Wordless vocals
International relevance: ***
One of the most original and visionary
progg albums of all times, a truly singular statement not sounding
like anything else. Released by Gump in an edition of 1,000, only
3-400 copies were sold originally. The album was withdrawn and the
remaining copies melted down – the vinyl was recycled for later
Gump releases which has only added to the mystique surrounding the
album. And it was mysterious already to begin with.
There's no proper way describing this
album. The six tracks are built around drones, dictated by
Skogsberg's vocals, a kind of a hum somewhere between Sami yoik and
Indian classical dhrupad singing, deeply inspired by Skogsberg's love
of nature. His repetitous vocals make the music sound shamanic and
the tracks overdubbed with cello, guitars, bass, violin and other
instruments by Kebnekajse's Thomas Netzler and Mats Glenngård,
producer and Gump honcho Pugh Rogefeldt, and Göran Lagerberg are
ritualistic.
The best track is the relentless ”Offer rota”, also insufficiently excerpted on Carsten Regild's bizarre
”Voice of the Wolf”, but the entire album has a profound drive
that is captivating. Hypnotic. Some have called it psychedelic but
”Jola rota” goes deeper than that. It operates on a primordial
level that's got nothing to do with fads or fashion. Is it good? Is it bad? Questions like that are irrelevant because ”Jola rota” doesn't move along that scale. It shouldn't
just be heard, it should be experienced.
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