ÄLGARNAS TRÄDGÅRD

In 1972 the band released its first and only album (excluding archival releases), the long winded titled FRAMTIDEN ÄR ETT SVÄVANDE SKEPP, FÖRANKRAT I FORNTIDEN ("The Future is a Floating Ship Anchored in Antiquity"). Upon reading the track titles, it seems that there are more words on the album cover than there are in the entire album as this is mostly cosmic Krautish psychedelia with only the track "Möjligheternas Barn" (Children Of Possibilities) having any significant vocal contributions along with a few other examples and in this case only performed by the guest appearance of Margareta Söderberg who performs a haunting traditional Scandinavian folk song laced with drugged out sound effects and Pagan ritualistic overtones.

FRAMTIDEN ÄR ETT SVÄVANDE SKEPP, FÖRANKRAT I FORNTIDEN is a true cosmic journey into the farthest out trips set about in a bizarre amalgamation of styles. While the haunting string torture of the violin and viola set in a folk style bring Comus to mind, the compositions themselves are more a classically infused Olivier Messiaen influenced cosmic parade that borrows some of the guitar bombast of King Crimson along with tribal percussive drives as well as some of the very first primitive sampling and remixing that worked in tandem with neighboring Germany's Krautrock scene, most notably of Can. While psychedelically over the top and striving to break free from all known reality and Earthly gravitational pull, the folky elements belie the intent and keep this freak folk / psych rock experience from drifting to the dark side of the moon.

The opening track "Två Timmar Över Två Blå Berg Med En Gök På Vardera Sidan, Om Timmarna, Alltså (Two Hours Over Two Blue Mountains With A Cockoo On Each Side Of The Hours..that Is)" not only boasts the lengthiest title of the seven tracks but is also the longest running that easily glides past the 13 minute mark and runs the gamut of alien sounding cosmic drips to a full fledged Viking ritual complete with wordless vocal chants towards the end but also hosts a plethora of progressive electronic elements that ensure a wickedly wild ride with flutterings of classical flute and piano to be heard. The ending is particularly bizarre. The album flows quite nicely as one track cedes into the next but each creating a distinct vibe, an idiosyncratic feel and elaborate change in stylistic approach. The following "Det Finns En Tid För Allt, Det Finns En Tid Då Även Tiden Möts (There Is A Time For Everything, There Is A Time When Even Time Will Meet)" continues the freak folk flavors with a cheery flute performance while avant-garde classical sounds dance with electronic wizardry.

The instrumental free for all is interrupted only once by the Swedish language vocal track "Möjligheternas Barn (Children Of Possibilities)" which adds a human touch with the female divine belting out operatic lyrics accompanied only by a screechy violin and viola duet with cosmic freakery inserted for good measure. "Tristans Klagan (La Rotta)" is a short primeval jig that sounds like something you would hear at a Renaissance fair without psychedelic accoutrements but "Viriditas" bounces back into planet mondo bizarro with a strangely timed mix of piano and some sort of strange sampling effect that is slowed down with clever time manipulations. This is the other track with Swedish vocals only sung by one of the male members and subdued beneath the strange mix that prognosticates some of the 90s electronica genres by two decades.

The final tracks "Saturnus Ringar (Rings Of Saturn)" and the ending title track revert back to how the album began with a stranger emphasis on the Krautish rock elements rather than the folk with heavily muddled guitar fuzz and aural atmospheric ambience that hazes over the horizon ever threatening to supersede the jazzy drumming beats and Achim Reichel styled guitar riffs. The newer editions have many bonus tracks that were nixed and destined for inclusion on a second album which never came to be. The band actually had a long run from 1969-76 but still only managed to squeak out this one debut album. The band began to split right down the middle as half the band wanted to venture into a more rock style while the others opted for an extreme minimalist approach. While multiple tracks were recorded, none would see the light of day until the album "Delayed" emerged as an archival release in 2001.

While i would love to take credit for one of the coolest descriptions of ÄLGARNAS TRÄDGÅRD's music, i have to say that it came from another fan who opined: "young amateur bastard-gods from a parallel universe swinging through the machinery of time, traversing non-historical oceans and weedgreen valleys with a cuckoo on each side. if music is human, this is not music. if music is irrational, this is the purest pure of pure music you can think of." This poetic prose says it all and yet says nothing much like the musical experience of ÄLGARNAS TRÄDGÅRD itself that on one hand was very much in the Germanic music family of Krautrock but yet kept a safe distance with local folk flavors and strong classical underpinnings. While the music is tantamount to an ethereal cosmic escape from reality it is also a tribute to the Pagan gods that allow the rationality of sound to be interpreted. Considered one of the inspirations for bands far and wide such as Japan's psychedelic band Ghost, ÄLGARNAS TRÄDGÅRD created a unique psychedelic experience quite similar yet quite distinct from its contemporaries. Not an instant love for me but one that had to weasel its way into my subconscious.

"Interstellar Cruise" is indeed a long journey to a space battle cruise with energetic spacy atmosphere. Guitars, excellent bass guitars and accompanying drums dominate and build the substance.

Focus lies on the atmosphere and textures rather than melody, not unusual for space rock.

Short melotron interlude follows.

"Almond Raga" has, like the first track, a distinctive melody. Rhythm patterns reminiscent of the late 60's with walking bass and busy drumming are present in this track. Owing to its title, Indian raga created by the sounds

of sitar and percussions make a counterpart to the first loaded section.

"Beetlewater" is an unimaginative track - it is only worth mentioning because of a violin that plays the melody.

The remaining of the album brings the decent "The arrival of autumn" and the sung but inimaginative "My childhood trees".

Overall, this is a solid non-essential space/psychedelic-rock album and superiour to their debut album.

It's hard to even credit the same musicians for both efforts, the difference is so startling. The later album is more immediately appealing (because it actually rocks, and hard), but the music lacks the unique, supernatural eeriness of the band's uncanny debut. Too many other likeminded off-planet explorers, most of them located south of the Baltic Sea in Krautrock Germany, had already staked out similar cosmic rock territory. But the Scandinavians brought their own flavors to the table, laced with a generous dash of the same Indian seasonings common in northern Europe at the time: sitars, tablas and such.

The atmospheric electric violin suggests a familiarity with the spacier ragas of early Amon Düül II, circa "Yeti". And the quotation from Gustav Holst ("Mars, the Bringer of War", of course) links the band to the more earthbound symphonic rock trends of the 1970s. Only on the last few tracks is the band's original magic restored, in particular during the ghostly finale of "My Childhood Trees", a shifting seven-minute aurora of ancient Nordic mystery, with a spectral voice from somewhere above the Arctic Circle drifting into the album's long, repetitive fade-out.

The production is a little rough around the edges, sounding not unlike an impromptu live-in-the-studio recording. But the unpolished vitality of the playing compensates for any lack of refinement, to a point where the album appears almost implausibly fresh today (and thus would have been ahead of its time in 1974). Even after 27-years in limbo, there's enough residual enchantment here to bump my otherwise conservative evaluation up a notch, and send a belated shiver of psychedelic excitement down a sympathetic spine.

The selection of instruments brings together ethnic, exotic things and the evolution in synthesizers. Tolling bells start the long opening track ("Two hours over two blue mountains, with a cuckoo on each side... of the hours, that is") which changes from a meditative first half featuring pushy violins into an almost nightmarish soundscape with special effects. More effects are heard on the next track, as well as some fluent flute and colourful percussion, plus a delicate 2-minute sitar solo in the end. 'Möjligheternas Barn' (Children of possibilities) features guest vocals by folk artist Margareta Söderberg. 'Viriditas' offers yet another kind of sound painting with chiming piano and a male voice as if heard from a distance.

One of the strongest moments in the album is 'Saturnus ringar' (Rings of Saturn), an intensive trip starring electric guitar and drums, which could be a true Krautrock classic. For those enjoying dark, experimental psychedelia with ethnic elements this album might be a unique masterpiece, but a more average music listener hardly has much to relate to here. Actually my four stars have at least one extra star if my personal enjoyment of this album is considered... But I can't say there wasn't a lot of vision and emotion. Wonderful cover art is odd enough for the music!

Framtiden är ett svävande skepp förankrat i forntiden was released in 1972, an otherwise very good music year and they were influenced by Pink Floyd, Terry Riley and similar spaced music. The first song "Två timmar över två blå berg med en gök på avrdera sida...om timmarna alltså" is the first track. It is quite long and meaningless. It's getting better in the end with some voices and a little melody (3/10). Next song "Det finns en tid för allt, det finns en tid då även tiden möts" is significantly better with a more interesting soundshape, a church bell, indian instruments and some nice string work (6/10). What's good with next track "Möjligheternas barn" is the singer Margareta Söderberg of whom I have a great album "Kärringtand" (also featured Arbete & Fritid). She sung well and the lyrics are surrealistic but song song as a unit is bad (5/10). "Tristans klagan" the shortest piece, is also the best. Here lies a nice folk song played by violin and cello on a dark background (7/10). "Viriditas" is a terrible piece of crap (1/10). "Saturnus ringar" proves good musicality with a groovy rock feeling but it tells me nothing (3/10). The last song "Framtiden är ett svävande skepp förankrat i forntiden" is also very bad, unsharp and annoying.

It feels they didn't want anything with their music but perhaps they did what they were supposed to do. Obviously there are people who enjoy it and it's good for them. I'm glad I hav'nt spend any money on this. Okey, no more Älgarnas trädgård for me. I was tempted to give this one star but as you see I give it two weak stars.

The immediate reaction after my own belated exposure (forty years late, but who's counting?) was one of déjà vu. Here was yet another Saucerful of the same Floydian Secrets that had fostered a trail of stepchildren across the darker corners of Continental Europe in the early '70s.

But the Älgarnas gang took that familiar Space Rock recipe and added a few local spices, including a rich vein of ancient folk music; lots of neo-pagan psychedelia; some enigmatic jamming not far removed from classic Krautrock; and a vivid atmosphere of Nordic mystery, rolling eastward over the Baltic Sea toward the Ural Mountains and beyond. Maybe it's the heavy tolling bells, or the hand drums and zithers, but to me the music evokes something the great Russian icon painter Andrei Rublev might have been jiving to as he fled the Tartar hordes in the 15th century.

And yet the album looks forward as well, with the calm dispassion of a counterculture Janus. The live bonus tracks on the 1995 CD reissue exhibit an almost Post Rock intensity, years ahead of their time. Like most of the album proper the additional music is entirely instrumental, but it wouldn't be hard to imagine someone like Ian Curtis improvising manic- depressive lyrics on top. (Japanese imports add a further concert sample: the playful and archaic "Medeltidsinto På Gärdet", complete with novelty toy cow lowing.)

If the band had formed a few hundred kilometers south, in late '60s Germany, they might be a household name by now (at least in smarter neighborhoods populated by discriminating Krautrockers). But that same cultural isolation is a part of what makes their one album so unique. Älgarnas Trädgård appeared to exist in its own private, wintry universe, and the general lack of traditional rock 'n' roll dynamics helped give the music a dreamy, drifting quality, casting an uncertain spell that hasn't weakened over the four-plus decades since it was first created.

There is a lot of benefits from being Sweden´s next door neighbor. Each year around summertime when people start their vacations, you´ll see copious amounts of Swedes visiting Denmark to take advantage of our cheap and tasty beer and maybe look at the local wildlife. I´ve met so many great characters this way, and whether you´re at Roskilde Festival or at the beach - there is always that guy asking you for snus.... Just kidding. The biggest attribute about living nextdoor is however, that it´s very easy to get a hold of some damn exciting music made in Sweden throughout the 60s and 70s. This is no exception, and to tell you guys that I´m excited about this very release, would be a small understatement.

I´ve always said, that some of the best music often eludes categorisations, and Främtiden ar ett svävande Skepp simply cannot be thrown into a box: You´re a reindeer!! Deal with it!!!! What we have here is an album with a sound, which bears resemblance to absolutely nothing else. It´s like trying to tell people how Van Der Graff Generator sounds like, if they haven´t heard them. "Erm - it´s like dramatic......right? Ehhh and there´s like you know a wild saxophone happening as well...."

The album starts out with something like church bells seeping into a stagnant hovering organ and some electronic drip drips mimicing that of a wet limestone cave. At the same time it sounds like slowly turning off a tap. Sleepy drums starts banging to the swaying and disturbing violins - playing some eerie folk music that creeps over you like a ghost with a knife in its teeth. Maybe this is how music sounded like in the old viking strongholds, when they were drunk out of their minds from heavy mead drinking -and tripping on the red fly agaric... At one point the band starts chanting together with a strange violin section - and you´re hit with some truly original, barking mad and yet very beautiful - as it withers away into crickets buzzing and churping and a wild blowing wind - for then to be swept away into an electronic cry that shifts and turns, bobs and writhes.

What this music sounds like is almost impossible to convey in words. It´s psychedelic, folky, Kraut, evil, sheep-heardingly comfy and then again quite the opposite. The RIO lovers around here should definitely check out this wonderful album, as it from time to time dabbles in some weird vocal sections that emanates a certain feel of unease and bewilderment. Although not credited, I´m pretty sure that it´s a woman singing the third song here, and along with the triangle in the back, the Swedish folk aura of the violins together with her haunting vocals - I suddenly hear some strong parallels to Italian band Opus Avantra.

Then again, when you hear a lot of these tracks frolicking in spacey synth land with psychedelic pounding drums, jew harp, cello, flute, sitar, tablas - with hand claps and people in the back tripping and singing, -one could very easily be lured into thinking that this album actually is Krautrock. Perhaps, but genres are so boring and they mean absolutely nothing compared to the actual music they contain. Saturnus Ringa sounds like a mixture of Gila´s first record blended up together with some Neu! motoriks and clingy clangy electronical wizardry. The violins suddenly starts appearing birdlike and cacophonous, and there´s a brilliant space kadet guitar playing like it´s on fire. This music just gives me chills!

Creeek crack - like the start of a horror movie the cabinet opens to the last track - and with some creepy organ and almost Faust like synths, the music staggers along like a triumphant old man strolling his last walk - thinking about back when women wore dresses and guys smoked cigarettes.

This album will not be for everybody that´s for sure, but once you penetrate the outer layering of this strange and jello like music - maybe you´ll hear the unsurpassed psychedelic masterpiece, just as I do.

The track lengths are missing, but they vary between very brief and very long. I yet haven't listened to this many times enough to give more detailed comments of separate tracks, but the closing song I do remember very well. it is based on an Edith Södergran poem and it's sung in Swedish (one may ask why it isn't titled 'Min barndom' instead of 'My Childhood'). It's a very fragile and atmospheric track. I came to think of the art film Stalker by Andrei Tarkovski, or more precisely, one of its most poetic, dialogueless scenes with similar eerie music (camera slowly moving above the surface of the water with all kinds of small things and organic waste in it, remember that?). And the falsetto, introvert singing reminded me of Jonsi of SIGUR ROS.

An interesting, deeply artistic album, though most likely not for everyone's taste.