a r t i s t : Eric Malmberg
t i t l e : Verklighet & Beat
d a t e : 2007
l a b e l : HΣpna (H.34)
g e n r e : Instrumental
r l s. d a t e : Sep/2007
t r a c k s : 10
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 57,4 MB
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Ex Sagor & Swing man returns, featuring Bo Hansson (Hansson &
Karlsson, 70s legends) on syntheziser, and Goran Kajfes ***
HΣpna (H34CD) | *BESTSELLER!*
DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR - TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND DISCOVER ERIC
MALMBERG (AND HIS PREVIOUS SAGOR & SWING BAND) ***
Eric MalmbergÆs music is a small miracle. We donÆt want to
call him a genius, because we donÆt want to jinx him. But we
will say that heÆs a complete original, in addition to being a
vastly talented musician. We will also say that his recordings
and the performances that we saw by Sagor & Swing merit a
place on a short list of most enjoyed musical experiences of
the last half decade. We could bleat about the quality of the
work, but ômost enjoyedö to us carries the stronger charge.
Verklighet & Beat, meaning ôReality & Beatö (as opposed to
ôSagor & Swingö: ôFairytales and Swingö), is a second high
point in Eric MalmbergÆs career. The first came with 2001Æs
"OrgelfΣrger", the first album by Sagor & Swing. Sagor & Swing
were the duo of Eric on his beloved Hammond organ and Ulf
M÷ller on sympathetic, timeless drums. The obvious comparison
was to Hansson & Karlsson, the Swedish organ and drums duo
from the 1970s. Indeed, Eric is the author of a number of
comic books detailing the adventures of Hansson & Karlsson.
(HeÆs also the author of the comic Happy Hammond in
Slumberland.) Bo Hansson returned the favor by giving him an
organ ù as well as by appearing on synthesizer on "Verklighet
& Beat".
"OrgelfΣrger" came out of a clear blue sky. A brisk, chilly
blue sky over a kind of stubbornly verdant rural landscape
that we can easily picture but have never actually seen. It
charmed by seemingly having zero connection to its era. A
Hammond whirlpool of minor-key melodicism. A snare, a brush, a
mellower Mitch Mitchell. A sense with each new composition of
starting back from the same place, of getting exquisitely lost
in the woods each time, differently. Eleven songs, eleven
paths. Listening to this album again, we canÆt imagine how it
could be improved.
All of which brings us to "Verklighet & Beat". Sagor & Swing
disbanded after four albums, and this is EricÆs second solo
release. The first, "Den gσtfulla mΣnniskan", finds Eric alone
at the Hammond, with the occasional desolate rhythm-box
accompaniment.
"Verklighet & Beat" is an entirely different animal, a
beautifully arranged and fully realized vision of how to
present EricÆs music. It has two obvious hits. ôTill minne av
Lilly Lindstr÷mö - the albumÆs effortless high-water mark in
providing instrumental colouration for what had previously
only been implied by EricÆs bare-bones melodies. Are those
guitar strings fifty years old? Sleigh bells havenÆt sounded
so good since the first Stooges album. Then the descending
disco strings carve up the dance floor. A tip of the hat to
producer/musician Jari Haapalainen.
The other surefire smash hit is ôS÷ndagskonsert,ö which holds
all to its own when compared to the most moving of Peer
RabenÆs scores for films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Verklighet & Beat suggests that an impeccably programmed movie
theater has opened in EricÆs neck of the woods.
The albumÆs opening track, ôFinalenö is a signature gesture of
EricÆs, wherein stirring, nearly martial melodies are rendered
with maximum Hammond mellowness. A number of these pieces are
essentially marches, and yet they could hardly be less
bellicose. ôFinalenö is another in a series of Malmberg
earworms: melodies that after a few listens seem as if youÆve
known them since childhood.
ôMin kompis Antonö is another bittersweet, inward-turned
march. It incorporates the musicality of distantly heard
recordings of kidsÆ laughter û an intuitive gesture that seems
so right as to preclude further comment. Synth is used
sparingly, to merely indicate the stratosphere. ôSlutet pσ en
epokö is hard-rocking and frantic, much more like the Sagor &
Swing live sets, and a style only occasioned hinted at by
previous studio recordings. Ascending modulations are handled
in the style of a surf instrumental. The brushes are out on
ôLeksand, tidigt nittiotal,ö a series of re-examinations of a
single melodic line.
http://www.hapna.com
A key fiddle can sound as lonesome as any harmonica.
"Verklighet & Beat" is improbably beautiful. ItÆs better in
practice than in theory. And Eric MalmbergÆs vision now
radiates color." // David Grubbs, New York, March 2007
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01-Finalen [04:43]
02-Min kompis Anton [04:25]
03-Till minne av Lilly Lindstroem [04:28]
04-Slutet pσ en epok [03:46]
05-Leksand, tidigt nittiotal [04:10]
06-Soendagskonsert [03:09]
07-Milda doeden haemtar oss alla till slut [03:56]
08-Ackordfloedet och evigheten [03:44]
09-Varat fanns nσgonstans i roeran [04:57]
10-Styx [04:39]
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41:57 min