New Reviews: November 29, 2004

Reviews by Paula E. Kirman

Väsen
Keyed Up
NorthSide

From the Nordic music trio comes an album of all-new material. Keyed Up is acoustic Heaven, with guitar, fiddle, mandolin, nyckelharpa. Many of the songs have a very improvised feel to them. Väsen has long been a fixture on the Nordic music scene, and this, the band's first studio album in four years, was worth the wait.

Shuyler Jansen
Hobotron
Black Hen Music/Universal

Shuyler Jansen is best known in his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta as the lead singer with the roots band Old Reliable. Hobotron is his first solo outing, and is also roots -- with more. Electronic layers and textures add another dimension to Jansen's folk/country/roots/rock. His deep, earthy vocals and original songs are definitely country-influenced, and meshed with the digital effects an almost Daniel Lanois-type of sound is created. Definitely one step away from the mainstream.

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Paula E. Kirman is the Editor and Webmaster of Inside World Music.