SUB-GRUPPEN – När dom talar om fred (Subverskivbolaget, 1975)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

Subverskivbolaget was a shortlived Uppsala label releasing local bands like Rävjunk, Hemkört and Mobben. Sub-gruppen was a temporary constellation with members of Mobben and Teddybjörn Band. Also included are one track each by Trotsålderns Barn and Svend-Urban & The Bronkettes although the latter is probably just Sub-gruppen under another name. It's not a good album at all, with political lyrics and cringy vocals. The only exception would be Trotsålderns Barn whose ”Ingen av oss” is a pretty memorable track with a couple of unexpected twists and some nice guitar work. It's the only track here that sounds like it was recorded by a real band simply because it was.

Ingen av oss (Trotsålderns Barn)
När dom talar om fred
Chile Chile 
Katalansk rock
Inte en dag, inte en natt (Svend-Urban & The Bronkettes)
Privatchaufför och allt

BITTER FUNERAL BEER BAND WITH DON CHERRY & K. SRIDHAR – Live In Frankfurt 82 (Country & Eastern, 2007)

Instrumental, other languages
International relevance: ***

Recorded the same year as Bengt Berger's ”Bitter Funeral Beer” with basically the same people: only Kjell Westling is missing while Björn Hellström on bass clarinet and flute, and sarod player K. Sridhar are added. It's an all-star line-up with too many names to mention, but the individual efforts aren't as important anyway as the pan-continental collective outcome.

This live recording made by Frankfurter radio at the annual jazz festival at the Alte Oper in 1982 is more ragged and unkempt than the studio album. More on the edge, if you will. The nervous energy runs through the entire set, and comes through even in the slow ”Bitter Funeral Beer” which is given a particularly bluesy, mournful rendition.

While I really like the studio album, this recording is a more vivid document of the band. Even if you know you're in the safe hands of masterful musicians, they conjure up a loose spirit that keeps the music uncertain to the right degree. You never quite know exactly what will happen at what moment. It's a generally thrilling perfomance that grows in strength until the 25 minute jubilant ending (not counting the short afterthought "Gahu") with ”Funeral Dance”.

 

The album was later reissued on vinyl (minus "Gahu") in Italy with a different cover (as seen above).

Full album playlist

Also check out the TV broadcast of the show here!

3 POLITICAL TAPES ON KULTURFÖRENINGEN SPARTACUS

If the LP's won't get me, the cassette tapes will. They might very well be the death of me.

Kulturföreningen Spartacus was an association run by Kommunistiska partiet i Göteborg ('the communist party of Gothenburg'), previously KPML(r) who ran the Proletärkultur label originally. I suppose Kulturföreningen Spartacus as a label was just Proletärkultur in disguise. What belonged to who and who belonged to what political branch of the comminist tree is a mess, and quite frankly, I'm to tired of it all to bother finding out the exact threads and links and affiliations. In the end, it's all the same anyway.

 
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Rädda varven! En temakväll i Göteborgs konserthus valborgsmässoafton 1978” (Kulturföreningen Spartacus, 1978, MC)
Harald ”Bagarn” Andersson / Dan Berglund / Warschawjanka / Spartacuskören / Spartacusrevyn / Takt & Ton / Gamlestan-Lundens Sånggrupp
Swedish vocals, spoken word
International relevance: -

This was the first cassette-only release on Kulturföreningen Spartacus. It was recorded at a charity concert for the workers in the Gothenburg shipyards in 1978. Two of the performing artists of the evening are known from the Proletärkultur roster, Harald ”Bagarn” Andersson and Dan Berglund.

VARIOUS ARTISTS – KPMLr:s Valrevy 1979 Botten Upp! Revy Ex-Huset Heden 24/8-9/9 (no label, 1979)
KMPLr / CO Evers / Birthe Stridbeck / Harald ”Bagarn” Andersson / Anders Lönnbro & Bodil Mårtensson / Sven Wollter / Niklas Falk
Swedish vocals, spoken word
International relevance: -

Although no label is given on the cassette card and the catalogue number differs slightly from their other tapes, there's no reason to not assume this is just another Spartacus release. ”Bagarn” Andersson is here again, as is actor Sven Wollter.

WARSCHAWJANKA FRÅN GÖTEBORG– Solidaritetssånger (Kulturföreningen Spartacus, 1979)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: -

The third tape in this lot is a single artist release by vocal group Warschawjanka and so a bit different to the various artists compilations above. I wouldn't say better because it's still flag-and-fist waving galore with several typical communist anthems. A bit more on the folky side similar to FNL-grupperna and Freedom Singers.

None of these tapes seem very easy to find, but they're only interesting to the most seasoned Marxist listener anyway. If you still want to get a taste of this stuff, just pick any easy-to-find album in the ilk, they all sound the same and they're all interchangable.

A third/fourth Spartacus release appeared in 1981, ”10 års kultur i partiets tjänst”.

ÄdSGbviou opu sudpoOOoonmsn posduu

(Sorry, that was my death rattles.)

Rädda varven full album
Botten upp! full album
Warschawjanka full album playlist

MUSIKGRUPPEN RAA – Briggen Salta Anna (Piglet, 1981)

Swedish vocals, spoken word
International relevance: *

Musikgruppen RAA began in 1973 and disbanded ten years later after a plentiful of shows in Sweden and abroad. They did reunite in the early 90's however and is still active. During their first lifetime, they also released two albums on the bizarre label Piglet, the epononymous album in 1980, and ”Briggen Salta Anna” in the following year.

”Briggen Salta Anna” is a story album about the brig of the album title, full of short songs, the shortest being only 22 seconds. It reveals two fundamental things about Musikgruppen RAA: their love for children's music their love for UK folk in general and The Incredible String Band in particular. (The reformed RAA released a full ISB tribute album in 2010.) What makes ”Briggen Salta Anna” a hard listen though are the many spoken bits that carry the story. It sounds more like a radio play for kids than an album to actually listen to. And the proper musical portions are nowhere as good as the British/Scottish counterparts that so greatly influenced them. The album is a curiousity at best, and adds to Piglet being one of the weirdest record labels.

Full album playlist

MONICA TÖRNELL – Don't Give A Damn (Philips, 1975) / Bush Lady (Mercury, 1977)

English vocals
International relevance: *

Monica Törnell's first two albums are sadly underappreciated examples of Swedish folk rock. Not one to adapt to expectations, she turned away from what was a perfect setting for her wonderfully raspy voice sounding much older and more mature than she actually was. Her third album came in 1975, a collection of hollow sounding studio funk with English lyrics. It's a sad change, and although Törnell tries hard to fit in with the music, she sounds lost and desorientated. An artistic decline has rarely come as fast between two albums like this. The only interesting (not good, interesting) track here is the pained and totally spaced-out album closer ”Hangover”.

Her next album was ”Bush Lady” appeared two years later and continues along the lines of its precursor. The sound is a bit fuller, but the music is still ill-fitting  for Törnell. Her Van Morrison cover ”Into The Mystic” might appear an inspired cover choice on paper, but unfortunately she ruins it with oversinging. There are other moments like that on the album; it's as if she suddenly thought she was some Betty Davis. Thing is, Davis expressed her personality, a sexually frustrated flamboyant funk freak of the highest order which Törnell was not. It sounds entirely misguided and overreaching, almost on the brink of self-depracation. It gets a tad better when she cools it a bit on ”Catastrophie” [sic!] and ”Snowcold Day”, but it's much too little much too late.

Monica Törnell claimed she didn't give a damn, fine, but maybe she should have. After the initial promise, these two albums are a huge letdown and a serious waste of talent. But maybe she eventually realized it too, as neither of the albums are available on her official streaming channels other than partly in re-recorded versions.

from 'Don't Give A Damn'
(People) Don't Give A Damn 
Time Will Bring Us Together
Long Long Weekend
Give It Back

from 'Bush Lady'
Into The Mystic

RAGNAR GRIPPE – Sand (Shandar, 1977)

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Ragnar Grippe was originally a EAM composer who studied for musique concrète pioneer Pierre Schaeffer in Paris in the early 70's, and also recorded some works in Luc Ferrari's electronic music studio that was released on ”Electronic Compositions” on Swedish classical label BIS in 1977 along with other earlier works. It is however his other 1977 album that gained most recognition over the years (and the only one to fit this blog), ”Sand”, released on Shandar, a French imprint made legendary by a back catalogue including Gong affiliate Dashiell Hedayat, Pandit Pran Nath, Steve Reich, Karlheinz Stockhausen and several free jazz luminaries such as Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler and François Tusques.

The reputation of ”Sand”, inspired by the abstract art of Indian artist Paris Viswanathan, has grown with time, and it's easy to see it's appeal to fans of the kosmisch side of krautrock à la the Roedelius/Moebius camp, Ralf & Florian, and Tangerine Dream circa ”Phaedra”. It certainly fits in with that lot yet never quite sounds like any of it. Heavily echoed electronic sounds hover above a simple and persistent rhythm before it evaporates into distant remnants thick with delay. Never dense but transparent almost simplistic, it holds a certain charm. Not on par with the German stuff, but if you aren't used to more ambitious electro-acoustic music that can be quite rough on the unaccustomed ear, this would still be an easy and inviting listen. It should be pointed out though, that both parts are a bit overlong at 25 minutes each. They could have been shortened a bit without losing essence.

"Sand" is the only Grippe album that fits here, and his later activities are pretty puzzling. After "Sand", he recorded a new wavish disco (!!!) album in 1980 entitled "Lost Secrets", showing no resemblance whatsoever to his previous work. What was his ambition? To become a Swedish low-calorie Giorgio Moroder? Even later, he turned to soundtrack composing, making music for plenty of Swedish movies including blockbuster movie "Jönssonligan".

Full album

OKAY TEMIZ – Drummer Of Two Worlds (WEA, 1980)

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Temporarily stepping away from the Oriental Wind brand, Okay Temiz teamed up with an all-Turkish line-up for ”Drummer Of Two Worlds”, including the excellent woodwind blower living in Sweden, Ziya Aytekin (check out his solo albums!). Sometimes labelled a jazz fusion albums, it's not the typical sexless stuff such a term suggests. It's still basically Turkish content within a jazzy frame as his previous albums, but more experimental and slightly more modern sounding. It's a particularly percussion heavy release, as proven by the title track, the frantic ”Ocean Roller” and the surprisingly spaced-out ”Repercussions”. While some tracks are excellent, I get the feeling that the more pronunced experimentation sometimes gets in the way of the substance of the music. It remains a good album, but it's more an item to complete your Temiz collection than one to begin building it with.

Full album playlist