Rona Hartner: Nationalité Vagabonde (2008) (Update)

Rona Hartner is an Romanian artist of German descent living and working currently in France. Nationalité Vagabonde is thus not only a title of record but also a phrase that presents her personal lifestyle. Born in 1973 she got popular with the 1997 movie "Gadjo Dilo" alongside with the now very famous French actor Romain Duris. Rona Hartner portrayed a Gypsy in the very same movie and this might have contributed to the perception (in Romania) that she is a Gypsy aswell. Unfortunately, she is not recognized very well in Romania. However, I think RH has overcome terms like nationality nationality best expressed by the title track's great lyrics:

“Nationalité vagabonde

Mes voisins je ne les compte

Plus à Rio, Prague ou Hong Kong,

Un passeport dans tous les ports

Nationalité vagabonde

J’ai la terre beaucoup plus ronde

Que tous les résidents du monde

Et dans la peau

Tous les drapeaux…

J’ai une âme rebelle

Emigrée universelle

J’ai toutes les tracesDe toutes les races

Dans mon sang et sur ma face

Je suis citoyenne

De la nation humaine

Je suis … ( ?)

A la page vagabonde”

The record is a great mix of different languages (French, Spanish, English and Romanian), moods and genres. I like a lot the great track “Chocha de la vida” which is a brilliant blend of reggea meets Africa accompanied by a magnificent clarinet. The upbeat "Gadji boh`eme" and also "Vagabond remix" are favorites of mine as well. Besides music RH does a lot of theater appearances as well. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to do a lot of concert touring outside of France right now but as always I hope that this fact is going to change very soon!

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Magaly Solier: Warmi (2009)

I first heard of Magaly Solier when she won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film festival in 2009 for "La teta asustada" (which is an excellent movie by the way). Like in her previous movie "Madeinusa" she had short sequences where she sang in her very unique and impressive style. Luckily, she also decided to publish with Warmi a really uniquie and beautiful piece of music. There are severaly things that make this record particularly special: The songs are sung for the most in Quechua (a native language of Peru and the Andes) and all the songs are written by herself. I have not been much of a fan of pan flutes and south american folk groups (playing in city centers) but Magaly Solier has changed my perception about Andean music strongly.

The songs accompanied by guitar, charango, quenas and violins have an exotic mood with Solier’s voice adding a very natural feeling. Lyrically, the songs deviate from standard folk music: One of my favorites from Warmi (meaning Woman in Quechua) "Ripu Ripusajmi" is a protest song that tells the story of a girl escaping from the physical abuse of her father. If you do not understand the language (like me) it gives you a pretty happy mood contrasting the actual dark lyrical theme. The record left my with a very intense impression changing my impression of Andean folk music but unfortunately Warmi is not commercialy available outside of Peru.

If you want to explore further this kind of music I recommend this blog which is dedicated solely to South American folk music.

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Delgarma: Den Andra (2010)

"Den Andra" of Delgarma ("The other" in swedish) was one of my personal suprises of 2010. Delgarma is a folk indie type of band from France (Rhône-Alpes) and the songs are presented by Laïla Roux (of possible Swedish origin) in English, Swedish and French.

It is a netlabel release of LCL which described the record as "...a mystical inspired and an enchanting music served by a unique voice" which I can definitely support. According to the band it took more than 4 years to complete the record and this results in so many colors of the album. My favorite tracks are "Sweet as a cat" (see youtube below), "Reveil" with a very easy going Reggae feeling and Att Sakna (the only Swedish track). The album is a free Netaudio release so you should definitely check it out and leave comments over at the band website!

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Månegarm: Urminnes Hävd - The Forest Sessions (2006)

I listen to a lot of Rock and Metal music but both Viking and Black Metal are usually not my genres of music. Månegarm's usual releases therefore never interested me with the exception of Urminnes Hävd (The Forest Sessions). It is a purely folk music EP with all songs sung in Swedish with high, clear female and male vocals. Instruments beeing used are violins, acoustic guitars, cow-drums and the djembe and the dense atmosphere is complemented by the sounds of birds, campfires and timber being cut.

The beauty of this acoustic album lies in its vivid power of tranfering you right into a Scandinavian forest making you dream and enjoying the surrounding nature. Where Månegarm's regular metal releases are average at best Urminnes Hävd shines with highlights such as "Döden" or "Vaggvisa". If I were them I'd drop the black metal and master greater tasks...

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