Listening to 30 ”old” albums - Part 3

Yo! Time for the third installment of the 30 archive finds in my record collection that I will listen to - and review for you - before buying any new vinyl albums. Yes, I’m talking exclusively about vinyls here (some other formats might follow). Here are vinyl albums 20-16, just numbers counting down, not positions on a top-30-list. Swedish records are reviewed in Swedish and English, all other in English. Let’s Go!

Och samma på svenska: Dags för tredje satsen vinylskivor från samlingen, 30 arkivfynd totalt som jag ska lyssna igenom - och recensera för er - innan något nytt vinylalbum köps. Ja, vi talar exklusivt om vinyler här. Här är album 20-16, och det här är bara en nedräkning, inte placeringar på en top 30-lista. Bara svenskspråkiga album recenseras på svenska och engelska, alla övriga på engelska.Vi kör!

Lars Wnnerbäck: Neutronstjärnan

När albumet just kommit ut hörde jag de första omdömena på besök i Linköping. Winnerbäck hade just spelat några spår live i Bengans skivbutik och jag hörde tyvärr om det först en halv timme efteråt. Men jag har sett fyra riktiga spelningar tidigare, alla superba, till och med den i extremt hällregn och den i en skolgympasal. Neutronstjärnan då? De två första omdömena jag hörde gav ingen vink, det ena tyckte albumet lät gubbigt, det andra att det var ett av hans allra bästa. Och jag?

Neutronstjärnan är ett strålande album, med underbara höjder, när det är som bäst. Ett absolut måsteköp. Lasse W är en favoritartist och det här albumet är dessutom producerat av Joakim Berg och Martin Sköld. Ni vet, dom från legendariska Kent. Snacka om allstar-kedja. Och Neutronstjärnan gör en inte besviken. Endel spår är väl inte så märkvärdiga, ganska Lasse Winnerbäck-typiska, och redan det är ju bra. Albumet startar starkt, men på tredje spåret, Nåt som verkligen är bra, händer någonting exceptionellt. Nåt som verkligen är bra är faktiskt verkligen just så jävla bra. Och där, just då, kommer kören med Jocke Berg och Martin Sköld in, och det är plötsligt oförglömliga, djupt saknade Kent i en Winnerbäck-sång och det är sagolikt, underbart bra. Och det är en träffande låttitel, som verkligen håller vad den lovar. 

Vi rullar på den winnerbäckska rälsen genom resten av albumet, med musik att omfamnas av och underfundiga, välskrivna, berörande vardagsorienterande texter. Det är en stämning av reflekterande medelåldersstillhet över albumet. Vi är rätt många år från tempofyllda testosteronstänkare som Jag vill gå hem med dig. Och när han avslutar med en annan av albumets höjdpunkter är det en bitterljuv och reflekterande Vår tid, som eftertänksamt sammanfattar intryck av nutiden och lämnar lyssnaren med sina egna tankar om vår tid och våra liv. Missnöjd med tiden, men nöjd och mättad av musiken på ett utmärkt album.

Neutronstjärnan is a great album, with superb highlights, at its best. A must-buy. Lasse W is a favorite artist and this album is produced by Joakim Berg and Martin Sköld, yes, the ones from legendary Swedish band Kent. What an allstar-line. Neutronstjärnan doesn’t disappoint. Some tracks are not exceptional, rather quite typical Winnerbäck-tracks, and that’s already good in itself. The album also starts well and on third track, Nåt som verkligen är bra, something exceptional happens. It’s already a wonderful track, and then the chorus sets in, with Berg & Sköld, and suddenly it is the sorely missed beautiful Kent sound, on a strong winnerbäck-track and it’s pure magic, almost unbelievably good. A stunning song with a title to match. 

From there on we are comfortably riding on the Winnerbäck rail, with music that embraces us and lyrics that are well-written, witty and touching. Winnerbäck delivers a reflective vibe of middle age-calmness, quite far from younger day testosteron-outbursts like Jag vill gå hem med dig. The album closes with another highlight, the bittersweet reflection on our time, Vår tid, which leaves the listener thinking of our times and our lives. Disappointed with the times but satisfied and well-fed by the music on this great album.

Dr. Dre: Compton - A soundtrack by Dr. Dre (2LP).

Dr. Dre, first famous as the sound and rhythm mastermind of N.W.A. and in every respect a major hiphop superstar, revisits his home district Compton, L.A., composing and producing his own soundtrack to the district. It’s a love story as such, or love-hate story perhaps being more correct. An interesting album with a long line of great guest MC:s, including Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg (on two tracks), Ice Cube and Eminem, to name just a few. It’s not on level with N.W.A. or The Chronic, but, that said, the soundtrack to Compton rolls on fine, right from the splendid Intro, a great short history lesson that sets the stage for the album and positions Compton socio-geographically. A superb one minute introduction. Dr. Dre goes on to serve some impressive and cool recollections of Compton in sounds and lyrics. There is much to enjoy here, It’s All On Me for example. Dr Dre lays it out, how it is and  how it was, with the help of some ace MC:s. Snoop on One Shot One Kill, Kendrick Lamar on Genocide and IceCube on Issues. There’s even a touch of the late great Tupac here - some notes reminds us of California Love in Just Another Day, that features The Game and Asia Bryant. Other guests include, for example, Marsha Ambrosius, Justus and Anderson .Paak.

This is an album that draws you in. Not just as an album about a legendary place, made by a legendary vinylspinning DJ/producer, but also because it’s a spell-binding and well-produced album. Compton, a legendary district also in hiphop history, deserves of course its own hiphop soundtrack album, fittingly by living legend Dr. Dre. Even an average album by Dr. Dre would be worth to notice, and an album soundtracking Compton even more so. An impressive list of guests certainly doesn’t make it less interesting either. To quote a disco classic, this is hot stuff.

Misfits: If you don’t know this song…What the fuck are you doing here?

Quite a self-explanatory title on legendary punk band Misfits live album, recorded 1984. This version adds 7 superb additional tracks, that were first published as Beware (mini-LP). Love the confrontational, uncompromizing title, it gives a hint of where Misfits, and this album, takes the listener. 20 Eyes is an early highlight and with 11 songs on side A you know you are in for some fast, and short, outbursts of adrenaline. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, If you don’t know this song sounds fine, which unfortunately can’t be said of all punk live albums, as production often is D.I.Y. This can very well add to the charm, but usually not to the sound quality. This album is alright soundwise, and it sure is intense. However, there is silence between each track and I really don’t like that on live albums. And especially on albums that otherwise provide a soundscape of uncompromizing power and fierce energy. Silence just kills the tension build-up. The Beware material here (track 14-21) is a superb bonus, It’s recorded in studio, not live, and soundwise it is therefore far superior to  the live cuts. Attitude comes to its full right here, just amazing, and way better than the live version on side A. And Misfits certainly have attitude. Horror Business and Teenagers From Mars are also both in live and studio versions on this record, and both are far superior in the Beware studio versions. In all, a very interesting album documenting Misfits live and in studio at a certain moment in time. The live cuts are fine, but it’s the Beware material that lifts the listening experience far above average. Great. 

Sven Wollter: Nån sorts man.

En legendarisk och saknad skådespelare, som tyvärr gick bort under Covid-19 krisen. På Nån sorts man visar han en strålande känsla för det starka låtmaterialet på ett oförtjänt ”glömt” album. Höjdpunkten är I kvarteren här, som ligger gömd som nästsista spår på B-sidan, en helt underbar låt med fullständig närvaro i framförandet. Sagolik. En annan höjdare är den vackra, släpande Sången om blindheten, som slutar med en viktig reflektion: ”för värre än att inte se, är detta att inte bli sedd”. Så sant. 

Men det stannar inte där. Albumet Nån sorts man skildrar insiktsfullt kärleken och politiken och den medelålders mannens fördjupade självinsikt. 

Sångtexterna är i huvudsak utmärkta översattningar av original som skrivits av bland andra Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. Dårarna (har tagit över kliniken) är i sin tur i original av Specials-trion som senare bildade Fun Boy Three. För de utmärkta svenska texterna står Kent Andersson, Peter Ericson, Rikard Wolff och Klas Östergren. Och att Cohen och Waits återfinns bland originalartisterna är förstås ingen slump det heller. Wollters släpiga, djupa, mörka, nästan talande stämma för just tankarna ditåt. Något av samma totala närvaro och känsla hör vi också här. De här låtarna passar Wollters röstresurser väl. Han har inte Cohens musikaliskt vackra stämma, men resultatet är ändå ett sympatiskt och begåvat album, som är bättre än bra. Överraskande bra, faktiskt. Och för det lyfter jag på hatten för den geniale Sven Wollter. En värld utan både Cohen och Wollter är en mycket tristare värld.

A legendary and sorely missed actor that unfortunately died during the covid-19 crises. On unfortunately ”forgotten” album Nån sorts man Sven Wollter also shows a magnificent musical presence. The album highlight I kvarteren här is hidden almost at the end of side B. It’s simply wonderful, with a strong presence in Wollter’s performance. Another highlight is the lovely Sången till blindheten. And there is more. Nån sorts man is an insightful album about love and politics and the self-awareness of a middle-aged man. Most songs are wonderfully translated to Swedish, from great English originals by artists like Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. Dårarna (har tagit över kliniken) in turn is by the Specials-trio that later founded Fun Boy Three. Songs by Cohen and Waits are of course not by chance, because Wollter’s slow, dark, deep and almost speaking voice is reminiscent of Cohen’s and Waits’s. These songs are well-suited for Wollter’s voice. His voice is not on par musically with Cohen’s, but Wollter can (at least almost) match the same voice presence and feeling. The result is an album that is better than good. In fact, it is surprisingly good. And for that, hats off to the genius Sven Wollter. The world is a poorer place without Cohen and Wollter.

Black Sabbath: Live Evil (2 LP).

The Black Sabbath live album with Ronnie James Dio on vocals, not Ozzy Osbourne. Yes, that album. And it is also a good one. I think all can agree that both are fantastic heavy metal vocalists, even though it is more debated whether Dio also was a great Black Sabbath vocalist, or if it is only Ozzy that deserves that honor and position. Some, however, think this is the best Sabbath live album, while most argue that ”the real Black Sabbath” has Ozzy on vocals. And only Ozzy.

Undoubtedly, the first four Sabbath albums, with Ozzy, are the major classics, and Ozzy certainly was central in the classic Black Sabbath line-up. But, that said, Dio really does a fine job on Live Evil, as he also did on the great studio album Heaven and Hell. They are excellent albums, great Sabbath albums too. But even though Dio also performs the Ozzy era classics well enough here, they are Ozzy-era songs, and therefore better with Ozzy on the mike.

Live Evil is by a three-piece Sabbath (Iommi-Butler-Dio) with Vinnie Appice (drums) and Geoff Nicholls (keyboards) as guests. They are in fine form here, live on stage. This is an interesting album from the go, the instrumental build-up €5150, followed instantly by a thunderous Neon Knights. Of course all the biggest classics from Ozzy-era Sabbath are present too: War Pigs, Paranoid, Children of the Grave, Black Sabbath, Iron Man… Dio does them well, especially Paranoid, and on Mob Rules, a riff-heavy 11-minute version of Heaven and Hell, followed by a The Sign of the Southern Cross/Heaven and Hell (continued) medley for 7 mins, he is right at home. The instrumental session in H&H is well-performed, sure, but just a tad too long on record. I would have preferred for example a live Die Young in the setlist, and a shorter jam. But that’s a matter of taste. The finale with Paranoid (wonderful version), Children Of The Grave (riff-heavy, oh yeah) and Fluff (the ”let’s bring you down”-outro) leaves the listener wishing for more.

The uncompromising riffs of Tony Iommi, and the clever bass structures of Geezer Butler, are impressive throughout on Live Evil. Appice and Nicholls perform very well too, and Dio is, well, Dio. An A class heavy singer, who of course also was ace on classic records by Rainbow and, yes, Dio.

Even though Live Evil is not a live album by the legendary original Black Sabbath quartet, it is still an important part of the Sabbath history. And a very fine live album. Except, like on so many other heavy metal and hard rock live records, an incredibly dull drum solo. Perhaps enjoyable live, but intolerably dull on record. Vinny is by no means worse here than any other great drummer performing drum solos on other live records. It can be fine live, and is of course a breather for the other band members. But, sorry, they are all a bit of a nuisance to listen to on record. This one, at least, is not that long.

Black Sabbath were and are the true masters of heavy metal. Sorely missed. One of the bands I regretfully never experienced live in person. Sure wish I had. Luckily there are at least a few great Sabbath live albums to enjoy. This is one.

Listening to 30 ”old” albums - Part 2

 2nd batch of album finds in my collection that I have either listened through only once or not for a longer time period. No new albums will be bought before I’ve heard all 30 through. Call it a music white month.

Andra laddningen albumfynd i samlingen som jag antingen bara lyssnat igenom en gång eller som det är länge sedan jag lyssnade på.

Here’s the next 5 (albums 25-21, not grading, just counting down), här är de följande 5 (album 25-21):

David & The Citizens: Until The Sadness Is Gone

Swedish indiepop-band David & The Citizens is a great band, but unfairly still remained a rather underground group. I have for years loved their fantastic adrenalin-filled non-album track Stop! A stunning pop song. Unfortunately it’s not on this, or any other album. I have it on a wonderful festival compilation. And that song made me remember the band. This album, my first with David & The Citizens, was bought in Helsinki this winter. The record shop owner had never heard of them, he said, and I had properly heard just one song. But what a song! Sadly, there is no song here as impressive as Stop!, but there a many good songs on an album that also as a whole is great. Opening song, funnily titled The End, is a superb up-tempo start, followed by an equally fine Graycoated Morning, with some marvellous, joyful moments that remind me of Stop! The album cuts are mixed for a smooth, continuos musical ride without silent breaks. Also that works well. Sometimes it’s just great to follow your instincts and take a leap forward into (almost) unknown musical territory. I only knew they had one great song, and it was not on the album. Still felt that it was quite a safe bet. And yes, Until The Sadness Is Gone is both melancholic and up-tempo happy, an inspiring find.  I was perhaps unsure when buying this album for 25€, but I’m definitely sure now, this albun deserves its place in my collection. Great stuff.

2Pac: Loyal To The Game (2LP)

Tupac Shakur, one the giants of hiphop, on a posthumous record from 2004, often labelled a ”remix experience”, that received mixed reviews, but still, there is also a lot of qualities shining through, namely the voice and words of Tupac. Good album? Sure. Great? Perhaps not. Production has been criticized for being too soft, and, yes, when considering Tupacs voice and fierce lyrics, the soundscape could have been heavier and, well, less-polished, rawer. That said, great to hear earlier unheard lyrics expressed with Tupac’s voice, even if it is posthumously. Out On Bail and Ghetto Gospel on side A sets a great tone for the following three sides. Among the highlights is also a fine Don’t You Trust Me. On the other hand, the production of for example the title track, shows what really doesn’t work as well. It would need to be remixed, and reproduced, which could result in a great album. The Tupac material is already great here, but isn’t fully coming to its right. So, a mixed bag, a good album, but not excellent. It has its fine moments and Tupac’s voice and lyrics are all over the record, but an album made by the man himself would of course be a better choice. If you have all of them, then this is a nice complement. Now hoping for a rawer remixed/reproduced version for us all.

Einszwo: Gefährliches Halbwissen (Instrumental) (2LP)

One of the famous early German hiphop crews, Einszwo’s legendary debutalbum is very hard to find on vinyl today. I saw one ex in Stuttgart, but unfortunately did not buy it then because of the high price. And will probably not see it on vinyl again. Or then at a considerably higher price. I have it on CD, though, and the instrumental version on vinyl. Cheaper, but certainly not cheap, and found in Einszwo’s hometown Hamburg. Not untypical that German hiphop album are also out in instrumental versions. I have for example albums from Waving The Guns and Funf Sterne Deluxe too. Very good albums, I may add. Gefährliches Halbwissen (instrumental) is even better. 

From opening words ”Achtung, Achtung”, and asking the listener to put their hands in the air, the great rhythm of superb opening track Arbeitstitel: Aller Achtung rolls on. And before second track Liebes Logbuch, Einszwo MC Dendemann announces (in German) that hiphop is his work, from which he earns his living. Not taking things lightly then, we understand, before another excellent rhythm-based instrumental rolls on. Einszwo are legendary in Germany for a reason, they were early pioneers, and they were and are great. The instrumental album has an informative undertitel Fur Den DJ Fuchs Von Heute, and, sure, instrumental albums can be used to rap over att home and as a collection of rhythm tracks for DJ:s, but this album is good enough in its own right to enjoy listening to as a ”proper” album. And it makes you wanna rap and move to the rhythms. I will soon play this album again. And again. Simply brilliant.

Elephant9: Psychedelic Backfire 1 (2 LP) and Psychedelic Backfire 2 (2 LP).

Two live albums by highly talented Norwegian jazz group Elephant9, and so closely connected that I review them in the same text. Obviously, the albums are great together, but can equally well be enjoyed separately. And enjoy them I do. From the offset, inspiring I cover the mountain top builds a soundscape of tranquility, before a outburst of sound hits the listener and audience. It’s a wonderful start, a mesmerizing piece throughout. And you know you are in for a treat. Elephant9 have been highly praised, and rightly so. I had only heard a few tracks when I bought three of their records, these two included, at a record fair. All vinyls that also included CD-versions. And for the record, none of the tracks I had heard were on these records. Both Psychedelic Backfire albums were recorded live, at Kampen Bistro, during the same week in January  2019. And both are well-produced and fine-sounding live recordings. Only one track (Skink/Fugl Fönix) is included on both albums. That’s fine, as six of the tracks are side-long, and there's two each on the other two sides. The psychedelic in the titles points to long, instrumental live jams, equally highly appreciated in psychedelia and jazz. 

It is two very different setlists and totally individual live experiences recorded the same week, or you could argue that these recordings really belong together and form a great common overview of wonderful jazz group elephant9 live in 2019. And yes, I think the whole is greater than the individual parts. But if I have to choose only one, it would be No 1. I cover the mountaintop is a superb start on No 1, while You are the sunshine of my life is a fine start on No 2. The elephant-trio on bass, drums and keyboards produce a live soundscape that feels much larger and wider, it brings to mind the brilliant Weather Report on Birdland live, and I am equally impressed here. 

Psychedelic Backfire 1 is very intense, from its mellow and tranquil start it develops within minutes into an increasingly intense urgency, that also intensify the listening experience. Wonderful Skink/Fugl fönix (side C) never let’s the guard down,  and never let’s you of the hook. Its pulsating and vibrant rhythms and well-matched keyboard melodies drives us, the listeners, on mercilessly. It’s spellbinding. So spell-binding in fact that my dinner got burned as I forgot it while intensively listening to this track. This could easily have been a great concert stopper, but then there was side D left. A great album.

Psychedelic Backfire 2 also starts well, with You are the sunshine of my life, and this double album consists of four side-long tracks, so it feels even more jam-oriented than No 1. The album starts less intense than No 1, but it is felt in every muscle when Skink/Fugl fönix brings the tempo and intense-level way up (on side B). Still, the No 1 version may still be slightly better. The tempo slows down again on side C, the weakest side with a very slowly building intro that for minutes is not going anywhere. However, if Habanera Rocket doesn’t feel that rocket-like, the album finale, Freedom’s Children/John Tinnick, is all the more impressive, and intense. Tempo-wise it starts-stop, but then slowly, over several minutes, starts to build up intensity again. You can feel the tension of held back energy - and then they are off with a final burst of power. It’s a very impressive way to end the album, and the better album closer.

So, in general a tie between two impressive live albums, but if forced to choose, Psychedelic Backfire is the one. 

So there you have it. Five more archive finds in the collection listened to and reviewed.

Stay tuned for the next 5!

Det var fem till arkivfynd från min samling, genomlyssnade och recenserade. 

Håll dig uppkopplad för nästa 5!

Why listening to 30 ”old” albums now - Part 1

Another challenge.

Do I have enough records on vinyl? Yes…and No.

Have I listened enough on those I already have? No.

Instead of buying more vinyls I don’t have time to listen to, I decided to choose 30 vinyl albums from the collection that I either have listened to only once (yet) or haven’t listened to for a longer time, being occupied by new (for my collection or truly fresh) music.

The challenge was to not buy any new album before having listened to these 30 catalogue finds and shortly reviewed them, for you. Bilingual reviews for Swedish records, all the other in English. 

Let’s call this a white month, musicwise. Here we go!

En ny utmaning. 

Har jag tillräckligt med vinylskivor? Ja…och Nej.

Har jag lyssnat tillräckligt på dem jag redan har? Nej.

Istället för att köpa mera vinyler som jag inte hinner lyssna på beslöt jag att välja 30 plattor från min samling som jag antingen bara lyssnat igenom en gång (hittills) eller som jag inte har lyssnat igenom på ett längre tag, utan varit upptagen med ny (i min samling eller helt färsk) musik.

Utmaningen var att inte köpa något nytt album före jag har lyssnat igenom dessa 30 arkivfynd och kort recenserat  dem, för er. De svenska på två språk, resten på engelska. Låt oss kalla det här en vit månad för musik. Nu kör vi!

Albums 30-26 (without ranking), album 30-26 (utan inbördes rankning):

Chaos UK: Total Chaos - The Singles

Fine hardcore punk from 1982-1983, compiled from one 12”, two great 7” ep’s and a compilation track. A best of Chaos UK compilation, truly uncompromizing punk with great rhythmic bass, and with the great single version of Victimized and Four Minute Warning as two of the highlights. My earlier memory of Chaos UK is mainly of the two fine 7” ep’s included here, so their position was shortlived, but undoubtedly still memorable, as this compilation album shows. 

Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (in the cover of Various Positions)

I thought I had bought Various Positions (at a flea market), but came home with I’m Your Man, inside the former album cover. Had at least checked that the vinyl looked fine, and it sounds fine, even though it was not the album I thought I had bought. It’s the first and (thus far) only time this has happened to me. I have both albums now, and both are great. Various Positions include the immortal classics Hallelujah and Dance me to the end of love. However, I’m your man is as an album equally good and it was the first Cohen-album I remember I have listened to. First we take Manhattan, Ain’t no cure for love and Take this waltz are stunning classics. But of course I hated then to have the wrong record or the wrong cover, either way, but now I own both albums in their original covers. I had even forgot about this album mistake (and that I still have it!). Back then it didn’t put me back many euros, and the music was and is, of course,  marvellous. Leonard Cohen was a genius, wish I had seen him live on stage.

Culture Club: Live At The Royal Albert Hall 2002 - 20 Year Anniversary (2 LP). 

Classic reunion concert (from 2002, on vinyl 2020) with all four original members and very good support musicians. Great start with a wonderful Do you really want to hurt me? Overall a great anniversary concert. Only sad that the album consists of separate soundfiles instead of a continuos live flow, this way it loses some live energy and feel. Occasionally Boy George’s voice also feels a little pressed, but mostly it’s in very good shape, and the band is great throughout. A funny moment is when Boy George reprimands the audience for talking when he sings the ballad Victims. Yes, he took the gig seriously. This is actually a better album than expected. Culture Club was a very good early-mid 80’s pop band. Boy George’s voice is unique and easily recognized, no wonder Bob Geldof flew him over from NY to London for a few seconds on Band Aid’s Do they know it’s Christmas-single in 1984. In the best vocal moments live you understand why. A few fillers, but mostly a live setlist of classic pop hits and great album tracks. Megahit Karma Chameleon is of course here, but there are other live highlights on the way, for example the whole B-side, a funky Miss me blind and a strong Starman cover. This album certainly shows why Culture Club and Boy George have mattered in popular music.

Public Enemy: Revolverlution Tour ’03 (3 LP)

Another live album, but quite of another calibre. Hip hop legends Public Enemy visit Melbourne 2003 and brings the house down. One of the most influential hiphop crews ever deliver a set of heavy tunes, mostly with Chuck D on the mike seconded by Flavor Flav and Professor Griff and with DJ Lord on turntables, and with a competent band supporting. Full speed forward from the Intro, with Son of a Bush a  highlight on a very tight Side A. Public Enemy delivers classic after classic on this Record Store Day edition (first and only vinyl edition worldwide 2024). Chuck D:s reflections were among the first to make hiphop called ”the black CNN”, and together with crews like N.W.A. reporting to America and the world from the hoods and projects in the 1980-90’s, where traditional media never visited. And, by the way, Public Enemy got together in and around Adelphi University, perhaps that explains the sociological edge in some lyrics. Of course classics like Fight The Power, Don’t believe the Hype, Rebel without a pause, 911 is a joke, Black Steel in the hour of Chaos and Welcome to the Terrordome are present in the live set here. And it’s some Heavy stuff. Public Enemy are in fine form to deliver the goods on these three plates and repeatedly voice chants of Make Love Fuck War as a concert theme catchphrase. So sadly, this catchphrase is  still contemporary some 20 years later. Now with a ”mad king” in power. 

Don’t believe the hype, Welcome to the terrordome, Black Steel in the hour of Chaos and Fight the power, indeed. Some new and contemporary Chuck D lyrics would be badly needed.

Thåström: Skebokvarnsv. 209 (2 LP, 20 Year Anniversary Version)

2025 kom 20-års jubileumsutgåvan av Thåströms kanske bästa soloalbum ut, Skebokvarnsv. 209. Nu förstärkt med 5 extraspår. Lite trist att de flesta redan getts ut som singel b-sidor, men å andra sidan finns materialet nu samlat inom ett konvolut. Albumet innehåller, särskilt nu, många lugna låtar, melankoliska, känslosamma. Få utbrott av (industri)rock- och punkikonens frenesi. Men det är kanske också den mogne Thåström som är allra bäst. Söndagmåndagsång är min personliga favorit, helt fantastiskt underbar, men höjdarna är många fler än så. Inledande vackra Brev till 10:e våningen, om förortsuppväxtens förlorade ungdom och den vuxne betraktarens nostalgi, Sönder Boulevard om Köpenhamn, Fanfanfan, Ebba Grön-relaterade The Haters, och bland bonusspåren den underbara akustiska dust-versionen av Bara om min älskade väntar. En av mina allra senaste inköp (original-cd:n köpte jag när den utkom) och ett album jag mycket gärna återkommer till. Strålande.

And same in English: The 20th Anniversary edition of Thåström’s probably best solo album Skebokvarnsv. 209 came out in 2025. Now with 5 bonus cuts. Perhaps somewhat boring that most of them have already been out a long time as single B-sides, but now at least all this material is compiled in one place. The album is very strong on ballads, especially this expanded edition, and there is not many signs of the frenetically energetic (industrial)rock- and punkicon. On the other hand, the mature artist Thåström is best like this, on emotional and melancholic ballads. Söndagmåndagsång is my personal favorite, just wonderful and mesmerizing, but there are also other great highlights here, like the first track, Brev till 10:e våningen, a beautiful song about a lost suburbian youth and grown-up nostalgia, Sönder Boulevard about Copenhagen, the Ebba Grön-related The Haters, and, among the bonus cuts, the acoustic dust-version of Bara om min älskade väntar. One of my very latest record buys (I bought the original-cd 20 years ago) and an album I happily return to. Brilliant.

Five gone, 25 to go. Fem avklarade, 25 kvar. 

Stay tuned!

Fanta4 Live - 2009 & 2024 (& 2019)

Die Fantastischen Vier have made quite a few live recordings. And they are a great live hiphop crew. More experienced live than most crews too. Heimspiel (4 LP) document their 20-year anniversary concert, Long Player on Tour (4 LP), their latest, their 35 years as a group. And counting!

Both concerts were recorded in Fanta hometown Stuttgart, so they gave all they had live on both occasions. Stuttgart is a hiphop metropolis, but I bought both albums on LP in German’s undisputed hiphop capital Hamburg in December, had them both on CD from before.

Can they be compared? 10 same songs are on both albums, 25 years apart. Heimspiel is by a much younger band, but still a very experienced band, after 20 years together. It is a very fine live album, Neues Land in a superb version and the last side H is among the best they have ever recorded, a wonderful version of Tag am Meer before an explosive adrenalin-filled and stunning Ernten Was Wir Säen, before ending with Populär. Yes, Fanta4 sure were and are Populär in Germany. There are some duller moments on the album where the material is slightly weaker, but this is compensated by the fantastic highlights. A great album.

The soundscape is somewhat different on Long Player, were electro-influences are much stronger. If Heimspiel was a much more analogue album with impressive strings and brass musicians on stage, Long Player makes use of synthesized electro-sounds and produce a soundscape that is clearer and crisper. There are pros and cons for both when comparing. Comparing setlists, I would on a whole consider Long Player the stronger material, but there is of course 25 more years of great music to choose from. This includes later favorites like Danke, Endzeitstimmung and Zusammen. That said, Heimspiel has also a fine setlist, and as earlier mentioned, the highlights and the energy-level is astounding.

The highlights on Long Player on Tour are also spectacular, and over 4 LP:s we find some weaker spots also here. But overall it feels like the slightly better whole. In itself spectacular that Fanta4 has kept up performances and appearances for this long, and still sound even better. Impressive!

I would not choose either one, but rather see them as complementing albums, complementing the picture of a truly fantastic band, Die Fantastischen Vier. They also documented their large 30 year anniversary as a band with a live album, Fur Immer 30 Jahre (3LP), but this time recorded in Köln. It’s another stunner, but I have a weak spot for the live celebrations in their hometown, especially after having lived in Stuttgart myself. If you go for only one Fanta4 live album you can easily choose any of these three and still have a great Fanta4 live album in your collection. Strings or electro? Your choice. Or Unplugged? There are two fine live albums of that experience too.

All considered, however, I find Long Player on Tour the stronger album, and my first choice, but I would not want to be without the magnificent highlights of Heimspiel. Fur Immer 30 Jahre concert is another, third, wonderful live document of the Fanta4 saga, strongly ending with a beautiful Zusammen. 

Yes, still together, and now over 35 years. And Fur Immer 30 Jahre was also a recording from the last truly great live music year, before corona changed everything, 2019. There you have it. 

Die Fantastischen Vier. Live. Always great on vinyl.

Your choice.

Limited but Limitless Playlist - strictly limited 7” mix

Bought a very nice metal box for transporting 7”-singles, well first idea was to mainly store 7” singles there. There is room for 30-35, it says. And it gave me the idea of a real challenge. Could I make a nice set based exclusively on the 7” singles that I have here with me in this room, now? And that was not too many, just a small part of my singles collection, and quite randomly selected, as I had only two boxes of singles there at the moment. Could I make a performance only from these, less than 200, quite randomly selected singles? Singles that were not selected for any playlists or sets but earlier put together in boxes for storage reasons. And of my singles-boxes I randomly chose two.

Could I make a dj playlist of singles that would fit in my new metal box? And would it be any good? 

There was room for 31 singles, as two have very thick covers, and, as I chose both sides of one, so 32 songs. No more. 

Well, this is the result, hope to take a mobile record player with me to a happening, party or picnic someday and actually do the gig for friends.

A fun challenge that I recommend to all you vinylists and music lovers out there. Discuss and swap lists with your music-nerd friends and share favorite soundbites from the list. I excluded albums, LP:s, CD:s, 12” maxis, c-casettes and, of course, digital playlists, to concentrate on what to do with two small 7” singles boxes. Makes you rethink a part of your music collection as well. So I certainly will do it again, with other boxes or formats.

Here we go, 

all are 7” singles, among the few available, at that given moment. 

And yes,

There’s some kind of romanzing and some real concious  thinkin’ going on!

And there’s a whole lotta bumpin’ and a whole lotta jumpin’ going on! 

Come get a bit of this, and get a bit of that, get a bit of what’s going on!

LIMITED BUT LIMITLESS 7” SINGLES PLAYLIST (Feb2026)

The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (Picture Disc)/The Flaming Lips

Get Down On It (Extended Remix)/Kool & The Gang

Vaalirahakynnitys/ Nieminen & Litmanen feat Paleface

One Drop/Bob Marley & The Wailers

Echohäuser/The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Fur Immer Solidarity/United Sound Crew

Oblivious/Aztec Camera

Come On Eileen/Dexy’s Midnight Runners

The Bottle/Gil Scott Heron

It’s So Nice To Be Rich/Agnetha Fältskog

Demokratie/DieÄrzte

Working Class Hero/John Lennon

Wozu Sind Kriede Da/Udo Lindenberg

Naked City/Kiss

Se On Lama Nyt/Kanuuna

Kärpästen Juhlat/Mikko Saarela

Anikana-O/Kongas

Big In Japan/Alphaville

Take On Me/A-Ha

Last Train To London/Electric Light Orchestra

Berlin/Nina Hagen

Jetzt Ist Der Moment/#56 Boys

Tour De France (Remix)/Kraftwerk

Stop The War Now/Edwin Starr

Suspicious Minds/Candi Staton

My Girl/The Temptations

Hey Paula/Paula And Paula

Dolce Vita Mix/Various Artists

Don’t Go/Yazoo

Imagine/John Lennon

New Year Eve Party Playlist 2025/2026 Nyårsaftonens spellista

Time to end another year and look forward to the next. 2025 has, frankly, been a sh-t year for the world and in Finland - but a year of fast and interesting transformations - and moves - for me. I hope for a little more time to chill in 2026, and, hopefully, much more peaceful times in the world, more democracy, justice, care for others and freedom for all. No all in new year party this year, just softly chillin’, but of course a new year party playlist!

Det är dags att avsluta ännu ett år och se framåt mot ett nytt. Ärligt talat, 2025 har varit ett sk-t år för världen och i Finland - men ett år med snabba och intressanta förändringar och flyttningar för mig. Jag hoppas få lite mera tid att chilla 2026 och, förhoppningsvis, en mycket mera fridfull tid för världen, mera demokrati, rättvisa, omtanke om andra och frihet för alla. Ingen all in nyårsfest i år, chillar soft istället, men en nyårs-party playlist blir det ändå, såklart!

Peace on Earth! Frid på jorden!

Here is my New Year Eve Party Playlist 2025/2026. Preferably to be played from approx 21 to (almost) 00 turn of the year 2025/2026 (with links for you to videos for almost all songs). Or anytime you like.

Här är min nyårs-spellista, bäst från ca 21 fram till tolvslaget 2025/2026. Eller närhelst du känner för det.

Happy New Year/Gott Nytt År/Gutes Neues Jahr/Onnellista Uutta Vuotta!!!🎉

NEW YEAR EVE PARTY PLAYLIST 2025/2026

Intro: Fridays For Future/Rebekka Karijord & Jon Ekstrand

Welcome To The Show/Laleh

Endzeitstimmung (Live 2024)/Die Fantastischen Vier 

Wir Kommen In Frieden/Feine Sahne Fischfilet

Ilonalle (Sydänlupaus)/Heikki Kuula

Super Sense Block Party (Live Medley) (12”)/Die Fantastischen Vier

Hamburg City (MC)/La Boom

Nie Wieder Krieg/Thomas D

Overcome (The Recapitulation)/RX Bandits

Wann Strahlst Dub/Erobique & Palminger

Radioaktivität (Francois Kevorkian Remix) (12”)/Kraftwerk

Wagging Tongue (Live Mexico City)/Depeche Mode

Hamburg Calling (Live Brotstock 2023)/Fettes Brot

Passing Strangers (Set Movements Live)/Ultravox

Im Arsch (PFL RMX)/Jan Delay

Geboren Um Zu Sterben/Tristan Brusch

Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards (Live)/Billy Bragg

Reeperbahn Dub/Udo Lindenberg feat Jan Delay

The Grosser (Live Brotstock 2023)/Fettes Brot

Nordisch By Nature (Live Brotstock 2023)/Fettes Brot

Come And Get Your Love/Redbone

Pizza (Live 2025)/Antilopen Gang

Super Sense Block Party (Live Medley) (12”B)/Die Fantastischen Vier

Arbeitstitel: Aller Achtung (Instrumental)/Eins Zwo

 

#3/6 Jahre Institut

Kirchturmkandidaten (Live mit der WDF Big Band)/Jan Delay

When The President Talks To God/Bright Eyes

Mach Die Augen Auf/Nena

All You Fascists Bound To Lose/Ghetto 84

Beate Zschäpe Hört U2 (Live 2025)/Antilopen Gang

Where Is The Love?/The Black Eyed Peas

Love (Eimsbusch Dynamite Deluxe RMX)/Patrice

Jein (Live Brotstock 2023)/Fettes Brot

Arbeitstitel: Aller Achtung/Eins Zwo

Liebes Logbuch (Instrumental)/Eins Zwo

Flashbacks (CD-EP)/Niemals

Stay (Live 1979 No Nukes)/Springsteen E Street Band

Everything Counts (Live Mexico City)/Depeche Mode

Zusammen (2022)/Die Fantastischen Vier feat. Clueso

 Lev Nu Dö Sen/Miss Li

Take On Me (The Final Concert Live)/A-Ha

I hear wonderful (live) things 2025!

 (I see) Wonderful things, said Howard Carter when he found the grave vault of Tutankhamun. A travesty of that here and now could be: I hear wonderful things 2025. And many of them on newly released live albums.

Brotstock, a tripple live album by Hamburg hiphop legends Fettes Brot, is out this year. A great celebration of the unfortunately final Fettes Brot concert, from 2023. RSD 3LP vinyl version is on tripple-colour vinyl, cool. A magnificent live album, with all hits, and then some,  included. Jeun is a fine, groovy start and one of my favorite segments is Hamburg Calling followed by a magnificent The Grosser, that really makes your body move. And of course Nordisch by Nature does so too, but the vibe is great throughout. The album title is also wonderfully fun, so tongue-in-cheek. A beautiful last statement from the ”Fat Breads”. And bonus info: König Boris has also released a book ” FC St. Pauli - eine Liebeserklärung”, in 2025. Early bird signed copies could be bought at FC StP club shop on Reeperbahn. So Cool.

And who can neglect Depeche Mode? M and Memento Mori: Mexico City (live) were both very high on my waiting list this Fall, both the 4LP version and the 2 Blueray + 2 CD version. One of the most important bands on my radar, and they didn’t disappoint this December. M is the movie version, and the only regret is that they could have played out more widely with the Mexican theme, perhaps prolonged the film with 15-20 mins to get some more depth into the material between the live scores. Fine as it is, it could have been even better. Especially as the whole concert material is  also available as such in the same package, and a great concert film it is too. 

Yes, the vinyls and cd:s are also stunning, great new songs performed live and some very cool and refreshed versions of classics like Everything counts. However, it’s a bummer and clear disappointment that critical songs Where’s The Revolution and Going Backwards are now left out of the setlist. Why is that? They are even more relevant today than when Spirit came out, especially Going Backwards. Showstarter My Cosmos Is Mine was a surprise (on the tour), but opened strongly for an overall nice and refreshed DM concert experience. Too sad that the concert that I had tickets to on the Memento Mori tour was cancelled, but instead a free DM club night was organized for fans and that surprisingly turned out to be one of the best club night experiences ever. Danced for five hours straight. And had so fun that I nearly didn’t mind that the concert was cancelled. DM fans form a great community. 

Now, on formally released live album and film(s) from the tour, we hear and see DM, currently only a (power)duo, but well-assisted on stage by two great veteran live band members, sounding amazingly fresh. 

A must, no less.

A third new live album out now is Antilopen Gang and their Anti Alles Aktion Live. Interestingly, their controversial political hit Oktober in Europa is not included, perhaps not performed during this tour. Nevermind, it is still a great live hiphop/punk album. Antilopen Gang has combined these genres successfully on studio albums and now show how great the combination also works live. Pizza and Beate Zschäpe Hört U2, Weg Von Hier and Muttertag, are among the impressive highlights, before it all ends in an intense live finale, Anti Alles Aktion. 

Potent, powerful and highly entertaining.

A wonderful catalogue live find from 2021 must also be mentioned. Springsteen E Street Band, performing live on legendary No Nukes festival 1979. I’ve had it on vinyl for years, but this Fall bought the Blueray/2CD version that first came out in 2021. And this is just mindblowing stuff. Bruce and the band are exceptional live artists, personally I have seen them live on three occasions, all superb performances. But this really is exceptional stuff. This is right up there with the very best. Before the megastardom of Born in the USA, when Bruce was big but not yet the biggest rock star, the band already was  among the very best. Frenetic energy, strong showman- and musicianships and the pure happiness of performing live results in a stellar set. And all for a good cause too. My personal favorite moment is when they invite Jackson Browne & co on stage for a spectacular version of Stay. 

Yes, please, stay, just a little bit longer! 

Well worth hearing - and seeing.

Many music pearls for this Christmastime were live (on album), but not all.

A most certain coming classic is the impressive compilation album King Size Dub Hamburg. And already a rarity. Both the LP and the double-cd are limited to 500 ex. Prices will rise. Not only because it is limited, but because it is sooo good. Many will want this album. Many will need this album.  Even more will not yet know that they would want and need this album. Brilliant. Magnificent stuff, and lots of it. Vinyl version is only a single album, not covering more than half of CD one. That’s why I opted for the double CD version, as many of the best dubs are not on the vinyl. Had it been a 2 LP set, I would have bought that. But, in retrospect, I probably still should have bought the single vinyl LP too. 

Tracks from this compilation, and these live albums, will most likely be heard on my playlists in 2026.