Aug 29: Songs from the Cold Seas

This is an intriguing concept album from the late musician Hector Zazou. He produced a number of eclectic albums.

Songs from the Cold Seas was released in 1994.

The theme is that all of the songs are about the Arctic (and feature musicians from that part of the world or close to it.)

He travelled three years for the record. He was accompanied by cameraman Philippe Roméo as he recorded traditional folk songs in and from Alaska, Canada (Newfoundland), Greenland, Iceland, Japan, Scandinavia and Scotland. He incorporated the shamanic incantations and lullabies of aboriginal people such as the Ainu, Inuit, Nanai, and Yakuts. 

"I didn't want to work like an ethnomusicologist and just go to Sweden and come back with a song." Zazou explained the process at the time of the album's release. "I was more interested in giving a poetic image of the North, which means that some elements are true; some are not true. It's my portrait of the cold seas."

Source: Wikipedia

I have a copy. It's not very easy to find this release now.

Here's one of the songs from the album. Oran na Maighdean Mhara features the voice of 

Some information from the New York Times archive.