MONICA NIELSEN & TOMMY KÖRBERG – ...med hjärtat fyllt av trots: Arbetarrörelsens kampsånger (A Disc, 1977)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Monica Nielsen was mainly a busy movie and television actor but as a singer, she was the perpetual co-artist. She only ever released one album of her own and that was back in 1966, with her other vocal participations including merely the odd single, appearances on various artists and duo albums with high profile performers. ”Med hjärtat fyllt av trots” is one of those, focused on Labours movement songs and recorded with Tommy Körberg. Now an internationally widely celebrated singer, but back in the day best known domestically for his early pop albums, Solar Plexus, and the reformed Made In Sweden.

Körberg isn't the only renowned musician here. On the contrary, the credits are littered with names like Janne Schaffer, Ulf Adåker, Egil Johansen, Björn J:son Lindh, Pekka Pohjola and Rune Gustafsson, and the arrangements were written by much beloved bassist, composer and former Jan Johansson cohort Georg Riedel. While this all points to a thoroughly executed project, we have to remember that the album was released by A Disc, the Social Democrats' imprint known to dampen any kind of artistic enthusiasm. Thus the album title meaning ”with a heart full of defiance” seems like impossible wishful thinking, and it is. It's all very well played, well sung and well arranged – in short, technically and musically impeccable – but if you're looking for any inspiration to defiantly fight the powers that be, this is not the place to go. Unless authorities can be fought with sleep, but I for one have never heard of any revolutionary naps. It ought to be wellknown to all by now that I don't ask for any fistwaving loudmouths, but a little more oomph hadn't hurt...

Motsträvigt och med hjärtat fyllt av trots / Arbetsmannen / Oss alla unga / Kom med oss kamrat / Vårt vapen heter solidaritet / Ingen rubbar oss / Arbetets söner / Signalen / Ett enat folk / Det unga gardet / Solidaritetssång / Internationalen

GAARDA BAND – Vi bygger landet (A Disc, 1980)

  
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Another A Disc album to test your patience. This time by Gaarda Band, an acoustic three-piece stylistically somwhere between hootenanny folk singing and jolly Swedish visa. All lyrics are in Swedish and rich with the usual bland political platitudes typical to A Disc releases. Bad to begin with it gets even worse with embarrassing stabs at ”humourus” portrayals. ”Om det händer mig nåt” is surprisingly enough a pretty good song, but there's no way it can outweigh the otherwise ropey songwriting and singalong message ditties.

Full album (poor sound)

A SEVEN INCH SPECIAL, VOL. 9: Political, religious & theatrical

 
JOINT EFFORT – Du, värld / I morgon (Kyrkoton, 1969)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***

A very rare single from a very obscure Christian trio, so obscure it's not even listed on Discogs at the time of writing. Released on the Kyrkoton label who also gave us the collectable Vergers which should pique the interest of some readers. Not that it needs any pull from others because it stands up well on its own. The B side is the weaker track of the two, although that one's OK as well with a Sir Douglas Quintet styled organ and a pretty catchy drive. But the real treat is ”Du, värld” which is just excellent, a rare Swedish example of what's internationally known as moody garage. Absolutely haunting with brooding organ, reverbed rimshots and a mesmerizing atmosphere created by a slow, almost ghostlike, harmonized melody. In a time when everything appears excavated, discovered, comped and reissued all over again, it's a mystery how this one slipped through the cracks. It's not even of Discogs at the time of writing. It's one of the best Xian tracks I've ever heard from Sweden, almost up there with New Creation's ”He Is There”.

Joint Effort later changed their name to Mission Possible and as such released another Kyrkoton single in 1971. The A side, in a style similar to ”Du, värld”, is featured on the ”Frälst!” compilation.

 

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Jubileum SSU 60 år (Frihets Förlag, 1977)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: -

Four tracks recorded for the ”Democratize Sweden” conference in January 1977 and released to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Social Democrats' youth association SSU the same year. The focus is obsviously on the message, delivered by singing groups Nacka-gänget, Nya Gesällerna and Lasse-Maja. The music was written by Göran Blomqvist known from some other Social Democratic releases, with words by journalist Bernt Rosengren (no, not that Bernt Rosengren). A couple of the songs – with hot titles such as ”Var börjar socialismen” (=”where does socialism begin”) and ”Socialismen är solidaritet” (=”socialism is solidarity”) – appear rooted in the Eisler/Weill tradition but are melodically paralyzed. The whole thing just sounds unmusical, but it wouldn't surprise me if some perverted hipster DJ takes a liking to ”Du duger” (=”you're OK”) because of its, ahem, 'funkiness'.

 

FRISKT VATTEN – Tågsång / Marknadsföring (A Disc, 1980)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

Two non-album tracks released inbetween Friskt Vatten's last two albums. ”Tågsång” is a ballad of sorts, unpleasantly close to yacht rock but with some fine piano playing. ”Marknadsföring” speaks out again mindless consumption and shares the sentiment with Peps Persson's ”Hög standard” but lacking Peps's ability to transform observation to sharp-witted lyrics on his level.

KYRKSTÖT – No Smoking / Dr. Jekyll (no label, 1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

A Christian hard rock band familiar from the V/A comp ”Rockplock”. This single was the only other outing from Kyrkstöt. The A side is competent but entirely uninteresting boogie rock, while ”Dr. Jekyll” is radio friendly pop rock that feels overlong despite being of 4 minute standard length. Best avoided.

 

SKOGSNÄSKOLLEKTIVET – Odlad jord ska förbli odlad (Ljudbarrikaden, 1980)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: ***

The title of this single is ”Odlad jord ska förbli odlad” (=”cultivated land should remain cultivated”) but the song titles are actually ”Fattig på de fattigas planet” (=”poor on the planet of poors”) and ”Den trygge” (=”the safe one”). It was recorded within the long running environmentally concerned and anti-capitalist Skogsnäs community in the Northern Sweden.

I was afraid ”Odlad jord ska förbli odlad” would be just another fingerpointing pamphlet progg release, so I was completely taken aback when ”Fattig på de fattigas planet” proved to be an outright fantastic minor key folksy track in a Townes Van Zandt vein, augmented with a wonderful, gnarly fiddle like straight out of cult movie ”The Wicker Man”. Even the children's chorus sounds good (!), adding another emotional layer to the splendid track. The guy who wrote it is Kåre Wigforss who I think is still musically active (judging by a Youtube channel dedicated to Kåre Wigforss Band) although I can't find any proof of him having released anything apart from this one knockout track.

The B side is credited to the band Ryktet Går and while their ”Den trygge” isn't on par with ”Fattig på de fattigas planet”, it's still better than expected. It's more of an early 80s folk rock track with jangly guitars – think a slightly more garage-y but relaxed early R.E.M. and you're not exactly correct but going in the right direction.

MUSIKGRUPPEN NEJRÖSTERNA – Solen och vinden och vattnet och jorden / Kärnkraftsman (Live Studio Lane, 1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

A twelve-piece band formed in late 1979 when the Gothenburg fraction of The Anti-Nuclear Movement needed music during their meetings. (”Nejrösterna” means ”the no votes”, referring to the nuclear referendum held in Sweden in March 1980). Two songs were recorded in November 1979 but the release was belated by the pressing plant until early 1980 when the single was finally released in an edition of a 1000 copies (with about half of them sold by the band). The lyrics for the A side were found in a leaflet distributed during an anti-nuclear protest march, while the words for the B side used The Beatles' ”Nowhere Man” as a source inspiration. Let's get it over with right away: This sounds nothing like The Beatles. It doesn't sound like anything you'd want to hear. As opposed to Skogsnäskollektivet above, this is exactly the kind of stuff that makes me want to rip my ears off my head. Ten people singing at once in a smug tone, backed by flutes, bongos and accordeon and an unnecessary large number of maracas. My only question now is how far this piece of shit will fly if I throw it from a cliff.

SKOTTES MUSIKORKESTER / THOMAS WIEHE, PER DUNSÖ, OLA STRÖM & TRULS – Antikärnkraftverk (Källan, 1979)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

The resistance against nuclear power was well spread in the cultural world prior to the referendum mentioned above. Plenty of actors, musicians and artists spoke out against it in 1979-1980 as proven by several charity singles and albums released at the time. This one gathered Skottes Musikorkester, and Thomas Wiehe together with Per Dunsö, Ola Ström and Ström's nephew Truls. Per Dunsö and the two Ströms were known from TV where they produced appalling children's shows, and their track ”Vaggvisa fem i tolv” (=”lullabye five to twelve”) could very well have appeared in one of them. The clarinet and the fiddle are pleasant features, and the acoustic framework is nice enough, but the song itself is oddly formless. And there's way too much Truls singing.

Skottes Musikorkester in turn contribute a klezmer styled track with a few instrumental turns that are quite nice but it's spoiled by the overzealous vocals.

CHECKPOINT CHARLIE – SUSB / Pyret (CC Records, 1979)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

Checkpoint Charlie formed in 1976 and had a few active years before eventually disbanding in the early 80s. In the meantime they appeared on the various artists comps ”Vi har rätt till jobb” and ”Umeå Rocks, Vol. 1”, but had only one single out under their own banner. Heavily rooted in the semi-heavy rock style of the Umeå/Luleå region as represented by Rekyl and Kylans Rockorkester. The title ”SUSB” is short for Stiftelsen Umeå Studentbostäder (Umeå Student Housing Foundation) with some wonderfully acidic lyrics against the local lack of housing. The track is credited to guitarist Urban Bergman, but it's so much Chuck Berry that it's almost a cover of every Berry song in the style of ”Johnny B. Goode”. Still, the hard driving performance and the great lyrics (if you can understand them) have a certain appeal. ”Pyret” slows things down a bit, a dark observation written from a two-year-old's perspective. Some heavy guitars and a couple of progressive sections are nice features, but it's not as effective as the rousing A side.

 

TURMANS BAND – Bluesen kommer från Tierp (Mistlur, 1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Three songs recorded in 1979 and released the next year by the Mistlur imprint that at the time, early in their existence, was one of the companies that most strategically documented progg's extension into punk. As the title of this EP suggests (meaning ”the blues come from Tierp”, Tierp being the band's hometown situated between Uppsala and Gävle), Turmans Band dealt with blues, but not very proficiently. There's no real edge to it, and the main focus seems to be on the lyrics (also printed on an insert) that address a dull everyday life, unemployment and the troubles getting somewhere to live. The vocals could have strengthened the pedestrian performance but they're too weak to help the cause.

Mora Träsk's Thomas Örstrand appears on harmonica, and the EP title is a nod to Mora Träsk's album "Rocken kommer från Gävle" (="the rock music comes from Gävle"). 

MIKAEL WIEHE, NYBERG, FRANCK & FJELLIS – Gökungen / Livet efter 30 (Amalthea, 1981)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

”Gökungen” was later included on Wiehe's 1983 album ”Lindansaren”, one of the best tracks off that album. It has a a scary, sinister atmosphere and is by far one of the best tracks on that album. The B side is unique to this single and it's easy to see why it was left off the album. A weak track with an ironic lyric about the ”joys” of turning 30 when your body has been broken down by hard work (although the hard work bit is merely implied).

SÄTRASKOLANS MUSIKTEATERGRUPP – Tjejsans nya kläder (no label, 1981)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

A real oddity with seven songs taken from a school play performed at a suburbian Stockholm school. (The title is an impossible to translate wordplay on the "emperor's new clothes" expression.) Probably of interest mainly to those participating in the play (about fashion peer pressure among youths), but several of the songs actually have pretty cool solo guitar. A couple of surprisingly catchy performances, especially on ”Mode, mode, mode”. But there's also a couple of tracks which suggests some of the songwriters (teachers?) had listened too much to political progg in the 70s. The EP is generally better than I expected, but not worth looking for unless you're a collector of school projects.

The track "Discolåten" was included on "Annorlunda Underground", a CD-r compilation released in 2000.

 

ETOS – Den nakna sanningen / Skulden (A Disc, 1981)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

One of very few singles released on the pathologically humdrum A Disc label. That this is one of their best releases says way more about the label than the music on this disc. It's very commercial sounding with some hard rock aspirations mixed in with the lacklustre pop rock and ska influences, but they fall flat due to a submissive production. Minus also for the shouty singer and the A Disc-typical bland lyrics.

 

PISTOLTEATERN – Reggae från Torsgatan (Alice, 1982, EP)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

Pistolteatern (=”the pistol theatre”) is probably best known to proggsters as a venue where bands such as International Harvester and Fläsket Brinner played. But their main purpose was of course that of an independent theatre group, and their progressive stance has made them legendary. The four tracks on this seldom seen 33 rpm EP all come from the play ”Alive”, and features the busy Göran Lagerberg on bass and Sven Bjärhall (Solen Skiner, Jan Hammarlund) on lead guitar. Guitarist/keyboardist Håkan Möller also appeared on a late Thomas Mera Gartz album. The vocals are shared by Jonas Uddenmyr (later appearing on a cassette-only release by Thomas Tidholm) and Lars Källenius. All tracks are suprisingly solid reggae numbers, much more credible than I expected from their ephemeral origins. There's a relieving lack of ”jokiness”, but one of the songwriters is Lars Naumborg, friend of Aston Reymers Rivaler, and thus respectful and knowledgeable enough of reggae not to waste his efforts on any unserious silliness. Can very well be of interest to those into Swedish reggae.

Friskt Vatten full single playlist
Etos full single playlist (Spotify) 
Musikgruppen Nejrösterna 
Solen och vinden och vattnet och jorden (poor sound) 
Jubileum SSU 60 år
Ditt eget ansvar / Socialismen är solidaritet / Du duger / Var börjar socialismen
Skottes Musikorkester
Frihetens eko 
Turmans Band
Till arbetsmarknadens förfogande blues / Bostadsblues 
Mikael Wiehe
Gökungen / Livet efter 30 
Sätraskolans Musikteatergrupp
Brain Tango / Mode, mode, mode / Discolåten / Sången om Tom / Pia Jansson / Barbies sång

Joint Effort / Kyrkstöt / Skogsnäskollektivet / Checkpoint Charlie / Pistolteatern no links found

MYGLARNA – Du liv (A-Disc, 1977)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

The great looking album cover with its folk rock private pressings vibe led me to believe that this perhaps would be something as uncommon as a decent A-Disc release. Well, it is a bit folkish, mostly covers with mainly acoustic instruments, and it isn't one of A-Disc's very worst. But good it's certainly not.

Some tracks are potentially OK, especially a couple on the first side, but what could have been better in the hands of some more spirited combo is effectively asphyxiated by annoyingly twee harmony vocals. Myglarna seem to have taken their cues from commercial harmony groups of the 60s and early 70s such as Marie Bergman's Family Four, a style that was hard to endure to begin with and definitely outdated by the time ”Du liv” was released. Some typical Social Democrat marching music find its way into the yawny blend of styles but even they sound weary.

Drummer Johan Dielemans was previously in Folk Blues Inc. 

No links found.

AMANDLA – Amandla (A-Disc, 1980)

Other languages, English vocals, instrumental, spoken word
International relevance: -

Man, does the A-Disc curse go deep! Not only did they release train loads of emotionally debilitated rock music and pseudo progg, they also managed to sneak out this entirely redundant slab of ANC themed South African music.

Now, I'll readily admit I'm not a fan of South African music in general (I very much prefer the hard-boiled grooves of Northern Africa), but I can nevertheless discern when South African music is passionate. And this just isn't. It's amazing really how A-Disc could turn everything they touched into cosmic dullness.

If I am to say one nice thing about it (although I'm certainly not obliged to), ”Ngwaba Wanga” (=”my child”) is a half-decent slightly jazzy thing that could have been released on a lesser Black Jazz Records disc. But don't take that as an excuse to check this album out. I just said it to look kind. 

Welele Mandela
Ngwana Wanga 

BJÖRN ARAHB & MONICA NIELSEN – Sjunger Ture Nerman (A-Disc, 1979)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Ture Nerman was a journalist, radical social democrat (sometimes communist), anti-militarist, dedicated teetotaller, and for his time something as unusual as a vegetarian (he was born in 1886 and died in 1969). He was also a poet, and harbouring such sentiments as the ones mentioned above, his poems were well equipped for being set to music in the progg era. Some of the songs use older melodies by for instance Joe Hill, while several were written specifically for this project by Björn Arahb.

Being released on the Social Democrats' in-house label A-Disc, this is every bit as boring as you can imagine. There's no doubting that the sentiments of Arahb and fellow singer (and actor) Monica Nielsen are honest and genuine, but once again, whatever emotional impact this could have had with less self-righteous performances, soulfulness is substituted with oversinging. The musical framework is also typical of the ilk; it's either semi-cabaret-like or it sounds like The Labour Day Marches Greatest Hits.

Full album playlist

FRED LANE – Vi smida (A Disc, 1977)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

U.K. born singer Fred Lane moved to Sweden in 1970 and is in possession of a wonderful folk voice heard on albums by Låt & Trall and Bella Ciao. A multi-instrumentalist, he also plays accordeon on the Tillsammans album. ”Vi smida” however isn't his finest hour. It's a concept album with the concept explained by the subheading ”Proletariatets visor före och under industrialismen” (”songs of the proletariat before and during the industrialism”), and it shouldn't take much imagination to figure out what these songs sound like. It's not surprising that it's on the Social Democrat house label A Disc, quite possible the dullest of all Swedish 70's imprints. Some skilled players appear alongside Lane though, such as Hans Alatalo (Norrlåtar), Lasse Englund and Kjell Westling, but it's not enough to save the album which is best left in the era that made it possible.

Vi smida Side 1
Vi smida Side 2

KATAS DÖTTRAR – Kvinnor sjung ut! Två sidor av Katas Döttrar (A Disc, 1979)

 
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Another feminist album to add to the previous lot of ”Jösses flickor”, ”Tjejclown”, ”Sånger om kvinnor” and the rest. Meaning: lyrics with plenty of message; clumsy lyrical metres negligent of melody; idiotic pastiches; annoying vocals, and too many people singing at once, religious style. (Religion and politics often do the same thing to people's heads anyway, so why not...). Soundwise it's a bit slicker than the standard political/feminist outpourings, a bit more towards ”Sessornas sånger”. Some songs are OK-ish, such as the title track and the semi-folk rock of ”Visa i 70-tal”, but as with most albums in this ilk, there's a cultish vibe running through it that quickly becomes unbearable unless you're part of the cult. Short songs, mostly around 1 to 2 minutes in length but if that sounds hopeful to you, remember there are 19 of them...

Side one
Side two

ELD & LÅGOR – Mot ljuset (A-Disc, 1978)

 
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Few A-Disc releases are worthwhile, but this has got to be one of the worst, if not the worst, with the typical to A-Disc political lyrics, presented in a way that sounds like any Christian group which never got beyond their own local church fanbase of three. The metronomical backing is so stiff that no-one could possibly find ”Mot ljuset” stirring in the slightest bit. The 'sing it everybody' ethos is irritating from the first track, a cover of Swedish visa singer Thorstein Bergman's ”Alla tillsammans” which, as it happens, means ”everybody together”, to the last one ”Du stora värld”, a completely passionless take on ”Amazing Grace”. In-between you get an endless string of equally dead Swedish takes on ”La Marseillaise”, Malvina Reynold's ”Little Boxes” and a couple of songs made famous by Joe Hill. And of course, the regular slew of labourers' anthems.

I don't expect any high-grade masterpieces to appear out of nowhere thus late in this blog's history, but a part of me hoped that the worst musical mishaps were out of the way just the same. Not so, as proven by this twelve inch slab of pure Valium.

Comes with a lyric inner sleeve if you want to sing along but I know you don't.

Alla tillsammans
Arbetes söner
Internationalen

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Glimtar II (A Disc, 1978)

Featured artists: Jazzgrupp & stråkkvartett / Carlstad Jazzquintet / Panik / Mantra / Nannie Porres / Ingegerd Nordell / Gothenburg City Pipe Band / Bo Thalén / Sibinović / Eva Waldemarsson / Slumpens Skördar / Göteborgs Visgrupp
Instrumental, Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: **

Similar in style and disposition to volume 1 except that this is a single disc release as opposed to the preceeding double LP. Some artists are featured on both such as Ingegerd Nordell, noted jazz vocalist Nannie Porres, Mantra, and Göteborgs Visgrupp (of ”Riv alla stängsel” fame). ”Glimtar II” suffers from the same inconsistency as the first volume, with a hodge-podge of political progg, smooth jazz, folk and even a pipe band. Among the better efforts is Panik's lone track ”Ingenting” featuring some melodic fuzz guitar, althought it would have been more interesting hadn't it been an instrumental – in this state it sounds like a backing track rather than a finished track. Mantra's contribution is another stale fusion number, this time with a surprisingly spacey synth (or moog) driven middle section; "Two Cats in My Fantasy" might be mildly interesting to seriously devoted fusion heads.

The album was recorded in 1977 but not released until the following year.

No links found

FRISKT VATTEN – De é vi (YTF, 1978) / En svensk tiger (A Disc, 1978) / Lee Highway (A Disc, 1982)

Hailing from working class city of Södertälje, Friskt Vatten was a rather succesful outfit with connections to the Social Democratic sphere – two of their records were released on A Disc, and they got quite a few gigs through ABF (the Workers' Educational Association). Singer, guitarist, flugelhorn player and Sweden's best kept secret Göran Wiklund shed some light on the band's political afilliations when I interviewed him in 2017:

– We saw ourselves as a progg band, although perhaps in the second division except when it came to fees. You can always debate ideology vs. money, but what the heck, we never felt ashamed and we were never close to what Mikael Wiehe and Björn Afzelius [of Hoola Bandoola Band] charged. We always got decent pay when we toured and made records, much thanks to ABF. I must admit it was pretty cool to play to large audiences who knew our songs and sang along with us!

– We were hired by Kulturnämnden (The Cultural Board) to make a show about school. So we did, and we played in schools regionally. We gigged at Social Democratic Youth Association meetings several times, and eventually got signed to the labour movements' own label A Disc.

Friskt Vatten also collaborated with the then Södertälje based independent theatre group Musikteatergruppen Oktober.

De é vi (YTF, 1977)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

Göran Wiklund had not yet joined Friskt Vatten when they released their debut album in 1977. The album is mostly conventional pop/rock. Tobias Petterson compares them to Rekyl in his progg encyclopedia, and that's not entirely wrong, except that Rekyl had a greater amount of The Rolling Stones in their music whereas ”De é vi” sometimes leans more towards Contact's and Norrbottens Järn's jollier moments. Still, the progg factor is low.

En svensk tiger (A Disc, 1978)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

Recruiting Göran Wiklund was a wise move because he's one of the few G-R-E-A-T singers on the progg scene and one of extremely few with a bit of genuine soul in his voice. (The lack of truly good progg singers is conspicuous. How many of those are there? Ten? Probably down to a five. Perhaps less.) Here he's best heard on ”En gång förut” and ”Människor som inte lyssnar”. ”En svensk tiger” is an overall more mature effort than the debut LP with better songs, but still not interesting enough. Tomas Ernvik (of Christian band Vatten) appears on guitar.

Lee Highway (A Disc, 1982)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

After a non-album 45 in 1980, Friskt Vatten returned to the album format in 1982 with their third and final album. There's more blues to this album than their previous ones – the drummer here is the excellent Stefan 'Stoffe' Sundlöf who was in several of blues master Sven Zetterberg's bands, from Telge Blues to Chicago Express. However, the best feature is – again – Wiklund's vocals, especially on album highlights ”Ombudsman” and ”Skulle kunna berätta”. This is Friskt Vatten's best album.

Thanks to Göran Wiklund for sharing memrories!

De é vi full album playlist

En svensk tiger full album playlist

Lee Highway full album playlist 

KURRES KAPELL – Kurres Kapell (A Disc, 1979)

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: **

 

Kurres Kapell hailed from Boliden, a northern town known for its mining industry. They had connections with the Social Democratic youth organisation SSU, and their sole album was released accordingly through the party's own label A Disc. The music is well crafted and muscular, much thanks to the heavy guitar solos and riffing courtesy of the three in-house guitarists, why ”Kurres Kapell” might have a limited appeal to fans of (semi) hard rock. Both the male and female vocals are weak however and don't quite match the musical backdrop.

The most interesting tracks are ”Teve” which relies a bit more on groove than heaviness, and the instrumental ”Semestervecka i Brutorp”, the most progressive track on the album, but neither of them manages to rise above the 'mediocre' mark.

Kurres Kapell released one further disc in 1985, a 45 with two songs from a stage play.

Långväga-Sven

A VARIOUS ARTISTS SPECIAL: 4 POLITICAL COMPILATIONS

While several of the communist-run labels are held in higher regard by collectors of political progg, the Swedish Social Democratic Party also established a couple of imprints to get their message out to the record buying audience. A Disc in particular released a few memorable albums in the 70's and 80's, but as in the case of for example communist flagship label Proletärkultur, the message a bit too often got in the way of the music itself. Here are three releases related to the Social Democratic Party.

ARBETARRÖRELSENS SÅNGER (Pogo Plattan, 1976)

Featured artists: Per Myrberg / Ulla Sjöblom / Giovanni Jaconelli / Alf Petersén / Sone Banger and others

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

Pogo Plattan was the short-lived record division of Pogo Produktion, formerly Pogo Pedagog, publishers of educational material widely used in Swedish schools in the 70's and 80's. (Anyone who grew up in those days remembers Pogo Produktion with a blend of nostalgia och terminal boredom.) The double album ”Arbetarrörelsens sånger” were made with the same ambition, to educate people, in this case on songs of the labour movement (like the Swedish title says). ”L'Internationale” is featured twice.

While technically a concept album rather than a various artists comp, it utilizes a plethora of musicians, such as domestically well-known singers Per Myrberg and Ulla Sjöblom against a backdrop of multiple string and wind instruments. It's an ambitious high budget project, but also annoyingly self-righteous and rosy-cheeked with a slight touch of cabaret. Unless you're into that kind of stuff, the album is virtually unlistenable. The musical progg factor is lacking, but keep in mind that albums like this too were a part of the progg era and mentality.

 GLIMTAR (UR KULTURPROGRAMMEN VID ABF FORUM) (A Disc, 1977)

Featured artists: Aldekören / Carlstad Jazzquintet / Ransäterspöjkera / Kiko del Paraguay / Johnny Soling / Agö Fyr / Björn Ehrling / Doremikören / Göteborgs Visgrupp / Bo Harald & Prins Oskar / Ö-barna / Nannie Porres / Slumpens Skördar / Ingegerd Nordell / Tigris / Buddies (Södra Roslagens Big Band) / Carlstad Big Band / Barabbas / Pegasus / Dammet Yr / Mantra

 Swedish vocals, English vocals, instrumental

International relevance: *

Another double album, this time with a selection of performances recorded in conjunction with a forum meeting in Karlstad 16-19 April, 1977, and arranged by ABF, Arbetarrörelsens bildningsförbund (the Workers' Educational Association), founded in 1912 and the biggest educational association in Sweden today.

The album is a mixed bag of non-professionals and better known artists such as Göteborgs Visgrupp, Agö Fyr and noted vocalist Nannie Porres. It covers jazz (big bands and modern jazz and some points in-between), traditional music from several countries, rock, and funk. In short, it's all over the place both stylistically and qualitywise. Some of it is plain terrible, some is decent, jazz band Barabbas' ”Improvisation” is the best. Without any cohesiveness, ”Glimtar” as a whole doesn't rise above its snapshot intentions.

A second, single disc volume of ”Glimtar” was released in 1978, featuring some of the artists appearing on the first volume.

LÅT RÄTTEN FLÖDA FRAM (Vänster-vind, 1976)

Featured artists: Lena Hellström / Gunnar Kampe / Lars-Åke Lundberg / Ramon Anthin / Åke Andreasson

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

 

Socialism and Christianity might seem as uncomfortable bedfellows, but this album was initiated by Christian members of the Social Democratic Party. I'm not going to keep you in the dark: it's every bit as dull as the cover art suggests. Anyone familiar with standard Xian 70's albums from the US and the UK pretty much knows what to expect – haughtily performed semi-folksy singer/songwriter stuff by artists either unknown outside religious circles or entirely unknown altogether. 

Exceptions to this rule can however be found on this album. All of the participants was highly active within their field; the most prolific might be priest Lars-Åke Lundberg who has written plenty of psalms, released multiple albums, published many books, and was awarded with a prestigeous royal medal in 2009.

The best track here is Åke Andreasson's ”Amos”, but it's nowhere close to being an excuse for an album that mostly sounds like a third rate Peter, Paul & Mary or a conspicously untalented Dan Berglund. 

Comes with a lyric folder.

 NOTERAT (Frihets Förlag, 1976)

Featured artists: Vencemeros / Med Mera / Röda Flammorna / Progressiv / Unga Örnar Stureby / Facklan / unnamed artist

 Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

Frihets Förlag only released two full length albums, both of the various artists compilation, the first one was ”Så här är det” in 1975, the second was ”Noterat” from the following year, comprising six outfits (one unnamed) from the more radical spectrum of the Social Democratic Party's youth alliance SSU. Two of Vencemeros' four tracks, ”Fransisco Franco” and ”Ta nu min hand”, are the best in this heap of unimpressive folk pop.