"Twilight in the crystal cabinet", My Brother the Wind's purported "live improv album" commences with "Karmagrinder", a ten-and-a-half minute psychedelic workshop that, with its silky electric guitar swoops and jazzy, repetitive, two-chord exploration, suggests a sonic cross-breeding of Pink Floyd's "Breathe" (albeit with some extra prog juice in the rhythm section and a tad more noise) and Talk Talk's majestic "The rainbow". It's entirely too long, but it works, pummeling the listener into a dizzy, euphoric numbness. Ditto the title track, a chilling exercise in moody atmosphere, maneuvering heavily effected guitars over mallet-grazed toms (and little else). Luckily, it's not all endless texture -- the brief, atonal "Precious sanity" whirs by in under two minutes, surging with a borderline-frightening King Crimson-esque hubris. Formed as a quasi Swedish prog supergroup (with members of Anekdoten, Makajodama and Magnolia), My Brother the Wind certainly has an excess of technical skill (and, obviously, all the right reference points). While their debut might be a tad aimless in stretches, it certainly suggests plenty of reasons to keep listening -- perhaps a bit of studio discipline next time out will foster a more fully realized sophomore epic. - Ryan Reed
Members from the Swedish prog acts Anekdoten, Makajodama and Magnolia have formed a new band called My Brother the Wind. The band recently recorded a six-track live improv album called "Twilight in the crystal cabinet" which will be released via in May. More info and samples at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/mybrotherthewind
As usual, Transubstans delivers the goods. No one in Sweden does hardrock better, maybe not anywhere. Now I might not love absolutely everything they put out, but more often than not, it hits the spot. Magnolia is a rare exception in that I don't hate it (Transubstans does put out a few wacky discs I can't hang with at all), but I don't love it either. I guess I'm just not into the Cream power-trio thing as they interpret it -- too much bluesy jamming, not enough balls-out rock'n'roll. I dig the slow swing on "Tag dig själv i kragen", but it doesn't move me like Siena Root or Graveyard. The sweet B3 solo can't even win me over, that's how cold I am. But, like I said, it's not bad, it's just a bit disappointing because I was fully expecting to love it. Color me bummed.
Colossus Projects, a label run by the Finnish Progressive Music Association, is putting out a tribute to 70s Swedish progg called "Rökstenen" and here is the tracklist:
01. The Samurai Of Prog (ITA) - Drottningholmsmusiken, Sats 1 (Blåkulla)
02. Simon Says (SWE) - Tajgan (Kaipa)
03. Revelation (ITA) - Björnstorp (Atlas)
04. Black Bonzo (SWE) - Här kommer natten (Pugh Rogefeldt)
05. Villebråd (SWE) - Rockgift (Trettioåriga Kriget)
06. Keybridge (ITA) - Den skrattande grevinnan (Kaipa)
07. Richard Marichal (VEN) - Fran Det Ena Till Det Andra (Kaipa)
08. Echoes (VEN) - Andra Sidan (Trettioåriga Kriget)
09. Willowglass (UK) - Oceaner Foder Liv (Kaipa)
10. Anja (SWE) - Mount Everest (November)
11. Darxtar (SWE) - Cosmic Love (Ralph Lundsten)
12. Wasa Express (SWE) - Apkalops (Egba)
13. Pensiero Nomade (ITA) - Jatten Feeling (Flasket Brinner)
14. Mist Season (FIN) - Promenader (Ragnarök)
15. In The Labyrinth (SWE) - Worlds on Fire (Handgjort)
16. Soniq Circus (SWE) - Stockholm (Pugh Rogefeldt)
17. The Moor (SWE) - Grävmaskinen (Pugh Rogefeldt)
18. Jinetes Negros (ARG) - Mars (Blåkulla)
19. The Grand Trick (SWE) - The Black Riders (Bo Hansson)
20. Pseudo Sun (SWE) - En Av Oss (Life)
21. Mattijs Herder (HOL) - Two Hours Over Two Blue Mountains... (Älgarnas Trädgård)
22. The Chair (SWE) - Naked Man (Rag I Ryggen)
23. Gösta Berlings Saga (SWE) - Esso Motor Hotel (Arbete & Fritid)
24. Moosequartet (SWE) - Vi Valde Inte Våldet (Fickteatern)
25. Magnolia (SWE) - Ganska långt från Sergel (November)
26. Daal (ITA) - Var Glad Var Dag (Ragnarock)
27. Tkingdkeys (FIN) - Ingenting (Samla Mammas)
28. Anima Morte (SWE) - The Old Forest (Bo Hansson)
29. Kate (FIN) - Disease (Dice)
30. Sinkadus (SWE) - Death (Dice)
31. Vanilla Project (ITA) - Gånglåt (Atlas)
32. Contrarian (US) - Sirenernas Sang (Blåkulla)
33. Survival (HOL) - Sebastian (Atlas)
34. Beardfish (SWE) - Pop Poem (Made In Sweden)
35. Karmic Jaggernaut (US) - Greed (Dice)
36. Trion (HOL) - På Gata (Atlas)
37. Pax Romana (FIN) - Solnedgången (Blåkulla)
38. La Bocca Della Verità (ITA) - War (Dice)
39. Jerry Johansson & Dan Fröberg (SWE) - Kontinuerlig Drift (Bonus Track)
Malmö-based psych/hardrock/progg label collective Record Heaven will be releasing new records this fall with Magnolia, Barr (Sthlm) and Peter Lindahl (In the Labyrinth).
My Brother the Wind