Fläsket Brinner - Swedish Radio Studio, Gothenburg, November 9, 1971 (archival)

The second disc in the set (see below for further description) is also the only one not from the master board. I love the backstory: Bassist Per Bruun's father had recorded it on reel to reel straight from the radio back then. I related to this because when I first started doing late night radio (1989) on our local NPR station in Dallas, my old man recorded the show (6 hours on occasional Saturday nights) from the local cable system (NPR was background music to any number of "information" channels) onto VHS (yes, VHS). I still have those recordings because of him. Why did he do it? Well he certainly didn't like the music. He just wanted to hear his son talk on the radio. Proud Papa I think they call it.  I suspect a similar reason for Mr. Bruun.

So with that, the sound quality here isn't as strong as the others, but it's most certainly better than bootleg standard - and better than many official releases honestly. The music here is undoubtedly Fläsket Brinner. A true representation of the term psychedelic progressive with a very strong Swedish folkloric backdrop. Today, a band like Agusa would be a good facsimile of this type of sound. 'Jätten Feeling' is absolutely gorgeous. Goosebump material. As the album continues, one begins to realize - on this particular evening - that we're listening to Fläsket Brinner play the music of a one Bo Hansson, and many of these same themes can be found on his own albums. With a good bit more fiery psychedelics of course. As we move further into the disc, we go from Hansson to the more obscure Maffy Falay, a Turkish trumpet player who had relo'd to Sweden in the 60's. Not only are both Swedish and Turkish themes apparent, but the music takes a turn for the jazz underground. Overall, a superb set. And to think it's just 1 of 4 superb sets...

Ownership: CD: 2003 Mellotronen. This CD box set is quite simply one of the greatest - if not the greatest - archival package for fans of the early 70s European psychedelic progressive past. The entire product is brilliant - from the packaging, to the detailed liner notes, and dozens of rare photos, and of course 4 full albums of live Fläsket Brinner, the final disc being entirely new. The first 3 intersect with - but is no mere copy - of what the band had released on their 2 official releases (which featured live material as well). All but one are straight from the master board too. It's what dreams are made of.

I bought this as soon as it came out, which was in 2003. I digested all of it, and planted the high rating at that time. On Gnosis, we have it as 4 separate releases. I wish RYM did that as well - as one rating doesn't seem quite right. In the end though, I think it evens out nicely in this case. All the same, I'd rather space these listens out over time.