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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