February Music: Shetland Happy Tunes, harp, cello, and the wild outdoors

During the social distancing days of pandemic, I became obsessed with Shetland. I followed their tourism organization, read The Ponies at the Edge of the World and Shetland folk tales, and dreamt of standing on those wild shores. The uncertainty of these days seems similar to me, so I was delighted to find that Shetland.org has curated a list of Shetland Happy Tunes, which is so perfect for my listening project.

I have especially been enjoying Herkja Until We Become the Change and Laughing Girl by Jenna Reid.

I have also been finding in my explorations what seems to me to be a new genre of modern music which incorporates traditional languages and older instruments and with videos that often feature the musicians performing outdoors in wild spaces. Bands from different cultures like Otyken, Russian-Siberian, and Wardruna, Norwegian. It’s like the opposite of industrial music. I love it.

I’ve also revisited some favorite instruments cello and harp. I love Zoe Keating Cello and harpist Nadia Birkenstock.

I also discovered Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay in Singapore which offers concerts including a playlist of spiritual music and their cargo lift sessions. I love this one featuring musicians Huun-Huur Tu from Tuva, a sparsely populated region between Siberia and Mongolia.

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Shel Graves' Sensorium

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