Flasket Brinner ~ Sweden

Flasket Brinner (1971)

---3/30/01

Sweden at the beginning of the 1970's, like Germany close by, had an exciting music scene where American and British trends were being ignored. Here the bands were not shackled by commercialism and could pursue the freedom to explore all sorts of combinations of styles. In this environment, bands such as Algarnas Tradgard, Samla Mammas Manna, Kebnekaise and International Harvester produced a very exciting rock culture filled with creative ideas. All appeared on the Silence label, the Swedish equivalent of Germany's Ohr label. Flasket Brinner (The Flesh is Burning) were but one of these great bands. On their self-titled debut, Flasket Brinner pursued the instrumental free-form jam mixed with the odd progressive composition in a live setting. The style is very much inspired by the free jazz scene that flourished in late 1960s Europe. However here, the instrumentation was more rock based with organ, guitar, bass, drums, flute and sax. The playing is extremely energetic which, if not careful, will catch the listener in a bit of head-banging. And, best of all, the melodies were based on traditional Swedish themes making a wonderful concoction of rock, free jazz, psychedelic and folk. A brilliant album overall and a must for fans of Euro psychedelic fusion.

---2/11/21

It's been a full 20 years since I last heard this album, a long time favorite that should be heard more often than that. Not much more to add to the above review, as last night's listen confirms a wonderful experience. I would also add that Side 2 definitely picks up the pace and is the better half. The album peaks on the awesome 'Bosses Låt'. I believe most - if not all - of this album is live. Sometimes it's obvious, other times I think they just filtered out the audience noise. There is some overlap here with the brilliant Mellotronen 4xCD set. Most notably, this lineup ties to the 1970 (disc 1) concert. 

Ownership: Silence (LP). Later 70s pressing. Acquired in 1998.

1998; 3/30/01 (review); 2/11/21 (update)

Swedish Radio Studio, Gothenburg, November 9, 1971 (2003)

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 (six 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 one of four superb sets.

Ownership: 2003 Mellotronen (4xCD). 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 four full albums of live Fläsket Brinner, the final disc being entirely new. The first three intersect with - but is no mere copy - of what the band had released on their two 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. Acquired in 2003.

2003; 3/16/19 (review)

Flasket (1972)

Flasket is a fantastic Swedish psychedelic progressive album, continuing on from the awesome debut. While the first album had more of a jamming like outlook, their second album focused more on compositions. At its best, like on 'Grismakt', we hear Flasket Brinner mixing in Swedish folk melodies, while building on an instrumental intensity. The pyrotechnic psychedelic jamming found here is some of the finest ever committed to tape. Other classic tracks include 'Klotet', 'Bennys Hammare', 'Jatten Feeling', 'Batum', 'Bosses Lat', 'Tysta Finskan', and 'Orspranget'. There are a couple of throwaway tracks like 'Anderssons Groove' which is a typical early 70s rock n' roller completely at odds with the other material.

Ownership: 2002 Universal / Mellotronen (CD). Tri-fold digipak. Features liner notes and photographs. The original is a double LP, but the CD is a single. To accomplish this feat, the band dropped two tracks. One a very short incidental piece from the studio album. The other is the awful 'Wild Thing' cover, by far the worst thing on the original live side - and a blessing it's been left off. Acquired in 2002.

First copy: 1972 Ljudspar (2xLP). Gatefold. Acquired in 1998.

1998; 2002; 1/1/10 (review); 6/9/21

Also own three more archival CDs as part of the box set as noted above.

1/1/10 (new entry)