Monday, June 6, 2022

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Norrbottenplattan vol. 2: Kom igen! (Manifest, 1978)

 
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

It's not often that a seven-inch finds its way to the blog, but this is is one of them. (It's not that I don't care about singles, it just hasn't happened very often yet.) Then again, it's almost like half an album, with five tracks running at 33 1/3 rpm. It's the second volume of two, with volume 1 being released by Manifest the previous year, 1977. It features a couple of lesser-known outfits, as well as members from familiar bands from Sweden's Northern regions, such as Rekyl, Skottes Musikorkester and Anton Swedbergs Svängjäng.

The weakest track shares the A-side with the best one. Lule Stassteater, a local independent theatre group, contributes a 'funny' stinker called ”Flyttvisa från Norrbotten” quickly followed by the excellent "Snålblåst" by members of Rekyl's, Skottes Musikorkester and Det Rivna Pianot collectively named Snålblåstgänget. If ”Snålblåst” sounds familiar, it's probably because you've heard songwriter Tomas Forsell's own version of it on his second album ”Nya tider” from 1980. Forsell's recording is the better of the two, but the song is simply excellent you just can't fail with it. To my ears, it's one of the Great Songs of the progg era.

The B side offers up three tracks, none of them particularly good. Folket I Ton's ”Vi vägrar att flytta” is run-of-the-mill shout-your-propaganda-message crap; Pyramid's contribution ”Arbete och liv” sounds like a late 70s Christian MOR track with the religious theme replaced by unexeciting political lyrics, and Anton Swedberg Svängjäng's ”Kom igen!” is probably their weakest ever outing and another ”shout-your-propaganda” track even worse than Folket I Ton.

If you like ”Snålblåst” as much as I do, you might want to seek this one out, otherwise you can safely pass on this.

Lule Stassteater - Flyttvisa från Norrbotten

Folket I Ton - Vi vägrar att flytta
Pyramid - Arbete och liv
Anton Swedbergs Svängjäng - Kom igen!

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