Who are Dungen then? They're a Swedish psychedelic rock band from... er... Sweden
What are your views on psychedelic rock? It makes me nervous. I like the kind of paisley pyschedelic pop of the late 60's that can be at times a bit on the garagey side. I also have a soft spot for the progressive rock that emerged alongside and directly from that, which although pretentious was often trying to at least achieve something, to make music that hadn't been made before. However it's alsi a term often appropriated by dull, self-indulgent jam bands who value musicianship above meaning and I have nothing but disdain for
And your thoughts on this album? Flutes. There's a lot of flautistry on this. This can be worrying as whilst The Beatles "Fool on the Hill" does show there's a place for the flute in pop/rock, too often it can go too far into the realms of extreme Jethro Tull or, potentially more worryingly, the dreaded Jazz Flute.
Here the flutes are somewhere between "Fool on the Hill" and Jazz Flute but not to deeply concerning levels of JF. This is generally a good thing but during the listen I never quite warmed to it completely.
There are some beautiful sections on this album. It's a mix of instrumental and song and my lack of any familiarity with Swedish wasn't a problem. The music speaks for itself. Particularly on "Flickor Och Pojkar" which was understated and just sublime - it's a piece which doesn't really go anywhere but just creates a reflective mood. There are times where there are frustrating meanderings - it's great to build a groove but these just seemed like a wrong turn. This felt a little like moves a jam band would make and just seemed to fill time rather than be a creative attempt to move the listener.
Would you listen again? To selected tracks - especially the aforementioned "Flickor och Pojkar" and also "En Gang Om Aret"
