TUSSILAGO FANFARA

It bothers me to no end that Anna Själv Tredje's Tussilago Fanfara was never reissued on CD, forcing you to pay the big money for an original LP (they're hard to come by these days, even in Sweden). This group consisted of Mikael Bojen and Ingemar Ljunström handling various synthesizers (one of the was probably an ARP 2600, can't tell the rest) and other keyboards (clavinet and possibly organ), as well as guitars. Seems there's a connection to Cosmic Overdose and Twice a Man, but the latter appears to be Älgarnas Trädgård-related. Let me tell you that this album is completely essential for all who enjoy Berlin School electronic music. Sweden has never been a hotbed for electronic music, unlike Germany, or 1990s Britain (Radio Massacre International, Redshift, and Airsculpture are examples), It's really too bad that Tussilago Fanfara was only released in Sweden on the Silence label. This album could easily fit on the Brain label in Germany, and I even say Britain's Virgin as well, this kind of electronic music should have been destined for such labels, but that never happened. Great spacy electronic with a minimalist influence and spacy feel that's in the vein of Schulze or Tangerine Dream, with minimalist patterns that get me thinking of Terry Riley or Galactic Explorers' Epitaph For Venus. When the guitar playing appears, it reminds me of Ash Ra Tempel, or that is, trying to imagine if Gilbert Gandil of Pulsar replaced Manuel Göttsching, since the guitar playing (apparently Mikael Bojen) has that same sustained fuzz style that Gilbert Gandil did on those Pulsar albums. Silence Records is still around, and while many of their titles have since seen the light of day on CD, this one hasn't. What gives? I had to fork out the money for the LP, but it was worth it. It was on my want list since 1996. I was just completely blown away by this album. I really love the fact the late '70s still had room for great electronic music, like what Tangerine Dream and Schulze demonstrated, as well as Tim Blake's two albums for EGG, Crystal Machine and Blake's New Jerusalem, and of course, Anna Själv Tredje's Tussilago Fanfara. If you can find a way to hear it, do so, you won't regret it!