Sunday, September 8, 2019

Natdamperen. 1975 Denmark


Ugh. Natdamperen's sole work is quite the mess of an album. Some of it is horrific, and some of it is sublime. Perfect for an archival release, as long as I get to choose the tracks of course...

Let's start out positive: 'Cabana In' and 'Cabana Out' could have easily been on an Embryo album from this era, with its deep jazz funk groove and wah wah guitar providing the base for some loose jams.

Then there's the band's lengthy namesake track - straight from Furtive Pearl era Secret Oyster, with blistering bumble bee guitar, fuzzed out Rhodes piano, and especially the blotted sax layered on top of it all.

And now it's time for the.... bad. The album opens with the incredibly insipid 'Lille', which sounds like a cross between television advertising music and The Benny Hill Show. This obnoxious sound is carried further on the tracks 'På gaden' and 'Malstrømmen'. Technically these are Scandinavian folk tunes, but this is a long way from how Kebnekaise - as but one example - would have handled it. The word "corny" comes to mind often. 'Kniven' is a smooth jazz throwaway, whereas the closer sounds like a drunken requiem composed for a wake.

Mixed bag here, so proceed with caution. But there 17 minutes of high quality jazz rock music that just can't be ignored.

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