Jubiiilæum
Denmark is admittedly not one of our most frequent purveyors of extraordinary releases. So you might guess just how excited we were to hear about this truly spectacular reissue of "a rare Discogs gem from the early 80s by the legendary Danish composer and music educator Lotte Kærså and her band of young musicians, alias Græsrødderne," on trailblazing Copenhagen-based electronic music imprint Tartelet Records.
The "Jubiiilæum" (transl. Anniversary) LP is actually a combination of songs from Lotte Kærså's highly sought-after first two albums “Jeg Har Set Det Selv” (transl. I’ve Seen It Myself) (1979) and “Hjemme I Vores Gade” (transl. On Our Street) (1981). Working together with Lotte Kærså herself and her family, these twelve tracks from the 1929-born composer's archives were now digitised and remastered for the first-ever time.
"In the nascent stages of her musical journey, Lotte Kærså’s music was already imbued with a new kind of sound. Weaving genres from near and far, elements of exotic sounds such as samba, jazz funk, and dub-reggae come together with a distinctly Danish cheerfulness in the songs’ lyrics," the release notes read. And indeed, Kærså’s tunes have a catchy naivety surrounding their explorative nature that makes them hard to pigeonhole.
"Born in 1929, Lotte Kærså showed great musical promise from an early age. However, instead of pursuing her planned education at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music, she chose another path: early childhood education. Starting out her career as a kindergarten teacher, a lifelong commitment to children and their musical education was in the making. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Lotte Kærså pioneered innovative pedagogical methods. Combing rhythmical music with dance and movement-based activities, she helped promote their development in novel ways. In the following years, Kærså went on to produce TV for children, write music, and teach music education. To this day, Kærså has remained one of the most progressive music educators of her time, and continues to compose and teach."
The release is a long overdue celebration of Lotte Kærså's extensive body of work that arrives shortly after her 90th birthday and is an absolute joy to listen to. Meanwhile, some of the stand-out tracks have already snuck their way into the DJ sets of international staples such as Italian DJ duo Nu Guinea and are bound to gain even more traction as this release is rediscovered by music enthusiasts across the globe. You can stream/buy the full release below. God fornøjelse!
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