V/A - Pop Job LP 1980

This was the first LP to be released on Klas Lundings legendary Stranded Rekords, a label that started out as a fanzine but eventually merged into a successful record-company (the peak being reached when the major label Polar bought the entire Stranded-roster). on this fine sampler we can hear four young bands (and one really bad one) in the start of their musical career. two of them would gain national fame and one would suceed all others and live on in the 21th century, its such a shame.
Lustans Lakejer started out as a mediocre new wave-band, as can be heard on this record with two very early songs. eventually they became pop-heroes and sold quite a lot of records, always with a kind of distance to everyday life, taking the new romantic movements dreams of a life in luxury and blending it with some james bond-style of dekadence. does it sound good? decide after youve heard the songs. johan kinde, the singer and lyricist in LL, have, i must say, one of the dullest voices ive ever heard (think of david sylvian/ferry meets a politician) AND he wrote (and still writes. the mans been writing a book now!) the worst lyrics of all time. at least from my point of view. LL is still around today, and even appeared in the swedish schlager-festival.
but putting Lustans Lakejer aside for a moment, the other bands are great. Kai Martin & Stick!, the other band that got some kind of fame and released four fantastic records, also just started out as a band and the tracks here lacks some of the great majestic nature of what they would perform later on. still, theres some excellent ska-pop in them.
Schnabel which youve heard from my previous posts appears here with two equally fantastic songs. a bit darker than their singles, possibly a hint of what would come next in their evolution.
N-Liners came from Uppsala (Kai martin were from Gothenburg, the others from Stockholm) and released one single in 78 but at that point they played punk-pop. for this release they have matured into a great jerky organ-driven fast-paced pop-band much alike that of say, XTC! its a shame they didnt release any more stuff than this one and two more tracks on another compilation.
finally Studio Sex, the worst of these bands. ive never liked their two mod-rock bits and i doubt that i ever will. despite some low marks though, this is a great compilation of the swedish new wave. enjoy!
SÅ LÄNGE DET FINNS LIV FINNS DET HOPP

Schnabel - Herre Med Portfölj 7" 1980

For me, this is a giant leap in their musical abilities. where the previous single was rather dull, this one hits all the right buttons and delivers two fantastic, unresistable pop tunes! this single was one of the first to be released on the now legendary Stranded rekords, and apparently only 50 copies were sold with a cover (large, fold-out poster-cover) so its a sort of rarity. after this, as i said, they changed their name and got really interesting. more of them soon. meanwhile, enjoy these two a-sides.
HAN ÄR INTE FRISK

Schnabel - A Fairytale About A Furry Tail 7" 1979

As i understand, Schnabel formed in the late 70's as Panic performing at a legendary concert in Medborgarhusen together with the Stoodes (a gig that ended in a riot, right?). After that they eventually changed the name to Schnabel, adopted a more mod-pop-punk style and released two excellent pop-singles before changing the name again and reinventing their style yet another time. this is their first record, released on their own Clean Records ("Hygienisk pop!"). theres nothing groundbreaking in it, but some great pop-songs!
A FAIRYTALE ABOUT A FURRY TAIL

Citizen Kane - Förlorad 7" 1981

Its rare to hear a good power-pop-band, but this single is so catchy i cant resist it. Unfortunately i dont have any information about them, except that they were from Örebro and that this single was scheduled to be released on Stranded Rekords, but somehow saw the light of day through the small label Image Records. Excellent pop melodies with 60's style organ!
JAG ÄR FÖRLORAD

ABC 80 - Svära & Svika 7" 1982

Another excellent band from Karlshamn. ABC 80 formed from the ashes of local punk-bands and released one powerpop single called "Pop i radion" before the release of this one. Im not so fond of their first, but this one is great! Slightly dark, but still poppy, post-punk with a surprisingly good production. Apparently they knew how to get great sounds down in Karlshamn, and from what ive read they had a strong scene with loads of great bands, many of them found in the 3 Lp-set "Rockslaget" which will see the light here some day.
JAG KAN INTE LITA PÅ DIG

Storebrors Fabrik - Storebror 12" 1984

Heres another one of those rare obscurities that i know next to nothing about. The only clue i have is that it was released on Jörgen Sangstas Urania-label and mixed by Henryk Lipp in his music-a-matic studio. The band were probably from gothenburg and this was their only release, though i seem to recall to have seen a 7" single for sale with the two tracks on the b-side. Any information about this band would be much appreciated. The music is great minimal synth with that special 80's touch of saxophone, a real killer for those of you who love this sort of thing. Storebror, or "big brother" in english, is of course taken from Orwells novel, and its quite perfect that this single was released in 1984!
PÅ STOREBRORS FABRIK BLIR DU ALDRIG RIK

22 För Många - Tokfansmännen I Luftballongen Unreleased LP 1983

"en Kropotkin release av...

22 För Många - Tokfansmännen I Luftballongen (1983, Outgiven Vinyl):

1983 var de tre För Många, Henrik Franzén, Mickael Söderlund och Catarina Silverforsen
med trummis (sorry inget namn, Putte tror jag. De bytte en del lirare)
i Mistlur-studion för att generera sitt 5:e alster.
Innan produktionen var avslutad hann gruppen, av olika anledningar, besluta sig för att skiljas åt.
Kvar var en 'master-press' av plattan, som anförtroddes en utomstående att bevara LPn åt folket.
En gång tidigare har den varit spelat för folk, utlånad till P3 hösten -83

"- Om inget händer innan, se till att folk kan ta del av den om 20 år eller så..."
20 år senare, men inte för sent... här är den, 'digitally re-mastered'!!!

10 låtar - 320kbps:

01 - Heligt Svor Jag
02 - Som Det Förgångna Spott
03 - Titel Okänd
04 - Nattfösaren
05 - Ord Att Presentera
06 - Tokfansmännen
07 - De Överflödiga
08 - Den Sista Sången
09 - Moralens Katedraler
10 - Den Elfte Sången


3 omslagsfiler - 150dpi (från den handskrivna original innerpåsen med Henriks skrift.):
back
cd
front

Diskografi:
Kassett-LP 1 -81
Kassett-LP 2, "I afton trans" (tfm 01 -81)
LPn (futurax, fut 22 -82)
EPn (futurax -83)
Tokfansmännen I Luftballongen (Mistlur -83)"

Thanks to UffePuff a whole new generation can enjoy 22 för mångas last record, that was scheduled to be realeased on Mistlur. Its quite rare to hear a new wave-band actually getting better and better for each record, but i must say that this one is their best. its a shame it never got a proper release, but i guess 20 years is acceptable if the music is this good. enjoy!
"Och avslutningsvis i sann punkanda.
SISTA PLATTAN."

Dansdepartementet - Verklighetens Dag LP 1988

Ive never met anyone who agrees with me, but i think this is Dansdepartementets best work. The heavy goth-influence of their earlier work may be gone, but somehow this one seems a lot more depressing to me. The reason is mainly Mikael Syréns songwriting. I must say, as usual, that these are brilliant lyrics, to every single song. Ive never heard someone describe the initial phase in a relationship so honest and passionate as Syrén in "En flicka simmar". or his rendering of a miserable alcoholic in "bara jag och sprit". and the music manages to bring his words in such a context that the whole album drips of melancholy and the beauty of life and all its surroundings, even though the production is a bit too late 80's. its another one of those albums you can cry out to, or just brood in your depression and/or happiness - its the whole spectrum of emotions in one album. sadly, after this lp Dansdepartementet split up. read a bit more on them (in swedish) here. and yes, Micke Kjell, bassplayer in the legendary Ståålfågel, joined Dansdepartementet for this album, as well as Petter Brundell who acted as producer.
FLYTTA DIG MED SOLEN ÄLSKLING

22 För Många - I Afton Trans TAPE 1983

The first side of this second cassette of theirs is a bit hard for me to understand. But if i see it correctly its a sort of drama about a man trying to get a call to a swedish radio program called "Ring så spelar vi", and we follow his attempts to secure a short time in the ether, eventually resulting in him murdering his neighbour and sending the corpse to the show. correct me if im wrong here. anyway, its a great "record", no surprise there. and my favourite songs is of course when catherine sings. especially "moralens katedraler" sends a shiver down my spine everytime i hear it. its so good. or "historien om historien" where Henrik really hits the nail on the head lyricwise. yak yak, just get this now.
SÅ SÄG MIG, FINNS DET NÅN MENING MED LIVET?

22 För Många - EP 7" 1983

Sadly, this was the last vinyl appearance of the brilliant group 22 För Många. But what a "last record" (they released another cassette and recorded a second Lp as well) it is. my favourite track is Hökens ålder as im quite fond of Catarinas voice, but the rest of the EP is great as well with its dark and pretentious lyrics and mix between new wave and... well, and what? Re-release this now, henrik!
DET SVINISKA GLINET