MATS GLENNGÅRD – Kosterläge (Gump, 1972)

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***

Often praised, always expensive in its original Gump incarnation, Kebnekajse fiddler Mats Glenngård's first solo album is different to what one might expect, with a prominent Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young vibe and lyrics concerned with environmental issues. The folk influence of course shines through here and there, as on ”Berget heter bonden (Fiollåten)” and ”Tongång till Täby”, but there's little here to remind you of Kebnekajse (although they did occasionally perform the title track at gigs).

The absurd asking prices suggests ”Kosterläge” is a masterpiece which it isn't. It's a good album with several fine tracks, especially the title track, ”Allt på denna runda jord” and ”Djuret” (the latter with a ferocious guitar solo by Glenngård himself), but it's certainly not €300 good. However, the album has been reissued. And it's always great hearing Bo Skoglund drumming.

Glenngård made a second solo album in 1980, ”Violin Race”.

Full album playlist

MATS GLENNGÅRD – Violin Race (Bastun, 1980)

Instrumental, English vocals
IRG: **

The expression ”don't be fooled by the name” has rarely been as appliable as here. If you expect anything close to Kebnekajse violinist Mats Glenngård's first solo album, the lovely ”Kosterläge” from 1972, then you'll be sorely disappointed. This is closer to Kebnekajse's last album ”Vi drar vidare” which had Glenngård at the helm as Kenny Håkansson had left the group by then. ”Vi drar vidare” is an insult to the band's once glorious name, with limp fusion jazz, and that goes for ”Violin Race” as well. This is an equally bloody awful piece of shit, with fretless basses (and ”funky” slap bass), appalling keyboards and even electronic disco handclaps, featuring members of EGBA, Häxmjölk, Wasa Express and Hörselmat. It's almost scary thinking that this is what an ex-member of one of the greatest Swedish progg bands really had in him.

I hate this album so very much.

Full album playlist

ULF LUNDELL – Vargmåne (Harvest, 1975) / Törst (Harvest, 1976) / Natten hade varit mild och öm (Harvest, 1977)

”Ulf Lundell's not progg!!!” I hear the outraged voices cry. But if John Holm and Ola Magnell should be here, then why not Lundell? Any objections to the inclusion fall in the Tomas Ledin category, i.e. only the prejudicial ear trying to dictate what's right and what's wrong.

Ulf Lundell sent his demo tapes to both MNW and Silence. They rejected him. And it's the same old story: he wasn't political enough. Again the overlords had spoken. So instead, he went to EMI who recognized Lundell's potential and offered him a deal with their progressive subsidiary Harvest. In early September 1975, seven months before his debut novel ”Jack” was published, ”Vargmåne” hit the shops.

Vargmåne (Harvest, 1975)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

Recorded in only four days with Finn Sjöberg (Kvartetten Som Sprängde) as an arranger and guitarist, and Mats Ronander of Nature on harmonica. Reputedly, Lundell was unhappy with the finished album, but it's a prime example of mid 70's Swedish rock, with classic tracks such as ”Stockholms City” and ”Sextisju, sextisju”. ”När duellen är över” should be as classic. But the best track is ”Bente”, a claustrophobic tale of a prostitute trapped in the big city netherworld. going down slowly but mercilessly on drugs. The song ends with a chilling question, made even more icy by Sjöberg's guitar, objective like steel, glass and concrete. His arrangement is perfect, and apart from being one of the best songs I know of written in the Swedish language, it's a billion times more thought-provoking than anything to ever come out on labels like Nacksving, Proletärkultur or, for that matter, MNW. But exactly that might the problem here – they didn't want any questions and independent thinking, they only wanted pre-fabricated answers.

With a song like ”Bente”, it doesn't matter that ”Sniglar och krut” and ”Jesse James möter kärleken” are pure crap.

Törst (Harvest, 1976)
Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

 

There's an equivalent to ”Bente” on Lundell's second album: ”Birgitta hon dansar”. It could almost be the sequel to ”Bente”, with the main character having lost her grip of reality and gotten locked up in a psychiatric ward. The claustrophobia is even denser here, like blinding smoke so thick you could touch it like bleeding fingertips rub against a raw surface. This isn't nice and kind music, it stares you straight in the face with reality's bloodshot eyes.

The ambivalent ”USA” deals with the nation of the song title in a credible 'can't live with it, can't live without it' way that's completely foreign to the militant anti-imperialist lot collecting double standards as if it was baseball cards.

The title track and ”Cobra Rax” in turn offer a peek into the same shady regions of the capital city as depicted in ”Stockholms City” off the first album.

”Jag vill ha ett lejon” might be too lightweight, but thankfully that and ”Och går en stund på jorden” provide some relief on an album that otherwise is as dark as the cover art is white. ”Törst” is often overlooked in Ulf Lundell's oeuvre but to me, it's his best and most gripping album.

Finn Sjöberg is still on board here, and Mats Glenngård appears on violin.

Natten hade varit mild och öm (Harvest, 1977)

as Ulf Lundell & Nature

Swedish vocals, English vocals

International relevance: **

This one usually gets general bashing, and I agreed before but I've come to re-evaluate a whole lot with time. It was recorded with blues band Nature (one of Pugh Rogefeldt's signings to the Gump label) on their mutual ramshackle tour of 1976-77. It mixes cover versions of rock standards – ”Route 66” and ”My Generation” sung by Mats Ronander – with chestnuts from Lundell's first two albums plus otherwise unreleased songs. ”Natten hade varit mild och öm” is to Lundell what ”Hard Rain” is to Dylan, i.e. a peculiar and sloppy live document with inferior sound and odd song choices. But that's what makes so intriguing and different to any other Lundell album out there. It's the sound of scruffy hobos thundering across the nation. "Progglådan" contains a Tonkraft show from the same period but while still OK (Lundell sounds nervous), it's a more polite document than this beautiful mess.

”Natten hade varit mild och öm” was reissued on CD in 2000 with five bonus tracks including ”USA” and ”Bente”.

Ulf Lundell went on to record numerous albums and write several books. He's one of the most well-known artists in Sweden.

Full album playlist with bonus tracks

Törst full album playlist with bonus tracks  

Natten hade varit mild och öm full album playlis with bonus tracks

Tonkraft 1976 full album playlist

 

BRUKSTEATERN – Palestina, mitt blod, min väg, mitt land (Bruksskivor, 1976)

International relevance: -

Swedish vocals

Independent theatre groups were an important part of the progg movement. Bertolt Brecht was a popular author among those groups, but it was a common thing that the theatre groups staged their self-written plays, often with a clear political agenda. The most famous of the lot were Nationalteatern and Fria Proteatern, but there were many more spread across the country, such as Musikteatergruppen Oktober and their some time collaborators Bruksteatern. All the aforementioned groups used music as an integrated part of the theatrical performances, and all of them released albums with songs excerpted from their plays. However, few shared Nationalteatern's knack for writing songs memorable enough to have a life away from the stage setting. Many of the albums made by musical theatre groups are frankly an embarassing listen today.

This is certainly the case of Bruksteatern's ”Palestina mitt blod, min väg, mitt land”, funded by a plethora of organisations, musicians and writers. The songs and the play they were written for deal with the long standing conflict between Palestina and Israel, and the music – all acoustic – is subordinated the message. While some of the instrumental passages are OK (after all, experienced musicians such as Björn J:son Lindh, ”Fjellis” Fjellström and Kebnekajse's Mats Glenngård came to Bruksteatern's aid for the recording), the vocals are so overwrought that it hurts, and the recitations that keep the narrative going are cringeworthy. This is exactly the kind of stuff that makes it easy to poke nasty fun at progg music, and this album deserves every bit of ridicule it can get. Listening to this crap makes me feel unclean. I'm sure it has traumatized me for life.

No links found

FIGARO – Figaro (CBS, 1976)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

It's fair to call Figaro a supergroup. Members Anders Nordh and Palle Sundlin had previously been in Life, Resan, King George Discovery and Baltik. Nordh was also part of, for instance, Tages extension Blond. Sundlin also played bass on Lasse Tennander's 1974 debut album ”Lars Vegas”. Singer and guitarist Peter Lundbladh had done session work for several artists and would continue doing so long after Figaro split up. He had a successful solo career, and most Swedes remember him for his painfully annoying summer hit ”Ta mig till havet”. He was also in Nailband alongside Figaro drummer Tommy Andersson, who, like Sundlin and Lundbladh, also had done stints with Lasse Tennander. The same goes for Torbjörn Eklund who had been in the obscure outfit Opponer, and later went on to play on a couple of Bo Hansson albums, as well as the second solo album from Kebnekajse's Mats Glenngård. So it's easy to see that when Figaro got together as Duga (a pun on a Swedish expression that's impossible to translate), it was a pretty seasoned lot. In time for recording sessions for their only album, they changed their name to Figaro. It was recorded in the end of 1975, and released the following year by CBS.

The CBS label gives a clue to what they sound like. This isn't a hardboiled progg album filled to the brim with leftwing social criticism. On the contrary, it's a rather commercial sounding effort, and the band did in fact score a hit with ”Framåt” culled from the album as their only single (backed with ”DJ”, also taken from the album). The sound isn't far removed from other commercial acts of the times such as Landslaget, and sometimes there are even slight hints at teen idol Ted Gärdestad. To be honest, it's an album that I don't really want to like.

But I can help but doing so. The songs are incredibly well crafted with some imaginative chord changes. The melodies may be on the smooth side but they are simply irresistable. The playing is, as you can imagine, on the top of the heap, with Nordh in good shape. The production is dense and rich; especially the acoustic guitars have a full, ringing sound. Songs range from the mellow, Crosby Stills Nash & Young-like ”Fjärilen och katten” full of shimmering, to the heavy(ish) ”Hem” which is as far as the album ventures into progg territory.

It does have some real clunkers too though. The social commentary on cannabis use in ”Harry Brass” (translates to ”Harry Pot”) is naïve and the song is simply moronic. Equally idiotic is ”En hypokondrikers bekännelse”, but that one is short at leasta, clocking in on just over one minute. Hit single ”Framåt” might not be the best example of the album's qualities but it still has some odd appeal. The lesser tracks are in a minority, and it's tracks like the previously mentioned ”Fjärilen och katten” and ”Hem”, along with the beautiful ”Höst”, the rocking ”Hjältars hjältar”, and the lush ballad ”Egen kvinna” that defines the album.

Commercial or not, I can't help but give in to ”Figaro”.

Full album playlist

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

PETER NORDSTRÖM – Ensam och fri (Bastun, 1980)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Little known rock singer/songwriter that worked hard on his Ulf Lundell look on the album cover but sounding more like a lesser version of Swedish country/soft rock singer Lalla Hansson.

Peter Nordström debuted in 1978 with one-off single ”Det kommer nya tider”/”Salongsbolsjeviken” featuring Björn J:son Lindh on piano. He appears on the ”Ensam och fri” album too, plus Kebnekajse's Mats Glenngård, Berndt Egerbladh and a number of seasoned studio musicians such as Jan Bandel, Ola Brunkert and Peter Lundblad.

The album is insignificant and Nordström's lyrics are full of ”lonely man drifting restless through the world” clichés that are quite irritating as he doesn't sound at all like somebody with a romantic hobo lifestyle. Rather like a perfectly ordinary bloke who sends his kids to school in the morning and walks the family dog named Fluffy when he comes home from his boring work at the local insurance agency xeroxing papers no-one really needs.

The best track is ”Det här är mitt liv” but that's a Swedish cover of Danish band Gasolin's hit ”This Is My Life” from a few years earlier. In short, this is a redundant album and the only one Nordström made.

Full album

FRED ÅKERSTRÖM – Två tungor (Metronome, 1973)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Featured in Tobias Peterson's ”Encyclopedia Of Swedish Progressive Music” in the ”also listen to these artists” list, why at least one of his many albums should be featured here.

Fred Åkerström made a massive impact on the troubadour/visa singer scene in the 60s and 70s, and he was the most successful of the lot along with Cornelis Vreeswijk. There's not a lot progg about him however. At least not musically. Politically is a different thing, as he was a stubborn communist who joined the KPMP(r) party, based in Sweden's #1 working class city Gothenburg and known for having acts such as Knutna Nävar and Dan Berglund on their side. A friend of Åkerström's once said that Stockholm born and bred Fred was so red that he even began speaking with a Gothenburg accent. His political sympathies was clear from the start; an early Åkerström recording is ”Kapitalismen” (”the capitalism”) that has become a leftist classic.

But no, he's much more of a traditional singer/songwriter in the Scandinavian vein than a progg artist. The one album that comes closest to progg is ”Två tungor”, It was recorded in late 1972 with Hawkey Franzén and Mats Glenngård helping out on a few tracks. Coming from the often rowdy Fred Åkerström the album is conspicuously low-key as exemplified by his best known song ”Jag ger dig min morgon”, a very tender rendition of Tom Paxton's ”I Give You The Morning”. But the best track is probably album closer ”Den trettionde i första sjuttiotvå”. The title is the date of Bloody Sunday, 30 January 1972, when British soldiers killed thirteen civilians during a civil rights march in Derry, Nothern Ireland.

”Två tungor” has a slightly folkish feel all through and the sensitive and mild-mannered arrangements help set the dusky atmosphere that makes this one of his emotionally most consistent efforts and probably his best altogether, 

Full album playlist 

MECKI MARK MEN – Complete albums 1967-1979

Mecki Mark Men are among the most important early Swedish underground bands and a transition between what was and what would be. Led by singer Mecki Bodemark, the band featured such luminaries as Kenny Håkansson, Pelle Ekman, Bella Linnarsson (all previously in Baby Grandmothers, all later in Kebnekajse), and Thomas Mera Gartz (later to join Träd, Gräs Och Stenar). Heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix (supporting him on his 1967 Swedish tour by his request), Mecki Mark Men were one of the true contemporary psychedelic bands in Sweden.

Mecki Mark Men (Philips, 1967)

English vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***

After non-album 45 ”Midnight Land”, Mecki Mark Men made their full length debut with this eponymous album featuring sitars, tablas, organs, horns and anything that could emphasize the drugged-out feel of it. And that's the problem with the album – the atmosphere is stronger than the songs, and Mecki Bodemark's vocal Hendrix complex is silly bordering on the ridiculous. There's a lot of empty gestures riddling the album, but if you ignore the superficiality, the album can still be oddly alluring.

Above the American Limelight Records release with different cover.

Running in the Summer Night (Limelight, 1969)

English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: ***

Their second album was only released by U.S. label Limelight that had already released their debut stateside. The album was remixed for the American market, with the Swedish mix not made public before Mellotronen's CD edition in 2004. The Swedish version is a tad better but it doesn't really matter because Bodemark's Hendrixisms still annoy and the heaviness is still there to conceal that the songs are rather empty. The best track part three of the ”Life Cycle” suite, a new version of Baby Grandmothers' moody ”Being Is More Than Life”.

Marathon (Sonet, 1971)

English lyrics, instrumental

International relevance: ***

 

Recorded on holy blues ground in the Chess studios in Chicago in 1970 and released the following year, this time in Sweden only. Still a mess of contemporary heavy rock mannerisms, it does feature the acoustic two part ”Ragathon” with acoustic guitar, sitar and a stoned-out-of-his-mind Bodemark giggling into his flute. The songs are somewhat more distinct, making this their best regular effort, although far from an essential one.

Stonehorse (Vesper, 2010; recorded 1971)

Lars Johan Werle & Mecki Mark Men

 Instrumental

International relevance **

 

Ballet music written by modernist composer Lars Johan Werle and performed by Mecki Mark Men. Needless to say, it's very different to the band's regular albums, and it also went unreleased until Vesper Records released the whole session on CD in 2010. 'The whole session' meaning you also get quite a lot of directionless jamming apart from centrepiece, Werle's 20 minute ”Stonehorse” suite. That one's quite good, much more experimental and satisfying than anything Mecki Mark Men did on their own.

Flying High (Kompass, 1979)
English vocals

International relevance: **

 

Not a reunion but a completely different incarnation with entirely difference musicians including noted jazz saxophonist Tommy Koverhult on horns and flute, and Kebnekajse's Mats Glenngård on violin among others. ”Flying High” is lesser known than Mecki Mark Men's three original albums and rightly so. This is lame jazz rock with AOR touches. If you see a copy of it, toss it into the abyss.

New Mecki Mark Men recordings appeared on Vesper in 2007, "Livingroom". A couple of poor sounding audience tapes from Stockholm 1970 also circulate.

Mecki Mark Men full album playlist with bonus tracks

Running In The Summer Night full album playlist with bonus tracks
Marathon full album playlist with bonus track

Stonehorse full album playlist
Flying High full album playlist

JOAKIM SKOGSBERG – Jola rota (Gump, 1971)

Wordless vocals

International relevance: ***

 

One of the most original and visionary progg albums of all times, a truly singular statement not sounding like anything else. Released by Gump in an edition of 1,000, only 3-400 copies were sold originally. The album was withdrawn and the remaining copies melted down – the vinyl was recycled for later Gump releases which has only added to the mystique surrounding the album. And it was mysterious already to begin with.

There's no proper way describing this album. The six tracks are built around drones, dictated by Skogsberg's vocals, a kind of a hum somewhere between Sami yoik and Indian classical dhrupad singing, deeply inspired by Skogsberg's love of nature. His repetitous vocals make the music sound shamanic and the tracks overdubbed with cello, guitars, bass, violin and other instruments by Kebnekajse's Thomas Netzler and Mats Glenngård, producer and Gump honcho Pugh Rogefeldt, and Göran Lagerberg are ritualistic.

The best track is the relentless ”Offer rota”, also insufficiently excerpted on Carsten Regild's bizarre ”Voice of the Wolf”, but the entire album has a profound drive that is captivating. Hypnotic. Some have called it psychedelic but ”Jola rota” goes deeper than that. It operates on a primordial level that's got nothing to do with fads or fashion. Is it good? Is it bad? Questions like that are irrelevant because ”Jola rota” doesn't move along that scale. It shouldn't just be heard, it should be experienced.

Full album playlist

KEBNEKAJSE – Ljus från Afrika (Silence, 1976) / Elefanten (Silence, 1977)

Ljus från Afrika (Silence, 1976)

Instrumental, other languages

International relevance: **

The later Kebnekajse albums are largely ignored (the Kenny-less dung pile ”Vi drar vidare” should be ignored, with a vengeance). By the time of ”Ljus från Afrika”, they had moved away from the Swedish folk rock that brought them love and attention, and towards Africa as the title of this 1976 album declare, ”light from Africa”. I don't have a problem with that per se, but most of ”Ljus från Afrika” is too close to West African highlife music for me. However, it does have ”Tigerdans/Wind”, a Kenny Håkansson driven spaced-out track firmly rooted in the darker side of afro funk, and heavy rocking closing track ”Brudarnas parti” that is too good to be lost to oblivion. 

Elefanten (Silence, 1977)
Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Kebnekajse's last original album with Kenny Håkansson on guitar (and new drummer Åke Eriksson taking Pelle Ekman's place) is much closer to prog rock than what ”Ljus från Afrika” is. The African influence is kept to a minimum, but unfortunately, it has two horrible Mats Glenngård tracks pointing towards the style of ”Vi drar vidare”, ”Saab Mustang” and ”Grabbarnas afton”, totalling 18 painful minutes. Also, Håkansson must have caught the fusion virus on ”Elefantens strävan mot Nirvana”. Last track ”Halling från Ekshärad”, a traditional tune, is a throwback to Kebnekajse's folk rock years and is, after all, ”Elefanten's” high point.

”Elefanten” is the work of a band who wants to take their music further but without quite knowing where to go. The album does have its moments, but it would be a filthy lie to call it a Kebnekajse classic. It's a billion times better then ”Vi drar vidare” though...

A sleeve variation exist, with the 'J' in the band name being larger on some copies. 

Ljus från Afrika full album playlist

Elefanten full album playlist

TURID - Complete albums

There seems to be a cult of die-hard followers surrounding Turid Lundqvist and her albums. Sometimes it's almost impossible to have an opinion of your own, especially if it contradicts the prevalent 'holy cow' notion of her. It's annoying, and so is her voice. Soaring towards Joni Mitchell with an added fairy femninity warble. I choose Lena Ekman over Turid, any given day.

I actually won't bother with any biographical facts this time – I advise anyone interested in her background to check out her entry in Tobias Pettersson's ”The Encyclopedia of Swedish Progressive Music 1967-1979”. That's a good summarily overview of her doings and dealings. I'll go straight to the albums instead.

Vittras visor (Silence, 1971)

Swedish vocals, English vocals

International relevance: ***

Turid's debut album is a mix of songs in Swedish and English, with the English tracks in particular sounding like serial Joni Mitchell ripoffs. The album carries the seeds for that Jan Hammarlund style vibrato heard on most of her albums, which is just as maddening when it comes out of Turid's throat as out of his. And you know how birds of a feather flock together – Hammarlund wrote the lyrics to ”Crystal Shade of Loneliness” on ”Vittras visor”, thereby initiating the occasional collaboration between the two that would continue for many years. The album's best feature is Kenny Håkansson's delicate guitar work that creates a certain atmosphere which in itself is very appealing. Håkansson also wrote the music to one of the songs, ”To the Children of Song My”.

Bilder (Silence, 1973)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: ***

Second album sports a framework of sensuous arrangements courtesy of a fine line-up of progg personalities including Kenny Håkansson, Mats Glenngård, Bo Skoglund and Fläsket Brinner's Gunnar Bergsten. But Turid's voice keeps whirling up into her patented, grating falsetto. This time she comes clean though, translating Joni Mitchell's ”I Had a King” into ”Jag vet en prins”. Album highlights: ”Låt mig se dig” and Thomas Wiehe cover ”Vargen”. Like "Vittras visor", "Bilder" has a gracedul mood, but the voice is too piercing.

Tredje dagen (Silence, 1975)

International relevance: ***

Swedish vocals

”På tredje dagen återuppståndna” is a great track, featuring drum master Bengt Berger on tablas and thankfully with only a minimum of Turid's fairy yodel. Includes ”Om snällhet” written by Lena Ekman. Features on all-star cast with members from Kebnekajse, Elektriska Linden, Blå Tåget, Egba, and Vargavinter.

Selma, världserövrare (Metronome, 1977)

International relevance: ***

Swedish vocals

Turid's switch to commercial major label (major by progg standards anyway) prompted progg magazine Musikens Makt to publish a mean-spirited piece about how she 'lets the Movement down' and being too wrapped up in her 'personal concerns'. The album isn't better or worse than any other Turid album, only displaying higher production values. And more of the Hammarlund vibrato. But the title track is probably Turid's best song ever.

Tistlar från tundran (Metronome, 1980)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

Her second album for Metronome, and her last and weakest solo album. ”På väg” sounds like another female Metronome artist, Marie Bergman,”Personligt brev” mimicks Joni Mitchell period with backing band L.A. Express.

Flow Soma (Silence, 1982)

with Thomas Wiehe

English vocals, instrumental

International relevance: *

 

Turid's last original outing was an all English collaboration with Thomas Wiehe, released as simply Thomas and Turid, but Wiehe's input is limited to guitar and percussion. Turid is the singer and songwriter. The album is basically a jazz album with antiseptic new age production. A different term would be 'muzak'. Or 'terrible'.

Turid also appears on two albums by Finnish weirdo M.A. Numminen, ”Haren satt i gropen” (Love, 1973) and ”Fårskallevisor” (Svenska Love, 1978). She also made an album with Jan Hammarlund and Lena Ekman, ”Igår, idag, i morgon” (Silence, 1976). ”Progglådan” features various live recordings from 1969-1976. There are also a few other various artists albums with exclusive Turid contributions. Of note are also her collaborations with Kebnekajse, especially on their second album.

Bottom line: Anything Turid did, Joni Mitchell did so much better. In that sense, Turid is like a Swedish Linda Perhacs who gets all record collector cognoscenti praise instead of the real thing. There are good songs among here albums, but they're not original enough to justify any 'holy cow' status that certain vinyl high priests so readily declare her.

Vittras visor full album playlist
Tredje dagen full album playlist

Selma, världserövrare full album playlist
Tistlar från tundran full album playlist
Flow Soma full album playlist

from Bilder

Välkomme-hus 

Bilder 

Tintomara 

Låt mig se dig 

Den gamla vanliga historien 

Och sommaren kom 

Tom i bollen 

Ödegårdar 

Vargen

KEBNEKAJSE – Vi drar vidare (Mercury, 1978)

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***

If a band loses its most important member and radically changes the musical style, is it still the same band?

Is ”Vi drar vidare” really a Kebnekajse album?

Kenny Håkansson, guitarist par excellence, left the band after ”Elefanten” and that should have been the end of the once godlike Kebnekajse, but instead they signed to Mercury for one more album. Trying to fill the void Håkansson left gaping galaxy wide, Mats Glenngård stepped in as the main songwriter and turned the band into some kind of fusion/symph rock amalgam.

A Kaipa parody? A Jean-Luc Ponty charade? Something even worse?

Call it what you will, this album drags Kebnekajse's name in the dirt and then drags it back again twice as hard. I feel genuinely sorry for Kenny Håkansson who had to see this happen to his former band. And I feel sorry for myself and every other Kebnekajse fan that this even exists. It hurts.

People told me long before I had heard the album that it was bad, but crikey! I couldn't imagine just how bad it actually is. And it does not get better over time. Had it been a Coste Apetrea or a Kornet album, then it might have been excellent. Sort of. But Kebnekajse's name's on that catastrophic cover, in large letters, and that makes ”Vi drar vidare” an insult. No more, no less. 

Full album playlist

GÖSTA LINDERHOLM – In kommer Gösta (Metronome, 1973) / Göstas skiva (Metronome, 1975)

Anyone familiar with Gösta Linderholm (and that includes just about every Swede of a certain age or inclination) surely wonders if I've lost it completely by including him here. He's something of a laughing stock found in every charity shop bin across the nation. I doubt many people take him seriously, and he actually has himself to blame after the dreadful mega hit ”Rulla in en boll och låt den rulla”, a 1978 faux cajun song that plagued the airwaves here for an eternity. And me, I never once thought he'd be something I'd offer any progg blog space. Until I took a closer look at his first two albums, that is.

In kommer Gösta (Metronome, 1973)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

After an early career with trad jazz band Sveriges Jazzband (best known for their 1970 song ”Brittas restaurang”), Gösta Linderholm made his solo debut with an album taking its title from a Philemon Arthur & The Dung song. He immediately established himself as a happy-go-lucky troubadour with a warbly voice. But, hang on – is that tablas in opening track, the droning ”Herr Fantasi”? It is indeed, played by Jan Bandel. And there's Björn J:son Lindh in his best ”Ramadan” mode. ”Påtalåten”? Yes, an Ola Magnell cover recorded the same year as Magnell's own 45 version. And that bassist Stefan Brolund, wasn't he in Pop Workshop and later EGBA and Oriental Wind? He was.

”In kommer Gösta” isn't a great album and rather typical Metronome label singer/songwriter fare along the lines of the aforementioned Ola Magnell and, for better or for worse, Marie Bergman.
But it nevertheless shows that there was a wee bit more to Gösta Linderholm than he gets cred for. 

Göstas skiva (Metronome, 1975)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Not surprisingly, both Magnell and Bergman pop up on Linderholm's second album along with Thommie Fransson and, again, Björn J:son Lindh. The style is similar to the debut but with a few better songs and slightly darker shades, as on ”I natten” and the Magnell/Linderholm co-composition ”Kom liv”. I remember "Herr Fantasi” from my radio listening childhood days, so I have a certain nostalgic relation to that particular track. But the best track here is the album's most unexpected inclusion.

Guitarist Finn Sjöberg appears prominently on the album and that might explain Kvartetten Som Sprängde cover ”Gånglåt från Valhallavägen”. Originally an instrumental track but here with added Linderholm lyrics, and I can promise there's nothing else in his ouvre to prepare you for this. It's a bleak, actually apocalyptic depiction of a winter's day in Stockholm, soaked in alienation, internal turmoil and impending chaos. Junkies are dying in the streets and a hysterical Lady Luck screams out in agony. This track is truly a lost progg gem hidden in plain sight.

Linderholm made many albums after these two, some of them with credible musicians helping him out such as Kebnekajse's Mats Glenngård on ”Blå ballader & gröna demoner” from 1977. Some of them even have a half OK track or two, but there's really no point in getting into them in detail. A thumb rule is that the later it gets, the more Linderholm lived up to his own caricature.

In kommer Gösta full album playlist
Göstas skiva full album playlist

BJÖRN J:SON LINDH – The 1970's albums

Björn J:son Lindh's name pops up everywhere on this blog. No wonder – he was part of the core staff of studio musicians, and remained so for decades, often performing with guitarist Janne Schaffer. His 'Credits' section at Discogs has almost 600 entries, and there are probably more albums featuring J:son Lindh still not listed. He was well-versed in multiple genres, wrote music for movies and television, and more important his breathy and sometimes even aggressive flute style was distinct and original. He remained active up until his death a few days before Christmas in 2013. Still many Swedish casual listeners have a limited view of J:son Lindh's scope, largely based on the romantic and new age tinged 1980 hit ”Brusa högre lilla å”. While true a lot of his albums beyond the 1970's are best avoided, some of his earliest solo works are pretty great. 

Some of his albums were released internationally under the moniker Jayson Lindh.

Ramadan (Metronome, 1971)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

 

First solo outing from Björn J:son Lindh features the likes of Kenny Håkansson, Jojje Wadenius, Jan Brandel and jazz men Bobo Stenson and Palle Danielsson. ”Ramadan” touches on funk, renaissance music, Swedish folk, Eastern scales, jazz and multiple points in-between. The exuberant ”Love March” was culled from the album and the single quickly became a radio favourite. The warm sounding production, typical to Metronome albums of the 70's, ensures a rewarding listen even today. 

Från storstad till grodspad (SR, 1971)

Instrumental, Swedish vocals

International relevance: ***

A very different, interesting but nevertheless largely parenthetical release in J:son Lindh's early ouvre, recorded with a symphony orchestra and released through Swedish Radio's imprint. The experimental and collage-like ”Från storstad till grodspad” has its admirers and the first side – devoted in full to the suite ”Musik från en storstad” – may interest fans of early Mothers of Invention. Side two is all over the place, with prog (”Grytnäs sväller”), jazz and modernist art music. Hawkey Franzén appears on ”I grodspadet”. It's a diverse album, or more precisely way too inconsistent.

Cous Cous (Metronome, 1972)

Instrumental, wordless vocals
International relevance: ***

The proper second album isn't quite as cohesive as ”Ramadan” but it's still a must if you like the J:son Lindh's debut. Highlights includes ”El Henna” in vivid Oriental colours, and the minute track ”Abdo” which sounds a bit like the long tracks off US Kaleidoscope's magnificent albums. Both tracks feature Egyptian lute player Abd al-Rahman al-Khatib (who also lends his rich baryton hum to ”Abdo”). There are other great moments here, but these two tracks alone would still make ”Cous Cous” a mandatory listen.

Sissel (Metronome, 1973)
Instrumental 

International relevance: ***

 

His third Metronome album moves in the territory staked out by ”Ramadan” and ”Cous Cous” but hasn't quite the same amount of emanating mystique. Still an album to own for the funky groove of ”Your Own House” and the fast moving title track which is a most meritorious example of what later would develop into fullblown fusion. Along with ”Ramadan” and ”Cous Cous”, ”Sissel” makes up an informal trilogy that together stands as Björn J:son Lindh's finest hour.

Boogie Woogie (Metronome, 1974)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

Things definitely began to slide with ”Boogie Woogie”. With it J:son Lindh took a further step towards the fusion amalgam, adopting a studio sound that pretty much killed the graceful mysticism of his previous albums. Only closing track ”Pivo” retains the Oriental influences to good effect, making it the self-evident high mark of ”Boogie Woogie”. Released as ”Second Carneval” in the US.

Raggie (Metronome, 1976)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

Take a look at the cover and you've heard the album. The pink fuzz and soft focus of the sleeve is also prevalent on the album itself and turns the music into an unengaging smear – smooth perfection over musical content. The sole exception is ”Anniversary March” with Mats Glenngård's fiddle adding a much needed spirit. The softer tracks try to capture the low-key sense of wonder familiar from the 'trilogy', but they end up as hopeless slippery new age drivel. 

Bike Voyage II (Sonet, 1978)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

After signing with Sonet, J:son Lindh appeared with this album which is marginally better than ”Raggie”, largely thanks to a couple of tracks with a pronunced Oriental feel like the traditional ”Billathi Askara”, enhanced by Egyptian Nāgi al-Ḥabaši fervent cello playing, and ”Ah Q” with a guest appearance from Okay Temiz on tablas. But it's ”A Day at the Surface”, ”Hotel and Drumsticks”, ”Colwyn Way”, and ”Boathouse Club” (the latter with an absolutely horrendous synth part) that define the album as just another bloodless fusion album, as stone dead as the granite bust on the cover. Released as ”A Day at the Surface” in the UK.

Ramadan full album playlist
Från grodspad till storstad full album playlist
Cous Cous full album playlist
Sissel full album playlist
Raggie full album playlist
Bike Voyage II full album playlist

MIKAEL RAMEL – Till dej (Sonet, 1972)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***

 
Ranked #5 on the blog's Top 25 list

Any creator with a famous parent or two must have known it at some point in his or her career: the pressure of history heavy on the shoulders. Ask the Lennon kids, Jakob Dylan, or the entire clan of Wainwright siblings.

Mikael Ramel felt it too, being the son of Povel Ramel, the genius of words and music and a Swedish national treasure. Just about everyone in Sweden knows who Povel Ramel is. Most Swedes can hum a Povel tune. Povel entertained listeners, viewers and readers for an astonishing 70 years!

Mikael himself made his vinyl debut as a 16 year old in 1965, releasing a seven inch together with his dad, the elusive ”En ren familjeprodukt”. The following year, the equally rare ”Förvånansvärt” EP appeared. Around this time, Mikael became a member of Steampacket, an outfit that released a handful of singles, including the evocative ”Bara ett par dar” and the freakbeat classic ”Take Her Anytime”, as Steampacket II. Steampacket faced a bit of a hassle in the UK, as there was another band with the very same name active in Great Britain. A band that included, among others, a young Rod Stewart, why our beloved Swedes had to change their name to The Longboatmen before eventually settling for Steampacket II.

It wasn't until 1972 that Mikael Ramel burst loose as a solo performer. ”Till dej” was his first album bearing his own name in large latters on the cover. An album which is a major achievement in every way. He finally demonstrated what a genius he was in his own right, after being a talented team worker for years. ”I never thought about it”, says Mikael when I ask him about the transition from a group member to a solo artist. ”It probably felt just natural, since Steampacket broke up,” he speculates.

”Till dej” is everything that retro-proggers Dungen tries to be. It's full of melodic twists, inventive arrangements, jammy portions and, most strikingly, lyrics pondering on man's place in society and in the world. That's not to say Mikael was, or is, a political writer in the same sense that many of his peers were. On the contrary, he's an unpolitical spectator of the world around him, reflecting on nature, drugs, the modern society and relations between people, often in a playful way. For instance, there are few songs with an anti-drug stance as rocking and captivating as ”Artificiell Prana”. On recording the album, Mikael says that ”I remember the sessions to be full of curiousity, endless joy of playing and joy in general, plus persistence and purpose.” As for the burgeoning progg movement, he says ”I didn't care. It's time that made the phenomenon.”

With a keen sense of words and word play, it was obvious that parallells were to be drawn between Mikael and his dad. ”Yes, the older generation in particular – perhaps not that surprising... Sometimes, it was bothering. 'The man himself' really liked my solo debut. That, of course, was a kick.”

I can't help but wonder if Mikael was pushed in a certain direction when he was a kid; if he and his siblings felt any pressure to develop a strain of language similar to his father. ”Not at all!” he states. ”We were fashioned by our environment just like anybody else. Language was something obvious and natural to us. Nothing strange.”

Unfortunately, with the lyrics being in Swedish, foreign listeners miss out on many of ”Till dej's” excellent shadings. True, the songs, the playing and the production are top notch so there's still a whole lot to enjoy, but it's a pity that the linguistical shine is lost on listeners not familiar with the Swedish language. However, the CD reissues of ”Till dej” and subsequent albums feature some translated versions of a couple of Mikael's best early solo songs. There were plans to launch Mikael Ramel on the international market, but those plans eventually fell through. Even if these translations might be useful to foreign fans, truth is that they lose some of Ramel's natural flow and excellence in Swedish. They simply sound better in his native language.

”Till dej” was in the making for a year and a half, an amount of time which, back in the day, were close to an eternity. The seeds of the album were sown in the late 60's, and – according to Mikael Ramel's website – a little time behind bars got in the way of the album's completion. So what seems like a big gap between the last Steampacket II single in 1968, and ”Till dej” in 1972 isn't that huge after all when you think about it.

The line-up features some prominent players, such as Bengan Dahlén, Eric Dahbäck and Per Bruun from Fläsket Brinner, as well as Mats Glenngård and Bella Linnarsson of Kebnekajse fame. Not to mention Turid Lindquist, Bobo Stenson and Slim Notini. A solid bunch, perfectly suited to match the songs themselves. Just about every track on the album is a winner. The songs are so thoroughly written, so meticulously executed, that it's no wonder that the album still is as fresh as a vernal breeze. This is music that simply can't grow old, or ever lose its grace. The efforts put into ”Till dej” still pay off. ”I know,” Mikael assures, ”that younger generations assimilate the product as a 'holy' thing. That is, to understand 'future' you need to look into the 'past', and 'Till dej' is part of that, as an example of 'teaching'. It's certainly a kick to me to know that my music has staying power. I sometimes listen to 'Till dej', to compare it to what others say and think about it... I know in my very nails exactly how the record was made. What an effort it was. And how long it took to make it!”

If you can ignore the fact that the lyrics are part of the excellence, then this album is, just like the title translates, for you. When all is said and done, it will remain one of the finest Swedish efforts of the 70's. One of the finest Swedish efforts in general, actually.

Many kind thanks to Mikael Ramel for taking my time to reply to my questions!

Full album playlist including bonus tracks