Listen to Greenlandic Music when you fly Air Greenland

Greenland has a vibrant cultural scene with some of the best music in the world. A great way to pass the time on your flight if you are coming from Copenhagen is to explore the diverse sounds of Greenlandic musicians.

Even though geographically Greenland is part of the North American continent there are no direct flights from that part of the world.  To reach Greenland, you must fly from either Copenhagen in Denmark or Reykjavik in Iceland, or take a cruise – which may start in any one of a number of ports.

Flying from Copenhagen to Greenland’s primary international airport in Kangerlussuaq, you will fly on Air Greenland’s only jet aircraft – an Airbus A330 called “Norsaq“. 

Make sure you read the triligual (Greenlandic, Danish, English) in-flight magazine and discover all the imagery from Greenlandic myths and legends on board (including “The Flying Angakkoq”, “The Drum and Drum Dance”, “The Lamp”, “The Spirit Journey”, and “Sassuma Arnaa – the Mother of the Sea“), then tune into the music section of the entertainment system for some of the best music you’ve never heard of.

Nanook and Frederik Elsner

This particular flight featured two albums (Pissaaneqaqisut and Ataasiusutut Misigissuseq) by my favourite band in the world, Nanook, as well as “Katassinnaanngisaq” – the solo album by one of the brothers that founded this band. However, given I’d listened to this music almost non-stop for the past 2 years, I decided to take the opportunity to tune into some different artists for a change.

Atsinnermiut

I met and became friends with the bass/keyboard player for Atsinnermiut while I was in Sisimiut last year after hiking the Arctic Circle Trail. I absolutely love the unplugged version of their song: “Naneruut“.

But my focus this time was on two albums I’d never heard before.

TIU

The first was the album “Nuunneq” by TIU. I’d briefly heard an unplugged version of one of their songs previously, but it was only a snippet and was a live recording. 

I *love* this album!  

Pernille Kreutzmann has an amazing voice (as do most of the female artists in Greenland), and the acoustic musical style sang to my love of folk music. Have a listen/watch of their song Ersarinnera from this album.

Inuk

The other album that I discovered was Aanngalerneq  by Inuk.

This album has a very easy-listening style to it and I much prefer it to the second album “Qalipaatit“. But that is just my preference.

I highly encourage you to listen to the whole album on Spotify.

Purchasing Greenlandic Music

It was great to add to my ever-growing list of awesome Greenlandic bands and musicians while on my latest flight with Air Greenland. I encourage you to tune in and do the same, and go out and listen to them live if you get the chance during your visit!

The best place to purchase Greenlandic Music is Atlantic Music Shop in Nuuk. They supply stores all over Greenland, so no matter which town you visit – there will be a selection of music available for purchase (usually in the supermarket).  They also ship world-wide – so you can order the music from wherever you are. It took less than 2 weeks to receive Nanook’s last album in regional Australia, all the way from Greenland.

Follow these Greenlandic artists

If you want to follow or learn more about the artists mentioned in this post, you can find them at:

• https://www.facebook.com/NanookOfficialFanclub/
• https://www.facebook.com/Frederikelsnergreenland/
• https://www.facebook.com/atsinnermiut/
• https://www.facebook.com/TIUsounds/
• https://www.facebook.com/inukband/

Welcome to the world of Greenlandic Music.  Happy listening!

More information

If you are interested in Greenlandic music, art and culture in general – check out the Culture Lovers Guide to Nuuk as well as the other articles in the Greenlandic Culture and Art section of Guide to Greenland.

Read more travel blogs from Lisa Germany