Ljodahatt ('Trollsong')

We started the day at the Book Festival, then meandered our way round a few other venues and shows before ending up back here for the 'Jura Unbound' session in the Speigeltent.

Tonight's show featured Ljodahatt - "a musical collective that are giving new life to some of Norway's finest poetry, from Henrik Ibsen to Knut Hamsun. Strange, ethereal and compelling". The chance to experience Norwegian poetry set to a musical backing - with references to Arcade Fire, Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits - is the kind of thing that makes the Fringe so special; how could we resist?

These kind of opportunities are always a bit hit or miss, but this was a hit for us. The comparisons to Arcade Fire and Tom Waits give some indication of their sound, though 'ethereal' is mostly misleading - there were a few quieter tracks (reminiscent for me of some of Van Morrison's spoken word lyricism, in rythym and tone) but many more were much noisier, some even cacophonous (in a good way), that reminded me of King Crimson. Great stuff.