Mari Boine - Idjagiedas 2006
(Oslo Lean/Universal)

 1. Vuoi vuoi mu (Vuoi vuoi me) 
 2. Iddjagiedas (In the hand of the night)  
 3. Suoivva (The shadow) 
 4. Gos bat munno cinjat leat? (Where did all our colours go?) 
 5. Mu ustit, engeliid sogalas (My friend of angel tribe) 
 6. Davvi bavttiin (In the mountains of the north) 
 7. Lottas (Little bird) 
 8. Diamantta spaillit (Reindeer of diamond) 
 9. Geasuha (Irresistible) 
10. Afruvva (The mermaid)  
11. Uldda nieida (Uldda girl) 
12. Big medicine (Fapmodalkkas)



Mari Boine Idjagiedas Music can touch on strings you might not know you had. It can provide meaning, but it can also create moments which cant be defined. Moments which go to your core, that touch some sort of primal instinct, and that put you in a trancelike condition.

Music can confuse you. But it can also make you feel happy, uplifted or enriched. And maybe even more whole. Mari Boines music has this effect. You cant leave a meeting with Mari and her music untouched. That is, if you dare to let her get close. Her music is actually simple. It is in the meeting between the songs, her voice and the musicians in the band that it gains strength. And in the interaction with the listener, because you must meet Maris music with an open mind. If you dont give of yourself, you might not discover the wealth she has to offer. Because Mari is exceptional. She is an artist who is difficult to categorize.

Perhaps shes a Sami artist, perhaps shes a practitioner of world music. Perhaps she makes music in the borderline between Sami, other folk music, jazz and rock. Perhaps shes the sum of all this. Or perhaps shes just herself. A musician, singer and artist whos making her own mark. Who has gone down a road where she hasnt always seen the destination. And who is still travelling. A route she has gained confidence and a clear sense of who she is and what she stands for. But the road is long. There are still surprises and challenges lurking ahead.

She made her debut as an artist in the early 80s. She was angry, and had every reason to be. There were many people, many circumstances keeping her down. Christianity, oppression of the Sami language and culture, the big men down south. In This is how I was convinced from 1982 she writes: I laughed with those who made fun of the Sami/ even though I felt I hurt myself the most/Because its your own language which gives you strength At first she sang in Norwegian and English. Eventually in Sami. Its a good language to sing, its so rich in vocals, she says.

Her anger, political statements, and 1989 breakthrough, both at home and abroad, with Gula Gula made her a well-known person. A person one listened to. Many people now saw her as a spokesperson for the Sami people and the Sami cause. Not Mari. I cant represent a whole people. But I can tell my story as a Sami, and in that way tell part of the Sami peoples story. In my songs I can depict the pain of oppression, the struggle to regain self-respect, but also the joy of growing up in a culture which has such a close bond with nature. I havent always been so politically active. My commitment came with the music, she says.

Mari grew up in an environment where the Sami language was accepted. Where it was OK to sing psalms, but not to joik. In the strict laestadian milieu joik was viewed as the devils work. I am not Christian today, she says. But I have a holistic religion. I think this religion is gaining ground world wide. In my prayers I look to the forces in nature, such as the sun god Beaivi, the thunder god, wind god and the Sami goddesses. I am not familiar with the old rituals as the transmission from the elder generation to the younger was broken by Christian missionaries. But my music has opened up a spirituality which gives me meaning, but that I cant always express in words.

When Mari was awarded the Nordic Councils Music Prize in 2003 it was for her ethnic intuition, her artistic strength and for an ability to communicate which lets her reach people in all corners of the world. Regardless of cultural background. She has retained her musical roots, while giving them a contemporary expression which reaches an enormous audience all over the world, it was said. She now has a new album. There are some surprises waiting there, too. Its completely irrelevant what you call her music. Its music that blends seamlessly into the rhythms and sound picture of our times. She could have sung her songs a thousand years ago, or in a thousand years and still retained the same depth and resonance. To rephrase it: It is as though Mari Boines voice reveals just the smallest slice of eternity, a critic wrote of her last album Gavcci Jahkejuogo (Eight Seasons). Its easy to make many of the same reflections when listening to Idjagiedas. The intensity, the intimacy, and the strong personal presence, make it easier to understand Mari when she says:

Music is my life, the song is my breathing.

Idjagiedas In Maris words Its been more than four years since Gavcci jahkejuogo (Eight Seasons) was released. People ask me why theres such a long time span between each album. The answer is simple, I need that time. There have always been three or four years between albums. I need that amount of time to gather impressions, to have something real to express. So much happens around an album.

First it takes time to create and gather the material. Then it takes just as much time to record the songs. Afterwards theres the press, interviews. And then, of course, theres my favourite part, getting out and playing the songs for people. Time to live, and to feel the vivid life is also part of it. At least for me. It couldve taken even longer, if the Telemark Festival had not invited me to make a commissioned production for last years festival. Idjagiedas (In the hand of the night) consists in great part of songs I made for this production. With my regular base player and producer, Svein Schultz, and the musicians who participated in the presentation, Ive polished the music to the album version. Ive also added a couple other songs. One of them is written by a friend of mine, Ross Reaver. The song is called Big Medicine and is part of what has become a tradition on my albums, including a song in English or Norwegian. Lottas (Little Bird) is from the music I made for the German film adaptation of the fairy tale about Hans and Greta. Only two of the lyrics on this album are my own.

I have chosen to use lyrics by Sami authors Karen Anne Buljo and Rauni Magga Lukkari with the exception of two songs. In these songs I sing in a language which doesnt really exist, but is still there someplace deep inside of me. Or maybe its a language which comes from the outsideand is just passing through me. Who knows? Karen Anne Buljos lyrics take their content from Sami mythology. She writes about Uldda nieida the daughter of the creatures who live beneath the ground, who under-estimated the female shamans. And about the proud Afruvva, who went her own ways, and was the coastal Sami equivalent of Uldda Nieida.

Uldda Nieida was a dream of a woman, who could bewitch men for eternity if they didnt know the magic formulas which could free them from her embrace. I have learned incredible amounts from Karen Anna Buljo this past year, and have even more insight into my cultural heritage, which continues to fascinate me.

In Diamantta Spaillit (Reindeer of diamond) she masterly mixes elements from the old, traditional world, with indigenous peoples, actually all peoples, harsh reality when confronted with the greed and the constant hunger for more. In this song I hear a sorrow. A sorrow over these powers which seem impossible to stop. Rauni Magga Lukkari is a master at describing loves many forms, between two people, to the magnitude in our rich animal world. But also at describing our harsh, contrasting nature. For me it is a pleasure to sing these womens lyrics. They are an integral part of preserving the wealth and the finer nuances of the Sami language.

This time I also wanted to explore new grounds musically, to bring out new sides of my voice. I invited Georg Buljo who collaborates as a guitarist to write three of the melodies. Svein Schultz has also contributed with some melodies, as well as improvising several melodies with me.

Svein Schultz, producer Idjagiedas is an album with many new elements. While as previous albums have emphasized long stretches and atmospheres, the focus is now also on the melodies. On the melody itself and on Maris voice, which carries more of the whole expression. Mari explores new ways of singing, and continually challenges her voice. She has carried it in her for a long time, but has never shown it as well as on this album. She has also been very open and dared use new elements, and create atmospheres.

In a way everything is allowed, as long as they have a positive effect on Maris identity as an artist. This has resulted in the use of ethnic instruments from all around the world, but they are used in our way. We have continually searched for the sound and sounds for the songs. The new global instruments the electronical - are used in exciting and new contexts. For Mari its been exciting to stretch boundaries in relation to the electronic instruments. This gives us two elements which apparently are far apart: The indigenous joik and the modern electronical instruments.  (mariboine.no)