SPREDT FOR VINDEN

Spredt for Vinden ( scattered by the wind) is the fourth studio album from Danish psychadelic rock band Alrune Rod ( Mandrake Root). Alrune Rod was together with bands like Young Flowers and Steppeulvene some of the most famous Danish bands from the late sixties and early seventies. Alrune Rod is in fact one of the most psychadelic bands I have ever heard but that´s only on their two first albums. Spredt for Vinden was, in spite of what is said here on PA, recorded in March and April of 1973 and released later that year. Their previous album called Alrune Rock was released in 1971 which means that the band had had a pretty ( in those days) lenghty break from recording. The only remaining member from Alrune Rock is singer and bassist Leif Roden and it was probably because of these lineup changes that it took two years before Alrune Rod released Spredt for Vinden.

The music on Spredt for Vinden is rock with a psychadelic touch. Some songs are more psychadelic than others. Songs like Kom Nu ( come now) and Gåseøjne ( Goose eyes) are very cool psychadelic rock songs but the rest of the songs are also very good even if they are a bit more straight. The biggest change in Alrune Rod´s sound is the lack of a dominant organ. Even though there are both piano and sax and violin on this album Alrune Rod has aimed for a much more stripped down approach compared to the early psychadelic days. There´s also a folky feeling that creeps in on some of the tracks. The title track is a great example of this feature. The only song I dislike is Sammensang ( translated directly it would say Togethersong but the meaning is probably singing together). Here Alrune Rod shows their hippie genes and I cringe with embarresment. Sometimes there´s a bit too much love hippie ideals on their albums for my taste.

The musicianship is really good. In fact I think that this incarnation of Alrune Rod is a much more well playing unit than the old one ( which had their charm in other features). Like on the next album called 4-Vejs Leif Roden has much better control of his voice on Spredt for Vinden than he had in the early days when his out of tune wailing could sometimes test my patience. New drummer Karsten Høst is an excellent and tight drummer while the two guitarists compliment each other well. Great slide guitars and bluesy soloing.

The production is very good and suits the sharper musical approach that Alrune Rod had chosen at this time.

Spredt for Vinden is a good album and deserves 3 stars. I´ll say the same here though as I said in my review of 4-Vejs. If you´re curious about Alrune Rod you should start with the first two albums as they are their most exciting works. Dark and psychadelic. Spredt for Vinden and 4-Vejs are more ordinary rock albums with psychadelic tendencies.