kantele, a kind of zither. If the low, reedy sounds of the accordion and baritone sax on "Mie Tahon Tanssia" ("I Want to Dance") were not there to offset the ladies, then they would be pretty hard to take, even for a fan. On "Outona Omilla Mailla" ("Stranger in My Own Land"), the instruments set an almost gothic mood of alienation. At first, the singers reinforce this mood but then reverse it with one of those quick shifts at which they are experts.

The album consists mostly of original melodies and lyrics derived from and including some traditional material as well. For anyone interested in contemporary Scandinavian music, this album cannot be too highly recommended.