PETER VON SOLYMOSSY – Den 30:e februari (Buda, 1980)

  
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

A little known or should I say deliberately ignored album by one Peter von Solymossy of whom I know just about nothing. Looking like a private release, but distributed by EMI with a pretty extensive list of musicians credits including Rune Carlsson on drums (not the jazz drummer with the same name). Recorded in a studio situated just below Greg FitzPatrick's synthesizer shop in Stockholm, and produced by Håkan Wollgård who worked with numerous acts as diverse as punk legends Rude Kids, feminist proggers Mixed Media, Mats Glenngård, and postpunk synth band Ståålfågel to name but a few. The sound is quite lavish – it sounds more expensive than it probably is.

”Den 30:e februari” is a strange one. All songs were written by von Solymossy, and although pretty well written, they seem rather mainstream on the surface. But the entire albums has some weird underpinnings of light symphonic rock, as evident on tracks like ”Själens uppvaknande” and ”Snödrottningen”. The guitar work is quite heavy, especially on ”Den plötsliga dödens minut” and ”Disc-Yockey” [sic!]. Not a masterpiece, but a bit of a grower, and it's actually really pleasant to listen to even if it's far from a Mr. Brown or a Saga. Von Solymossy wasn't untalented and it's a pity that ”Den 30:e februari” were his only album. You might not take to it, but I think it's still worth hearing at least a couple of times.

Den plötsliga dödens minut / Själens uppvaknande / Sången är skriven för oss / Dimman bakom horisonten / Snödrottningen / Disc-Yockey / Allting är så nära / Avsked

BOSTONVÄRK – Bostonvärk (Bakhåll, 1980)

  
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

This is very much a beast of its own. Bostonvärk were more of an experiment than a proper band even though they existed for about two years during which they went through three line-ups. They came from Lund in the Swedish south, and recorded this one album that marks the birth of Bakhåll, a book publisher that has since become something of an institution for both international and domestic off-pist literature. But yes, it all started with this peculiar vinyl record in June 1980.

”Bostonvärk” documents the band's first line-up and most notably included Bakhåll's founder and Bostonvärk stahlwart Örjan Gerhardsson. His role was not the singer's but the reciter, reading self-written bizarre, half surrealist pieces to the primitive mangling drone of the four musicians behind him. The words are the focal point here, with the music being turned down when Gerhardsson's voice enters the music. It's equally annoying and fascinating because the music (sans the voice) is for the most part really good. The acoustic portions are less interesting, but when the full band roars ahead it's wonderfully abrasive cult-like rock (think Americans Ya Ho Wa 13 or Zendik Farm Orchestra with a dasb of Sogmusobil).

To coincide with the album's 25th anniversary, it was reissued on CD in a cardboard sleeve and three bonus tracks, one from 1981 and two from the band's final year 1982. One of them, the 7+ minute live take of ”Motorvägen” (available in a shorter version on the proper album) is the best thing on the entire disc, a menacing variation on ”Wild Thing” with wailing guitars somewhere in the region Rävjunk's stoned moments on ”Uppsala Stadshotell Brinner”.

It's hard to give this an unconditional recommendation given the sort of double nature of the album, but it's certainly interesting. It's better than Psynkopat, not as good or out there as Imp.Ink, but it takes a certain mood to appreciate it. If you don't feel like it, it's nerve-grating but if you don't feel like it, but if you're up for it, it's confusingly mesmerizing. 

Motorvägen (original version) 
Ställen
Labyrinten

M.A. NUMMINEN & TURID – Fårskallevisor (Svenska Love, 1978)

  
Swedish vocals
International relevance: -

To understand this record, we first have to take a look at who M.A. Numminen is.

Mauri Antero Numminen was born in Somero, a very small town in southern Finland. He began writing songs in the mid 60s, putting music to selections from other people's books, something he never quite gave up on – as late as in 1989, he set music to philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein's ”Tractatus logico-philosophicus”! Numminen was involved in the late 60s/early 70s Finnish radical underground scene that included avantgarde groups such as The Sperm, Nalle Puh Big Band and Numminen's own constellation Suomen Talvisota 1939–1940. While most of his discography is in Finnish (with the occasional foray into German, English and Latin), he released several albums in Swedish. He became an anti-hero of sorts in Sweden, well-known for his deliberately bad singing in a dislocated, squeaky voice. He gained unlikely hits with a Swedish version of teenybopper Bobby Vee's early 60s hit ”Rubber Ball” as ”Som en gummiboll kommer jag tillbaks till dej” in 1977, and an equally warped version of Ian Dury's ”Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” as ”Slå mej med din rytmenpinne” together with Aston Reymers Rivaler in 1983. His vocals are incredibly annoying, but it's hard to criticize him for it as that was his very raison d'être and a reflection of his contrarian avantgarde past. He collaborated with several different artists over the years, but the most improbable co-operation has to be with Turid.

Known for her high, clear voice, it's hard to imagine Turid appearing alongside Numminen. There has rarely been any one more inconcordant pairing of voices than that. Nevertheless, that happened in 1978 when they shared vinyl space on ”Fårskallevisor”, released through the Swedish division of Love Records, famous for airing International Harvester's ”Sov gott Rose-Marie” ten years earlier. In all honesty, it has to be said that they don't actually sing together but appear roughly on every second track. Several tracks also have a children's choir, and that helps giving the album some kind of consistency even if it's an annoying feature. The songs themselves are cheerful and show no traces of Turid's thoughtful cuteness known to fans of her regular albums. As a matter of fact, hadn't it been for Turid's involvement, this album wouldn't have been here on the blog at all. It's not at all progg per se – ”Fårskallevisor” is basically children's album, very standard hadn't it been for Numminen's vocals. There's no denying it's a curiousity, but it's best left as such, untouched.

Some of Numminen's songs here were re-used on other albums of his.

No links found

OXID – Eklatant (Hit-Records Of Sweden, 1981)

  
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Svalöv is situated in the midwest part of Sweden's southernmost region Skåne, not too far from Landskrona on the coast. With a population less than 13,000 in the 70s, Svalöv was hardly a metropolis then and hasn't been since, but the region nevertheless produced some music, much thanks to Hans Greebach's studio and label Hit-Records Of Sweden. The shortlived label is already known to blog readers thanks to Grassroots. Greebach produced Oxid's ”Eklatant” and also contributed a guitar solo to the album. 

Oxid were four buddies barely in their moustache age thanking one Angelika for buns and coffee on the back cover. Their attempt to look heavy metal on the front falls flat as padded jackets have a very low Judas Priest factor. (Only the guy second from right had parents that agreed to pay for his leather.) In short, they don't come much dorkier than this. And if you think the outer appearence reflects what's inside, you're perfectly right.

”Eklatant” is not a good album. But the simplistic songwriting, simpleminded execution and the lyrics' painfully adolescent observations scores high on the charm scale if you can accept it for what it is. Oxid were sincere and what can four poor boys do in Svalöv except play in a rock'n'roll band? Their hard rock ambitions are endearing but without the necessary skills, ”Eklatant” ends up closer to a smalltown punk album that wouldn't take them anywhere but back to mum and dad's disappointment over low school grades. The album is a snapshot of a Sweden long before Instagram influencers and twisted TikTok challenges. The innocence of ”Eklatant” dressed up in vanilla buns rebellion is heartwarming. The strong DIY vibe, a clear heritance from progg filtered through the punk ethos, is hopeful. From that persepctive it doesn't really matter that the music is bad.

No links found

ED THIGPEN'S ACTION-RE-ACTION – Ed Thigpen's Action-Re-Action (Sonet, 1974)

 

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Ed Thigpen was a Chicago born drummer growing up in Los Angeles who played with several major league performers. He's probably best known for his work with Oscar Peterson from the late 50s to the mid 60s. He moved to Copenhagen in 1972, and spent the remainder of his life there (he died in 2010 and is buried in Copenhagen). ”Ed Thigpen's Action-Re-Action” was recorded in Denmark in spring 1973 but with a partly Swedish line-up including Lennart Åberg, Sabu Martinez and Kjell Öhman. It was first released on Swedish Sonet in 1974.

Split in two suites ”House Of Poets” and ”Action-Re-Action” divided by standalone track ”Danish Drive”, it's an often funky fusion affair touching on soul jazz, with slight hints at early 70s Miles Davis. The short ”Adventures Of A Duck With Friends” from the title suite even suggests Don Cherry's organic music. While the music isn't always stone cold excellent, it's actually a pretty pleasant experience to listen to the exceptionally tight line-up. It's indeed a high-level performance that everyone involved seem to love being a part of. And compared to several other Swedish jazz fusion albums that sound like they were recorded by a group of social workers on a day release trip to a conference center, this album ought to be a given choice for those into the genre.

The album was reissued on a CD as a twofer with another Danish but lesser 1973 set, "Resource", as "Ed Thigpen In Copenhagen 1973-74" in the mid noughties.

House Of Poets: Le Matin
House Of Poets: Le Soir
House Of Poets: Who's Kidding Who?
Danish Drive 
Action-Re-Action: Illusions
Action-Re-Action: Adventures Of A Duck With Friends
Action-Re-Action: Action-Re-Action

RÖDA RÖTTER – Kom igen (Röda Rötter, 1982)

 
Swedish vocals
International relevance: -

But for fuck's sake...

This is a perfect example of an album I wouldn't even touch with a twelve feet stick and eight pairs of gloves if it wasn't for this blog. It's a private pressing released by Röda Rötter (="red roots"), a women's choir affiliated with the local Social Democratic section of Staffanstorp in the south of Sweden. So expect the sloganeering to be a bit more watered down than on your regular Stalinist shout fest. Also, the acoustic guitars are swapped for accordeons (not a positive thing). The B side has a couple of solo performances but of course they suck too.

Now if you excuse me, I have an album to smash.

No links found 

JUKKA TOLONEN & COSTE APETREA – Touch Wood (Sonet, 1981)

 

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Originally released in the UK and Germany but not in Sweden, this is basically a continuation of ”Vänspel” minus Stefan Nilsson on piano, leaving Jukka Tolonen and Coste Apetra to their acoustic guitars (with Apetrea doubling on bouzouki). Give Tolonen and Apetrea free reign and you know it will be a circle jerk. They can't resist the flamenco moves by way of Paco de Lucia, and the whole album ends up right where you expected: in self-gratifying finger acrobatics where fretboard technique is mistaken for substance. Painful.

Another 35 minute show-off recorded live in 1982 was released as CD+DVD as "In Concert" in 2015, available digitally for purchase and for streaming..

Touch Wood full album playlist (reversed order) 
In Concert full album playlist 

MERIT HEMMINGSON OCH BEPPE WOLGERS MED FOLKLIGA - Det for två vita duvor... - Folkton i Vikens kapell (EMI, 1973)

  
Swedish vocals, spoken word, instrumental
International relevance: **

Merit Hemmingson made a great splash in the 70s with her groove heavy Hammond organ interpretations of Swedish folk tunes, and her popularity has grown in later years after being largely neglected inbetween. Her career started out already in the 60s with a couple of pop soul jazz albums, but it's her first two folk inspired albums ”Huvva!” and ”Trollskog” (1971-1972) that garner most interest. ”Det for två vita duvor...” from 1973 is a bit of an oddity in her discography, being recorded with Beppe Wolgers. Wolgers is very well known to a certain age group of Swedes, having made absurdist television series in the 60s before breaking through to a younger audience with a couple of highly beloved children's shows in the 70s, now considered almost canonical.

Wolgers was a multifaceted character; a writer and a poet, a TV personality, a humorist... He's known for his softspoken voice and warm personality, but he was also a troubled thinker with a melancholy side. Those two sides of his soul came through on ”Det for två vita duvor...” where he recites poems to Hemmingson's musical backdrop. Not only Hemmingson's actually, because the temporary constellation Folkliga consists of four Splash members plus folk fiddlers Kalle Almlöf and Roland Keijser/Arbete & Fritid collaborator Anders Rosén. Also Staffan Sjöholm from Keijser's early jazz quartet.

Being recorded in the Viken chapel in Merit Hemmingson's home county of Jämtland, the sound is heavy on mystical atmosphere which fits like a glove with the acoustic instrumentation. However, it takes a certain listener to appreciate the spoken word portions. That especially goes for foreign listeners as the words are in Swedish. The poetry readings may seem distracting to those not familiar with the language. Then again, some tracks have no readings, and are either instrumental or have vocals by Hemmingson herself (and she has a really beautiful voice, all too seldom heard). Few of the tracks are that easy to remember afterwards; they work together as a mood piece, like aural incense. As a whole, this double album is definitely overlong but in smaller doses, it creates an archaic mood that is quite captivating.

Full album playlist

ART OF MUSIC – Sessions (Allt För Laget, 2021; rec. 1972-1974)

  
English vocals, Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

This is actually only half an album as it wasn't a standalone disc with a specific cover, but a bonus album to the 50th anniversary reissue of Art Of Music's sole, self-titled 1971 album. That album is already reviewed here, so this review is for bonus disc ”Sessions” only.

Art Of Music had existed for four years when their original album was recorded under primitive circumstances. Taped on a Tandberg reel-to-reel machine in their rehearsal space using sound-on-sound technique by Staffan Odlander, certified Beatles expert and owner of Buttercup Records who initially released the album on his label. It's now a massive collectors' item, better known than the subsequent Art Of Music seven-inches that followed in 1972, one of them a split disc with Swedish dance band Mattis (Buttercup's release plan – if there ever was one – was far from consistent).

When Odlander invested in better recording equipment including a mixer and a trusty Revox tape recorder and a mixer, fidelity got immediately better. The band too had matured and become tighter, and the songwriting here is a more focused in a post-Beatles vein (and there are even two Beatles covers). So ”Sessions” ought to be a better album than ”Art Of Music”, but truth is I think something got lost in the advancement. Despite all its inadequacies, I prefer the debut album for its vibe of underground secrecy. Imperfections don't always add to experience but rather spoil it (as exemplified by Axelsson or Prefix), but in the case of Art Of Music the insufficiencies intertwine with the experience and enriches it. There are of course some enjoyable moments here, especially the rather intense ballad evocatively entitled ”Today Is A Day Without Future”, but most of ”Sessions” sounds too mediocre and ordinary to my ears.

”Sessions” includes all tracks previously only released on singles, plus takes planned for a never issued 1974 EP along with other unreleased tracks. The ambition to present Art Of Music's complete recordings unfortunately also extends to leaving distracting studio chatter and broken down takes intact, a modus operandi I've never liked (and happening a bit too often these days with the flood of archival releases from everyone from Bob Dylan and The Beatles down to The Nowhereburg Nobodies).

That said, I'm happy the reissue exists because it's the only viable way to get the hysterically rare original album in your hands. That album is an entity of its own, and the bonus material doesn't lesser its impact. You simply don't need to play ”Sessions” except for a track or two, but stick to the real album. The liner notes are a nice feature too, sharing lots of information from both Odlander and the band.

No links found

A SEVEN INCH SPECIAL, VOL. 9: Political, religious & theatrical

 
JOINT EFFORT – Du, värld / I morgon (Kyrkoton, 1969)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***

A very rare single from a very obscure Christian trio, so obscure it's not even listed on Discogs at the time of writing. Released on the Kyrkoton label who also gave us the collectable Vergers which should pique the interest of some readers. Not that it needs any pull from others because it stands up well on its own. The B side is the weaker track of the two, although that one's OK as well with a Sir Douglas Quintet styled organ and a pretty catchy drive. But the real treat is ”Du, värld” which is just excellent, a rare Swedish example of what's internationally known as moody garage. Absolutely haunting with brooding organ, reverbed rimshots and a mesmerizing atmosphere created by a slow, almost ghostlike, harmonized melody. In a time when everything appears excavated, discovered, comped and reissued all over again, it's a mystery how this one slipped through the cracks. It's not even of Discogs at the time of writing. It's one of the best Xian tracks I've ever heard from Sweden, almost up there with New Creation's ”He Is There”.

Joint Effort later changed their name to Mission Possible and as such released another Kyrkoton single in 1971. The A side, in a style similar to ”Du, värld”, is featured on the ”Frälst!” compilation.

 

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Jubileum SSU 60 år (Frihets Förlag, 1977)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: -

Four tracks recorded for the ”Democratize Sweden” conference in January 1977 and released to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Social Democrats' youth association SSU the same year. The focus is obsviously on the message, delivered by singing groups Nacka-gänget, Nya Gesällerna and Lasse-Maja. The music was written by Göran Blomqvist known from some other Social Democratic releases, with words by journalist Bernt Rosengren (no, not that Bernt Rosengren). A couple of the songs – with hot titles such as ”Var börjar socialismen” (=”where does socialism begin”) and ”Socialismen är solidaritet” (=”socialism is solidarity”) – appear rooted in the Eisler/Weill tradition but are melodically paralyzed. The whole thing just sounds unmusical, but it wouldn't surprise me if some perverted hipster DJ takes a liking to ”Du duger” (=”you're OK”) because of its, ahem, 'funkiness'.

 

FRISKT VATTEN – Tågsång / Marknadsföring (A Disc, 1980)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

Two non-album tracks released inbetween Friskt Vatten's last two albums. ”Tågsång” is a ballad of sorts, unpleasantly close to yacht rock but with some fine piano playing. ”Marknadsföring” speaks out again mindless consumption and shares the sentiment with Peps Persson's ”Hög standard” but lacking Peps's ability to transform observation to sharp-witted lyrics on his level.

KYRKSTÖT – No Smoking / Dr. Jekyll (no label, 1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

A Christian hard rock band familiar from the V/A comp ”Rockplock”. This single was the only other outing from Kyrkstöt. The A side is competent but entirely uninteresting boogie rock, while ”Dr. Jekyll” is radio friendly pop rock that feels overlong despite being of 4 minute standard length. Best avoided.

 

SKOGSNÄSKOLLEKTIVET – Odlad jord ska förbli odlad (Ljudbarrikaden, 1980)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: ***

The title of this single is ”Odlad jord ska förbli odlad” (=”cultivated land should remain cultivated”) but the song titles are actually ”Fattig på de fattigas planet” (=”poor on the planet of poors”) and ”Den trygge” (=”the safe one”). It was recorded within the long running environmentally concerned and anti-capitalist Skogsnäs community in the Northern Sweden.

I was afraid ”Odlad jord ska förbli odlad” would be just another fingerpointing pamphlet progg release, so I was completely taken aback when ”Fattig på de fattigas planet” proved to be an outright fantastic minor key folksy track in a Townes Van Zandt vein, augmented with a wonderful, gnarly fiddle like straight out of cult movie ”The Wicker Man”. Even the children's chorus sounds good (!), adding another emotional layer to the splendid track. The guy who wrote it is Kåre Wigforss who I think is still musically active (judging by a Youtube channel dedicated to Kåre Wigforss Band) although I can't find any proof of him having released anything apart from this one knockout track.

The B side is credited to the band Ryktet Går and while their ”Den trygge” isn't on par with ”Fattig på de fattigas planet”, it's still better than expected. It's more of an early 80s folk rock track with jangly guitars – think a slightly more garage-y but relaxed early R.E.M. and you're not exactly correct but going in the right direction.

MUSIKGRUPPEN NEJRÖSTERNA – Solen och vinden och vattnet och jorden / Kärnkraftsman (Live Studio Lane, 1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

A twelve-piece band formed in late 1979 when the Gothenburg fraction of The Anti-Nuclear Movement needed music during their meetings. (”Nejrösterna” means ”the no votes”, referring to the nuclear referendum held in Sweden in March 1980). Two songs were recorded in November 1979 but the release was belated by the pressing plant until early 1980 when the single was finally released in an edition of a 1000 copies (with about half of them sold by the band). The lyrics for the A side were found in a leaflet distributed during an anti-nuclear protest march, while the words for the B side used The Beatles' ”Nowhere Man” as a source inspiration. Let's get it over with right away: This sounds nothing like The Beatles. It doesn't sound like anything you'd want to hear. As opposed to Skogsnäskollektivet above, this is exactly the kind of stuff that makes me want to rip my ears off my head. Ten people singing at once in a smug tone, backed by flutes, bongos and accordeon and an unnecessary large number of maracas. My only question now is how far this piece of shit will fly if I throw it from a cliff.

SKOTTES MUSIKORKESTER / THOMAS WIEHE, PER DUNSÖ, OLA STRÖM & TRULS – Antikärnkraftverk (Källan, 1979)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

The resistance against nuclear power was well spread in the cultural world prior to the referendum mentioned above. Plenty of actors, musicians and artists spoke out against it in 1979-1980 as proven by several charity singles and albums released at the time. This one gathered Skottes Musikorkester, and Thomas Wiehe together with Per Dunsö, Ola Ström and Ström's nephew Truls. Per Dunsö and the two Ströms were known from TV where they produced appalling children's shows, and their track ”Vaggvisa fem i tolv” (=”lullabye five to twelve”) could very well have appeared in one of them. The clarinet and the fiddle are pleasant features, and the acoustic framework is nice enough, but the song itself is oddly formless. And there's way too much Truls singing.

Skottes Musikorkester in turn contribute a klezmer styled track with a few instrumental turns that are quite nice but it's spoiled by the overzealous vocals.

CHECKPOINT CHARLIE – SUSB / Pyret (CC Records, 1979)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

Checkpoint Charlie formed in 1976 and had a few active years before eventually disbanding in the early 80s. In the meantime they appeared on the various artists comps ”Vi har rätt till jobb” and ”Umeå Rocks, Vol. 1”, but had only one single out under their own banner. Heavily rooted in the semi-heavy rock style of the Umeå/Luleå region as represented by Rekyl and Kylans Rockorkester. The title ”SUSB” is short for Stiftelsen Umeå Studentbostäder (Umeå Student Housing Foundation) with some wonderfully acidic lyrics against the local lack of housing. The track is credited to guitarist Urban Bergman, but it's so much Chuck Berry that it's almost a cover of every Berry song in the style of ”Johnny B. Goode”. Still, the hard driving performance and the great lyrics (if you can understand them) have a certain appeal. ”Pyret” slows things down a bit, a dark observation written from a two-year-old's perspective. Some heavy guitars and a couple of progressive sections are nice features, but it's not as effective as the rousing A side.

 

TURMANS BAND – Bluesen kommer från Tierp (Mistlur, 1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Three songs recorded in 1979 and released the next year by the Mistlur imprint that at the time, early in their existence, was one of the companies that most strategically documented progg's extension into punk. As the title of this EP suggests (meaning ”the blues come from Tierp”, Tierp being the band's hometown situated between Uppsala and Gävle), Turmans Band dealt with blues, but not very proficiently. There's no real edge to it, and the main focus seems to be on the lyrics (also printed on an insert) that address a dull everyday life, unemployment and the troubles getting somewhere to live. The vocals could have strengthened the pedestrian performance but they're too weak to help the cause.

Mora Träsk's Thomas Örstrand appears on harmonica, and the EP title is a nod to Mora Träsk's album "Rocken kommer från Gävle" (="the rock music comes from Gävle"). 

MIKAEL WIEHE, NYBERG, FRANCK & FJELLIS – Gökungen / Livet efter 30 (Amalthea, 1981)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

”Gökungen” was later included on Wiehe's 1983 album ”Lindansaren”, one of the best tracks off that album. It has a a scary, sinister atmosphere and is by far one of the best tracks on that album. The B side is unique to this single and it's easy to see why it was left off the album. A weak track with an ironic lyric about the ”joys” of turning 30 when your body has been broken down by hard work (although the hard work bit is merely implied).

SÄTRASKOLANS MUSIKTEATERGRUPP – Tjejsans nya kläder (no label, 1981)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

A real oddity with seven songs taken from a school play performed at a suburbian Stockholm school. (The title is an impossible to translate wordplay on the "emperor's new clothes" expression.) Probably of interest mainly to those participating in the play (about fashion peer pressure among youths), but several of the songs actually have pretty cool solo guitar. A couple of surprisingly catchy performances, especially on ”Mode, mode, mode”. But there's also a couple of tracks which suggests some of the songwriters (teachers?) had listened too much to political progg in the 70s. The EP is generally better than I expected, but not worth looking for unless you're a collector of school projects.

The track "Discolåten" was included on "Annorlunda Underground", a CD-r compilation released in 2000.

 

ETOS – Den nakna sanningen / Skulden (A Disc, 1981)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

One of very few singles released on the pathologically humdrum A Disc label. That this is one of their best releases says way more about the label than the music on this disc. It's very commercial sounding with some hard rock aspirations mixed in with the lacklustre pop rock and ska influences, but they fall flat due to a submissive production. Minus also for the shouty singer and the A Disc-typical bland lyrics.

 

PISTOLTEATERN – Reggae från Torsgatan (Alice, 1982, EP)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

Pistolteatern (=”the pistol theatre”) is probably best known to proggsters as a venue where bands such as International Harvester and Fläsket Brinner played. But their main purpose was of course that of an independent theatre group, and their progressive stance has made them legendary. The four tracks on this seldom seen 33 rpm EP all come from the play ”Alive”, and features the busy Göran Lagerberg on bass and Sven Bjärhall (Solen Skiner, Jan Hammarlund) on lead guitar. Guitarist/keyboardist Håkan Möller also appeared on a late Thomas Mera Gartz album. The vocals are shared by Jonas Uddenmyr (later appearing on a cassette-only release by Thomas Tidholm) and Lars Källenius. All tracks are suprisingly solid reggae numbers, much more credible than I expected from their ephemeral origins. There's a relieving lack of ”jokiness”, but one of the songwriters is Lars Naumborg, friend of Aston Reymers Rivaler, and thus respectful and knowledgeable enough of reggae not to waste his efforts on any unserious silliness. Can very well be of interest to those into Swedish reggae.

Friskt Vatten full single playlist
Etos full single playlist (Spotify) 
Musikgruppen Nejrösterna 
Solen och vinden och vattnet och jorden (poor sound) 
Jubileum SSU 60 år
Ditt eget ansvar / Socialismen är solidaritet / Du duger / Var börjar socialismen
Skottes Musikorkester
Frihetens eko 
Turmans Band
Till arbetsmarknadens förfogande blues / Bostadsblues 
Mikael Wiehe
Gökungen / Livet efter 30 
Sätraskolans Musikteatergrupp
Brain Tango / Mode, mode, mode / Discolåten / Sången om Tom / Pia Jansson / Barbies sång

Joint Effort / Kyrkstöt / Skogsnäskollektivet / Checkpoint Charlie / Pistolteatern no links found