CDs and Cassettes

From the Heart of Scandinavia    by Jack Pearson

What to give that hard-to-shop-for Scandinavian relative? Jack Pearson's new CD! And, as a way to introduce both this new CD and Jack, Rural Route Bookstore is offering it at a discount.

Jack Pearson — Minnesota musician, storyteller, and constant wearer of colorful suspenders — has released a new CD just in time for gift giving. Jack's new CD features 17 solo guitar renditions of familiar, and a few lesser known, Scandinavian folk tunes and hymns. All melodies have Jack's special arrangements, and his most ardent fans will recognize them as "Genuine Jack."
 
Contents include songs from Denmark such as Roselil, Det var en lørdag aften, and the beautiful Harvest Song. Some songs from Sweden on this recording are Tryggare kan ingen vara (the beautiful Swedish folk melody best known as Children of the Heavenly Father), Vem kan segla, and Hälsa dem därhemma. Norwegian folk songs include Per Spelmann, Blåmann, and Kjerringa med staven. 

CD -20     $17.95      NOW $16.00 

Northern Lights (CD)    Sissel Kyrkjbø with guest, Jose Carreras

It has been said that Sissel's voice defies categorization as she glides between classical music and lighter pop fare. According to CD Universe, "She can soar like a seasoned diva in the most difficult of arias, project a plain-spoken earthiness in folk tunes, whisper intimately in romantic ballads, or belt out ... showstoppers with unbridled gusto."  

In March of 2007 — in the medieval-appearing Norwegian village of Røros (where little has changed since 1650, and which was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980 — a magical musical event occurred in the landmark church so familiar to visitors to Norway. Sissel performed in concert with world-renowned special guest tenor Jose Carreras, and PBS recorded the event.

The concert aired last Christmas in the U.S, and this CD features beautiful renditions of Christmas classics as well as many of Sissel's compositions.

CD - 12     $19.95

A Spirit of the Season; a CD by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra
                            featuring Sissel Kyrkjbø

Although Sissel Kyrkjebø has been singing since she was 15 and made her European debut the next year, it wasn't until the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer that American audiences were introduced to her during her magnificent singing of the Olympic's Opening Anthem.  With many CDs and awards, she has teamed up with vocal masters such as Placido Domingo, Celine Dion, Jose Carreras and Josh Groban. But, according to Sissel, singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for this Christmas Concert was “a match made in heaven."

For her first-ever Christmas album released in the U.S., Sissel collaborated with the world famous  Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra. The concert was seen on PBS throughout the United States, and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Sissel received two Grammy nominations for this release, "Spirit of The Season" for Best Classical Crossover Album as well as Best Engineered Classical Album.

CD - 7    $22.95

Great Hymns of Faith Volume I (CD) St. Olaf College Choir

Great Hymns of Faith Volume II  (CD)  St. Olaf College Choir

Choirs associated with Midwestern Lutheran Colleges are known for their excellence in a cappella singing and for their perfection in all aspects of choral interpretation.


The St. Olaf (College) Choir is the pioneer a cappella choir in the United States. For more than a century, since F. Melius Christiansen founded this college's music program in 1903, the St. Olaf Choir has set a standard of choral excellence and remained at the forefront of choral artistry.  Under the direction of Anton Armstrong, this choir continues to develop this rich tradition.

Although the choir has produced many excellent recordings, two recent CDs mark the first time the group has produced entire recordings of common hymns.  One or both of these CDs would make an excellent gift for the person who truly appreciates the beauty of well-performed choral works or one who delights in hearing familiary humns.  (If you are curious about the contents of each CD, send an email to: questions@ruralroutebookstore.com)

CD - 13  Vol. 1    $16.98
CD - 14  Vol. 2    $16.98

Norwegian-American (Gammeldans) Music (CD)   The Berntsons

For over 100 years members of the Berntson Family have been providing "gammeldans" music for their friends, neighbors, and at community events. Three generations of this Norwegian-American family have had normally staid Scandinavians kicking up their heels as the Berntsons played waltzes, schottisches and the hambro.  Growing up in the 50's, my dad (who didn't dance and would never allow me to try dancing) would have referred to these peppy, cheerful tunes as "good milking music" and he would have cranked up the barn radio and been rewarded with full pails of milk.

Now that milking music is heard in fewer barns and "gammeldans" songs are heard at fewer wedding dances, the Berntsons are still around to again remind the listener of less blaring and more carefree times.

CD - 11   $17.95    Only one remaining.

Favorite Scandinavian Dances     by Walter Eriksson and his Orchestra

Walter Eriksson grew up in Brooklyn, New Yrok, the son of ethnic Swedes from Finland. Coming from a musical family, he began studying accordion at an early age and was playing professionally by the age of 14. He studied with, and styled his playing after, some of the most prominent accordionists in the Scandinavian tradition, earning an international reputation as a great performer, composer, arranger, and recording artist. This CD includes such lively tunes as: Livet I finnskogarna, Koster valsen, Sørensens reinlender, and Bestefars vals.

CD - 17   $17.95    12 dance songs

Skandia     by Gunnar Hahn                                       

Subtitled A Definitive Collection of Traditional Nordic Rhythms, the Scandinavian dance music on this CD represents the remarkable diversity of folk music from Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The dances are presented in ascending order of difficulty, and the selections are purposely programmed in an order that allows for a change of pace in both rhythm and tempo. Dances include Seksmannsril, Hambopolska, Gammel Schottis, and Gammel Reinlendar. Remember: you don't have to be a dancer to enjoy Hahn's arrangements of these Nordic melodies. Bonus: In your computer's CD-ROM drive, this CD acts as a book of dance instructions!

CD - 19   $17.95    35 dance songs and dance instructions  CD/DVD

 

Ole Ivars Spellemannsblod     by Ole Ivars   

Since 1964, "Ole Ivars" — the title for this group of five — has been Norway's leading dance band. The group includes Tore Halvorsen (vocal, acoustic guitar), William Kristoffersen (vocal, bass), Ole Odegard (keyboards), Arne Willy Foss (floyte, clarinet, sax), and Arild Engh (drums). Spellemannsblod is a collection of ballads, love songs, and folk tunes including Fridas Vals, Jonsokbarn, and Spellemannsblod. The CD notes include the words to all the songs.

CD - 18     $17.95     15 dance songs

Storebror og Lillebror (CD) Arna Rennan  and  Nordic Angst

Storebror og Lillebror, which translates as "Big Brother and Little Brother", is Arna's second CD, but she has now formalized a backup band called Nordic Angst — a term used by Americans to describe the perceived darkness of the Nordic culture, the kind of darkness found in Ingmar Bergman films.  Arna says the name was chosen because the band "represents both the perspective of traditional folk music interpreted through an American sensibility" and a "love and understanding of Nordic folk traditions." 

Nordic Angst uses an eclectic blend of traditional and nontraditional instruments such as the nyckelharpa, ocatave mandolin, electric guitar, accordion, overtone flute, acoustic guitar, and bass, and the songs on this recording include ballads from the Middle Ages, dance tunes such as the halling and pols,  drinking songs, and, as Arna states, "a wayward tango or two with a contemporary sound that bridges time and cultures." In summary, this CD  blends traditional Norwegian folk music with a contemporary sound. 

CD - 16       $16.00   NOW $12.00

A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway (CD)   St. Olaf College Choir   

In 2005, the renowned St. Olaf Choir recorded A St. Olaf Christmas in Norway with the Nidarosdomens Jentekor and esteemed soloist Randi Stene in Trondheim, Norway. The recording honors Norway's 100 years of independence and celebrates the historic and cutural connections between St. Olaf College and the country of Norway. Available in CD format.

CD - 6    $16.98

 

Can We Have Christmas Now? (CD)  Sari & Mari Kaasinen

Sari and Mari Kaasinen are among the best-known singers of folk songs in Finland and are founding members of the group, Värttinä. On this CD, they present  11 of their favorite 11 of their favorite Finnish Christmas songs--both original and traditional--with arrangements by Timo Alakotila and other great players from the Finnish folk music world. While the lyrics and style are definitely Finnish, the universal spirit of Christmas shines through. As many of these songs remind the sisters of their childhood, a child's sense of wonder and excitement can be felt throughout, as expressed in the title "Can We Have Christmas Now?" Sari completes the album with a special version of "Silent Night" on the Finnish harp, the kantele.

CD - 2   $15.00     NOW $8.00

A Swedish Christmas (CD) Anne-Charlotte and Ellen Harvey     

Anne-Charlotte Harvey and her daughter, Ellen, sing songs for a traditional Santa Lucia festival, as well as favorite songs for dancing around the Christmas Tree. The 20 songs include: Sankta Lucia; Hej, tomtegubbar; Stille natt, Hellige natt; Julpolska--nu har vi ljus; När juldagsmorgon glimmar; and others. Newly available on CD format.

CD - 3      $17.95 

Soundtracks and Humor CDs and Cassettes

Church Basement Ladies

Church Basement Ladies 2:  A Second Helping 

Away in the Basement

A Mighty Fortress Is Our Basement

Those Lutheran Ladies: Live at Medora

                

CA2 - 09      $5.95 Audio-cassette  format                   CA2 - 10      $7.95 CD   format 



Growing Up Lutheran   (Audiobook in CD format)

Read by authors Suzann Nelson & Janet Martin, & a few select friends

Authors Nelson & Martin read an abridged version of their bestselling book, Growing Up Lutheran, in their natural Norwegian-American brogues.  Chapters are introduced with excerpts from familiar Lutheran hymns. In other words, there are no hymns from the green hymnal or With One Voice.  Truckers can shoot right across Kansas or Montana when they listen to this, and people in the hospital can shoot right through the day...unless they have had stitches.  In the case of stitches, the authors recommend the book version.  Why get sewn up again? The doctor has better things to do with his time, like finding a cure for hot flashes.

Additional readers, also with great natural Norwegian-American brogues, add interest and humor in several chapters. Thanks to friends Ron Nelson, Miriam Nelson, Dr. Stephen "Gabe" Gabrielson, Olaf Bakke and Randy Johnson. Vocals are by Ron Nelson, and organ music is provided by "Gabe" Gabrielson, aka "Ole himself, then!"

NOTE: This is not a DVD or video.  It is an audio-book reading on three compact discs (CDs); three hours (180 minutes).

AB - 01     $19.95


DVDs

    
Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas            Harry Smith, Host/Narrator 
                  
People celebrate the birth of Christ worldwide on December 25th. But was He really born on that day? Come in from the cold, have some hot chocolate, and get in the mood for the holidays by learning about the history of Christmas.

In this History Channel documentary, TV personality Harry Smith traces the origins of Christmas and examines some of the Western World's most enduring traditions. How did a holiday that began in pagan Rome become the centerpiece of the Christian tradition? Why is the Savior's nativity marked by gift giving? Has consumerism twisted the holiday into a global celebration in which faith plays a small role? How did Christmas trees and candy canes come to be?  Discover how the patron saint of children was transformed into Jolly Old Santa Claus by British settlers in the New World, and learn the relationship between cartoonist Thomas Nast's concept of Santa Claus and the Coca Cola company's rendering of Santa in ads and commercials.    

If you get into holiday documentaries and want more, this program is also available as part of a four-part Christmas DVD (DVD just above).

Running time: 50 minutes; produced by the History Channel, A&E, and the Biography Channel.

 DVD - 04   $12.95     NOW $7.95


  
Scandinavia 2000-2012      with PBS Host, Rick Steves

For years now, travel guru, Rick Steves, has taken PBS and APT viewers down main streets, through forests, up to mountaintops, and into homes and all sorts of nooks and crannies around the world. This recently released DVD is the only one that includes all six of the “Rick Steves Europe TV" shows on Scandinavia. This will make you want to travel, but if you can’t leave right now, watching this is the next best thing!

Steves will take you to tourist sites in the capital cities of Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, and Helsinki. Then join him on a two-hour boat ride across the Gulf of Finland to be part of the medieval charm and newfound prosperity of Tallinn, Estonia.  However, you will also hike on glaciers, learn rural traditions, go island hopping, take a steamy sauna, sample gourmet reindeer meat, and sip vodka in an ice bar.   Throughout the adventure you will see beautiful scenery and learn about Scandinavia's culture, history, and its independent ways of today.  Throughout the adventure you will see beautiful scenery and learn about Scandinavia's culture, history, and its independent ways of today. Steves' most recent guidebook on traveling in Norway can be found here.

Contents: All six of Rick Steves' half-hour shows on Scandinavia; three hours of travel on one DVD; all in widescreen format.

DVD - 01      $24.95    NOW $19.95      A bargain rate we are passing on to you!

Here Comes Pippi        Adapted from Astrid Lindgren's stories

The townsfolk in Pippi's village agree that the town will never be the same again, and they are certain that the eccentric little girl with her wild imagination, incredible strength, and lack of parental supervision will cause no end of trouble.  Her new neighbors, young Annika and Tommy, are excited about the adventures they will surely share with their new neighbor.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Adapted from Roald Dahl's story     

 

Roald Dahl, like many of Rural Route Bookstore's customers, was 100% Norwegian. However, his parents emigrated to Wales rather than America.

 

Dahl — a prolific writer of adult and children's stories, screenplays, novels, and short stories — became internationally known for his writing and philanthropy, but mainly for nineteen children's books which were translated into many languages and often made into movies. Throughout the years, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been issued by several film companies under different titles including "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".

 

This special widescreen edition version, released in 2005, stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, the reclusive candy connoisseur of a candy factory that is supposedly closed but continues to produce and ship candy all over the world, and is directed by Tim Burton.  

 

Fill a bowl of popcorn or, in this case, a bowl of Wonka Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight candies, and let your imagination run wild as you sail along the Chocolate River, enter this magical factory, and frolic with the Oompa-Loompas.   115 minutes. Rating "PG Suggested".

 

DVD - 02        $14.99      NOW $8.00



Jiggle Your Jell-O DVD   Featuring "Those Lutheran Ladies," David Cook and Greta Grosch. 

Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson, commonly known as "Those Lutheran Ladies," have adopted new personas for this crazy DVD.  Watch them portray Myrtle Klemetson and Ethel Urness, Emil's Mrs. — the ladies just down the road apiece — as they try to understand the younger generation and attempt to please their children by "working out." 

To these two women the phrase, "working out," means being a hired hand on a farm, or working at the nursing home in town. Myrtle and Emil's Mrs. just don't get it, but they try! Like typical Norwegian-American women of a former era, Myrtle and Ethel don't have time to fool around exercising. They get plenty of that by just existing: dusting everything in sight both inside and out, "putting up," serving at funerals, rolling lefse, cleaning the church, and feeding the menfolk's bottomless pits. 

If you need a good laugh, or know someone who does, this DVD will handle the situation.  If you want to give a total Jiggle Your Jell-O Gift Package, add the T-shirt.

CA 9 - 03    DVD     $14.95   NOW $10.00

Videotapes

Delafield (VHS format)
Mark Brodin, producer/director

"Way to make me bawl out loud--all alone--on a Saturday night! When something evokes emotion in this old Norwegian Lutheran body, you know you have something that hits close to the heart. This is an absolutely beautiful, touching documentary." 
                                         An email from Suzann Nelson to the producer of the video.

It is apparent that this video was not made by someone simply assigned a job. . . and it wasn't. Mark Brodin, producer and director, is a former member of the Delafield Evangelical Lutheran Church.  Brodin's concern and love for the people of the area come through clearly in this wonderful, but sad, story that centers on the parallel between the changing farm economy and the decline of the Delafield Church's population.

Founded in the 1870s by Norwegian immigrant farmers who were seeking to raise crops, families and community, they placed their most loved building in their most loved spot--a church in the middle of a cornfield. For the next 125 years, Delafield provided spiritual and social sustenance and continuity to subsequent generations. That continuity was broken in 1998 when the small congregation decided to disband and give away their beloved building.

Although this story takes place in southwestern Minnesota, it is relevant to rural areas throughout the Midwest, and viewers unfamiliar with this geographic region will recognize the pain and struggle of the dwindling membership as the people face the hard reality of change.

This video, which aired on many public television stations in 2002, would be a great gift for anyone who grew up in rural areas, and a wonderful donation to church libraries.

VCR - 05   $29.99     Videotape     NOW $22.00