STAFFAN WESTERBERG & THOMAS WIEHE – Med örat mot jorden: Ett musikaliskt rymdäventyr (Silence, 1980)

 
Swedish vocals, spoken word
International relevance: *

I've already clarified the existential anxiety caused by Staffan Westerberg's children's series televised in the 70s and on, so I don't really need to go into that again, but as it's a lingering generational trauma. His television programmes were so creepy and you could never tell exactly why. They were cheap to produce as his props mainly consisted of troubled socks representing the trod down good people and papier-mâché dolls representing the capitalist evil while Death played cello on the brink of a flat earth. (These days, people start podcats peddling the very same notions and get a cult-like following storming the Capitol Hill.)

That was enough to secure the yield of manifacturers of psychotropic drugs for a human lifetime.

Westerberg apparently took offence at my peers who aired our collective unease brought on by his bizarre, angst-ridden fantasies, but I'm not one to lament his hurt. File under poetic justice and find some other shoulder to cry on.

I actually tried to watch his most 'famous' series ”Vilse i pannkakan” (=”lost in the pancake” – spot the insanity) as an adult, and it still freaked the fuck out of me.

For some reason, underrated singer/songwriter Thomas Wiehe (Mikael's brother and maker of the criminally overlooked album ”Tårta och raketer” to name but one) obviously got along well with this mental violator. Not only did he write the music for the aformentioned ”Vilse i pannkakan” in 1975, he returned four years later to contribute music to ”Med örat mot jorden” (=”with the ear to the ground”). Subtitled in translation ”A musical space adventure”, I can't remember if I actually watched it or if I, at 14 years of age, had learnt how to defend myself against psychological abuse. But I think I did, unless its my existential nightmares playing tricks on my memory.

The double album with music from the series was released in 1980. Actually, apart from some incidental music, less than half of it consists of actual songs by Wiehe, Turid and actor/director and Westerberg partner in crime Ellika Lindén, and most of them don't have enough musical bearing to warrant a listen. The other half is Westerberg narrating his story meaning you get to hear him wheeze out phrases like ”I will choke your light with my tail”. If that won't scare the living daylights out of you, you need a fucking doctor.

Even if you're a Thomas Wiehe or a Turid fan, there's nothing for you here.

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NATURE WITH DAVE GREENSLADE – Live 1972 (Belle Antique, 2013; rec. 1972)

English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: ***

Nature and Dave Greenslade are indeed odd bedfellows, but what might look strange today wasn't necessarily strange in the late 60s and early 70s when music was more important than genres, and minds (for whatever reasons) were more open to unusual constellations. But even back then, it must have raised a few eyebrows having Nature, the Hendrix influenced blues band with a workingman's grit, backing up British keyboard virtuoso Dave Greenslade.

Greenslade was fresh out of jazz/blues/prog/rock blenders Colosseum and hadn't yet formed his own four-piece with his surname as their collective moniker. Their eponymous debut of low calorie symph rock wouldn't follow until 1973, only a few months before their second album ”Bedside Manners Are Extra”.

1972 was a busy year for Nature. They had dropped their previous name Blues Quality, worked with Pugh Rogefeldt as a touring act, as well as making a couple of studio singles. Also, their first album was released on the sanctified Gump label. And, they recorded with Tonkraft performance for Swedish Radio,

There are two Greenslade led tracks and three by Nature but it's really a shared effort with Greenslade taking a prominent part in Nature's stoned blues numbers both as an accompanist and a soloist. Nature in turn sounds fairly comfortable in the excerpt from Colosseum's ”Valentyne Suite”. Actually, they sound generally less restricted here than on either of their two studio albums. The sound however is a bit unbalanced and would benefit from a sensitive remix to give it some more oomph and depth.

The 40 minutes show was also featured in the dubious ”Progglådan”, and it's a good thing that the Japanese Belle Epoque label liberated it for a standalone release. (”Progglådan” overall should be broken up in separate releases – at least some of the shows deserves a more accessible release) This session may not be the most called for, and I assume what really attracted the Japanese was Greenslade's involvement. Still, if you're into either him or Nature – or both – ”Live 1972” is a worthwhile curio.

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