Hailing from Estonia, Maarja Nuut is a fiddler and vocalist who has a journey to take us on. She produces an ambient, looping electronic retelling of the village musical traditions of pre-war Europe. In a nutshell, Nuut takes traditional Estonian folk traditions and brings them kicking and screaming into the 21st century...

I have to be honest and admit that I didn't really get on with Meeles (In the Hold of a Dream). It's not that it's a bad album, it's just that over the course of its 12 tracks (39 min, 01 sec) I didn't really connect with it as a project.

From the tongue clicking of 'Kargus' to the "Daa Daa Daa" of 'Jaa-Ti-Daa ' this felt more like a dull lecture I had to sit through, rather than an interesting exploration of music from a time long since past.

'Kuradipolka' is probably this album's standout moment - a truly beautiful track that illustrates that Folk music can be as heart wrenchingly impressive as Classical music.

It all boils down to whether you're a fan of quirky, folksy experimentation.

5

Nick Smithson