Swedish vocals
International relevance: **
You'd be hard pressed to find anyone
any more egomaniacal than Erik Aschan (pronounced Askhan). I doubt
any other artist has ever managed to mention his own name as many
times on an album than Aschan. But then again, Erik Aschan is no
ordinary guy. He's a true outsider.
Child of a Dutch father and a mother
working as a teacher and an actor, Erik Aschan (later Zürcher) was
born in Stockholm in 1953. He moved to Västerås (the town made
forever famous for being Pugh Rogefeldt's hometown) at an early age.
He spent a great deal of his youth in foster care, socialized with
biker gangs, before eventually attending art school in Västerås.
After a stint in Lund in the south of Sweden, he ends up in
Linköping. In the early 70's he started writing his own songs, and
after being turned down by several record companies, he put out his
debut album by himself in 1973.
His music has always had a strange,
offbeat feel, portraying Aschan as someone who never quite fits in
with society, always slightly incapable in terms of relations with
other people. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but there's
something eerie about a lot of his songs, something so alienated that
you can't help but feel uneasy listening to them. Actually, I've
never been able to quite get my head around the Aschan character. Sometimes it's hard to take him
seriously, but as he sings: ”You might think I'm ridiculous, but I'm dead
serious, I mean every word I say”.
His first two albums are four years
apart, whereas ”Så länge ni vägrar att lyssna”, his third,
appeared two years after his second, in 1979. The lyrics, all sung in
Swedish, range from the pathetic and downright untalented to the
poetically sensitive. The arrangements are sparse with Aschan's
acoustic guitar at the core, laced with a soft electric bass and the
occassional brittle electric guitar.
Aschan is certainly progg in feel and execution
(maening, it's more important to express yourself than to do it
perfect), yet he's so far removed from anything typical to progg.
He's far removed from just about everything. He's a rare bird,
seemingly completely unaware of what's actually ”appropriate” to
sing about. Or how to write a lyric. I doubt there's ever been anyone
coming up with a song title like ”Du går fram som en
slåttermaskin” - ”You go on like a mower”. Erik Aschan simply
doesn't look upon the world as most others do. A lost soul in a cold
world.
Of his original albums, ”Så länge
ni vägrar lyssna” is the best. It was originally released in 300
copies, but had a second pressing of a further 5-600 copies, making
it his best distributed album. You can occassionally find it in
thrift stories and second hand shops, but as interest in outsider
music and Swedish progg continue to grow, it's getting harder and
harder to come by. However, some songs from ”Så länge ni vägrar
lyssna” (along with selections from his other albums) are available
for download from Aschan's website. Unfortunately, the best track off the album isn't there, the decidedly creepy and Bobb Trimble-like "Det liv du stal ifrån mig (Black Mother)". "Sedan länge"
"Jag har en vän"
Alltid intressant att läsa någons tankar om Erik och hans musik.
ReplyDeleteFor downloads of "Så Länge Ni Vägrar Lyssna" as well as three more of Eriks albums go to ryssfynd: http://ryssfynd.blogspot.se/2010/04/sveriges-basta-del-1-erik-aschan.html
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