Friday, August 31, 2018

ÄLGARNAS TRÄDGÅRD – Framtiden är ett svävande skepp, förankrat i forntiden (Silence, 1972)

Instrumental, Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***

Ranked #19 on the blog's Top 25

Perhaps Gothenburg's Älgarnas Trädgård should have been German because they were more 'kosmische' than most. Träd, Gräs & Stenar's music have been declared 'meditative', but that's an adjective I'd rather save for Älgarnas Trädgård. Because their kind of meditation works without serial flubs and fuck-ups. They even manage to use sitar and tablas on ”Det finns en tid för allt, det finns en tid då även tiden möts” without getting silly and cheap-sounding.

”Framtiden är ett svävande skepp, förankrat i forntiden” sounds just like band member and painter Jan Ternald's absolutely stunning artwork looks. The album is a trip deep into inner space, an intergalactic mind journey but at the same time firmly rooted in ancient soil through the folk sounding passages as ”Möjligheternas barn” with vocals by Margareta Söderberg, and ”Tristans klagan” based on the renaissance dance ”La Rotta” (title corrected on later editions). The music's an altered state full of secrets, conundrums and enigmas, reaching out in all directions, inwards, outwards, upwards, downwards, sideways, ahead and back – its scope is almost unfathomable. ”Framtiden är ett svävande skepp” is a work of wonder.

When reissued on CD, the album was expanded with live recordings made at Gothenburg's Museum of Art in 1972. More live recordings exist, including one from Stora Teatern in Gothenburg in 1973. A second Älgarnas Trädgård album was also recorded, but as the band dissolved during the mixing sessions, the release was cancelled. Silence eventually put out it out as ”Delayed” in 2001.

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