Instrumental
International relevance: **
Sometimes heralded as the best Swedish folk fiddle album ever, this was recorded in a cold October Stockholm in 1970. Others might say it's just another Dalecarlian trad folk album but it really isn't. It's a fantastic document, and I tend to agree with it being the 'best Swedish folk album' ever. Perhaps only Wille Toors' ”Natt vid Skvaltkvarn” is better, but then again, maybe not.
Although it lacks the demonic presence of ”Natt vid Skvaltkvarn”, the performances are intense, really spirited and saturated with the joy of playing. Björn Ståbi was 30 at the time of recording, Pers Hans Olsson 28, but they play with the experience of old men and the gusto of youngsters. Their interplay is simply beautiful, so precise it's as if the four hands are attached to the very same body.
Not only is it a stunning performance,
”Bockfot!!!” has a significant relevance to progg history. It's
one of Kenny Håkansson's all-time favourite albums, and it's not
far-fetched to assume it was crucial to his vision of Kebnekajse.
Especially as a couple of ”Bockfot!!!” tunes made their way to
Kebnekajse's repertoire, ”Bingsjöpolska” and much later on
”Leksands skänklåt”. But it's not only a question of shared
rendition choices, it's a matter of spirit and musical essence.
 |
| CD reissue |
But regardless of its foundational
status as a core release of Swedish instrumental folk music and a
source inspiration to one of progg's key outfits, it's an album that
stands up on its own exceptionally well. The album's merits clearly
transcends its genre – if you're into simply great music and almost
telepathic playing, ”Bockfot!!!” is a stunning effort. And better
yet, when it was reissued on CD (with a new artwork) in the early
00's, the playing time was almost doubled with eight musical
selections not featured on the original LP. Among them a spiritually
elevated performance of ”Barkbrödlåten”, a staple of
Kebnekajse's get-go folk years.
Full album playlist with bonus tracks
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