Music: The Magnetic North

Saw these folks over the weekend, fantastic. It was keyboard, guitar, bass, drums, string quartet, brass section and an entire chorus. Oh, and mood-setting video projections. Atmospheric yet catchy music inspired by the Orkney Islands, off the northern tip of Scotland.

Apparently Betty Corrigall, a figure from a (real, sad) local legend, appeared to one of the musicians in a dream and told him he should make an album about Orkney. She also told him the names of all the songs on the album; he woke up and wrote them down. Then he called a couple of musician friends, who luckily didn't tell him he was crazy, and they developed the project together, recording it on Orkney with backing from a local choir.

The album is called "Orkney: Symphony of the Magnetic North" (with "Magnetic North" being equal parts band name, project name and album name, as far as I can tell) and I recommend it!