Wednesday, June 1, 2022

SKÄGGMANSLAGET – Kniviga låtar tillägnade länsman i Delsbo (Sonet, 1973)

 
Instrumental
International relevance: **

It's hard for a progg fan not cross paths with Skäggmanslaget as they were one of the most popular traditional folk outfits in the 70s whose popularity was only elevated by their collaboration with Contact on most notably ”Hon kom över mon” which remains a celebrated progg chestnut to this very day. Contact, of course, also appeared on Skäggmanslaget's debut album ”Pjål, gnäll och ämmel” to great effect on the track ”Gråtlåten”.

”Kniviga låtar tillägnade länsman i Delsbo” is their third album and it's a straight-up folk effort with no rock music involved. Unless you count their fiery playing that is that was rock'n'roll enough compared to many other traditional fiddle constellations of the time. The album consists of fifteen tracks from their native Hälsingland, an area in the southern part of Northern Sweden known for its rich musical history. Skäggmanslaget is smack dab in the middle of tradition, and born and raised straight into it, they are as credible as they are engaging. The liner notes declare ”it sounds genuine, and fun it is, and rocks it does”, and that description is as good anything I could come up with to describe the album. Having an interest in Swedish folk fiddling of course helps, but the Skäggmanlaget's contagious enthusiasm should be obvious to anyone. This is one pretty great album in its field.

Full album playlist

No comments:

Post a Comment