Definitive, explosive live versions of songs from their long career. Shifts up a gear after every track. One of the best concert albums ever recorded.

Sanna and Tellu depart, and Sámi joiker Wimme Saari arrives to growl and holler over some of the heaviest, grooviest music ever made on acoustic instruments.

A cracking live album of rapturous, life-affirming music by the Norwegian Sámi singer and her super-tight band. You'll wish you were there.

Accessible modern joik from a former member of the Girls of Angeli. Her voice is a living thing, soaring and swooping over a varied soundscape of guitar, percussion and electronic effects. Stunning.

A collection of duets featuring the erstwhile Värttinä double-bass player. Collaborators include Sanna Kurki-Suonio, Arto Järvelä, and Wimme Saari. Jazzy, laid-back, and very lovely.

Annbjørg Lien and colleagues in a more traditional vein, with haunting tunes and folk songs recorded in churches and at Oslo's Viking Ship Museum.

Songs in Finnish, Swedish, and even Old Icelandic, from this powerful fiddle/viola/didgeridoo/percussion quartet led by Finlands-Svensk singer Jenny Wilhelms.

Cronshaw is English but he has immersed himself in Finnish music. This CD creates an extraordinary sound-world from traditional sources. Guests include Hannu Saha, Heikki Laitinen, and Jenny Wilhelms.

A jazz-infuenced approach to folk tunes and ballads by heavyweights of the Swedish scene. A first-class ECM production.

The Massive Attack of Danish folk, this trio fuse techno and ambient rhythms with old ballads to remarkably good effect. Ulla Bendixen's restrained, breathy vocals humanise the beats. Stirring stuff.

Another great compilation, by Fiona Talkington of BBC Radio 3's Late Junction. As befits its nocturnal theme, it's somewhat more chilled out and spacy than the Rough Guide.

Not for the faint-hearted, these are archive field recordings of traditional songs from rural Finland, some made using wax cylinders. If you consider Robert Johnson over-produced, this is for you.