BRITTA LINDELL – How Would I Like (Prophone, 1973) / Waiting For The Next Sunrise (Caprice, 1981)

Swedish vocals, English vocals, other languages, instrumental
International relevance: **

Certainly one of the most curious entries here, Britta Lindell's music defies any easy categorization. If there was one artist worthy of the buzz phrase 'thinking outside the box', then it might as well be her. It's definitely not jazz, it's not folk, it's not classical, I don't even know if it's prog or progg but it's definitely progressive in the sense it doesn't sound quite like anything else.

Lindell was born in Lisbon in 1943 and moved around Europe, and as a trained alto violinist she had played with several European symphony orchestras before settling down in 1970 in a cottage in Västmanland, an area west of Uppsala and Stockholm. She mastered more than 50 instruments of different kinds including the piembalo, a prepared piano she came up with herself. Over the years, she worked as teacher, and briefly as a choreographer for the Swedish national television, wrote music for the stage and even a contribution the Eurovision Song Contest in 1986 that never got as far as to the actual competition.

Her debut album appeared already in 1973, with ”How I Would Like” on the independent label Prophone. A curious mix of folk music from around the world, baroque and renaissance music, and something that was simply Britta Lindell's own mind, with some lyrics from Swedish poet Nils Ferlin and William Shakespeare. At times she reminds me of both Iva Bittová and Dagmar Krause but with more of a playful tongue-in-cheek humour. Although she draws from a plethora of 'high-brow' influences, she never fell prey to pretentiousness. The album is fun, and Lindell's approach is almost that of a child discovering the world through magical thinking. Through charm she tunes you gently to her wavelength; she makes you not listen to her music, but to listen to it with her.

It took until 1981 before she released her next album, ”Waiting For The Next Sunrise” on Caprice Records. It pretty much follows along the lines of ”How I Would Like”, but it sounds a bit more elaborate, more developed and with a greater emphasis on the renaissance strain. It's still a good album, and still clearly original, but it feels a bit more contained and therefore lacks some of the wide-eyed freshness of the debut. The best track on ”Waiting For The Next Sunrise” might be the last one, the strangely eerie and suite-like ”The Next Sunrise”.

Britta Lindell released one further album called ”Lights” plus a single of her rejected ESC song ”Simsalabim”, both on the Siljum label in 1986.

Lindell passed away in 2000, leaving a slim but highly original and often intriguing recorded legacy behind.

How Would I Like full album
Waiting For The Next Sunrise full album playlist

JERUSALEM – Complete albums 1978-1981

Swedish vocals
International relevance: */**

Jerusalem was the most popular Christian rock band Sweden had to offer at the time, reaching listeners far outside the religious circuits, even playing to foreign audiences. Founded near Gothenburg, they had a lot of the straight-ahead, dry sound typical to the late 70s bands of the area. Jerusalem was mainly a mainstream band but earned their popularity from their touches of hard rock and boogie rock. Their first album (sometimes referred to as ”Volym 1”) was released in 1978 and is an undigstinguished effort that fails to make much of an impression, with lacklustre sound and mediocre writing.

”Volym 2” is slightly heavier, slightly better produced, and slightly better. The most interesting tracks (without being that interesting) are ”Getsemane” and the extended ”Introduktion” which both features some progg characteristics.

Third album ”Krigsman” is probably the best one here overall, and also the most progressive one thanks to the title track with passionate vocals from Jerusalem main man Ulf Christiansson, ”Moderne man” which is the top track in this collection, and the 12 minute epic ”Sodom”.

This might give you the idea that Jerusalem are at least occasionally worthwhile, but I can't say they are. Most of the time they're mediocre and dull. Even duller is Ulf Christiansson's solo album ”I mina drömmar” released as Uffe in 1982, a painfully boring collection of radio friendly dross that shows hardly any of Jerusalem's heavier side which after all is their strongest point.

Jerusalem full album playlist
Volym 2 full album playlist
Krigsman full album playlist
I mina drömmar full album playlist

INGEMAR OLSSON MED FLERA – I alla fall (Polydor, 1973)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Ingemar Olsson has already appeared on this blog once, with his 1970 debut album ”Livs levande”. This is Olsson's third album, and inbetween the two albums he had acquired a higher degree of self-confidence. ”I alla fall” is basically a Christian singer/songwriter album with upfront rock and pop aspirations, but it has nevertheless a few progg ties which I think make it worth mentioning. Tomas Ernvik collaborator Agneta Gilstig appears on backing vocals on most of the tracks, and guitarist Björn Linder is known from albums by Sam Ellison, Blues Annika, Runeson and Ola Magnell to name but a few. Also, two of the album's three cover choices are fairly stirring, namely ”Kom om du vill” which is an energetic Swedish take on Bob Dylan's ”Quinn the Eskimo” and a rowdy and similarly Swedish version of Joni Mitchell's ”Woodstock”.

Beware of later re-recordings of the songs!

Tänker man efter

ALEXANDER LUCAS – Alexander Lucas (Subliminal Sounds, recorded 1969-1976, released 2022)

English vocals, Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***

One of the 'lost' bands of Swedish 70s hard rock, with only one seven-inch released in 1973 on the Efel label. And what a seven-inch it is! Especially the 'B' side ”Svarta skogen” is a full-blooded hard rock classic. The other track, ”Speed”, might be weighed-down by embarrasingly poor English pronounciation and some flat vocals but the song itself is still good. So my interest peaked when Subliminal Sounds announced an archival release of Alexander Lucas. Especially following the label's powerhouse release of Great Ad which will stand as one of the best Swedish tape archive clear-outs for many years to come.

There's a lot to like on ”Alexander Lucas”, but it also reveals the band's shortcomings – the vocals in particular were obviously a constant problem that unfortunately weakens the impact some. The adolescent machoisms occasionally occuring are downright cringeworthy even for a hard rock band, and the material is somewhat inconsistent too. Inferior tracks include ”Race To Heaven”, ”The Saint”, a completely pointless cover of ”Johnny B. Goode” and – worst of all – the absolutely dreadful ”You're Gonna Die” that not only has seriously embarrassing lyrics but also the silliest attempt at ”scary” vocals ever. The compilation would certainly have benefitted from a less allowing selection – it would have presented Alexander Lucas in a generally better light and the listener would have had fewer annoying moments. Nothing here is as good as the 45 tracks that open the album, but there are still a few things here that stand up fairly well and deserve to be heard. The guitar playing is pretty great too, with a nice bite and quite a few Eastern influences. I can also sense small bits of Black Sabbath, Pentagram, November and even Deep Purple scattered among the tracks. ”Free To Ride” even comes off as an early blueprint for a Motörhead that hadn't yet made their debut on record! 

I wouldn't call this essential to the casual listener, but if you're interested in obscure 70s hard rock, this will surely be a welcome listen, especially if you harness your expectations and are prepared for a couple of duds along the way.

Full album playlist

FOLKTEATERN – Nya kvasten (Folkteatern, 1978)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: -

Definitely an album to ignore, being songs and spoken excerpts from a local Gothenburg stage play written by political playwrights Kent Andersson and Bengt Bratt. All Andersson's and Bratt's works have a strong socialist kitchen sink framework with a strong local colour, and this is no exception. Only one track has a progg feel, namely the actually rather decent ”Irrfärd” that vaguely sounds like a something inbetween Motvind's ”Lära för livet” and some of Ulf Dageby's soundtrack to ”Ett anständigt liv”.

The album was released by Folkteatern themselves.

No links found.

ANN SOFI (NILSSON) – När kommer dagen (Oktober, 1977)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Ann Sofi Nilsson has an appealing voice in the region of Maria Hörnelius, and hadn't it been for the ever so suffocating politics, this would probably had been an OK album.”När kommer dagen” ends with the millionth recording of Brecht/Eisler's ”Einheitsfrontlied” (as "Enhetsfrontsång") which says just about everything you need to know about the album. If you for some reason still need more information, it's released on Oktober, the very same label that gave us Fria Proteatern, Arbetets Söner & Döttrar and – for that they will forever burn in the most incinerating parts of hell – Bruksteatern. If you consider Mao's Little Red Book pornographically arousing, then ”När kommer dagen” will be Viagra to you.

All these albums with totalitarian, in-denial brainwashing politics are becoming more and more problematic and repulsive the more I hear, especially in times when totalitarian, in-denial brainwashing politics are the order of the day all around the world. Left or right doesn't matter because as I've said before, politics aren't linear but circular. At one point they meet, and it's digusting.

The most interesting thing about "När kommer dagen" is probably that Stefan "Stoffe" Sundlöf plays drums on the album. Sundlöf was the drummer of Sven Zetterberg's Telge Blues (that later developed into the highly successful Chicago Express). The album is produced by Gunnar Rosengren which was the bass player of Telge Blues.

No links found

GRUS I DOJJAN – Slarvigt men säkert (Sonet, 1974) / Högt spel (Sonet, 1975)

Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: *

Third and fourth album by Grus I Dojjan, previously featured on the blog with their debut album. These albums are simply more of the same: cheerful mix of old-timey Western folk traditions including Great Britiain, America and Sweden, performed in a devil-may-care fashion. ”Slarvigt men säkert” translates to ”sloppy but surely” which is the best description of Grus I Dojjan you'll ever see. ”Högt spel” is a little more professional sounding which in a way contradicts Grus I Dojjan's homegrown nimbus. If you're one of the two last people (there can't be any more than that left) who still absolutely love this style, you'll love these albums too. 

Slarvigt men säkert full album
Högt spel full album playlist

TOMMY KÖRBERG, ANDERS LINDER, LILL LINDFORS & ANN SOFI NILSSON – Barn i stan (Folksång, 1980)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

The featured booklet explains the album: ”This album deals with the condition of children. Some of the songs are newly written, but most of them date back to the turn of the century. You can learn a lot from history. Knowledge of the historical context can help us to greater power of action today.” Needless to say, the lyrics have a strong political bent, and while it's hard to object to the sentiment, the wiseacre approach is as tiresome here as always.

The most interesting thing about the album is the all-star lineup with several of prog stellars including Tommy Körberg (Solar Plexus, Made In Sweden), Anders Linder (all-round performer well-loved for his many children's shows on national TV), Stefan Nilsson (De Gladas Kapell, Kornet, Hörselmat and later on stahlwart with Tommy Körberg), Stefan Ringbom (Mascots, Fria Proteatern) and of course, the everpresent multi-instrumentalist maestro Kjell Westling (Arbete & Fritid, Harvester, Gunder Hägg/Blå Tåget, Vargavinter, Spjärnsvallet...). Still, the music itself isn't very interesting, and ”Barn i stan” stands most of all as merely a historical document from the tail end of the progg movement.

Folksång was Fria Proteatern's label.

No links found.

MANTRA – Take It! (A-Disc, 1980)

Instrumental
International relevance: *

Latecomers to the A-Disc roster, Mantra's debut album showed more than a few commercial leanings towards the radio friendly pop rock of the day as well as dehydrated funk fusion and disco. One track, ”Swing Your Thing” suspiciously shares a few features with Toto's ”Hold The Line” which is revealing enough. ”I Sold My Soul (To Rock 'n' Roll?)” is – with a question mark or without it – one of the worst over-used song titles ever. It doesn't matter that it's probably used here as a tongue-in-cheek hint at the slight hard rock charasteristics sneaking into what's basically a mediocre jazz fusion track. Guitarist, songwriter and arranger Henrik Janson obviously had a taste for American FM hard rock, as his playing is soaked with it. The album is entirely instrumental, but whether that's for the better or for the worse is impossible to say since ”Take It” sucks harder than an anabolic Hoover anyway.

Mantra had a few 45s out and released their second album ”Mantraction” on the Hill label in 1982 before Janson turned to a prolific career as a studio guitarist. He was also a member of Mikael Ramel's backing band Harru Lust in the early 80s (appearing on ”Strömavbrott” from 1982 and ”Bra sak” from 1984), and Ramel also wrote the lyrics for one of Mantra's songs on ”Mantraction”.

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