Saturday, September 30, 2017

GYCKLARNAS AFTON – Gycklarnas afton (Gycklarnas Afton, 1980)

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Fans and collectors of obscure soft fusion should take note of this one-off local release from Gamleby six-piece Gycklarnas Afton, named after Ingmar Bergman's 1953 movie classic (known to the English speaking world as ”Sawdust and Tinsel”. The nine tracks of their sole, eponymous album are fluent and well executed, especially considering it's a private release.

”Orientalic” should appeal to prog fans with a couple of passages akin to classic early period Van der Graaf Generator, thanks to saxophonist Per Gustafsson and keyboard player Villy Karlsson, whereas ”Gräsklipparn i Högsby” (”the lawnmower of Högsby" – where do they get these titles from? Högsby, obviously) sees guitarist Erik Berg in a Jojje Wadenius/Made In Sweden mood.

Casual listeners might find the album pleasant, although possibly a bit unexciting.

Remaining members were the three Schmoranz brothers Lasse (bass), Olle (percussion), and Per (drums). The latter went on to join new wave band Ruinens Brant who had a mini album out along with two 45's in the early 80's.

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