Sov Gott Rose-Marie

Like John Cale in the UK and Irmin Schmidt in Germany, the Swedish musician Bo Anders Persson was much inspired by the American avant-garde, and in particular by the early minimalism of Terry Riley. His first group, initially called Pärson Sound, had made some recordings in 1967 and '68, but these didn't see daylight until the 21st century. Soon afterwards though, the band's name having changed to International Harvester, a debut album was forthcoming in '68 on a Finnish label: Sov Gott Rose-Marie: "sov gott" meaning "sleep well".

This album, along with the Pärson Sound recordings, and the follow-up record Hemåt (i.e. "Homeward", for which the band's name changed again, this time to Harvester), were all released on CD in 2001. My copy is one of these re-issues, but I didn't obtain it until considerably later. It wasn't until 2010 that I even became aware of Pärson Sound and its offshoots (having, for most of the previous decade, been living & working in Sweden!), and it took a few more years before I got hold of the albums.

It's a game of three halves: the original A-side comprises eleven short tracks, from the doomy opening fanfare of 'Dies Irae' through the bruising psych-rock of 'There is No Other Place' and 'Klockan Är Mycket Nu', the political chant of 'Ho Chi Minh' and, best of all, the gauzily beautiful 'It's Only Love' and 'Sommarlåten'. The original B-side held two lengthy jams: 'I Mourn You' and 'How to Survive' where the influence of minimalist repetition is more obvious. The band had at one point considered using an even longer piece 'Skördetider' as the album's B-side, but decided against it. It's included as a bonus track on the CD, a 25-minute 'C-side'.

Comments

All Wrapped Up

Here's another of the compilation cassettes I bought this summer, having taken home a Denon twin-deck hi-fi cassette player from the local charity shop. All Wrapped Up is a 1983 compilation of singles by The Undertones, with Side One filled with A-sides, and B-sides on Side Two. A cassette must be the least desirable medium for such an arrangement, with a long rewind required if one just wants to hear the hits repeatedly. The Undertones were unapologetically provincial and anti-fashionable, with their songs sharply-written slices of life that pointedly avoided any mention of politics, or of the then-continuing violence in their native Derry. My favourite tracks are the obvious choices: 'Teenage Kicks', 'Jimmy Jimmy', 'Here Comes the Summer', 'My Perfect Cousin' & 'Wednesday Week'. Their later singles showed increased sophistication but lack the some of the straightforward charm of their earlier work. The B-sides, not unexpectedly, are mo...

In Heat

Having acquired the soubriquet "the walrus of love", Barry White thereafter became something of a figure of fun, something that misled me (and presumably others) into disregarding his music. Only within the last few years have I begun to pay it more attention. After picking up a copy of his '74 album Can't Get Enough last summer, which I loved, I sought out some of the music by his protegés Love Unlimited. From a Discogs seller I ordered well-used copies of Under the Influence of... ('73) and In Heat ('74) for only £6.25. The only unappealing thing about In Heat is its awful title. The songs and the singing are strong; the arrangements rich & warmly enveloping. As one would expect from White, the thematic focus is firmly fixed on amatory matters. The opening number 'Move Me No Mountain' (the only one on the record not written by White) offers a refreshing rebuttal to the kind of lyrical hyperbole in songs like 'Ain't No Mountain High E...

Bananas Are Not Created Equal

I knew Jay Berliner's name from his contributions to Van Morrison's Astral Weeks and Charles Mingus' The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady , so when I saw this curiously-titled LP at the local charity shop I was intrigued, and bought it even though I had no idea what kind of music it might contain. This was after the days when one could still buy records there for a pound apiece, but I don't think I paid more than a fiver for it. The music turned out to be an all-instrumental blend of funk, soul & jazz. Berliner's virtuoso lead guitar is only one of many attractions here. The band of first-rate session musicians behind him are all uniformly excellent too, and, crucially, sound like they're having a blast. Cornell Dupree's supporting guitar work, while less showy than Berliner's, is beautifully-judged, and the rhythm section is terrific. Arranger/conductor Wade Marcus was no slouch either, judging from the way everything comes together. Two of the funk...

This is a Recording

Search This Blog