TORBJÖRN "TOBBE" RÜSSLANDER – Tobbe med egna låtar (no label, MC, 1978)

 
Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: *

A very obscure and almost entirely undocumented cassette-only album, privately issued in 500 homemade copies in 1978, with songs written from 1974 up to the release date. Torbjörn ”Tobbe” Rüsslander was a singer/songwriter and a pretty good guitar player who recorded these twelve songs in his rehearsal room.

Recorded on a 4-track TEAC machine, the album shares the sound characteristics heard on several American private pressings from around the same time. Although the portastudio has its obvious limitations, I've always liked the dryness of it, as if the music was registered onto a chunk of wood. Rüsslander is quite good at using the technical limitations to his advantage. 

Most of his songs are melodic, and a couple of them have a more pronounced proggish feel, like ”Fredagsnatt” and ”En vän i nöden”, the latter nicely decorated with understated flute lines. Otherwise, the progg feel lies mainly with the sincere DIY vibe, not unlike Per Forssell. 

I can't quite put my finger on what, but there's something about ”Tobbe med egna sånger” that occasionally reminds me of U.S. underground legend D.R. Hooker whose 1972 album ”The Truth” is highly regarded by psych fans and collectors, even if Rüsslander doesn't have quite the same off-beat outsider vibe. At any rate, I enjoy listening to it. It may have its shortcomings, but those are overshadowed by the merits.

Rüsslander later re-emerged briefly with his band Zvenska Muskler who released one single in 1981. He still performs, and he also works a guitar teacher.

Full album  

VARIOUS ARTISTS – MUSIKFESTIVALEN 1978 (no label, MC, 1978)

 
Featured artists: Magnum Brus / Trycket / Harline Blue / Handkraft / Staffan Pettersson / Kylans Rockorkester / Horny Band / Inferno
Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: *

An incredibly rare cassette, home copied on standard TDK tapes and privately released locally in the northern town of Örnsköldsvik in 1978. The compilation was recorded live during a benefit festival for Örnsköldsvik youth club that needed renovating. Several local acts performed at the festival, the best known being Kylans Rockorkester along with several bands that never made it beyond the city limits. Apart from Kylans Rockorkester, only Hairline Blue got as far as to have a 45 out under their own name, although a couple of the performers also appeared on ”Musikfest 80 Örnsköldsvik”. There's heavy rock, bebop, jazz fusion, and funk, and the level of playing varies almost as much as the musical styles. Some bands are pretty skilled while others are not. The sound quality isn't great but OK for a 70s audience recording. Neither is the music. The best selection is ”Spränga hela skiten”, the first-ever released Kylans track, atypically dark in mood coming from them and not as bluesy as their better known stuff.

”Musikfestivalen 1978” is definitely of interest to collectors of local releases, but the average listener need not bother.

Full album playlist 

JIMMY NIELSEN & KARMEL – Complete recordings 1980-1982

 

Försök förstå vad livet är... / Är du beredd??? (no label, 7" 1980)
released as Jimmy Nielsen

Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

Jimmy Nielsen came from Norrahammar, a part of Jönköping, the capital of the Swedish bible belt. It's no surprise then that Nielsen is a Christian singer, but his music is often heavier than your typical Jesus pop fare, possibly inspired by the commercial success of Christian hard rock band Jerusalem. Nielsen's debut came with this self-released 7” in 1980. The 'A' side isn't that heavy though, it's just a terrible perky pop tune. The flip's ”Är du beredd???” is better, although it's too light to fully work as the boogie rock Nielsen and backing band Karmel attempted.

Varför är din blick så negativ? (Karmel Musikproduktion, 1981)
Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: **

After the weak debut 45, Nielsen and his band now renamed Karmel -81 went for a full length album. With a better production they come closer to what they aim for. The sound is better and the band is tighter, but the songs still aren't very good. The pedestrian blues rock and boogie stomp is diluted with some absolutely dreadful funk moves including the then fashionable slap bass technique that those who use it certainly won't get into heaven for. Neither will drummers wasting space with drum solos à la the two and a half minute ”Smurd” on side 2. Best track is ”Fort fort springer du”, a surprisingly garage-y track that was recycled for the band's final 7” in 1982 along with another album track, ”Heroin där fick du tji”.

This turned out to be Nielsen's and Karmel's only album, but it had a second pressing as Jimmy Nielsen Band with a different artwork, so I guess it was fairly successful among their Christian peers.

 

 

Maxi-EP (no label, 12" 1982)
Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: **

This four-track 12” is probably the best thing Nielsen released, even though it rehashes the disgusting slap bass jazz funk instrumental ”Funk My Soul” from the LP. But apart from that, he had the good taste of dropping the constipated boogie blues for a more singer/songwriter oriented material which suits him better. Not that any of it is particularly imaginative, but I think the last track ”Misslyckad” is at least passable.

Full 1980 single playlist
Varför är din blick så negativ? full album playlist
Maxi-EP full 12" playlist

MYRBEIN – Radio Jämtland 1978 (no label, 2015: rec. 1978) / Live Tonkraft Sveriges Radio P3 1979 (no label, 2015; rec. 1979) / Live Borås 1981 (no label, 2015: rec. 1981)

Myrbein's only album ”Myrornas krig” is one of the worst albums I've heard on this blog. It's prog rock (with one 'g') at its most annoying, complex for the sake of complexity alone, but with a puerile lack of compositional logic that makes them sound like a kindergarten King Crimson on a bad day. It was released in 1981, shortly before Myrbein disbanded (with some members turning up in the un-proggy postpunk band Skallarna not long after). They formed in 1977, and a couple of early tapes were made available on the band's Soundcloud in 2015, plus one from their final year.

 

Radio Jämtland 1978 (no label, 2015; rec. 1978)
Instrumental, English vocals
International relevance: ***

The earliest tape is a three-song session made by local radio station Radio Jämtland (Jämtland being Myrbein's home county). If Myrbein were musically lost in their later years, they had absolutely no fucking clue what they were doing during the earliest days. Musically illiterate songwriting and blunderous playing but chock full of over-reaching ambition. With a playing time of only 16 minutes, this shouldn't be that hard to get through but it's really an endurance test. Last track ”Pucko vinner” is unbelievably terrible.

Live Tonkraft Sveriges Radio P3 1979 (no label, 2015; rec. 1979)
Swedish vocals, English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: ***

Recorded in their home town Östersund for the legendary Tonkraft series on Swedish national radio, and perhaps that fact made Myrbein nervous enough to shape up a bit. I'm not saying it's a good show, but it's not their worst effort. Despite some misguided attempts at Samla Mammas Manna styled musical humour, the track ”Hjälp släpp ut mig” is in fact almost listenable. Unfortunately, the tiny hope that track might inspire is quickly ruined by an embarrasing rock'n'roll pastiche called ”Ko”, and a disco parody named ”Disco Baby” that kicks in wide open doors. Wow, mocking disco in 1979! Did you really think that was a forefront thing to do? Come on, guys, please...

Live Borås 1981 (no label, 2015; rec. 1981)
Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: ***

This reasonably good sounding audience recording opens with a cover of King Crimson's ”Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part II”, showing they finally left their most of their Samla Mammas Manna/Gentle Giant hang-ups in favour of a Crimson hang-up. "Larks' Tongues" is fairly well performed, it suggests Myrbein could actually pull off a bit of garage level symph rock without making complete fools of themselves, and that their biggest problem perhaps was their insufficient understanding of composition. The rest of the gig features songs from their then recent album and some leftovers from their early repertoire including ”Ko”. Fans of ”Myrornas krig” will probably like this archival outpouring of theirs the best, but I still think it scores high on the international suckitude scale.

Radio Jämtland 1978 full EP playlist  
Live Tonkraft 1979 full album playlist 
Live Borås 1981 full album playlist

A SEVEN INCH SPECIAL, VOL. 11: Late era hard & heavy

GUN SMOKE
Midnight Train / Thoghts (Artside, 1975)
English vocals
International relevance: ***

Housed in a very fetching sleeve, this is a bit of a lost gem. Regional label Artside is almost exclusively known for dance orchestras of the most dubious kind, so how Gun Smoke ended up on the label is way beyond me. ”Midnight Train” is hard rock and and psych rock in equal parts with an urgent drive and a very appealing melody. The excellent lead guitar is present all through the track and really fires it up during the solo. ”Midnight Train” is a mini masterpiece that has gone under the radar for far too long. The misspelt ”Thoghts” is a ballad with a nice, drowsy, hazy atmosphere. It's decent I guess but it just can't touch the A side's brilliance. But ”Midnight Train” alone makes this one of the best 45s featured on this blog.

Gun Smoke reunited in the 00's as Gunsmoke and released a CD in 2005. It has a vastly inferior re-recording of ”Midnight Train”, and is more in a southern rock style.

 
HIGHBROW – Rock On (T-Bone, 1978)
English vocals
International relevance: **

Rooted in mid 70s hard rock but moving in the heavy metal direction with dual guitars and some boogie rock moves. The A side ”A Loser” found its way onto the all-Swedish volume of the ”Jobcentre Rejects” compilation series doing a great job documenting rare NWOBHM (and FWOSHM - first wave of Swedish heavy metal) singles otherwise lost to obscurity. The vocals, handled by Norweigan born Dave Nerge, leave bit to be desired but at least they're gratifyingly free of the genre's more annoying mannerisms. B side ”Roumers” (which I guess is supposed to mean ”Rumours”) is perhaps more interesting with an unusual melody with overlapping vocal lines. All in all, it's pretty well executed and not without talent. It's not surprising that all members went on to other bands, some of them quite successful, after releasing a second single in 1979.

 

ROCK SET – Piteå kommun / Up In My Room (Frontalrock, 1979)
Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: *

Rock Set really must have hated their hometown judging by the track ”Piteå Kommun”. They vehemently describe it as a terrible place where time stands still, everything is boring and everyone has alcohol problems. Set to a riff suspiciously similar to Eddie & The Hot Rods' ”Writing On The Wall”, the message gets through loud and clear. Coupled with a blues rocking ”Up In My Room”, this is a great and highly sought-after classic, sometimes going for up to around 200 euros! Thankfully, the guys behind the aforementioned ”Jobcentre Rejects” series reissued it as a deluxe 7" in 2021, making it easier (and cheaper) to obtain. Perhaps too punkish for some, it still remains an excellent example of the rough-hewn DIY ethos that signified punk as well as progg. 

Rock Set released a few more singles (and there's a self-released CD-r compilation of theirs including previously unreleased material), but none of their later outings were as good as this one. 

 

KARL BRUN & HIGHWAY – Ikväll / My Love Is Burning (no label, 1979)
Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: *

Highway were a Gothenburg band augmented with Karl Brun (real name Kenneth Pilo with his nom de plume being a reference to Snoopy character Charlie Brown) and issued this self-financed 1979 single in 200 copies. Brun only appears on ”Ikväll”, an example of idiotic radio friendly boogie stomp. The English spoken B side is credited solely to Highway and is better in a Deep Purple-ish style sans the organ. Obviously rare and seemingly quite expensive when offered for sale, but definitely not worth the price.

TEJP – Tung rock / Sanningen (Tejp, 1979)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

”Tung rock” means ”heavy rock” in English, and it's not far from the truth. Or perhaps this one's more speedy than heavy. Both tracks on this very rare and valuable 7” are a revved up mix of harder rock and punk, a bit like Hela Huset Skakar but not quite as good. Tejp won't win any awards for groundbreaking songwriting, but both tracks are soaking with a devil-may-care attitude, and the unpolished execution gives them a very charming underground feel perfectly matched by the primitive cover art. I'm quite fond of the kind of energetic no-nonsense, hit-and-run rock'n'roll Tejp play, but it will definitely not satisfy anyone demanding complexity or sophistication.

 

VANADIS – Heaven Can Wait / Do Me A Favor (CF, 1979)
English vocals
International relevance: *

This year's award for strangest cover art goes to Vanadis from the southern city of Helsingborg. It's not the only quirky thing about their only outing, recorded in 1978 and released the following year. Singer Jan Göransson has a dry, strangely timbreless voice which is very far from what you associate with a hard rock singer. The drum sound is peculiar too, especially on ”Do Me A Favor”, with the flat, thuddy bass drum being too loud and the guitars to low in the mix. Producer Göran Sandquist was responsible a few more records in the years to come, but this was done in of his earliest days on the job and he obviously hadn't gotten the hang of it. It sounds as if he was more accustomed to radio production than music ditto. Not that the songs are too impressive either – they're too standard sounding – but they would certainly have had more oomph had they hired someone who knew what he was doing at the mixing desk.

Vanadis started out in 1975 as Aniara. They split up in 1979 due to military service, but some of the members later joined other bands.

BAKRUS
Kärnkraftsrock / Blåljus (Bakrus, 1979)
Nettan / Lämrock (Blåljus, 1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

A band from Åsa, a small town a few miles south of Gothenburg. They left only two self-released singles behind, and the first one at least was recorded in Nacksving's studio. Generally undistinguished semi-hard rock hinting at '77 punk and lyrics with typical post-Nationalteatern sentiments. ”Kärnkraftsrock” is against nuclear power, ”Nettan” against drugs and prostitution. Both singles are rare and sought-after but just not worth it. The best track is clearly ”Lämrock” which can be also found on ”Killed By Death, Vol. 51”. 
 

HAIRLINE BLUE – Snart så kommer jag hem / Månen (Harline Blue, 1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Had the mix been better balanced, maybe this would have made a greater impact although not by much. ”Snart så kommer jag hem” is semi-boogie rock with shouty vocals. Not good. The B side is a ballad of sorts with a pseudo Christian vibe (although it isn't religious). ”Månen” has some decent heavy lead guitar with proggish overtones, but it's not enough to save it. 

 

ARMATUR – Rock 'n' roll / Mr. X (Duvan, 1980)
Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

The A side is every bit as daft as its title – if you have to convince people you're rock 'n' roll, you're not.

”Mr. X” is quite good however, although it has a loan or two to repay to Black Sabbath. But Armatur are hardly the only ones in debt to Sabbath, so I let them get away with that. The vocals are only so-so but the track has a nice push to and a very good lead guitarist. Only 500 copies were pressed, and with one of the tracks being so good, it's easy to see why it's in such demand with asking prices in parity with that. Recommended if you can find a copy. But don't play the A side.

 

DAKKS – Änglarna / Tema för säsongen / Metallmani (Dakks, 1981)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Not very wellknown, and not very expensive. Not very good either, and certainly not stringent. During the course of only three songs, they swing from one style to another, and I've no idea if they want to be a hard rock band, a pop band or an experimental ska band. Given the main track, the artwork, and the song title ”Metallmani” (=”metal mania”), I guess that hard rock/heavy metal was what they aimed for. But who am I to say from such an inconsistent effort. Singer David Taylor sounds like he would be in a Christian band – there's something about his tone colour that would fit that. However, one source claims he's the guy later known as Roy Taylor (real name Tony Hellander) in Swedish hair metal band Trash, but I can't decide if that's correct or not. No matter what, Dakks only release is more confusing than appealing.

 

REPULZ – Telling Your Future / God Save Rock 'n' Roll / Problembarn (Stepping Mexicam Produktion, 1981)
English vocals, Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Sometimes classified as punk, Repulz actually think they're hard rock. But whatever idea they might have had in their heads about their own sound, they failed to put it into practice. This 45 is just plain bad with pedestrian songwriting, a clumsy drummer and a singer who obviously skipped English classes in school. ”God Save Rock 'n' Roll” is as clichéd as its dull-witted title. The slightly punkish ”Problembarn” (=”problem child”) is the only song in Swedish and is probably the best track here for that very reason.
 

BOOGIETRYCK 

Röd eller blå / På andra sidan (Try Musikproduktion, 1982

 Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

An insignificant band from northern Sweden that nevertheless released another 45 and a full LP in 1984 in addition to this debut 45. Pretty much in the typical straightforward Northern rock style with a fair amount of boogie rock mixed in. ”Röd eller blå” is the better of the two tracks but none of them is very good. Rekyl and Kylans Rockorkester did this thing better even if the style itself isn't too interesting to begin with.

 

WULCAN – Mysterier / Travellin' (Wulcan, 1982)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

A very obscure, very rare and very expensive 45 from a band originally known as Paradox formed when the drummer was only 8 years old! As Wulcan, they won a local talent contest in 1986 which resulted in a second single. This their debut was paid for by the band, and display a fair amount of talent. ”Travellin'” is a bit on the mediocre side despite some fully functioning harmony vocals, but the Swedish side ”Mysterier” (=”mysteries”) is very good with a mood setting piano intro and a really beautiful melody. The lyrics seem to have Christian overtones but it's hard to say for sure – there's certainly no overt preaching going on here. Although not really in the old school hard rock vein a la November, Midsommar or Great Ad but a couple of steps closer to heavy metal, it's such a wonderful track that I still recommend it. I really hope it will reissued in some way considering the asking prices for an original. Maybe there's even some unreleased stuff of the same calibre hidden away somewhere?

Gun Smoke
Midnight Train / Thoghts (poor sound) 
Highbrow
A Loser (Bandcamp)
Vanadis
Heaven Can Wait / Do Me A Favor
Bakrus
Kärnkraftsrock / Blåljus 
Nettan / Lämrock 
Hairline Blue
Snart så kommer jag hem / Månen  
Armatur
Rock 'n' Roll / Mr. X 

Tejp full single
Karl Brun & Highway full single playlist
Rock Set full single playlist (Bandcamp) 
Dakks full single 
Repulz full single
Wulcan full single

RÄVJUNK – The Freaky Guitar Album (no label, 2002; rec. 1976-1979) / Jamsession (Bogus, 2022; rec. 1970s) / Live At Rackis 1979 (Bogus, 2002; rec. 1979)

The Freaky Guitar Album (no label, 2002; rec. 1976-1979)
Instrumental
International relevance: ***

There exist several unofficial (or semi official?) Rävjunk releases of indeterminate origin. Three albums appeared in 2002, ”Collage”, ”Never Played” and ”The Freaky Guitar Album”, with material recorded in the late 70s. ”Collage” is a compilation of their singles with previously unreleased bonus tracks (since then largely superseded by ”Uppsala Stadshotellbrinner igen”). ”Never Played” consists of tapes from 1976-1979, and appears to be a sister volume to ”The Freaky Guitar Album” covering the same period. It's quite possible, even likely, that Rävjunk themselves were behind those elusive discs.

Parts of what's on ”The Freaky Guitar Album” sound very similar to what's on ”Uppsala Stadshotell brinner”, while some of it is available elsewhere as bonus tracks. Even if Rävjunk's discography originally only extended to one full length album and a handful of singles, it's a total mess of bonus material, archival releases and what-not. There are a couple of things here I don't immediately recognize from elsewhere, but most of it appears to have been released in form or another since ”The Freaky Guitar Album” was sneaked out.

Jamsession (Bogus, 2022; rec. 1970s)
Instrumental, Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***

This is only available for streaming on platforms such as Spotify and Youtube, and it's a much more rewarding and coherent outing than ”The Freaky Guitar Album”. It should be mentioned that all of it is also available as bonus material on Transubstans's digital reissue of ”Uppsala Stadshotell brinner” along with a couple of songs not released on ”Jamsession”. The sound is great with a bearable dip in quality only on the final 20+ minute track ”Naturbarn”. My guess is that most of it was recorded on the same occasion, possibly during the sessions for ”Uppsala Stadshotell brinner”. All tracks are instrumental except for a few (improvised?) lines in ”Tro på livet”. For those into Rävjunk's jammy side, this is essential.

Live At Rackis, Uppsala, Sweden 1979 May 26 (Bogus, 2002; rec. 1979)
Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: **

Another streaming-only release, this time representing Rävjunk's punkier side with four tracks recorded live at Rackarbergspuben (commonly referred to as Rackis) in the band's hometown Uppsala on 26th of May, 1979. The sound is generally good although the vocals sound a bit muffled. It's a short but tight and very inspired set including two songs not available elsewhere, the decent but not excellent ”Redneck” and a great, revved-up cover of Gudibrallan's ”Sprutan”. This is every bit as good as their singles, if not better. If you prefer this side of the band, this is something to check out.

One further track, a so called "raw version" of the track "Delerium" off "Uppsala Stadshotell brinner" was included on the V/A CD "Tänd mörkret", a compilation of experimental postpunk and fringe progg artists released in conjunction with an art exhibition in Gothenburg 2007. 

The Freaky Guitar Album full album
Jamsession full album playlist
Live At Rackis 1979 full EP playlist 
"Delirium (Raw version)" from "Tänd mörkret" 

OMAR – Archival releases 1978-1982

 

 Omars Greatest Hit... And 14 More 1978-1986 (no label, 2014; rec 1978-1986)

Swedish vocals, English vocals

 International relevance: *

Omar were a four-piece from Värnamo in the Småland region who released one sole 12” on private label Lucas in 1978. But they taped a lot more, although much of it was live recordings, rehearsals and demos, eventually released on streaming-only compilations. ”Omars Greatest Hit... And 14 more” contains the full 12” thus including their best song ”The Love That Once Bled”. The rest is what standard rock music of little personality. Their ”greatest hit” was apparently ”Värnamo, Värnamo” about their hometown, here featured in a live version. There are no recording dates given, but judging by the style and sound, a little more than half of the material is from 1982 or earlier. The assumably later songs is similar to what Ulf Lundell did in the mid-80s.

 

Live, Demos & Studio 1978-1986 (no label, 1999; rec. 1978-1986)

 Swedish vocals, English vocals

 International relevance: *

Covering the same period but with entirely different songs. Sound quality varies heavily from terrible to decent but the style is similar to ”Omars Greatest Hit” only with fewer songs in the 1986 style. Best track is ”Kärlek bränns” but it's still too undistinguished to make an impression.

 

Live 1982 & 1984 (no label, EP 2022; rec. 1982-1984)

 Swedish vocals

 International relevance: *

Again in the streaming-only format, this four-track live EP has only two songs within the blog's time frame and one of them was already on ”Live, Demos & Studio”. ”Om dom bara visste” was on ”Live, Demos & Studio” but in a different version, but it still sounds like most of their usual pedestrian repertoire.

 

Värnamo, Värnamo (Live och i replokalen 1978) (no label, single 1998; rec. 1978)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Two versions of the same song, the live one also being on ”Omars Greatest Hit”. Not a good song to begin with, and the rehearsal take hardly makes it any better. Probably only of interest to the friends of the band and others living in Värnamo hating the town as much as Omar did.

Several other releases of later Omar material exist, also only for streaming.

Omars Greatest Hit... And 14 More full album playlist (Spotify)
Live, Demos & Studio 1978-1986 full album playlist (Spotify)
Live 1982 & 1984 full EP playlist (Spotify)
Värnamo, Värnamo full single playlist (Spotify)

EGBA – Live In 75 (no label, 2017; rec. 1975)

 Instrumental, Swedish vocals, other languages
International relevance: ***

A streaming-only release from EGBA's missing year between the first and second album. Professionally recorded at Bullerbyn, a music pub in the middle of Stockholm. with transitional line-up of Ulf Adåker, Ulf Andersson, Ahmadu Jarr, Bjarne Roupé, Harald Svensson, Göran Lagerberg and Åke Eriksson. It's closer in style to ”Live At Montmartre” from 1977, meaning a heavy African influence, but the kick-off track, the otherwise unavailable ”14 ton trotyl” is unusually heavy and the collection's high point. EGBA fans should really treat themselves to this obscure release.

Full album playlist (Spotify)

TRETTIOÅRIGA KRIGET – Archival releases 1998-2020 (rec. 1970-1981)

Trettioåriga Kriget's archives have been trawled through several times over the years by mainly Mellotronen. Together these releases make up a parallell history of the band, with both live tapes and other sorts of material, covering Trettioåriga Kriget's entire lifespan, also including the years following their reformations in the 90s and the 00s. 

Glorious War (Mellotronen, 2004: rec. 1970-1971)
English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: ***

The most interesting of those archive clear-outs is ”Glorious War”, for the sole reason it doesn't sound much like we know Trettioåriga Kriget's style. Consisting of tapes from the very earliest days of their existence, they hadn't yet taken to the adolescent philosophical rants of their later Swedish lyrics, and they were still too sloppy performers to live up to their own musical pretentions that make most of their records sound so constipated. They try hard, but fail which is relieving to hear. Not that ”Glorious War” is very good – parts of ”Konserten”, overlong at its ridiculous 18 minutes are OK – but it's amusing to hear them make such fools out of themselves. The bass solo of ”Assimilation” is the worst I've heard since Malaria. The track ”Thirty Years War” sounds like a nod to the early Mothers Of Invention but without Zappa's brain. ”Gloriwas War” is 53 minutes of pure spiteful fun.

War Years (Mellotronen, 2008; rec. 1971-2007)
Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: ***

The entire second disc of this double CD is dedicated to the 00's so I leave that aside. Disc 1 covers the band's original ten years. It starts off with a crappy sounding 1971 live recording in the same klutzy vein as ”Glorious War” before moving on to a couple of 1974 selections. The Trettioåriga Kriget sound is beginning to fall into place but the recordings are unbalanced and out of tune which hardly makes the band a favour. Remaining recordings on disc 1 are from '76-'77 amd '79-'81 and tell us what we already knew, that the band went from ostentatious prog rock stuck up on its own holiness to bad new wave.

War Memories (Mellotronen 1998, rec. 1972-1981)
Swedish vocals, English vocals, wordless vocals, instrumental
International relevance: ***

The first compilation of Trettioåriga Kriget's unreleased material appeared already in 1998 and is a mish-mash of studio recordings, radio sessions, live tapes and what have you. So inconsistent and haphazard it's hard to make any sense of it. An early stab at hard rock, later era synth pop and yodeling. (Literally, that is – I'm not talking about Robert Zima's twisted scrotum falsetto.) It does however have early song ”I've Got No Time” which sounds like at least a half decent late 60s/early 70s American rural rock band.

Konserten -73 / King Eric (no label, 2010; rec. 1972-1973)
Instrumental
International relevance: ***

A CD-r single released in 100 copies. ”Konserten” is a trimmed down 1973 recording of the piece from ”Glorious War”, slightly better because it's shorter. ”King Eric” is a crap-fi 1972 recording which starts out as bad jazz before ending in a complete unlistenable mess.

War Diaries, Vol. 1 (no label, 2018; rec. 1974)
War Diaries, Vol. 2 (no label, 2020; rec. 1976)
Swedish vocals, English vocals, wordless vocals
International relevance: ***

Two volumes released through Trettioåriga Kriget's Bandcamp only. The cover for volume 1 says 1974 but some of it is actually from 1975. The four tracks from ”Progglådan” are here too which means that ”Progglådan's” 1973 date is wrong (as is a lot of info in that mess of a box set). Mostly live recordings in good radio sound, plus one demo in OK rehearsal space fidelity.

The second volume is a complete concert recorded Swedish Radio's Tonkraft series in November 1976. The dreaded yodel reappears, but it's still quite possibly the best ever live document of Trettioåriga Kriget, even to my ears, with a focused performance and a well-rounded sound. It's certainly the best to surface officially, head and shoulders above any of the Mellotronen releases. Why this wasn't released first of all is a mystery.

Glorious War full album playlist
War Years disc 1 full album playlist (Bandcamp)
War Memories full album playlist (Bandcamp)
Konserten -73 (first track only)
War Diaries, Vol. 1 full album playlist (Bandcamp)
War Diaries, Vol. 2 full album playlist (Bandcamp)

HAYENA BAND – Live In Studio '77 (no label, 2023; rec. 1977)

 

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

This is just about as obscure as it gets as this album doesn't even exist, only just a little. (Don't let the ringwear and price tag on the cover fool you.)

Hayena Band was a West Coast sextet that only ever released one track, on Caprice Records various artists comp ”Tvärsnitt (10 Unga Svenska Jazz- Och Rockgrupper 1978)” where they shared space with bands like Kattegatt, Boojwah Kids and Alter Ego (a.k.a. Alter Echo). After Hayena Band disbanded in 1978, two of the members – drummer Werner Modiggård and saxophonist Claes Carlsson – eventually ended up in Eldkvarn. The track on ”Tvärsnitt” is ”Puerto Tune” taken from a full length 1977 studio session held at Swedish Radio Gothenburg, and that session is what was sneaked out to various streaming platforms in 2023 as ”Live In Studio '77”.

The style is Latin infused jazz rock, and while that may not sound too appealing, this is not your usual dreary funk fusion. It's very intense and powerful with fiery guitars and hard blowing sax. It simply rocks hard! This band must have been a real firebomb on stage if they could work up such a frenzy in a sterile radio studio. I don't know if there's a viable market for their kind of music, but going only by the high quality of their stuff, this is so very worthy of a proper release. It just isn't fair it should just be swept into an unlit corner of the internet. I had no idea this existed until I stumbled upon it more or less by chance, and I'm afraid most people won't do it all. And ”Live In Studio '77” deserves so much better than that. It's a gem.

Full album playlist

FAGERSTA STADSMUSIKKÅR & BERÄTTARGRUPP – Norbergs-strejken 1891-92 (no label, 1980)

Swedish vocals, spoken word
International relevance: -

A virtually unknown double album documenting a stage play written by Sture Karlsson with music composed by Anders Lindström, and first performed in 1977. It deals with a miners strike in 1891-92 which is one of the labor movement's biggest conflicts. It started when the workers in Kallmora iron ore mine suddenly got less wages than promised and quickly grew to a nationwide concern when Sweden's then Prime Minister Hjalmar Branting came to Kallmora to appear for the workers. Military forces were called in against the strikers, but the soldiers surprisingly sided with the miners. The workers eventually settled for an agreement that didn't entirely fulfilled their claims.

It's a historically relevant incident, and so is the theatrical description of it as it inspired several more so called ”workers plays” around Sweden in the following years. But that doesn't mean it's fun to listen to on record, especially not a double album. It's virtually impossible to sit through ”Norbergs-strejken 1891-92” with its amateurish acting (I don't think any of the actors was a professional) and the terrible music. The songs are all in the typical vein of all acoustic political progg albums from the 70s. The message is the all-important thing here, so the songs are merely meant to carry the narrative and not necessarily to entertain. And they certainly don't. I can't see anyone getting a lot out of this album, except for possibly one or two local Norberg scholars wanting to dig deeper into the area's political history. 

Marie Selander also sang about the strike in the appropriately titled "Norbergsstrejken" on her fine album "Från den svenska vildmarken".

No links found.

A SEVEN INCH SPECIAL, VOL. 1: 3 POLITICAL SINGLES

Three political various artists singles with a strong local flavor.

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Historien går igen (Manifest, EP 1977)
Featured artists: Ted Ström / Thores Trio / Magnus Nilsson
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

A four-track EP released on Manifest – the premier label of Northern Sweden – to raise money for a feature length documentary on the fate of small town Karlsvik, directed by Kerstin Wixe and Ylva Mårtens. The subtitle for ”Historien går igen” is ”Stöd filmen om Karlsvik!” (=”support the Karlsvik movie!”). An early example of fundraising.

Karlsvik is a very small town, a village really, just outside of Luleå (home of the Manifest label), with a population of then only 280, and once dependent on the local ironworks before it was blown-up in the early 20th century which almost forced the village to shut down completely. The same thing was about to happen again in the late 70s (hence the title ”Historien går igen”, ”history repeats itself”) when the local grocery store was about to shut down. According to the EP's liner notes. a municipal commissioner says in the movie that they'd prefer if they just could let Karlsvik cease and desist altogether. This was actually not uncommon in Sweden during the 70s when many a rural area bled both financially and populationwise to the bigger cities in the South. Several artists, especially from the affected regions, dealt with it in their songs, most notably Bernt Staf and Ted Ström. Not surprisingly, Ted Ström contributes to the lead-off title track to this EP, an acoustic number also included on his ”Kärva lägen” album.

The remaining three tracks are shared between obscure band Thores Trio (who had one full album out in 1981), and Magnus Nilsson who gets two songs. Nilsson was actually a member of Gothenburgians Text & Musik, and although none of the tracks on this EP is any good, Nilsson's ”Den första butiken” is the best. The style of all four selections is rather typical political songs, and if I am to point out any certain value of this release, it would be exclusively historical.

If the movie and its accompanying EP had anything to do with it is beyond my knowledge, but the village of Karlsvik still exists; population 232 in 2020. 

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Norrbottenplattan 1 (Manifest, 1977)

Featured artists: Anton Swedbergs Swängjäng / Contraband / Thores Trio / Norrlåtar / Håkan Rudehäll
 Swedish vocals, other languages
International relevance: *

The second of the two volumes of ”Norrbottenplattan” is already on this blog. This first volume was released a year earlier than volume 2, in 1977. Featured on both releases are Anton Swedbergs Swängjäng, the nebulous musical collective who had different members on any given occasion. Their track here is one of their weakest – ”Playa Plannya” is several songs in one mixing show tunes with trad jazz, like a miniature cabaret.

Contraband is featured with a song named ”Euskefeurat” which soon also became the name of the band. As such they had a long career which earned their mix of folk sounds and comedy quite some popularity for reasons that will remain obscure with me.

Thores Trio is back again here with a track in the same sort of old timey folk vein and just as forgettable as the one on ”Historien går igen”.

Norrlåtar is the most credible band in this lot but their contribution is among their weakest tracks.

Håkan Rudehäll released at least one album on his own, and at one point contributed an essay on the lack of work in Northern Sweden to an anthology book published in 1973. His track on ”Norrbottenplattan” is a jolly ditty of which there are seemingly thousands in the field of political song. And none of them is worth hearing.

All in all, this is for local patriots only. Others should steer clear.

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Livet i Kvarnbyn / Vi bygger landet (no label, 1982)

Featured artists: Pär Holmertz / Leif Moe / Maria Samuelsson / Mats Sköldberg / Stefan Sporsén 
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Quite possible one of the most obscure and secretive releases on the blog, this was a local release from Mölndal, a neighbouring town to Gothenburg. The two songs on the single was culled from a stage play about the labourers movement's development in the Mölndal region in the early 1900s. Info on this release is scarce to say the least; it's not even listed on Discogs and I don't recognize most of the names on the cover either, but it appears that Leif and Ole Moe (brothers, assumably) later had a couple of private releases out, and Pär Holmertz (guitar, bass, drums) could possibly be the Per Holmertz who later did some engineering work for bands in the Gothenburg area. Trumpeter Stefan Sporsén however has had a long career afterwards, playing with several of Sweden's best known artists in more recent times. Not that any of this really matters because it's nothing worth hunting down. ”Livet i Kvarnbyn” is an undistinguished track that reminds me of equally undistinguished Christian singer/songwriter rock from the same time (but without the Christian message). B side ”Vi bygger landet” sounds like any old laborers movement song, and without any proper songwriter's credit here it might very well be. The production is pretty good, especially for a release like this, so I assume somebody put a little cash into its realization.

from Historien går igen:
Ted Ström - Historien går igen
Thores Trio - Hit kom dom

from Norrbottenplattan 1:
Contraband - Euskefeurat
Anton Swedbergs Swängjäng - Playa Plannja
Thores Trio - Norrbottenssången
Norrlåtar - Lakkolaulu Pajalasta

Livet i Kvarnbyn:
No links found.

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)

ROGER EKMAN – Ångest (no label, 1978)

 
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

This is an album I've been eager to hear for years, but being in the three-figure league pricewise, it's not one you easily stumble upon (or can afford if you, like me, are on a tight budget). It's been conspicuously absent from the Internet as well. As the years went by, my hopes for a true gem only got higher, but I was afraid it would in fact be another Axelsson dump of incompetence. Thankfully, it isn't near Axelsson's unfathomable crappiness at all, and despite its dark lyrical topics, it's not a fright trip into the mental abyss like Stephen David Heitkotter either. Instead, it's a surprisingly accessible and well-crafted piece of work.

”Ångest” means ”anxiety” in English, and the lyrics deal with the insufficient mental health care system from an indeed personal standpoint. Knowing the lyrics capture firsthand experiences of depression and anxiety, they hit harder than if they were only an outsider's proclamations to make easy political points. Better still is that Ekman was a talented songwriter and a good enough singer who also managed to assemble a line-up of able students from Stockholm's distinguished Adolf Fredrik's music school to get his ideas across. The arrangements often have a jazzy feel but with its acoustic framework including flute, sax and upright bass, they never fall into the dreaded fusion trap. Some songs have a Latin touch as opening track ”Väntan”, while ”Besök hos en allmänpraktiserande läkare (specialitet nervösa besvär)” is decidedly folksy. Tobias Peterson compares Ekman to Ronny Åström in his progg encyclopedia, but to be honest, I don't hear Åström as much as I hear someone like Mikael Ramel thanks to the album's versatile musicality and Ekman's melodic sense. The album was recorded live-in-the-studio and has a highly appealing organic well-balanced sound rather unusal to private pressings – the richness of the upright bass is particularly sweet.

”Ångest” had a run of only 100 copies in 1978 and has never been repressed. Most of them were given away to friends, but a batch of overstock copies was later discovered and sold with a newly produced booklet authorized by Ekman himself, as the original insert was missing in some of the covers. To keep the original manufacturing costs to a minimum, the album came in sleeves from other records turned inside out, and were re-glued and stamped with Roger Ekman's name along with the album title.

As the album's raison d'être is the lyrics, an important aspect is lost to non-Swedes so it might not appear as urgent to foreigners, but with Ekman's knack for songwriting and the empathic backing musicians, it's still an album several notches above the standard homemade progg album. Despite ”Ångest's” lyrical concerns, it's a beautiful album that was finally graced with a reissue in 2025 on the British BBE label.

Full album

GRUPPKORSBANDET - Hör och häpna (no label, 1976)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

The liner notes read:

This isn't an ordinary record. We're neither skilled nor commercial - you have to be that to get an album released by an established label. That's why we've made this record ourselves. /.../ We can't allow the music being taken over completely by a flock of professional musicians while the rest of us hardly dare play to ourselves, let alone to others. MUSIC BELONGS TO ALL OF US!

How cute. Too bad it's all progg baloney. It sounds just like something those nine members of Gruppkorsbandet had repeated like a mantra to get it right like a quote from Mao's little red book, probably in front of the mirror so that they could strike the perfect progg pose while parroting the tired old progg credo to any old person unlucky enough to be around to hear. It's all nonsense, because nobody stopped anyone from playing anything. Not even in the 70's.

Take a look at the cover. The typeface looks like something off an information brochure from the official Don't Have Fun Institute saying Eat Brown Rice And Be Boring. Look at the nine regular people and their regular people postures. Look at the dull, washed out greyness of it all. Take the record out, put it on. It sounds exactly like you'd expect from the yummy-yummy brown rice munchers with regular people postures pictured in forty shades of grey. Nothing wrong with regular people or brown rice or even the colour grey, but hey...

It's all acoustic folk styled songs with a typical political bent (needless to say, there's an Eisler/Brecht track, mandatory to albums like this). Several members sing simultaneously, Vietnam-solidarity-action-group-with-righteous-placards style. If you want to sing along yourself, a lyric sheet is included. Just yell away.

And, the final nail in the coffin of a stillborn album: a Fria Proteatern cover.

Music belongs to everybody. Fine and dandy, but please keep me out of this.

No links found.

LÖTSJÖN – Ostbiten (no label, 1976) / Things That Never Die (no label, 1982)

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

A band from the Stockholm area that released two privately pressed albums of twee usually acoustic and harmony driven folk rock in a mellow British style. Half decent vocals, some nice fingerpicking in the John Renbourn vein and some bad wah-wah guitar (but that alone probably triggers the instincts of collectors worldwide, then call it 'acid folk' and they'll cream their pants).

”Ostbiten” contains a rosy-cheeked cover of Jethro Tull's ”Mother Goose” and a pointless version of Stephen Still's ”4+20”. Second album followed six years later but is similar to the first only with an off-putting 80's sounding Tascam sound.

This is the kind of band that their friends say they love, giving them an inflated self-esteem and prompting them to release ”Live 1978-1979” with previously unreleased live recordings from the gap years between their two original albums. Only for streaming, but still.

I bet you can find Xian albums in a flea market near you that is more exciting than this. Or better yet, get some real UK folk. You don't need this.

From ”Ostbiten”:

Ostbiten

4+20 

Neptun

Mother Goose

”Things That Never Die”:

Full album playlist