Väsen, a power folk band from Uppland, Sweden, have released their newest flagship LP, “Mindset.”
(portaltaxi.net/music) – , a power folk band from Uppland, Sweden, have released their newest flagship LP, “Mindset.” The band plays acoustic Swedish folk music in an upbeat, driving way that is more akin to rock and roll than the more common, complacent and austere manners of folk. To the uninitiated ear it may resemble Irish folk music, but the ubiquitous presence and expert playing of their nyckelharpa marks Väsen as one of Sweden’s most prestigious troupes of traditional musicians (the nyckelharpa, which means ‘key harp,’ is a national symbol of Sweden, being a sort of violin with depressable keys with which to change pitch and tone; it appears on Sweden’s 50 kronor banknote). The album is comprised of 14 tracks for a total of approximately 50 minutes of music.
Väsen are a crew of musicians playing stringed acoustic instruments only, particularly the traditional guitar, violin, and aforementioned nyckelharpa. Their compositions require neither vocals nor percussion. Being exceptional for dancing, “Mindset” is a record absolutely suitable for celebration and casual listening alike. Its tone is lively, vigorous, and vivacious without being at all harsh, grating, or jarring, a delightful combination of which most vibrantly exciting music is not capable.
The expertise of Väsen is unparalleled. The members are a trio of virtuosos, each instrumentalist supported by the other two in perfect balance; they are: Mikael Marin, Roger Tallroth, and Olov Johansson.
The name of the band bears note, also. Väsen is a Swedish word that can mean ‘spirit,’ ‘noise,’ ‘a living being,’ and ‘essence.’ Marin, Tallroth, and Johansson had intended the name as an album title, but music venues began calling to book the band “Väsen,” and the name stuck.
Although the band has numerous releases in their 23 years (the band formed in 1989) “Mindset” represents perhaps their finest efforts to-date, with a wide variety of compositions spanning every musical color, every tonal shade. Music fans without the listening experience of traditional Swedish music have in “Mindset” a capital opportunity for discovery.
“Mindset” is available online everywhere beginning 16 January 2013.
-S. McCauley
Staff Press Release Writer
MondoTunes
The LP “Mindset” is distributed globally by MondoTunes (www.MondoTunes.com) and is available at iTunes for convenient purchase and download
MondoTunes (www.mondotunes.com) supplies the largest music distribution in the world and provides upstream services for many major labels in search of breakout artists. While most independent distributors reach only 45-50 retailers despite charging needless monthly and yearly fees, MondoTunes reaches over 750 retailers and mobile partners in over 100 world regions without any monthly or yearly fees.
ARTIST CONTACT INFO:
eMail –
label: chill@noside.com, band: olov@vasen.se
website –
label: www.noside.com, band: www.vasen.se
