The Nordic psych/folk/forest rune tape echo band thread

[shadowplay]

After looking through Joe's, Jonas' and Nanamours great suggestions for any gaps, I realised I'd not posted about A Taste of Blues. I only own one record and I pretty much took a punt on it due to the sleeve, which walks that fine line between charmingly naive and badly drawn. It's kinda hard to put your finger on their sound...I guess it's a sort of Motorik Bossa nova (and not Blues), I think that you could almost remix these into Cavern of Anti-Matter tracks or Stereolab sound interludes. In some ways their apparent rejection of crotch thrusting, fuck the man, foot on the monitor chug, is quite postmodern. I guess they are something like a bridge between 60's instrumental 'exotika' and kosmische.

Taste of Blues - Schizofrenia (1969) Full Album

Joe mentioned Bo Hansson and I guess this prompts me to chip in with a recommendation for his Lord of the Rings album Sagan om ringen (The Lord of the Rings). Opinions will be moot as regards to the music's suitability for the subject matter but I do really like it. There's some really cool guitar on it on tracks like De Svarta Riddarna / Flykten Till Vadstället (The Black Riders / Flight To The Ford) which is to me reminiscent of Soundtracks period Michael Karoli.


Not rock but one of my side interests is earlyish minimal/concrete and a couple of good Swedish ones are;


(note) I basically know fuck all about this sort of thing beyond knowing what I like, after I blindly stumble into it.

Rune Lindblad ‎- Death Of The Moon And Other Early Works (a retrospective pressing) you could imagine this released as a cassette on Hospital Productions.

and

Folke Rabe - Was??

D

[mijmog]

Just checking out those links now David, great stuff, thank you, really into that Rune Lindbland link at the moment. I've got a very odd Finnish record at home that I can't even read the title of, might have to take a pic and post it here, very music concrete, snails-crawling-over-zither vibe, think I just bought it for the artwork.

Joe mentioned Bo Hansson and I guess this prompts me to chip in with a recommendation for his Lord of the Rings album Sagan om ringen (The Lord of the Rings). Opinions will be moot as regards to the music's suitability for the subject matter but I do really like it. There's some really cool guitar on it on tracks like De Svarta Riddarna / Flykten Till Vadstället (The Black Riders / Flight To The Ford) which is to me reminiscent of Soundtracks period Michael Karoli.

One of my favourite albums, great to work to, exercise to, drive to and fall asleep to - and Hansson's guitar playing is completely Karoli-esque, have always felt that, glad someone has made that comparison. That track was the gateway drug for everything Scandinavian for me, and I know its deemed fairly "cheesey" by many, I think time and context have treated it well, I heard it before I knew it was anything to do with LOTR. Lots of people I play it to, run away scared as they think of it as too "prog" - but if you come at it from a different angle, from the Can angle, the album is superb, goes from forest-fuzz to almost electronic like Steve Reich stuff in places.

Meanwhile in Dungen world, they've recorded their cover of Aphex Twin's Alberto Balsam for Aquarium Drunkard. Johan's drumming is worth the link alone, really shows off the band's level of skill.

I think the one thread running through most of this music, both new and old, is how proficient all of the musicians are. A lot of the early Scandinavian bands had musicians that all came from a jazz or trained backgrounds. I suppose this is true with a lot of early prog and rock though in most countries, but it feels more so with the music from these countries, I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong. I suppose before "year zero" happened, to be anything more than a amateur musician on some sort of stage as the new genre of rock rolled in, you had to have a degree of talent or level of proficiency to get a gig. I'm not saying that I think all good music has to be made from trained musicians, far from it - as with this genre, I know members floating around the Trad Gras och Stenar and International Harvester scene were openly from non-musical backgrounds and made music as a form of expression rather than an example of skill - but I find I turn to a lot of the bands listed in the posts above when I'm in the mood to hear some proper technical wizard shit, some of the more extreme Scandinavian prog never feels as in your face or bragging as something like Yes. There's something about the note choices, and sense of atmosphere, and there seems a greater reliance on melody rather than just pure widdly-widdly. Bit more restrained maybe?

I definitely feel that guitarists like Fiske seem to be almost using a different set of notes than anyone else, hardly any pentatonic bullshit that a lot of the UK lot get stuck into, maybe the blues boom didn't touch Sweden as much as it did in the UK. Someone like Kenny Hakkansson is clearly influenced by Hendrix, but didn't take the blues part, just the sounds and the vision, and applied it to folk melodies, I find it really interesting and so addictive.

If you can, check out this incredible tome by Tobias Petterson (who has both a predictably insane record and poster-art collection). Your bank balance will regret it, its almost too easy. Useful for cross referencing stuff and making sure you don't buy anything sight unseen that turns out to be a dud.

[shadowplay]

I think the one thread running through most of this music, both new and old, is how proficient all of the musicians are. A lot of the early Scandinavian bands had musicians that all came from a jazz or trained backgrounds. I suppose this is true with a lot of early prog and rock though in most countries, but it feels more so with the music from these countries, I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong. I suppose before "year zero" happened, to be anything more than a amateur musician on some sort of stage as the new genre of rock rolled in, you had to have a degree of talent or level of proficiency to get a gig. I'm not saying that I think all good music has to be made from trained musicians, far from it - as with this genre, I know members floating around the Trad Gras och Stenar and International Harvester scene were openly from non-musical backgrounds and made music as a form of expression rather than an example of skill - but I find I turn to a lot of the bands listed in the posts above when I'm in the mood to hear some proper technical wizard shit, some of the more extreme Scandinavian prog never feels as in your face or bragging as something like Yes. There's something about the note choices, and sense of atmosphere, and there seems a greater reliance on melody rather than just pure widdly-widdly. Bit more restrained maybe?

Spot on but crucially for me there's very little BOW TO ME THE GOLDEN GUITAR GOD, it's a whole different mindset from UK and US rawkers who constantly sound like they just want to get into demonstration mode. I very seldom get this feeling with the Nordics ( I mean if we take Dungen, they must underplay tot he song as much as any band) but I admit it's a comparatively narrow field for me and who knows what it's like further out.

You can see some of the same attitudes in Germany and France and maybe Switzerland. If I didn't know better i'd have though Heldon were Nordic.

Ok they are French but they sort of sit between worlds like Sagan om ringen and end floating between Kosmische and the more lithesome Nordic thing;

Baader-Meinhof Blues

In the Wake of King Fripp

D

[mijmog]

but I admit it's a comparatively narrow field for me and who knows what it's like further out.

You're right I'm probably only narrowly looking at the bands that actually appeal to me - there'll be some proper widdle-fest stuff out there, in all countries, but I agree there's something good in the water.

I suppose its like someone looking at UK music and ignoring the intense overblown stuff and going straight for something like the great Battered Ornaments or mighty May Blitz.

[nanamour]

I think the one thread running through most of this music, both new and old, is how proficient all of the musicians are. A lot of the early Scandinavian bands had musicians that all came from a jazz or trained backgrounds. I suppose this is true with a lot of early prog and rock though in most countries, but it feels more so with the music from these countries, I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong. I suppose before "year zero" happened, to be anything more than a amateur musician on some sort of stage as the new genre of rock rolled in, you had to have a degree of talent or level of proficiency to get a gig. I'm not saying that I think all good music has to be made from trained musicians, far from it - as with this genre, I know members floating around the Trad Gras och Stenar and International Harvester scene were openly from non-musical backgrounds and made music as a form of expression rather than an example of skill - but I find I turn to a lot of the bands listed in the posts above when I'm in the mood to hear some proper technical wizard shit, some of the more extreme Scandinavian prog never feels as in your face or bragging as something like Yes. There's something about the note choices, and sense of atmosphere, and there seems a greater reliance on melody rather than just pure widdly-widdly. Bit more restrained maybe?

Spot on but crucially for me there's very little BOW TO ME THE GOLDEN GUITAR GOD, it's a whole different mindset from UK and US rawkers who constantly sound like they just want to get into demonstration mode. I very seldom get this feeling with the Nordics ( I mean if we take Dungen, they must underplay tot he song as much as any band) but I admit it's a comparatively narrow field for me and who knows what it's like further out.

^^^Perfectly said.

Stylistically I think a lot of the Scandinavian musicians maintained a deep reverence for jazz and folk music rather than hitting the rock n roll reset button (break glass only in case of emergency!) in contrast to the US and UK where they were initially treated as obsolete relic genres by rockists. When the white hot energy of Hendrix hit the Nordic snow it was filtered through a experimentaljazzfolk prism and metamorphosed into an auroric spectrum of playing that retains every bit of the intensity but comes from a place far more Jan Johansson than Jerry Lee Lewis. I agree that a common thread in Scandinavian psych seems to be an emphasis on atmospherics and restraint: I mean Parson Sound and International Harvester andare practically guitar-based ambient music, and even at the most fuzzed out, feedbacking, space-time rift opening moments of Nordic psych it always feels that the majik is being used to transport the listener rather than to impress, that the intent is to create space rather than to fill it. Case study: the last few minutes of Baby Grandmothers - Somebody Keeps Calling My Name...well, the whole thing really-Hakansson's guitar sears and soars but the note choice and sense of timing gives it a massive sense of depth and mystery around it.

It also seems to me that US/UK prog was an evolution of more than a decade of ever-intensifying rock technical rivalry until it got the point where the music itself became a waste byproduct of bloated musicianship, something for the EPA to come clean up in Tyvek suits once everyone's had their fill of the pyrotechnic guitar self-abuse (and synth, and drum, and bass). I think rock n roll's later introduction to the Nordic countries (not really a Chuck Berry period like there was in the US/UK from my limited understanding) combined with the accomplished powers a lot of musicians already had coming into these bands largely precluded that sort of evolution (devolution), or at least pushed the tide back half a decade or more and allowed Scandinavian guitar music to evolve in its own unique cosmic tidal pool.

While we're on Bo Hansson (huge part of my induction into this world as well) it's worth checking out the late 70s future-medieval Swedish electronic duo Anna Själv Tredje. Their album threads a needle between Sagan Om Ringen and Klaus Schulze (or even elektronisch Popol Vuh) with some highly proggy sensibilities weaved into its fibers. I just stumbled upon this one the other day based on the cover art and it's now reaching an obsession of mine, a golden ratio boilup of so many things I love. Fingers and toes crossed somebody gives it the reissue treatment one of these days.

Anna Själv Tredje - Tusen εr & sju timmar ionospheric guitar drone that would do Trad, Gras, & Stenar proud

Anna Själv Tredje - Mossen

Anna Själv Tredje - Den Barbariska Söndagen Pt 1

Also lighting the landing beacons for Swedish psychers Bremen. Two long players, Second Launch and Eclipsed, are out on Blackest Ever Black. The label's artist blurb described The Marble Index, Jan Johansson, Pärson Sound, and "cold eighties electronic sound" as touchpoints = insta-buy!

Second Launch is great facelifted instrumental progg rock (full stream available on bandcamp link posted); Eclipsed reaches back further into the depths of time, gets a bit more electro-airy with it. Bremen - On Board.

Mijmog, that Tobias Petterson book looks like the stuff of dreams and I'm sure would be something of a religious text for me, but shit! the prices I'm seeing on the computerwebmarket are as dimension-distorting to my bank account as the music within is to the psyche

[mijmog]

In the Wake of King Fripp

I'm loving this - thanks David.

Anna Själv Tredje - Tusen εr & sju timmar

...and thanks for this, new obsession, mentioned it to a mate and he sent me this back, a non-album track, very heavy Sagan om ringen vibes:

Anna Själv Tredje - Snöfall och daggyra ur daggfall och snöyra

This thread is ace. I want to talk more tape echo and fuzz but am worried it will get in the way of all the music links. Lets wait it out. Really enjoying checking in.

[mijmog]

...and how could I forget this:

The Lea Riders Group - Dom Kallar Oss Mods

[shadowplay]

^^^

Talk echo, echo,echo,echo)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))...all you like I might learn something.

Though I only know H|H and Copicats well.

d

[nanamour]

In the Wake of King Fripp

I'm loving this - thanks David.

I'll join in chanting the praises, great stuff.

...and thanks for this, new obsession, mentioned it to a mate and he sent me this back, a non-album track, very heavy Sagan om ringen vibes:

It's an amazing record, isn't it?! The Snöfall och daggyra track your mate sent is a thing of awe too...Anna Själv Tredje came on to me like Ash Ra Tempel does Bo Hansson, but after a couple more listens they definitely have their own lichen-encrusted electronic thing going on too

This thread is ace. I want to talk more tape echo and fuzz but am worried it will get in the way of all the music links. Lets wait it out. Really enjoying checking in.

Talk echo, echo,echo,echo)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))...all you like I might learn something.

Though I only know H|H and Copicats well.

I'm happy to talk tape echo till the Copicows come home, whether here or in another thread.

We have Wotti's blessing:

[nanamour]

Likely not of much interest, but an update on something posted earlier: I shared this thread with Swedish friend of mine and he pointed out that AnnaMy - Balladen om Kråkguldet/Ballad of The Crow's Gold (Swedish version at 2:56) (a song which has a special place in my heart) is actually a cover of the original by Thorstein Bergman which was the theme music to Kråkguldet, a 1969 Swedish Christmastime television serial about the strange events following some kids discovering a gold nugget in a mine shaft...I know what I'm watching this holiday season!

Thorstein Bergman - Balladen om Kråkguldet: it doesn't quite hold a candle to AnnaMy's spectral take but IMO stripped down the song holds up well (skip to 2:28 for the song, or watch the whole thing for some spooky cawing from the stuffed crow of your darkest nightmares and unsettling nativity play recorder frolikk ).

[shadowplay]

^^^

Really nice recommendation, I've just taken a punt on her album 'Woodpecker', hopefully it's as good as that song, which it looks like I'm going to have to go digital on.

I came to the Nordic folk stuff relatively late in life, I had the odd record but not enough to really speak about, though back in the late seventies and early eighties I bought a fair amount of post punk and minimal wave from the region, which is outside the scope of this thread.

I missed Joe posting about the Anna Själv Tredje album which is a record I love and one that I've always wondered why it's not been reissued, considering its sought after.

D

[nanamour]

^^^

Really nice recommendation, I've just taken a punt on her album 'Woodpecker', hopefully it's as good as that song, which it looks like I'm going to have to go digital on.

It's a gorgeous song, and I was a bit disappointed that it's only on zero one zero one zero too. Her album's in English and is a bit more of a Mellow Candle- Unhalfbricking affair but well within the bounds of this thread: plenty of forest flute (Lisa Isaksson again, she's like the all-pervasive flauten spirit of all things good lending her magic woodwinds to any modern Nordic psych/folk band in need) and Reine Fiske lends his unique guitar talents to a few tracks. Hope you enjoy!

I came to the Nordic folk stuff relatively late in life, I had the odd record but not enough to really speak about, though back in the late seventies and early eighties I bought a fair amount of post punk and minimal wave from the region, which is outside the scope of this thread.

D

Not to derail (maybe material for another thread another time?), but have you checked out the Orgelvärk compilation Minimal Wave put out a few years ago? My knowledge of Scandinavian minimal wave from that time is pretty much limited to some youtube link rabbit holes and what The Prophet Veronica Vasicka tells me to listen to but there's a lot of greatness on that record ranging from hyperboreal industrial to playful synth pop, and like the web blurb says it's almost electronic folk music in a way, with many of the groups quite isolated from one another in small towns and each undergoing its own musical speciation.

[shadowplay]

Not to derail (maybe material for another thread another time?), but have you checked out the Orgelvärk compilation Minimal Wave put out a few years ago? My knowledge of Scandinavian minimal wave from that time is pretty much limited to some youtube link rabbit holes and what The Prophet Veronica Vasicka tells me to listen to but there's a lot of greatness on that record ranging from hyperboreal industrial to playful synth pop, and like the web blurb says it's almost electronic folk music in a way, with many of the groups quite isolated from one another in small towns and each undergoing its own musical speciation.

Yes I know that comp, it's a good suggestion. I actually have the original cassette, in this area my knowledge is fairly unfettered for the most part, I'm not saying I know it all but I'm always better with times I actually bought records through than times before I started. The more well known nordic (vinyl) compilation from 1984 is Burning The Midnight Sun which was a Norweigian label comp from Uniton Records who released original material and did some licensing.

Notable tracks (leaving aside the imported artists) were;

Fra Lippo Lippi - A Small Mercy which to me is an all time great.

Paha Sapa - Dawn which sounds like it's from the mid 90's!

Svart Klovn - Knust Knekt

A recent compilation was VOD113 V/A XENOPHONE INTERNATIONAL (1979-1985) presents TWICE A MAN, LARS FALK, COSMIC OVERDOSE* 3LP-Box. VOD also released box of Pekka Airaksinen / Sperm / Samsa Trio
Works 1968-76 (Box Set). I'm lucky enough to somehow look for enough change down the back of the sofa to buy a Vinyl on Demand subscription every year but it's not cheap.

*related to Anna Själv Tredje. I have a an album by them in a pink sleeve and the singer is divisive on it to say the least, coming on like Mark Goldthorpe with an ASBO!

Anyway apologies of the elekronik...back to the forest.

And again top thread, I'm getting a hell of a lot out of this.

D

PS totally off topic but I wonder if yourself and Joe might like the Beautify Junkyards Album The Beast Shouted Love (from the Portuguese forests ). There's a thread on them and you may also be interested in (back on topic) a band I mention in the thread Swedish band Us and Themwho are on the same label.

[nanamour]

Cool to hear about the original Orgelvärk cassette! I've made first contact with the nordic ____wave/post punk continent and the natives are certainly friendly, but like I said I haven't really delved beyond the superficial until now--great looking recommendations on all those comps, I'm sure that'll be a good foundation to start on.

COSMIC OVERDOSE*
*related to Anna Själv Tredje. I have a an album by them in a pink sleeve and the singer is divisive on it to say the least, coming on like Mark Goldthorpe with an ASBO!

I am currently in the throws of full on obsession with the Anna Själv Tredje album and morbid curiosity led me to check out the singing on Cosmic Overdose...divisive is giving it a down coating! Forget those ultra-high frequency loudspeakers they use to deter loiterers outside grocery stores; pop Cosmic Overdose in the cassette deck and watch the delinquents (and customers) crumple in psy-ops terror, only the pure of heart or deaf of ear shall pass!

PS totally off topic but I wonder if yourself and Joe might like the Beautify Junkyards Album The Beast Shouted Love (from the Portuguese forests ).

Totally bewitching stuff with the Beautify Junkyards album, fantastic recommendation and thanks as always David. This is a dream album for me and an instant order, I'm especially loving the Portuguese songs (maybe my favorite language to hear sung)...lazy comparison but it sounds to me almost like Clube da Esquina* raised from birth in the Serra da Estrela with only a pastoral mutation of Broadcast and maybe a bit of Advisory Circle available to listen to on a waterwheel powered turntable.

*I've thought about doing a thread on this album, it's an all time favorite of mine

and you may also be interested in (back on topic) a band I mention in the thread Swedish band Us and Them who are on the same label.

I'm enjoying the tracks on the bandcamp, but:
!!! Us and Them - Corn Rigs !!!


Btw shadowplay I noticed your sig, are you Lord Summerisle by any chance?

[shadowplay]

Btw shadowplay I noticed your sig, are you Lord Summerisle by any chance?

Oh it's long standing ambition, so far I've only got the maypole.

I agree about the girl from Beautify Junkyards sounding so beautiful in Portuguese.

Pés Na Areia Na Terra Do Sol I mean this just effortlessly penetrates the heart and brings a blush to the skin.

and morbid curiosity led me to check out the singing on Cosmic Overdose...divisive is giving it a down coating! Forget those ultra-high frequency loudspeakers they use to deter loiterers outside grocery stores; pop Cosmic Overdose in the cassette deck and watch the delinquents (and customers) crumple in psy-ops terror, only the pure of heart or deaf of ear shall pass!

He's not as skull cracking on the Xenophone International stuff but yeah, militant squacking.

The strange thing about all those old cassette only releases is that I'm not sure if I remember setting out to buy one, they were generally priced in such a way that they were cheaper than a seven (and often stuck to the front of a fanzine), so if I was in a shop and didn't have enough money for another record I'd spend every penny, right up to and over spending my bus fare home to get a tape (generally displayed next to the cash register) on top, and then walk home. Some of these tapes were incredible (like Solid Space - Space Museum) but I pretty much bought them out of economic necessity.

Knowing you like Tropic of Cancer....quickly ...since I don't really want to step even further off topic but IMO one of the very best Nordic (roughly) Post Punk bands IMO are Moral. Their album And Life Is has bee re-issued and if you don't know it, it's worth a look. Moral - And Life Is...- Dance of the Dolls (and a more upbeat track - Slottet I Luften) and the incredible cassette only Moral - Whispering Sons. (plus the Dance of the Dolls tape) I've loved them for 30 years.

Oh and thanks again for linking the Crows Gold, I LOVE it!

D