Friday, July 6, 2018

ARVIKA GAMMELDANSORKESTER – Rackartyg (Oktober, 1978) / Musik från Helvete (Ack Warmeland, 1980)

Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance **/**

The band name (”Arvika old-time dance band”) is humourously misleading, as the Swedish word 'gammeldans' usually alludes to certain kinds of tunes often performed on accordion in a cheerful manner. The music is often dismissed as silly (rightly so, if you ask me), but had an upsurge in the 70's through radio and television, probably as a spin-off to the increasing interest in traditional Swedish folk music.

While Arvika Gammeldansorkester, commonly abbreviated AGO, based their music on traditional dance tunes, they wrote several songs themselves and added a pronounced folk rock feel to their arrangements, not entirely unlike Sweden's #1 Steeleye Span, Folk & Rockare. The lyrics are sung in the Värmland dialect and are often political – their 1978 debut ”Rackartyg” was released through the Oktober label run by SKP, (Sveriges Kommunistiska Parti, ”the Communist Party of Sweden”).

The ”Rackartyg” album cover is a spoof on Nationalteatern's classic ”Livet är en fest”, and the tongue-in-cheek atmosphere permeates to the music as well. If you buy into AGO's 'fun over perfection' approach, the album is OK. If you don't, it still has its stray moments, particularly ”Husförhör hos Västs på Havversbroten” which includes a section adapted from the old Icelandic tune ”Ridom ridom”.

The self-released ”Musik från Helvete” (”music from Hell”, with Hell in this case being a fictional place made up especially for the album) continues along the lines, mixing original songs and borrowed tunes. The frivolous nature of the first album is occasionally toned down to great effect on tracks like ”Kärleksvisa” and ”Pastoral”, making them stand-out tracks. ”Musik från Helvete” is better than ”Rackartyg” overall.

Prior to ”Rackartyg”, the band released the much neglectable two track 45 ”Arbetets frukter åt de som arbeta” on Oktober in 1977, and in 1976 AGO main man Kenneth Thorstensson released his solo album ”Ack Värmeland”. AGO members keep performing locally to this day, now as Södra Åkeriet.

Rackartyg full album playlist
Musik från Helvete full album playlist (Bandcamp)

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