AUTUMN BREEZE – Demo Tapes (MyRecords, 1977-78) / På radio 1978 (MyRecords, 1978)

Swedish vocals, English vocals, instrumental
International relevance ***/***

When record labels failed to show any interested in Autumn Breeze's album ”Höstbris”, they released it themselves in 1979. When they reformed around 2010, they stuck to self-releasing their music, and have now several albums out on their own label MyRecords. But a compilation of demo recordings made in 1977-1978 appeared as a CD-r already in 2009. Alternately entitled ”Demo Tapes” and ”Casette Tapes” (sic!), it features not only early versions of songs ending up on ”Höstbris”, but also tracks that never made it to the LP. Some songs should have; I'd gladly have swapped the dreadful white-boy-in-an-office funk of ”U P A” and the stale disco of ”Ugglans nattvisir” for the eight minutes of ”Nr. 646” off the demo tape. The main difference between the finished versions and those takes are, as you could expect, these are rougher round the edges. Somewhat closer to 70's hard rock, they sound less refined and that's beneficial. And best of all, they don't have those cheesy synths that are all over ”Höstbris”. True those demos have their share of clumsy playing, but what they lose in precision they gain in vividness.

The second archival release, also a CD-r, features a session recorded for Swedish Radio's local Karlstad branch in 1978. Those tapes fall somewhere between the '78 demos and the '79 album. They still sound a bit under-rehearsed with some rather comic fumbles here and there, and knowing the session would be broadcast, they sound a bit tense.

Swedish Radio has always been famous for getting a great live sound, but for whatever reason the fidelity here is peculiarly muddy which obviously is a drawback. I don't know if some primitive post-production fiddling took place before being released, but there's a reverb here and there which sounds as if it was added later to cover up shortcomings on the original tape. Instead it emphasizes them. Also, the bass must have been boosted prior to release which further adds to the unbalanced and slightly messy sound.

As you can see, I much prefer the demo disc. It's not perfect, but it's imperfect in the right way. I'd even go as far as to say it's better than ”Höstbris” thanks to the rawness and energy it radiates. 

Too bad about the terrible amateurish cover art for both discs though. Somebody failed the Photoshop class...  

Demo Tapes/Casette Tapes full album playlist
På radio 1978 full album playlist

AUTUMN BREEZE – Höstbris (Ö Records, 1979)

Instrumental, Swedish vocals

International relevance: ***

Disappointed with the lack of major label interest, Autumn Breeze borrowed money to release their sole album by themselves in an edition of 500. Perhaps proper labels thought the recording sounded to unprofessional – after all, this was 1979 and the DIY ethos of progg's early days had waned. Or more precisely, it had been inherited by punk.

While obviously a private recording. the sound isn't that bad and the playing is adequate enough. (Birgitta Nilsson's vocals are a bit limited and thin but most of the album is instrumental anyway). Tobias Petterson compares parts of ”Höstbris” to Radiomöbel in his progg encyclopedia, but that's a most offensive insult. I'd much rather compare it to German band Carol of Harvest, or American progsters Third Estate.

The album has both progressive and symphonic traits without comfortably falling into either category. It has dark and dreamy qualities that are rather winsome, underlined by the simple but evocative flute playing of Gert Magnusson and Gert Nilsson's fuzz guitar that's never allowed to overpower the moody music. The synth sound used on the album is admittedly cheesy but adds a peculiar, skewed feel to the songs. ”Höstbris” isn't a top drawer progg album but it does have a certain appeal.

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