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Written in Folk Roots issue 129, 1994

ANNEL NIEIDDAT (ANGELIN TYTÖT)
Giitu
Mipu MIPUCD 204 (1993)

Such is the drive and lack of pretension of Annel Nieiddat ("girls from Angeli"; Angelin Tytöt in Finnish), from Finnish Sámiland, that at '93's Kaustinen festival, having gripped several thousand people during their main arena show they were subsequently to be found busking outside the restaurant - after all, it's a long way from Inari, why stick at a couple of scheduled spots?
      Straightforwardness is the keynote of this album, too; Ursula and Tuuni Länsman's vocals are treated to little reverb, and accompaniments, largely by new member Alfred Häkkinen (who has replaced Ulla Pirttijärvi since the first album), are sparse - most effectively deep drum or acoustic guitar pulses - an approach that suits the items closest to traditional joikh styles which, having evolved without it, are resistant to the imposition of vertical harmony. The few songs where the joik influence is weaker, and which move more into the Euro-American mainstream with strummed chord progressions, are, for me at least, less affecting, but since the first and last tracks are of this type it appears that the band disagrees. It is, after all, a working band, and what the Sámi public want to hear isn't necessarily what we outside find distinctive about their music; Angelin Tytöt sing what they like, anyway.

© 1994 Andrew Cronshaw
 

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