Nationalteatern - "Livet är en fest" (1974)

The Swedish political 70s band Nationalteatern's (The National Theater) second album and their big breakthrough. Already in my youth / early adulthood, when the band's music was played in various party contexts, it was music from the past. Today even more so. The political and / or socially realistic music tends to age a faster than the standard rock n'roll about love and lust. At the same time, the songs become quite fun and interesting time documents, and today's young listeners can get a little insight into the political engagement of the 1970s in Sweden (which leaned heavily to the left).

On the album several of the band's classics are found, of course the title song Livet är en fest (Life's a party), but also others such as Hanna from Arlöv (Hanna from Arlöv), Bängen trålar (slang for the police are searching/watching), Speedy Gonzales and several other more or less known songs for the public. When I listened to this in my younger years, the political message was secondary. Instead, me and my friends heard songs about alcohol and drugs that in our ears were more like tributes to these substances. Somewhere in my mind, I knew there was probably some kind of societal criticism in the texts, but I chose to ignore that. Just like most others who listened to Nationalteatern a few decades after the creation of songs, in a new and different society with other issues and political ideologies.

A good example of selective listening was Bängen trålar. In the first verses it is sung about where to find weed in Gothenburg, and how you chill in the September sun smoking this. Cool. When later on they begin to sing about the societal system and how those who have money are protected and never convicted of crimes, well, then it became less interesting. Skip to the next song. Every time I visited Gothenburg in my younger years, I was very curious about Näckrosdammen, Vasaparken and Femman's square, where you would find weed, according to the song. Speedy Gonzales was another song, where every form of criticism of someone or something was completely missed, and the song's message instead was about turning on and smoking weed.

In the Swedish 70s political music scene I have always thought Nationalteatern were one of the better bands. They wrote good songs, and could play on their instruments. So I think this album is fairly good. A lot of groovy songs, where Plast's sång is one of the favorites today, although the lyrics in general are quite outdated. It's somewhat difficult to identify with much of what the songs explore. In the 1970s, the class struggle, the communist ideology and the anger against the bourgeoisie were a larger part of the debate than today, it seems. At the same time, it makes the music quite fun to listen to, a time capsule. It is with different ears I hear this today than when I was 20 years old. Both perspectives have their charm. The album is part of Swedish music history, and has its place in the collection.


Tracklist

Side A
1. "Jack the Ripper" 4:48
2. "Plast's sång" 3:44
3. "Stena Olssons Compagnie" 3:07
4. "Mr. John Carlos" 6:43
5. "Innerst Inne" 3:16

Side B
1. "Livet är en fest" 4:16
2. "Speedy Gonzales" 4: 9
3. "Paradisets berg" 2:01
4. "Lägg av!" 2:28
5. "Hanna från Arlöv" 3:41
6. "Bängen trålar" 4:15

Paul McCartney & Wings - "Band On The Run" (1973)

This was McCartney's fifth record after The Beatles, and the third with the Wings. The public hadn't been very impressed with the first albums where Wings participated, so Paul really had to prove himself this time. He had gotten the idea that it would be interesting to do the recording in an exotic place, and therefore chose the EMI studio in Lagos, Nigeria. It might have been a good idea in theory, but it turned out that the studio was substandard, the political situation unstable and Paul and his wife Linda was robbed at knife point of the demo tapes (among other things). And to add salt in the wound, two of the Wings members left the band just before leaving for Nigeria, so it was just a trio involved in the recording - Paul, Linda and Denny Laine. This meant that Paul had to play various instruments on the album, including guitar and drums, which probably wasn't a huge problem for the multi instrumentalist Paul.

Many consider this to be Paul's best solo record, although it was initially received a bit hesitantly by the public, and one of the top creations any of the ex-Beatles did after the band was abandoned. And I can't deny it's a qualitative album, although expectations are (possibly too) high on an ex-Beatle. But personally, I hold his album Ram higher, as it contains more interesting songs. I've always thought Lennon made better and more interesting songs in the Beatles, and while Lennon's solo albums are of mixed quality, they're not always so kind, gentle and easy going. Sometimes McCartney feels a little too nice, happy and playful. His music, including Band On The Run, is somehow music's version of a feel good movie. There are nice harmonies, positive, good songs with catchy hooks, and often a sing along mood. You never get provoked, upset or thoughtful when listening to Band On The Run. It's not really a criticism, but is it something I miss on the album, it's that. Something that challenges a bit more.

Crazy man Ginger Baker lived in Nigeria at this time and offered Paul to record the entire album in his studio. Paul was somewhat doubtful concerning this offer, but ultimately recorded the song Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me) there. After watching the Netflix documentary on Ginger Baker, I suspect it was a wise decision to have a bit of a distance to him. The photo on the cover is the trio that played on the record, together with a bunch of other famous people. Apparently, the photo was taken in low light so the camera needed to have the lens open for about two seconds. This meant that the gang had to stay absolutely still during this time. As they had just come from a party Paul had arranged, everyone was on various drugs, which made the staying still a challenge.

In conclusion, Band On The Run is a good album, and if you like McCartney, it's probably a must have. There's really no bad song on the record, every title has their own unique character, even though I personally sometimes think it's too gentle and cute. Personal favorites are the title track and the closing number Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five, which I think sounds like Gnarls Barkley's Crazy.


Tracklist (Helen Wheels was not included on the original release in England, only on the American)

Side A
1. "Band on the Run" - 5:12
2. "Jet" - 4:09
3. "Bluebird" - 3:23
4. "Mrs. Vandebilt" - 4:40
5. "Let Me Roll It" - 4:51

Side B
1. "Mamunia" - 4:51
2. "No Words" - 2:35
3. "Helen Wheels" - 3:44
4. "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" - 5:49
5. "Ninety Hundred and Eighty-Five" - ​​5:28

Kuuntele Ääntä (1977)

Year 2012 I stopped working at a place where I had been employed for 11 years. I visited the home of one of my colleagues, and since her vinyl collection only collected dust, she offered me to check it out and take all the albums I wanted, as a goodbye gift. I was so overwhelmed by the offer that I barely managed to say yes, but after some prompting I indulged. One of the albums that followed me home was this one. My colleague had lived a number of years in Finland a long time ago, and therefore there were some Finnish records in her shelf. However, this one had been bought in Uppsala (Sweden), at the mythical record shop Musikörat. According to the price tags that are still there, she paid 2 Skr. (around a quarter) for it, it had been reduced from the previous price 5 Skr (around a dollar). Probably not a record that sold in heaps.

Discogs classifies the album genre as Folk, World & Country, and its style as Political. Since it's only sung in Finnish, and all the text on the sleeve is in Finnish, I don't know what the songs are about, and on internet I find no information. So this is a record I can only listen to for the melodies, the message is completely lost on me. But it does remind me of some Swedish political music from the 70's, and the cover sure gives you a vibe of a leftist engagement. According to Google Translate, the album title means Listening to sound.

A variety of artists contribute on the album and it's better than I thought. The initial songs are
really nice, beautiful melodies and harmonies in the singing. I agree with Discogs' folk definition, some songs sound like Fairport Convention. However, I don't hear any country. A few songs into the album there's an new artist, he has almost an opera voice that I'm not too fond of, but the arrangement with piano and flute is nice. Since I usually focus more on melodies in music, rather than text, initially I don't have a problem that I don't understand what they're singing, but after a while, somewhere on side B, it becomes a thing as I think the music stops being interesting, a bit repetitive. An understanding of the texts would probably help to keep up the interest.

If I compare, for example with Röda Bönor, a Swedish political group from the 70's, Kuuntele Ääntä is much better. The arrangements are nicely done with a lot of air, acoustic guitars, piano, flute, a saxophone in some places. And the melodies are (often) beautiful. The language is probably the main negative thing. Finnish has a special sound, that puts a clear mark on the songs. Compared for example with Spanish or French, where I also don't understand so much of what they're singing, Finnish feels rougher and more strange in its sounds. The record is released on Love Records, a Finnish legendary label created in the 60s, that ceased to exist 1979. One can't say their logo is very subtle.

On Discogs, one copy of the record has been sold, for the price of 22 Canadian dollars. So my colleague's investment of a quarter has yielded a few thousand percent in return (if she had kept the record).


Tracklist

Side A
1 Herran Pää On Paljaana 3:25
2 Heilani On Kuin Helluntai 4:00
3 Soi Lauluni 3:45
4 Kuuntele Ääntä 3:21
5 Ay 2:05
6 Atlantin Valleilla 2:31

Side B
1 Vallankumous 1:35
2 Lakkopäivänä 3:19
3 Käy Tehtaan Portilla Miettimään 3:18
4 Laulu Turhautumisesta 2:25
5 Kuolema 3:35
6 Kaverit Yes Toverit 2:55

Tom Waits - "Rain Dogs" (1985)

This is another album I felt the need to save from my parents lets-get-rid-of-all-records project, it belonged to my mother. I remember that she sometimes played it at home, and how she expressed she liked it, and that I never understood what she meant. For the teenage version of me, this album was way too weird. Tom Waits' voice was strange, and I thought my mother was as strange to like it. Did she really know anything about music?

Today I think differently. It's a good and interesting album with a different sound. It's usually considered to be the second album in a trilogy, where Swordfishtrombones and Franks Wild Years are the start and end. The music could be described as some kind of Vaudeville. Kurt Weill mixed up with Dr. John's voodoo blues and a spoon of Les Claypool, maybe. Instruments used in the songs include Farfisa organ, trombone, marimba and accordion. Together with Waits' peculiar voice, a distinctive mood is created, it's like a snake in the gutter that tells you in his wheezing voice about the night's shadow creatures.

This mood is broken a few times by the more easily accessible and beautiful creations Time and Downtown Train (which later became a big hit with Rod Stewart). Hang Down Your Head is also one of the more "normal" songs that might be needed to balance the more weird creations. In three songs you hear Keith Richards on guitar, as he puts his typical licks over the music. On one song, Tony Levin is heard on bass. The album has a Swedish connection as the album cover photo is taken by Anders Petersen, it's a picture from Hamburg from the 60's, although many have thought it's Tom Waits himself who is portrayed.

A good and challenging album, that might not suit everyone, though, as it has a very peculiar and special sound. 19 songs in just under 54 minutes. A lot of music to be one record. Many think it's Tom Waits' best, personally, I can't say as I haven't heard so many of his other albums.


Tracklist

Side A
1. "Singapore" 2:46
2. "Clap Hands" 3:47
3. "Cemetery Polka" 1:51
4. "Jockey Full of Bourbon" 2:45
5. "Tango Till They're Sore" 2:49
6. "Big Black Mariah" 2:44
7. "Diamonds & Gold" 2:31
8. "Hang Down Your Head" 2:32
9. "Time" 3:55

Side B
1. "Rain Dogs" 2:56
2. "Midtown" 1:00
3. "9th & Hennepin" 1:58
4. "Gun Street Girl" 4:37
5. "Union Square" 2:24
6. "Blind Love" 4:18
7. "Walking Spanish" 3:05
8. "Downtown Train" 3:53
9. "Bride of Rain Dog" 1:07
10. "Anywhere I Lay My Head" 2:48