There are some nice musical moments on this, the second full-length release from the Uppsala crew, although they're sadly few and far between. It's a decent enough album, but the one thing that I've come to realize over the course of at least half a dozen run-throughs of "Ultrarapid" is that this works much better as background music than it does as something that you would put on to actually listen to. The songs are such that you wouldn't skip over one if it played as a random selection on your iPod but, by the same token, you would rarely find yourself deliberately giving any of them a spin. Well, apart from one, maybe. "Feberdröm", it must be said, is a sublime creation and easily the best on the album. It's uplifting and vibrant and is one of those songs that finds you playing it back-to-back on each pass. Production-wise, the vocals are so high in the mix that they undermine a lot of the positive aspects of the album -- the actual music. But, even though a lot of the music on here is good, it does border on the pretentious at times. Sometimes it's quite close to a progged-up, guitar-driven A-ha and, with "Scoundrel days" remaining one of my all-time favourite albums, those moments do serve as highlights, if only for a false sense of nostalgia. A strange one to see on the roster and, disappointingly, one that doesn't do the label any favors. - John Norby
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Gocart System - Always been the same
02. TALK 1
03. [ingenting] - Halleluja
04. The Kid - Transient dance
05. Thåström - Kort biografi med litet testamente
06. TALK 2
07. Small - Sunshine lover
08. Heroin and Your Veins - The trigger
09. Kongh - Tank pa doden
10. Villebråd - Vaknar aldrig
11. TALK 3
12. Anna Leong - Guillotine
13. Ison & Fille - Jag skrattar idag
14. Dyno - Burning blood
15. TALK 4
16. The Bear Quartet - Sweet beef
17. Entombed - State of emergency
18. Skatan - Top of the mountain
19. Familjen - Mine øyne de ska se
20. TALK 5
21. Suzy Thunder - Big
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
One last Transubstans-affiliated mp3 for this week: Villebråd is an anomaly in the label's roster in that they aren't very heavy at all, at least not anymore. Progressive, yes, but also way more synth/post-punk than rock'n'roll. It's a streamlined sound, very clean and sharp and with a dark, artsy edge. "Vaknar aldrig" is all awkward up-and-down riffs, trading voices and speaking in staccato rhythms. So yeah, things get complicated, yet they've got everything so honed and locked down that it never feels messy, no matter how many different things are going on (and there are a lot). It's still not as immediately satisfying as the other Villebråd track I posted years ago, but it still sticks out for being undeniably interesting.
Colossus Projects, a label run by the Finnish Progressive Music Association, is putting out a tribute to 70s Swedish progg called "Rökstenen" and here is the tracklist:
01. The Samurai Of Prog (ITA) - Drottningholmsmusiken, Sats 1 (Blåkulla)
02. Simon Says (SWE) - Tajgan (Kaipa)
03. Revelation (ITA) - Björnstorp (Atlas)
04. Black Bonzo (SWE) - Här kommer natten (Pugh Rogefeldt)
05. Villebråd (SWE) - Rockgift (Trettioåriga Kriget)
06. Keybridge (ITA) - Den skrattande grevinnan (Kaipa)
07. Richard Marichal (VEN) - Fran Det Ena Till Det Andra (Kaipa)
08. Echoes (VEN) - Andra Sidan (Trettioåriga Kriget)
09. Willowglass (UK) - Oceaner Foder Liv (Kaipa)
10. Anja (SWE) - Mount Everest (November)
11. Darxtar (SWE) - Cosmic Love (Ralph Lundsten)
12. Wasa Express (SWE) - Apkalops (Egba)
13. Pensiero Nomade (ITA) - Jatten Feeling (Flasket Brinner)
14. Mist Season (FIN) - Promenader (Ragnarök)
15. In The Labyrinth (SWE) - Worlds on Fire (Handgjort)
16. Soniq Circus (SWE) - Stockholm (Pugh Rogefeldt)
17. The Moor (SWE) - Grävmaskinen (Pugh Rogefeldt)
18. Jinetes Negros (ARG) - Mars (Blåkulla)
19. The Grand Trick (SWE) - The Black Riders (Bo Hansson)
20. Pseudo Sun (SWE) - En Av Oss (Life)
21. Mattijs Herder (HOL) - Two Hours Over Two Blue Mountains... (Älgarnas Trädgård)
22. The Chair (SWE) - Naked Man (Rag I Ryggen)
23. Gösta Berlings Saga (SWE) - Esso Motor Hotel (Arbete & Fritid)
24. Moosequartet (SWE) - Vi Valde Inte Våldet (Fickteatern)
25. Magnolia (SWE) - Ganska långt från Sergel (November)
26. Daal (ITA) - Var Glad Var Dag (Ragnarock)
27. Tkingdkeys (FIN) - Ingenting (Samla Mammas)
28. Anima Morte (SWE) - The Old Forest (Bo Hansson)
29. Kate (FIN) - Disease (Dice)
30. Sinkadus (SWE) - Death (Dice)
31. Vanilla Project (ITA) - Gånglåt (Atlas)
32. Contrarian (US) - Sirenernas Sang (Blåkulla)
33. Survival (HOL) - Sebastian (Atlas)
34. Beardfish (SWE) - Pop Poem (Made In Sweden)
35. Karmic Jaggernaut (US) - Greed (Dice)
36. Trion (HOL) - På Gata (Atlas)
37. Pax Romana (FIN) - Solnedgången (Blåkulla)
38. La Bocca Della Verità (ITA) - War (Dice)
39. Jerry Johansson & Dan Fröberg (SWE) - Kontinuerlig Drift (Bonus Track)
I'm always stoked when a new package of promo CDs from Transubstans Records shows up because they've consistently got the best hard-rock going on, hands down. Graveyard, Sienna Root, Øresund Space Collective, Villebråd, the list goes on and on. Naturally there's a few clunkers in the catalog, but I typically find that the positive far outweighs the negative, though a few do fall somewhere in between and The Chair happens to be one of 'em. I dig the band's bluesy hard-rock style, but they've also got a corny side that reminds me of Kiss in a bad way. On the other hand, the more they sound like Blue Cheer, the happier I am and "September" definitely has that going on. I especially dig the way the main riff trades off with the vocals on the verse. It's not rocket science, but if the classic recipe works so well, why mess with it? That's what hard-rock revival is all about; it's called "classic" rock for a reason. This is good summer music that doesn't require much thought, nothing more. And there's no faulting a band with the balls to shout "Turn it up Scandinavia!" as they do in "Barn burner". Just like Kiss, it's goofy as hell, but also kinda bad-ass. I can appreciate that sort of party vibe in limited doses, if I'm in the right mood.
I know very little about Villebråd outside of the basic info supplied in their bio. Their new album showed up totally unexpected in a stack of CDs from Swedish psych/prog label Transubstans Records. I still have to go back and listen to the rest of the discs with more attention to detail, but Villebråd immediately stood out from the rest. The sound is firmly rooted in classic prog ala King Crimson or say fellow Swedes Anekdoten, but there's also a very strong melodic pop sensibility ala Japan/David Sylvian or maybe even The Gathering and early Soundtrack of Our Lives. Enough atmosphere to be called space-rock, but they never go overboard - the songs on the album "Alla är här uton jag" all clock in at a merciful 5:10 or less. That's some serious self-restraint for a band who willfully labels themselves as 'prog'. Like I said, they've got pop sensibilities. Despite the odd syncopation, the main verse riff of the song I've posted today is quite catchy. I especially love the siren whistle in the buildup, nicely balanced by hard-panned, alternating guitar stabs before opening up into the chorus. There's tons more surprises like that all over the record. If you can get into TSOOL's less straightforward, more adventurous material then Villebråd is for you.
Villebråd