Triangulus – “Reliques” (1987)

I was 16 years old when I bought this album and I will immediately confess that I probably aimed too high with this purchase. This is not the most accessible music that you can find and at age 16, I was not quite ready for it. I guess that’s the kind of thing that happens when you buy a record because you think it has a cool cover. On the other hand, it expanded both my record collection and my idea about music. I don’t really know what the dark cover with the mysterious painting made me think in relation to what kind of music it would be, probably I thought it would be something like what we today call "new age" music. This was not the case, though. Should I attempt a definition I would problably call it progressive music.

Despite some difficulties to really get into the music I played the record regularly. I guess it was two reasons for that - I had paid a relatively big sum for it and I found one or two songs that I thought were quite good. Just as the cover, I found the music quite dark, but maybe it was the cover that made me think so? I believe this has happened to me several times - that a cover has affected how I perceive the music. Had this album had a cover with a shining sun and a sparkling lake in a lush forest where happy children were playing I might have found the music different. Who knows?

Reliques was the swedish band Triangulus second and final release. The man behind Triangulus was Peter Bryngelsson, he had earlier played in bands like Ragnarok and later he played in Urban Turban. Another relatively well-known fellow musicians in Reliques is Roine Stolt (Flower Kings) who plays bass.

This LP visited the turntable at regular intervals during the first few years I owned it. But as time went on I began to admit to myself that I had quite a hard time with it. As I approached my 20s it finally found its place far back on the record shelf when I needed to leave room for other, more accessible records I had acquired during adolescence.

The memory of the album has prevented me playing it during my more adult years, although I’ve suspected that I would appreciate it in a different way and I have felt a certain curiosity. But there have always been other albums to play, either safe bets or new surprises. I have never found the time or the place for Reliques.

Until now. Writing this post gave me finally a reason to play the record. And as I suspected, I appreciated the music in a different way today. It was fun to listen through the album and realize that I still knew more or less every song even though it’s 20 years since I listened to it and it never was the LP that was played most intense. Still, I find the music relatively dark, it is mostly instrumental but a few tracks have vocals. It is interesting music with some different arrangements and instruments, some pretty fast paced songs and other more peaceful. This is still music that’s not easily accessible, but at 38 years of age, I have heard many much more “difficult” LPs and could also appreciate them.

So even if everything is not to my taste on Reliques, this is an album that is sure to get more playing time at home.

Participating musicians
- Peter Bryngelsson / Guitar, Piano, Vibraphone
- Dan Johnson / guitars, synthesizers
- Lars Lijegren / piano
- Hans Bruniusson / percussion
- Ove Karlsson / cello
- Roine Stolt / bass
- Mera Gartz / drums
- Ola Johansson / harmonica
- Per-Åke Holmlander / tuba
- Jorgen Adolfsson / saxophone
- Roland Kaiser / Soprano saxophone
- Kjell Westling / Soprano saxophone, bass clarinet
- Thomas Lindahl / flute

Favorite Tracks
Newborn
Acid Rain

Tracklist

Side A:
1. Reliques (11:46)
2. Breathtaking (2:24)
3. Winter Heart (3:10)
4. Newborn (4:08)

Side B:
1. Memory Go Round (5:09)
2. Thursdays and Saturdays (5:59)
3. Descend on Morning (6:21)
4. Acid Rain (5:24)

Total Time: 44:21

Youtube? Nah, you can’t find any tracks from this album on Youtube. It’s that obscure, people! The only thing I can offer is a site where you can listen to the selected track in 30 seconds, then click on the "Play" icon again to play 30 seconds more etc. The ones interested go to:

http://www.klicktrack.com/silence/releases/triangulus/reliques/8

Gyllene Tider - “Puls” (1982)

As I child, when school finished for the day I went to the “after school-care” run by the city. At that place the children sometimes did different spectacles, it was both on the staff’s and the children's initiative. I remember at such a moment I played the role of the tailor in the history of the glove (?) which ended up becomming nothing (a classic scandinavian tale). Another such performance were some children imitating Gyllene Tider (Golden Times) and miming to a song played by them. This was hugely popular, yes, even so appreciated that some guys who had promised to sabotage the performance (because of a conflict they had with those that would do the show) didn’t execute their evil plan. Everyone loved Gyllene Tider.

At christmas 1982 one of my wishes was therefore a record with Gyllene Tider. Honestly, I didn’t know much about of music at that time, but I knew Gyllene Tider was the band that was on everyone’s lips. My aunt asked me if I really wanted to have the album, or if I wanted it just because everyone else was listening to this band. I replied that I of course really wanted the album. In retrospect, I can admit that there was a lot of truth in my aunt's question, and I already knew that when she asked. But of course I couldn’t admit the truth, that I actually wanted the LP for exactly that reason - everyone else was listening to Gyllene Tider. I just wanted to be part of the group, is that so bad? Forgive me Bigo, hope it’s OK.

Gyllene Tider was formed in 1976 and released their first album in 1980, Puls (Pulse) was their third LP. In Sweden Gyllene Tider is a very familiar concept, yes, even an institution. Internationally, they never managed to break through despite a few attempts. Possibly some connoisseurs around the world know that this was the band Per Gessle played in before Roxette was created and a successful international career took off. Gyllene Tider officially split up 1985.

Although the reason for my desire of this album for Christmas was questionable, I found the album very good. It was played a lot on the turntable, to be honest I didn’t own so many records at this time, so probably it is safe to say that all my records were played a lot on the turntable. Some KISS-records, a Magnus Uggla-record, Djurens Brevlåda (The Animal’s Mailbox) and Trolltider (Times of Trolls) is what I spontaneously remember having. Problably I have forgotten a few but it was in any case not many LP:s. This one was for a relatively long time a favorite.

After a while (a year?) this record got less and less time on the turntable and when I reached my teenage years it had ended up in the section "Records that I am a little bit ashamed of owning now that I'm a teenager". Since then, it has been collecting dust. I of course have seen it countless times when I’ve browsed through my records but I have never got the idea of playing it. It has felt too much like an album I liked as a child and that it has nothing to offer me as an adult. Some songs like Sommartider (Summertimes) or Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång (The Girl in a Cole Porter song)  I of course have heard on the radio a lot since they have been, and still are, big hits in Sweden (at least Sommartider).

When I now listen to it as an adult, I must admit that many of the songs are actually quite OK, even if it is not really my kind of music. But seen as the pop album it is, it’s well made and most of the songs are easily accessible, catchy, has a clear "hook" and are easy to dig. Just like a good pop album should be like. The album consists of swedish summer, broken hearts, love and lust. Per Gessle is a strong and proven hitmaker and this can be heard already at this time, perhaps even more here than in the time of Roxette. I notice that some of the melodies have a tendency to get stuck in my head and whatever I do they do not disappear. Right now, the syntheizer loop from the title track just wont leave my mind. Even if this makes me frustrated, it is a good proof that it’s a well written song. The song Sommartider is probably one of the biggest Swedish summer songs ever created and still, almost 30 years after it was released, it’s played extensively every summer on the radio, discos, clubs and parties. Personally, I have for a very long time been tired of this song and find much more joy in many other tracks on the album.

Favorite Songs

Honung och Guld

Jag vänder mig om

Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. "(Hon vill ha) Puls"

2. "Vän till en vän"

3. "Sommartider"

4. "Jag vänder mig om"

5. "Kustvägen söderut"

6. "Vandrar i ett sommarregn"

Side B

1 "Händerna"

2. "Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång"

3. "Upphetsad"

4. "Honung och guld"

5. "Som regn på en akvarell”

6. "För mycket är aldrig nog"

7. "Lova att du aldrig glömmer bort mig"

 

Talking Heads - “77” (1977)

Musikörat (the Ear of music) was a classic record shop in Uppsala (Sweden), people who knew music got their LP:s there and those who worked in the shop were real experts. At the time of the purchase of this record Musikörat was situated at Sysslomansgatan (Sysslomansstreet) and was quite a small and intimate shop. Since my brother had had work experience program here, I knew that one of the staff's favorite bands was Talking Heads. In a way this was a problem for the 13-year-old Markus.

Talking Heads was formed in 1974 and 77 was their first LP. They had previously released a single, "Love - Building on fire”. For the kids in my age TH were not well known, I remember playing a game with some friends where you chose a theme and then randomly selected a letter. Then as quickly as possible, you would say something on the theme that began with that letter. Once the theme was "Rock Bands" and the letter was "T" so of course I screamed "Talking Heads!". My friends refused to believe that a band with such a name existed. I tried desperately to explain that they actually were a real band, but eventually I had to play one of their records in order to convince them. Even then they doubted it was true. However, you must remember that this was in the 80s in Sweden and, as mentioned in previous posts, it was mostly Heavy Metal or synth music at the time except the usual pop a la Sabrina, Wham! and Samantha Fox.

This was not the first album with Talking Heads I bought, but it was the first one I bought from Musikörat. I mentioned that this was kind of a problem and I will clarify this. At that time (1986) you often listened to the records in the shop to see if it was something that interested you. However, could a generally insecure 13-year-old Markus listen to a TH-record in a shop where the staff loved this band and then NOT buy the album? It would be like saying that you didn’t like the record. For me, the need for confirmation from the staff was considerably greater than to come home with a good album. In other words, I had somewhere in the back of my mind already decided to buy the LP before I even listened to it. The listening in the store was only symbolic.

I remember when I listened to the album that I thought it wasn’t that good. It has a rather dry, stripped-down sound, combined with David Byrne's thin and generally neurotic voice. But of course I bought the album, what else could I do? I got not only a record but also, and this was a lot more important, the feeling that the staff thought I was a pretty cool guy. This was problably not true, but I didn’t know that. It was worth the 79 kronor (about 11 dollars) the LP had costed me.

In my teens and my 20s, I played this album on a regular basis but there were many other LP:s that were spinning more frequently on my turntable. 77 was never an easy album to get into and I found it hard to really groove with the music. Finally I stopped playing the record and kind of forgot about it, but about five years ago I for no reason took it out and played it. It was a totally new experience this time! I was surprised and fascinated by the high quality of the music. The sound was not as I remember it, this can partly be explained by the fact that I now listened to it on better equipment. But I also enjoyed the songs much more than I did earlier and in a different way. I suddenly saw new things in the music, or rather heard. Probably I could, with increased age, maturity (?) and more experience with music relate in a new way to this LP. I guess I wasn’t really ready for it at the age of 13. I recommend this record, but it probably does not suit all. And I also recommend you to dig out your old records you haven’t heard for 20 years and give them a new chance. You might be surprised.

Favorite Tracks

No Compassion

First Week/Last Week

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. "Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town" 
2. "New Feeling" 
3. "Tentative Decisions" 
4. "Happy Day" 
5. "Who Is It?" 
6. "No Compassion" 

Side B

7. "The Book I Read" 
8. "Don't Worry About the Government" 
9. "First Week/Last Week…Carefree" 
10. "Psycho Killer"
11. "Pulled Up"

 

 

Beatles - “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (1967)

Is there an album that has been more thoroughly analyzed, studied, interpreted, described and hailed as the Beatles' eighth album? Probably not. Is there anything yours truly can add that has not already been said? Probably not. Should I stop writing today's post right here? Probably.

But I won’t.

In the spring of 1987 I was 14 years old. That was the time when, at least in Sweden, you either listened to synth music or heavy metal. Depeche Mode or Iron Maiden. A teenager did absolutely NOT listen to the Beatles, if you did you were bängaloo (as you said in Sweden at that time). Old people, like your parents, maybe listened to the Beatles. Maybe. So I was feeling very nervous and looking anxiously around me when I stepped into “Expert”, the record store which was situated at the main square in the city of Uppsala, to buy this album. What if someone saw me?

For a while I had been curious about this album since I had understood that it was "psychedelic". This attracted me because it was clear to me that this meant a lot of drug references and a general hazy music. Which of course seemed exciting. I had also heard a radio program about this album (an entire radio show dedicated to an album! In Sweden. 1986.) which analyzed and described it as if it were a work of art.

Once inside “Expert”, I first aimlessly wondered around to act moderately interested in the album shelves. I walked past the 'B' –section a few times without stopping. Again, to buy a Beatles record was not what a normal 14-year-old did, and I wanted nothing more than to be normal. When I felt that I could not continue wander around aimlessly without the staff starting to suspect me of being a shoplifter, I took a deep breath and began to look through the Beatles albums. Just when I picked up the Sgt Pepper album I suddenly saw one of the school's tough guys and his buddies stand at a different record shelf and check out the albums. Heavy Metal, of course. "Oh no!", I thought half panicing and cursed my bad luck. I saw the rumor spread across the school that Markus had bought a Beatles album. I would be the clown this week. I walked rapidly to the checkout and hurried to pay. I hopedI wasn’t discovered.

When I walked homeward through the city center, I hoped intensely that I would not meet someone I knew. A big record bag under the arm was not possible to hide and the question what you had bought was quite natural and difficult to avoid answering. Luckily, I encountered noone I knew.

Back home, I listened with reverence to my first Beatles album and went on the journey so many have done before and after me. A new world opened up to me, a world not only inhabited by the Beatles but also of all other bands in the 60’s and 70's who played the sacred "psychedelic" music. However, if I’m honest, I’m still not sure what something is when it is psychedelic.

I think Sgt Pepper is a good album (but not the Beatles’ best) but all the songs are not good. Songs like "She's leaving home" or "Fixing a Hole" I think are a bit boring, the same goes for "When I'm Sixty-Four". On the other hand, there are also many great songs. As said initially, this album is so well described by others so I don’t write anything more about the music here. All I will say is that although I had heard a lot of music at age 14, Sgt Pepper was in some way different than anything else I've heard. Maybe it was quality I heard? However, I would like to share some facts that I read online, which I find interesting.

The songs "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" were the first songs recorded for this album. However, their manager Brian Epstein thought they needed to release a single so these songs ended up being this single. And as their habit was, the Beatles didn’t put the songs from a single on a LP. The album is also considered to be one of the first concept albums, with the fictional band Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at the wheel. The record opens up with an introduction of the band and then continues with band leader Billy Shears (Ringo) who sings "With a little help from my friends". A kind of replay of the opening song ends the B-side, together with the subsequent "A Day In The Life". But all the songs in between really don’t have anything to do with this concept, and especially John has been insistent that all the songs he wrote for this album could have been on any other of their records. So if this is a concept album or not, I let others decide, but as I said, it do get credits for being one of the first.

When the vinyl album is finished it ends with a sound loop that goes round and round instead of the usual silence (with the regular click). This loop has been subject to many interpretations and a lot of people have of course heard a secret message when you play it backwards. Paul has said that a group of kids came up to him in the summer of 1967 and complained about this secret message. Paul denied that such a message existed, took the kids to his home and played the loop backwards for them. He then heard to his horror that it sounded very much like "We'll fuck you like Superman."

On the album’s cover (as studied and interpreted as the music itself) there are yellow hyacinths planted in the shape of a guitar. With a little imagination the flowers can be read as "Paul?". Yes, I have checked this out and it is true. This of course put fire to the rumor that Paul was dead, a classic urban myth that has come and gone. The above mentioned "secret message" in the sound loop has also been interpreted to "Will Paul come back as Superman?" which of course also was proof of his death.

Summary: A good album, maybe a little over analyzed, and a source of some initial neuroses whithin the 14-year-old Markus. But it also gave me a lot of joy and was a step into a new musical world. By the way, no one saw me buying the record and when I a few years later started the swedish gymnasium (something like the last years of an American high school), I could suddenly talk about owning this and other Beatles albums. And there were others who did too! Oh, how wonderful it was to get to know other connoisseurs. For now I understood, that was what you were when you owned Beatles albums, not bängaloo.

 

Favourite tracks

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Being for the benefit och Mr Kite!

A day in the life

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" 
2. "With a Little Help from My Friends" 
3."Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" 
4. "Getting Better" 
5. "Fixing a Hole"
6. "She's Leaving Home" 
7. "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" 

Side B

1. "Within You Without You"
2. "When I'm Sixty-Four" 
3. "Lovely Rita" 
4. "Good Morning Good Morning" 
5. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" 
6. "A Day in the Life" 

 

Planet P Project - “Pink World” (1984)

I was 16 years old and I was in Oslo (Norway). The reason was a camp with the string orchestra I was a member of, at that time I played the violin. At that time I was also interested in anything that could be perceived as mysterious or outside our normal reality. At that time I sometimes bought albums because they had an exciting cover. At that time I could come home with something weird from the record shops (mostly second-hand LPs when you made a choice based on the cover, you didn’t dare to put your entire monthly allowance in such a purchase. This was bought new, though, I was on vacation! Well, almost). At that time the world was an exciting place ...

It was not in a record store I found this LP, it was more of a norweigan Wal-Mart. It stood there in a shelf and waited for the Swedish boy who obviously could not resist such a cover. A pink boy holding a pink world in his hands, looking down on it while it melts in his hands. A really mysterious outside, and I could not wait to get home and hear what certainly would be an as mysterious inside. In addition, it was a double album! Double value for the money.

And it really was a mysterious inside. At age 16 I realized it was a concept album, I heard the name “Artemis” appear here and there in the songs and they seemed to have some sort of common theme. I did not really know what it was all about, or rather, I understood nothing of what it was about but I none the less liked the album. It was mysterious, the cover was filled with riddles, and the lyrics of Artemis and the boy who could not speak made you wonder... Hmmm, what’s all this about? Really? All this appealed to me, the boy who dreamed of God and mystical experiences. Things got so bad I now can admit that I created a tag, "Artemis", which ended up on some of the walls of the high school restrooms. Surely this has been forgiven today?

For a while I was really into this album and it spun regularly on my turntable. The only thing I didn’t like with the music was the drum sound, drum machine I assumed, which reminded too much of the drum sounds our Commodore VIC 20 could create. It sounded pretty cheap, but this was a minor detail. As usual (?) with double albums I thought / I think the first two sides are far better than the last two.

You can describe this record as a rock opera in which a boy named Artemis plays the main character. I have now learned more about the plot via the source of all contemporary wisdom, the Internet. Apparently it’s set in a post-apocalyptic world where the boy Artemis finally becomes a Messiah figure and saves part of humanity. Or something like that. Personally I got bored after a few years of the album and it got further and further back in my collection. Partly because I, to some extent, distanced myself from the young Markus’ somewhat naive yearning for the "mysterious" and partly because I found music that was better. In addition, at the age of 17 I spent a year in the U.S. as an exchange student and therefore had to undergo a deprogramming from the record, I went cold turkey. Hard life.

I understand that this LP has reached some kind of cult status and on the internet you can find lots of people who love this record and seem to hold it as a central part of life. Planet P Project is often compared to Pink Floyd and this album with "The Wall". Personally, I think that they play in completely different leagues and Pink World is not near any of Pink Floyd's creations, not even their more boring. When I listen to it now, I can find some hidden jewels in the songs, such as "Pink World" or "Power" which are quite good songs if you ignore the semi-awkward sound. Mainly, I like them for their bombastic and pompous choruses, one of my weaknesses. If one were to record this album again with today's technology and sound, different arrangements and real studio musicians it would probably a lot better. Because I suspect that many of the songs are actually OK. Now it's a lot of keyboard and guitar on the album with a large touch of the 80s in them.

Behind the name Planet P Project is Tony Carey. For a short time he was the keyboardist for Rainbow, after that he made a lot of solo albums, both under his own name and under the name Planet P Project. On this album he plays more or less all the instruments himself, Peter Hauke has produced. Something I like about Tony Carey is that he comments a lot of the comments on Youtube concerning the songs he have made. And his comments are always in a nice and positive tone. It's fun to read.

Favorite Tracks

Pink World

Power

March Of The Artemis

 

Tracklist

Side A

1 In the Woods
2 To Live Forever
3 Pink World
4 What I See
5 To Live Forever, Pt. 2
6 Power
7 In the Forest

Side B

8 A Boy Who Can't Talk
9 The Stranger
10 What I See, Pt. 2
11 The Shepherd
12 Behind the Barrier
13 Pink World Coming Down

Side C

14 Breath
15 This Perfect Place
16 What Artie Knows
17 In the Zone
18 Behind the Barrier, Pt. 2
19 March of the Artemites
20 This Perfect Place, Pt. 2

 

Side D

21 A Letter From the Shelter
22 What Artie Knows, Pt. 2
23 One Star Falling
24 Baby's at the Door
25 Requiem
26 Boy Who Can't Talk, Pt. 2