Friday, August 2, 2024

TOMMY KÖRBERG – Sjunger Birger Sjöberg (Sonet, 1974) / TOMMY KÖRBERG & STEFAN NILSSON – Blixtlås (Sonet, 1979)


Swedish vocals
International relevance: */**

Tommy Körberg is a huge star even internationally thanks to his appearance in the ”Chess” musical. He's an incredibly versatile performer and a massively gifted singer, but he can also be massively boring and his vocal precision can make him sound cold. Most of his solo works are way outside of progg; his relevance to this blog mainly extends to his recordings with Solar Plexus and Made In Sweden. ”Tommy Körberg sjunger Birger Sjöberg” fits despite not really being progg as it's really a Solar Plexus album in disguise, featuring the entire band minus Jojje Wadenius. The songs are musical adaptions of Swedish turn of the century poet Birger Sjöberg, As expected with the people involved, it's a well performed affair. It's very polished, so polished it's lifeless. There's little or nothing of Solar Plexus's usual frivolous approach to musical genres, and the general feel is that of restrainment and control. The three tracks that rise slightly above the inherent dullness are ”Släpp fångarne loss”, ”Samtal om universum” and ”Bleka dödens minut”. They have vague strains of a suppressed unease if you listen closely – very closely – but still lack the spirit the album is in such great need of.

Tommy Körberg returned to Swedish poetry as a source for inspiration five years later, but his approach was vastly different on "Blixtlås" (subtitled "Svensk 70-talspoesi", 'Swedish 70's poetry'). Featured are  longtime Körberg cohort Stefan Nilsson (Kornet, De Gladas Kapell, Hörselmat) and other people from mainly the jazz and fusion legions (plus a harmonica cameo from Mats Ronander). It has a sound I don't like, but the music and arrangements are still more vivid than on the Birger Sjöberg album. But ”Blixtlås” wasn't made as a companion piece, and taken as a singular work, it simply sounds lika a cold, cerebreal and clinical fusion jazz workout.

Sjunger Birger Sjöberg full album playlist
Blixtlås full album playlist

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