A KLIPPAN PROGG SCENE SPECIAL – Tors Hammare / Heta Drömmar / Svenn Kruse / Christian Brandt

Klippan is a small mill town in the northwest part of the Skåne county in the south of Sweden. Way back in time, Klippan was known for their wool production, and later (and to this day) for their paper industry. But they did also leave an indelible mark on Swedish rock history in the late 70s and early 80s when local record label Svenska Pop Fabriken (and their various sublabels) began releasing singles and albums that gained nationwide attention from both media and record buyers. Responsible for the first ever Swedish punk single ”Vårdad klädsel” by Kriminella Gitarrer, they soon added bands like Torsson, Kommissarie Roy, Noise, The Push, and Wilmer X to their roster. Being a very Swedish label, none of the bands (mostly singing in Swedish) are known outside our borders, although Kriminella Gitarrer have indeed earned a belated international reputation as interest in local punk scenes has grown around the world. Most of Svenska Pop Fabriken's output may be called rural rock'n'roll with a strong sense of pop melodicity, but to someone like me who pretty much grew up with in their golden era 1978-1985, their legendary status is carved in stone.

However, Svenska Pop Fabriken's history goes further back in time to the music association Bombadill who took the homegrown music very seriously. Not only did Bombadill function as a local network for the bands, Bombadill also built their own studio. Plenty of recordings were made there from the mid 70s and on. One album and a couple of cassettes of Bombadill recordings were released at the time. Although Klippan is best known for the pop/rock of Svenska Pop Fabriken, a few of those early bands and artists represented a more progressive and experimental style. 

Tors Hammare: Ska du med på disco 

Tors Hammare went through several line-up changes, but important members in their fledgling days were Örjan Mjörnheden (guitars, vocals), Svenn Kruse (guitars, vocals) and Christian Brandt (percussion, violin). The so called Mk I only ever released one official track, ”Vägen till Valhall”, on the first Bombadill cassette. It's a surprisingly heavy, guitar infused, folk tinged instrumental, as was the five-part suite ”Ska du med på disco”. Among their true confessed heroes were Träd, Gräs Och Stenar and similar bands, plus the latin rock of most prominently Santana. There's strong psychedelic overtones with wailing wah-wah leads on the shambolic ”Hästen” as well as on their slightly revamped take on Träd, Gräs Och Stenar's ”Sommarlåten”.
 

Tors Hammare: Demo 1

The Santana influence grew stronger when Kruse and Brandt left the band, as proven by a surviving 1980 demo by Tors Hammare Mk II, but the demo also shows they developed a stronger grip of their progressive ambitions as on ”Myrornas flykt” and ”Nattens drottning”.

Meanwhile, Svenn Kruse and Christian Brandt made their own recordings in the Bombadill studio. Judging by those, they were the real avantgarde force of Tors Hammare Mk I. Their joint recording ”Kretsloppet” mixes field recordings, electronics and tiny slices of more organized music – it's almost like a nine minute condensate of Thomas Mera Gartz's ”Luftsånger”. ”Vernissagemusik del 1” (=”music for an exhibition”) is based around an extended organ drone before turning into a summery piece for acoustic guitar and synthesizer. A second part of ”Vernissagemusik” was recorded as Heta Drömmar (=”hot dreams”), which is pretty close to the lyricism of Anna Själv Tredje. The lyrical side also comes to the fore on ”Hjortronguld”, a 27 minute piece with guitar and violin, while their Träd, Gräs Och Stenar admiration is obvious on their very strange cover of ”Sanningens silverflod” with sped-up vocals similar to those on Kebnekajse's debut and Mikael Ramel's first album, a trick also used on Svenn Kruse's solo recording ”Tomtar på loftet”.

Christin Brandt & Svenn Kruse: Vernissagemusik 1

Other short Kruse tracks further emphasized his infatuation with Swedish folk progg and psychedelia – ”Svens psykedeliska ögonblick” (=”Sven's psychedelic moment”) gives it away already in the title, while ”Säkkijärven polka” (a Finnish tune popular in Sweden at the time) sounds like some lost demo for Kenny Håkansson's ”Springlekar och gånglåtar” album.

When Tors Hammare transformed into Mk 3 in the early 80s, they had lost just about all of their original underground charm. They got better at playing for sure, but their watered down takes on ska, funk and fusion simply suggest a band without a vision. They really could have used Brandt's and Kruse's experimental spirit.

There's also an 'all-star' recording of several Bombadill artists coming together as The Bombadill Chosen Few, "Latino Blasfemia" that mixes latin with Swedish folk.

All these recordings (and more) have thankfully been digitzed for the Bandcamp age. Although a lot of the music is admittedly sloppy, it has a youthful energy and explorative desire. More importantly, it reveals a part of the local Klippan scene that has previously been only fond memories in the minds of those who were there, but only tales and legends to those who weren't. It adds several fascinating pieces to the ever so nebulous jigsaw puzzle called Swedish progg. 

Bandcamp links:
Tors Hammare
Vägen till Valhall / Ska du med på disco - Svit i fem delar / Hästen / Sommarlåten / Vinternatt i Klagshamn / Demo 1 full album playlist 
Christian Brandt & Svenn Kruse
Vernissagemusik del 1 / Kretsloppet 
Heta Drömmar 
Vernissagemusik del 2 / Hjortronguld / Sanningens silverflod / Tomtar på loftet  
Svenn Kruse 
Hymn / Svens psykedeliska ögonblick / Säkkijärven polka / Långt ute 
The Bombadill Chosen Few 
Latino Blasfemia  

KRAMP – Kramp (Subliminal Sounds, 2026; rec. 1978)

 
Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Unknown and previously unreleased recordings from a three-piece with members from Hallstahammar and Västerås in the middle of Sweden. Kramp were founded in 1975 and kept going until the mid 80s without releasing a single note, leaving only rehearsal tapes behind finally unearthed and released as a digital album by Subliminal Sounds. All longhaired, instrumental power trio jamming, they sound like a heavier and darker Rävjunk at their very jammiest. It's definitely wanky with a clear influence from Hendrix during his Band Of Gypsys days, but it's also incredibly energetic with a pronounced basement feel in over the top distortion fidelity. Melody takes the back seat with the massive chunks of Erik Åström's lead guitar being Kramp's sole raison d'être. Fucking annoying or an indispensable fire spitting take no prisoners blow-out depending on your mood. If you think Terry Brooks & Strange are too held back and Id's 1976 underground six string wanker classic ”Where Are We Going?” is too mawkish, this will blow your mind to smithereens. Especially the first track (simply entitled ”Jam 2”) which is so intense it will sever your limbs if you can withstand its full 23+ minutes running time.

Full album playlist (Bandcamp)

ÅKE "KRÅKAN" NILSSON - Måste man va' poet (CBS, 1979)

  
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

There was quite some buzz around Åke ”Kråkan” Nilsson when he appeared in the spotlight in the late 70s. He earned his nickname Kråkan (=”the crow”) from his rough, gruff voice. Clearly inspired by early Ulf Lundell, Kråkan's lyrics were less romantic and dealt with the darker side of life. Speaking from his personal experience, Kråkan often sang about alcohol abuse and depression in a convincing manner, sometimes making me think of Kenta and Kaj R. Hansson (minus the criminal references). He was clearly a better singer than both of them with a strong powerful voice, somewhere between a smoother Rolf Wikström and a less foghornish Roger Chapman. Kråkan's full throttle approach to singing could surely have used some dynamics here and there, but his vocal urgency works in his favour now and then.

While his love for hard blues and stomping rock is perfectly obvious, he slows it down on a couple of tracks. ”Jag har spelat många roller” is a slow blues that captures the mood of the concrete city's murkier sides really well (a bit like Ulf Lundell's song ”Bente” does but from a different persepctive). ”Jag hoppas det inte är försent” (=”I hope it's not too late”) is another slow one, overflowing with remorse and contrition over what he's done to his friends and family when drowning in alcohol. While the music isn't straight up progg, the lyrics are – for those who can understand them – sincere and gripping on a personal level. Fans of the aforementioned Kenta and Kaj R. Hansson should listen up.

Kråkan made three more albums up to 1983 but they got gradually more commercial sounding, and it's really only this debut album that has enough no-frills proggish production to be of fringe interest to this blog. He's still active on a smaller scale level and is content with making his more recent efforts available on his website. It also has all his albums for streaming and download.

10 år sen sist / Jag vet hur du mår / Blunda och be / Jag har spelat många roller / Whisky och valium / Prestigeladdad kyla / 30-strecket / Jag hoppas det inte är försent / Rädd som fan

ANDERS KARLÉN – Way Out (Mistlur, 1981)

 
Instrumental
International relevance: **

Jazz guitarist Anders Karlén had previously been in Birka with saxophonist Nisse Sandström; Birka were awarded with the 1978 installment in Caprice Records' ”Jazz i Sverige” series. He also appeared as a session musician on albums by a number of rock acts, but managed to release only two albums under his own name, ”Way Out” in 1981 and ”Nuance Stances” in 1985.

”Way Out” is not an enjoyable experience. I'm not a fan of jazz guitar in general (jazz guitarists can get so bloody smug and self-important), but if you also add synth and fretless bass to it, you can be sure you'll get a particularly antiseptic fusion jazz album. And trying to drown in it that much reverb is a very bad idea. . While there are the occasional moment here when it sounds as if there are, in fact, traces of life somewhere deep inside, the reverb makes it diffuse it's very hard to enjoy. Producer (and Mistlur label co-founder) Stefan Glaumann was experienced enough when he made this album, and I've never thought of his work as especially ill-advised (actually, I've never thought of it at all which is about the greatest compliment you can give to a producer), so who knows what was slipped into his drink when he did this.

If there in fact is a good album deep inside ”Way Out”, I can't tell. Probably not, but if somebody found it, let me know.

No links found

KG 22 BAND – KG 22 Band (Sjöbo Påpp, 1980)

 
Swedish vocals, English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: -

Fundamentally a pop/rock band with some funk and disco moves, but mentioned here briefly because of a couple of jazz fusion tracks plus some mainstream progg touches. None of it is good though, and the fusion like stuff is incredibly stale. The track ”It Ain't Easy” was culled from the album for a single with an exclusive track on the flip, ”Twelve Bars From Mars”. That was later combined with a couple of unreleased tracks for a three-track streaming EP which, believe it or not, is even worse than their ghastly album.

Full album playlist   
Full single playlist

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

ROLAND KEIJSER KVARTETT – Öppet Tre (Caprice, 2025; rec. 1968-69)

 

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

This third volume of Caprice Records' vinyl only "Öppet" series is a highly interesting outing with late 60s recordings by Roland Keijer's quartet. (Volume 1 is reviewed here with some background info on the series.) This is the seed that would soon grow into Arbete & Fritid, with Torsten Eckerman on trumpet and piano, Bosse Skoglund on drums, and fleshing out the line-up, the meritorious bassist Staffan Sjöholm. The four tracks were all recorded in Stockholm at different spots and dates in 1968 and 1969. The sound characteristics differ a bit between the tracks, but the quality is good to very good throughout.

Three of the tracks are long, from 10 to almost 20 minutes with only ”Sommarromans” being around the three minute mark. The recordings are a testament to Keijser's jazz origins and also reflect his love for both Albert Ayler and Ornette Coleman, rich with a cheeky, melodic playfulness. Childlike melodies and phrases reccuringly lighten up the crosspollination of free jazz and post-bop. Here and there you can sense ideas and snippets of what would come with Arbete & Fritid, most obviously in ”The Big Bad Wolf Of Baba-Louie” which exists in an Arbete & Fritid recording on the V/A compilation ”Jazz från det svenska 70-talet”. The version here however sounds a bit tentative and meek in comparison.

The value of ”Öppet tre” doesn't rely on historical importance alone. It's a very good album in itself and a beautiful example of late 60s Swedish jazz when the genre was slowly opening up to a plethora of influences and the rich structures of the 70s in which Roland Keijser had a crucial role. It may not knock me over like the previous Nisse Sandström volume does, but it's nevertheless a mandatory installment in this series. I only wish someone will step forward and release more early Keijser material. 

Full album playlist 

KYLANS ROCKORKESTER – Complete singles 1979-1982

Rekyl's little brothers Kylans Rockorkester are previously represented here with their debut LP ”Välfärdsblues” from 1980, but they were a pretty active band with a back catalogue featuring one more full length album from 1983, a couple of V/A compilation appearences and several singles in both the 7” and 12” formats. These are the four singles they released during their original lifetime.

 

På din fela gul & blå / Ölrusig rock 'n' roll artist (Manifest, 1979)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Their debut single predated their first album with about a year, but their blues based style were more or less carved out from the beginning, only a little less polished. None of the tracks are spectacular but the Creedence Clearwater Revival quoting ”Ölrusig rock 'n' roll artist” was later re-recorded for the debut album.

 

I Lycksele finns ingen hundpsykolog / Tip Top (Manifest, 1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

Released the same year as ”Välfärdsblues” but not featured on the album. B side ”Tip Top” is a country flavoured track of little distinction but ”I Lycksele finns ingen hundpsykolog” is a hard driving track that very well might be their best track of all.

 

Frihetsblues / Killarnas fantom (Tonpress, 1981)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

Two overtly bluesy tracks of little merit, curiously enough pressed and released in Poland.

 

I väntans tider / Egofil / För evigt fångad / Framtidsman (Manifest, 12". 1982)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

A twelve inch EP with a lot of production sheen pointing towards their final proper album ”Kylans snapshot” in 1983. These four tracks are closer to the more sophisticated last album by Swedish punk legends Ebba Grön than the early Kylans releases, making them even less interesting than their previous work.

På din fela gul & blå full single playlist
I Lycksele finns ingen hundpsykolog full single playlist 
I väntans tider full 12" playlist
Frihetsblues / Killarnas fantom

BENGT BERGER / ROLAND KEIJSER / KJELL WESTLING – The Vedbod Tapes / More Vedbod Tapes (Country & Eastern, 2012; rec. 1977)

  

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

This is such a beauty of a record! Beautiful for so many reasons. A unique document of a candid process reserved for the involved musicians only, secret to outsiders. A truthful representation of the naked creativity and mental interplay between a few select performers.

The select performers in question are three close friends that all have (or had, with two of them now sadly gone) a thorough track record. If you want to oversimplify it, you could conveniently express it as: Arbete & Fritid. Drummer/percussionist Bengt Berger, reed player Roland Keijser and multi-instrumentalist Kjell Westling were all part of the line-up for the first two Arbete & Fritid albums. It's fair to see them as a crucial co-founders of Swedish progg even in its narrowest sense.

The recordings on ”The Vedbod Tapes” were never made with an official release in mind. They were more of a memento for the three longtime buddies, a documentation of a friendly get-together in Roland Keijser woodshed. ”Vedbod” means ”woodshed” in English, and apart from the literal meaning, ”woodshedding” is an old jazz term for jamming. Keijser sheds (some) light on the origins of the recordings in his liner notes: ”We usually refer to this unique document as 'the Vedbod tapes'. The circumstances are not crystal clear, but the fact is that all of the music was recorded in a woodshed in south-west Dalarna in 1977. /.../ The 'archaeological digs' for the Vedbod tapes recently acquired a new urgency, and were further intensified after the sudden – too, too soon! – death in the autumn of 2010 of Kjell Westling. /.../ The music, in general, sounded good. a little sound-technique polishing but no real editing was done to these findings, we kept the documentary approach preferring to keep too much rather than too little. Ah, this is how it could sound, once upon a time, in certain Swedish realities. /.../ What do we play? Apparently free from the heart, memory and imagination. Mostly collective improvisations. But also a couple of Ornette Coleman tunes, some popular songs, the odd polska, waltz and halling, a few tango bars… But, above all, sundry lengthy chunks of unidentifiable inventions, the names of which are known only to the woodshed.”

Key words: ”free from the heart”. The trio had no rules to follow; it's like a free-flowing heart-to-heart conversation that needed no restrictions but relied on perfect equality. That's part of what makes these tapes so fascinating and rare. It's free music but on even deeper levels than as in for example ”free jazz” because it refers to more than just musical characteristics. It's the unfettered sound of a deep friendship.

Although all three of these master musicians contribute democratically to the process, the greatest triumphs belong to Kjell Westling. Although he was always happy to adapt to the prerequisites of circumstances known to the studio musician and did so with ease, here he really threw himself into the open-ended expression. If it came out as a folk fiddle or a wide open jazz jam didn't matter; he was free to follow his fancies without narrow considerations, and it's wonderful to hear. In many ways, I find this to be his grandest moments on tape because you can really hear him for all that he was – and that was a lot.

The CD features 70 minutes selected from hours of tapes, but Country & Eastern released another half an hour of digital extras in conjunction with the CD. The main portion of ”More Vedbod Tapes” is made up by the 26 minute jam ”Woodshedding 3” which in many ways is the distillate of everything that was going on during those days in Keijser's secret garden shed. Without a pre-set plan, Keijser, Westling and Berger move effortlessly between jazz, folk melodies and unprejudiced jamming, led only by their hearts, souls and deep understanding for each other. Like I said before: this is what a true friendship sounds like. 

The Vedbod Tapes full album playlist 
More Vedbod Tapes full album playlist 

KNOA – Tvära kast och vändningar (Opus 3, 1978) / Inside Out (Opus 3, 1980)

Instrumental
International relevance: **

Opus 3 is an audiophile label having operated since the late 70s and is still in business. Their back catalogue is diverse but with an emphasis on jazz and classical. Among their releases is an album by Eric Bibb.

Knoa were Växjö ensemble spanning several genres and thus a bit hard to describe. Imagine a mix of renaissance and baroque music, folk and a dash of Penguin Café Orchestra and you get a rough idea of what they sounded like. The title of their first album means ”sudden twists and turns” and that is as a description as good as any. I assume they all came from the classical field and while they're technically proficient their music never gets bone dry. On the contrary, it's warm and vivid, and with such a stylistic range, it's full of surprises and fun to listen to. The second album was technically released as Knoa II and saw the group with an expanded line-up, but it's similar in style to their first. The main difference apart from the personnel changes is that the songs – always originals – are longer but equally well-crafted as on ”Tvära kast och vändningar”. The arrangements are a real pleasure and the instruments sound rich and present. Opus 3 knew their sound stuff for sure!

Knoa's two albums may not be the first thing you think about when you hear the word 'progg' (although they are mentioned in the 'further listening' section of Tobias Peterson's progg encyclopedia), but Knoa's approach to music was definitely progressive, unafraid and explorative. They're well worth hearing, and you can rest assured you're in good musical hands.

A compilation CD appeared in 1994, simply titled "A Selection of Knoa".

No links found

KANGAS SPELMÄN – Kaustinen (Silence, 1977)

 

Instrumental, other languages

International relevance: *

Folk band known as Kankaan Pelimannit in their native Finland; sort of a Finnish equivalent to Skäggmanslaget or Norrlåtar. A short tune played on Finnish national instrument kantele (seen on the album cover) is rather evocative, as is the vocal track ”På Harjumäen Backe”. The album is included here as it was recorded in Sweden by Anders Lind, head of Silence Records and released on his label. A later Kangas Spelmän LP was released in a rare joint venture between Silence and MNW. They made several albums between 1972 and 1982, but most of them have no Swedish connection.

Full album playlist

KATTEGATT – Alla barnen går en sväng! (Selma Rec, 1981)

 Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: **

A Gothenburg band that's not widely known today although they commissioned music for Ungdomsradion (=”the youth radio”) for the Swedish national broadcasting company in the late 70s. The songs commented on current topics with blatant political lyrics.

The members were only around 15 years old when Kattegatt began in 1976/77, all self-taught and making up their songs collectively during endless rehearsal sessions in the Gårda part of Gothenburg. Their 'modest' ambition was to make a kind of music no-one had ever heard before... but being inspired by the likes of Genesis, Frank Zappa and Samla Mammas Manna, it was clear they ended up with something well adjusted to progressive rock. But teenagers sometimes grow apart as the years go by, and once it was time for their lone, self-released album, they had all developed divergent interests. So the curiously titled ”Alla barnen går en sväng!” (=”all children go for a stroll!”) was really the beginning of the end and not the start of a continious recording career..

The many hours spent in their rehearsal room must have payed off quite well because the LP is a pretty accomplished work roughly in a fusion style. You can clearly tell the influence from 70s era Zappa from the sudden time shifts here and there, and there are indeed dashes of skewed Samla Mammas Manna humour.

Not everything here is successful. I could have done without the Caribbean moves on the first two selections, and the vocal tracks on side 2 drag a bit. But Kattegatt's joy of playing shines through on most tracks which makes this curious LP one of the more entertaining examples of Swedish fusion. They're certainly not choking on their own self-importance simply because they don't take themselves too seriously. There, an anachronistic lesson to be learnt here by many other fusionists so full of themselves that they forgot how to smile the very second they picked up their instruments.

Not a brilliant album, but one fun enough to pull out every fourth year or so.

Drummer and percussionist Mårten Tisselius actually joined Samla Mammas Manna's Von Zamla incarnation later on before joining Lars Hollmer in his Looping Home Orchestra together with Kattegatt keyboardist Sven Jansson. Singer/guitarist Staffan Ahlbom had a couple of solo singles out in the mid 80s on Transmission (the reformed version of Nacksving) before turning to studio production along with Sven Jansson recording some rather well-known Swedish bands in the 90s and 00s. They also had the Helikopter label connected to the studio and released quite a few albums in the early/mid 90s.

All previous members have stayed in touch and they still meet for some unpretentious jamming at their old rehearsal space. A full-time Kattegatt reunion is ruled out according to themselves, but a compilation of thirteen tracks called ”The Gårda Tapes” was released digitally in 2023. Still quirky, but nowhere near as charming as their original LP.

Full album playlist

KLARTEXT / HAZARD – MOTDRAG (Ungdomens Nykterhetsförbund, 1982)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

A split album with Klartext on one side and Hazard on the other and released by the Swedish Youth Temperance Organisation. Hence the lyrics all speaking out against inebriation. I'm not familiar with any of the two bands so perhaps they were just temporary constellations, or only active within the organisation. None of them is very good but Klartext is a tad better. Their 7 minute “Krossa alkoholtraditionen” even shows some symphonic moves which I didn't exptect to hear on an album like this. Hazard are more towards the contemporary sounds of 1982 with funk and ska leanings.

Klartext:
Krossa alkoholtraditionen
Ge tillbaks min ungdom
På rätt plats i världen
Langen går
Jag har lagt av
Hazard:
Tretton år
Förste man i kön
Sprit är sprit
Min garderob
Nere i verksta'n
bonus track

KENTA – Complete albums 1979-1981

You don't have to be a coldblooded cynic to say that hadn't it been for ”They Call Us Misfits” and ”A Respectable Life”, Edgar Froese lookalike Kenta would never have gotten a recording career.

Kenneth ”Kenta” Gustafsson was born in Stockholm in 1948 to a rough upbringing. Both his parents were alcoholics and Kenta was left to take care of himself. When the Swedish mod scene grew in the mid/late 60s, Kenta was drawn into it. Swedish mods had very little in common with UK mods, with a completely different dressing style and dissimilar values. Most people only knew about the mod subculture from the newspaper headlines of 1965 when mods and raggare (another youth subculture, centered around American cars and music from the 50s) clashed in the city centre of Stockholm. The tumult came to be known as the Hötorget riots after the location where the it happened. Stefan Jarl's 1968 semi-documentary ”They Call Us Misfits”, original title ”Dom kallar oss mods”, portrays the drink and drug-fuelled mod lifestyle with greater compassion and depth, and brought buddies Kenta and Gustav ”Stoffe” Svensson to the public eye. The movie had a follow-up in 1978 with ”Ett anständigt liv” (English title ”A Respectable Life”), a much darker and grittier work than its predecessor. Ulf Dageby's relentlessly bleak soundtrack reflects the the movie with scary accurance, and marks the vocal debut of Kenta who sings on four of the tracks.

Kenta (Metronome, 1979)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

Kenta's co-writing partner Aapo Sääsk brought Kenta to ABBA manager and Polar Records owner Stikkan Andersson's attention, but when Andersson got cold feed, Kenta ended up with Anders Burman's Metronome. A much better choice to begin with considering Burman's penchant for odd voices and self-styled songwriters. Production work was delegated to Finn Sjöberg (Kvartetten Som Sprängde) who also plays guitar on a few tracks. As do Kenny Håkansson among several other weathered studio musicians. The instrumental backing is much more lavish and polished than Kenta himself. He sings with great conviction in a slight post-Ulf Lundell fashion, but his barky, gruff voice is certainly an acquired taste. But it serves the lyrical purpose; the words are monochromatic snapshots from life's other side and it's impossible imagining a better singer deliver them with equal confidence. The album may be a minor Swedish classic but truth is it really isn't very good. It's more of a statement entirely dependent on Kenta's persona.

In a strange turn of events, Kenta found himself competing in the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest in 1980. His contribution ”Utan att fråga” ended up as #6 – imagine that happening now! – but what many people were far more concerned with was the T-shirt Kenta wore. Depicting a couple in the sex position popularly known as 69 with the words ”try it you'll like it” had the moral majority choking in front of their TV sets. Despite, or most likely thanks to that, ”Utan att fråga” reached number 2 in the singles charts and was added to later editions of ”Kenta”.

Kan det va' fel på systemet? (Metronome, 1980)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

”Kenta” could very well have ended up as a one-off novelty thing, but after his ESC success, he returned with another LP. ”Kan det va' fel på systemet?” (=”could it be that the system's wrong?”) is basically more from the same stock, only a wee bit heavier with a somewhat tighter sound. Again produced by Finn Sjöberg but no Kenny Håkansson this time. More uneven than the debut but with a few better songs including ”Vi behöver hjälp”, a rather heavy track unfortunately spoiled by the vocals. Also featured is ”Bajen”, Kenta's tribute song to his favourite football team Hammarby IF.

August & Kenta (Metronome, 1981)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Third time around and Kenta makes an unexpected move setting music to poems by Sweden's major author August Strindberg. It's also a step away from the large number of studio musicians to a smaller ensemble consisting of for instance Nynningen cohorts Nikke Ström and Bernt Andersson, with electric guitar provided by Ulf Dageby who also stepped in as an arranger. With Stefan Jarl in the rare position of record producer, this is almost a throwback to the ”Ett anständigt liv” soundtrack. ”Esplanadsystemet” even sounds like an outtake from it (which it isn't). At any rate, ”August & Kenta” is probably the Kenta's most focused album. The smaller line-up proves beneficial to the songs, and Kenta the singer sounds more relaxed here than on any of his previous albums. Still not great, but it showed that Kenta had more to give than just his personality.

But as fate had it, this was to be his last album. He appeared in the third installment in Stefan Jarl's Misfits series in 1993, and he popped out as for guest vocals on an album by commercial keyed fiddle player Åsa Jinder in 2002. He provided one track to a V/A tribute album to Hammarby football club in 2001. Kenta Gustafsson died from cancer two years later at the age of 54. Two posthumous albums of previously unreleased songs and demos appeared in 2022/23 in strictly limited vinyl editions.

Kenta full album playlist including "Utan att fråga"
Kan det va' fel på systemet full album playlist
August & Kenta full album playlist

KAIPA – Händer (Polar, 1980) / Nattdjurstid (Piglet, 1982)

Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: */*

Few albums have represented such a sharp turn in style as these. When guitarist Roine Stolt left the band in 1979, he took the original Kaipa style with him and left the band with something that's closer to a poppish, synth inflicted post punk with very, very little left of what characterized Kaipa's first three albums. Only instrumentals ”Regn” and ”Elgrandi” on ”Händer” show traces of their past, but those traces are so small they almost don't count.

I've never been a Kaipa fan but these albums are definitely inferior to anything they originally became known for. The early albums had a vision whereas these two sound like a band lost. Especially ”Händer” sounds exactly like it is, a band struggling to come up with something after one important member left. I almost feel sorry for them clutching for the weakest straws; stiff playing, ill-fitting production, and worst of all: bad songwriting.

”Händer” was released on ABBA:s label Polar and they were obviously not pleased, so for the next album ”Nattdjurstid” 1982, Kaipa geared down to Uppsala imprint Piglet. Maybe the decreased production values were to their advantage, since ”Nattdjurstid” is a slightly better album. Kaipa seems to have a better comprehension of their new style, the songs are tighter and more effective, and the smaller sound suits the new material better. The band simply sounds more self-assured. There are even moments of true inspiration, as on ”Zepapo” where Stolt replacement Max Åhman goes into full Robert Fripp mode. It's still not a good album though, and they probably realized that going further down this path that really wasn't theirs would only lead to further humiliation. By the end of the year, Kaipa disbanded.

Händer full album
Nattdjurstid full album

KLARA EXPRESS – 1975 (no label, 1975) / WASA EXPRESS – Live At Jarlateatern 1976 (no label, 1976)

Instrumental
International relevance ***/***

The seeds of Wasa Express were already in the ground by 1975, although their debut album wasn't released until 1977. They recorded an LP's worth of material as Klara Express in 1975 in the legendary Decibel studio in Stockholm where myriads of albums have been recorded. If these recordings were made as demos or if they were in fact intended for release I don't know, but they remained locked away for decades before getting a digital-only release.

Klara Express was a very different-sounding band than when turning into Wasa Express, and this incarnation featured EGBA trumpeter Ulf Adåker and trombone player Nils Landgren who both left early on. They were obviously a balancing force in the band, as those Klara Express tapes top everything made after their departure. Instead of the daredevil gymnastics that make Wasa Express such an overbearing band, Klara Express focused on the groove. Åke Eriksson is a drummer well-known for his skills, and here he pulls out every funky trick in the book to great success. The syncopes blare away with precision but also all of the feel it takes to make it swing, groove and funk. It's fusion music alright, but it's in the higher legion of jazz funk, much better than most albums in the same mould. It's a pity these recordings weren't released back in the day, and even greater pity what the loss of Adåker and Landgren did to the band.

”Live at Jarlateatern 1976” is an early document of Wasa Express, and while it still has remnants from their early Klara characteristics, they were already heading for their typical style where it was more important to dazzle and baffle the audience with instrumental acrobatics than to present something with emotional substance. And even in those moments where they emphasize the funk bits left over from the Klara Express days, it sounds dull and calculated. ”Jarlateatern” isn't quite as terrible as their later properly released albums, but it's still dead boring and clinical.

None of these albums have been released physically. Both of them were originally available for free download from Åke Eriksson's website, but are now available for streaming on the regular platforms.

Klara Express full album playlist (Spotify)
Live At Jarlateatern full album playlist (Spotify)

TOMMY KÖRBERG – Sjunger Birger Sjöberg (Sonet, 1974) / TOMMY KÖRBERG & STEFAN NILSSON – Blixtlås (Sonet, 1979)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: */**

Tommy Körberg is a huge star even internationally thanks to his appearance in the ”Chess” musical. He's an incredibly versatile performer and a massively gifted singer, but he can also be massively boring and his vocal precision can make him sound cold. Most of his solo works are way outside of progg; his relevance to this blog mainly extends to his recordings with Solar Plexus and Made In Sweden. ”Tommy Körberg sjunger Birger Sjöberg” fits despite not really being progg as it's really a Solar Plexus album in disguise, featuring the entire band minus Jojje Wadenius. The songs are musical adaptions of Swedish turn of the century poet Birger Sjöberg, As expected with the people involved, it's a well performed affair. It's very polished, so polished it's lifeless. There's little or nothing of Solar Plexus's usual frivolous approach to musical genres, and the general feel is that of restrainment and control. The three tracks that rise slightly above the inherent dullness are ”Släpp fångarne loss”, ”Samtal om universum” and ”Bleka dödens minut”. They have vague strains of a suppressed unease if you listen closely – very closely – but still lack the spirit the album is in such great need of.

Tommy Körberg returned to Swedish poetry as a source for inspiration five years later, but his approach was vastly different on "Blixtlås" (subtitled "Svensk 70-talspoesi", 'Swedish 70's poetry'). Featured are  longtime Körberg cohort Stefan Nilsson (Kornet, De Gladas Kapell, Hörselmat) and other people from mainly the jazz and fusion legions (plus a harmonica cameo from Mats Ronander). It has a sound I don't like, but the music and arrangements are still more vivid than on the Birger Sjöberg album. But ”Blixtlås” wasn't made as a companion piece, and taken as a singular work, it simply sounds lika a cold, cerebreal and clinical fusion jazz workout.

Sjunger Birger Sjöberg full album playlist
Blixtlås full album playlist

TOMMY KÖRBERG, ANDERS LINDER, LILL LINDFORS & ANN SOFI NILSSON – Barn i stan (Folksång, 1980)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

The featured booklet explains the album: ”This album deals with the condition of children. Some of the songs are newly written, but most of them date back to the turn of the century. You can learn a lot from history. Knowledge of the historical context can help us to greater power of action today.” Needless to say, the lyrics have a strong political bent, and while it's hard to object to the sentiment, the wiseacre approach is as tiresome here as always.

The most interesting thing about the album is the all-star lineup with several of prog stellars including Tommy Körberg (Solar Plexus, Made In Sweden), Anders Linder (all-round performer well-loved for his many children's shows on national TV), Stefan Nilsson (De Gladas Kapell, Kornet, Hörselmat and later on stahlwart with Tommy Körberg), Stefan Ringbom (Mascots, Fria Proteatern) and of course, the everpresent multi-instrumentalist maestro Kjell Westling (Arbete & Fritid, Harvester, Gunder Hägg/Blå Tåget, Vargavinter, Spjärnsvallet...). Still, the music itself isn't very interesting, and ”Barn i stan” stands most of all as merely a historical document from the tail end of the progg movement.

Folksång was Fria Proteatern's label.

No links found.

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

LARS KIHLBOM – Spegelryttaren (Talking Music, 1981)

 
Swedish lyrics, instrumental
International relevance: **

Little-known or at least rarely mentioned album by not very productive singer/songwriter Lars Kihlbom. My guess is that Ola Magnell and Marie Bergman were among his prime inspirations. Kihlbom, however, was never even within grasp of Magnell's talent. The songs often deal with interpersonal relations but fail to engage. I simply don't care about Kihlbom's pedestrian observations of mundane situations. The best tracks are the short instrumentals – the opener ”Introduction” is by far the most interesting 35 seconds on the entire album along with the Debussy drenched flute closer ”Israel” clocking in at less than a minute and a half. The album title is quite poetic though, meaning "The Mirror Horseman".

Talking Music was a seemingly Christian Gothenburg label which released several singles and albums by a variety of little-known acts such as Kyrkstöt, Ben Antell Band and Dynamis. They were also the distributor of Tomas Ernvik's/Vatten's Gutta label.

Lars Kihlbom released a non-album 7” in 1981, plus a couple of albums later in the 80s. In a strange turn of events, he also record a 45 in 1988 with tennis pro Mats Wilander as part of his less than successful musical career. There are also a couple of much later albums up on Youtube by one Lars Kihlbom which I assume is the "Spegelryttaren" guy.

No links found.