In Sweden Where the Shadows Lie....Bo Hansson's The Lord of the Rings/Sagan om Ringen

Frodo and the Nine Finger Discount...

I first became aware of Middle Earth when I was in Middle School, I think. I had to read The Hobbit for English class. As a young dork, I was quite taken with Tolkien's book, opening up a whole new realm of imagination to me. Shortly thereafter, I tore through the three books comprising the Lord of the Rings, being careful to ignore the many pages of Elvish poetry. I've been a fan of these books ever since, though it has been a few years since I've re-read them. There are so many other great books to keep me busy. I was very gratified that movie/computer technology has advanced to where making Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit became feasible. But not so gratified as to appear at a movie theaters dressed up in a funny outfit.



Since the beginning of the 21st century, New Zealand has become the epicenter of all things Hobbit. A trend similar to Finland becoming Santa Claus land. Tourists descend on the remote islands to get a gander at the hobbit holes from Peter Jackson's movie sets. No doubt there are panhandlers roaming the tourist shopping areas dressed up like Ents. Of course, maybe better reasons to go would be for the excellent Sauvignon Blanc/Pinot Noir, stunning scenery, and the cool music. And, yes we must never forget the glow worms.

But perhaps it didn't have to turn out this way. I mean, where the hell is Middle Earth, anyway? In the same way that the QWERTY keyboard defeated other more efficient keyboard prototypes, it seems there were also other worthy nations that eagerly grasped for the golden ring of Middle Earth. One such country was Sweden...............

I found a Swedish album being sold on the Parasol records website, when they were a gargantuan mail-order company. They were always selling cool Scandinavian albums there, so it wasn't too surprising they had this. I felt somehow drawn to this disc, though usually this was not the sort of music I purchased. For some reason, I simply had to have it.

Forged in the fires of a volcano on an island off of the coast of Sweden back in the old days before Ronald Reagan rose to power, this CD never fails to elicit admiration, nay extreme adulation from listeners. In truth, I have no conclusive evidence that there are in fact any copies exist of Sagan om Ringen, other than the one I am currently listening to.

Just recently I noticed that there were some fine calligraphy etched in a circular fashion across the top to the CD. With a flashlight and a magnifying glass I was able to make out some curious verse......

yes, I've been broken hearted
blue since the day we started
why, why did I ever let you go?

God only knows what that gibberish means. It's obviously some sort of dark Swedish incantation. Or maybe garden variety Death Metal. None the less, I find myself listening to this album more and more each day, and if somebody tells me to put some other music on, well, they had better watch out!

I suppose it would be fair to say that the album has become precious to me......

Okay, enough fun.

Lord of the Rings/Saga om Ringen was an album made in 1969 by Bo Hannson (organ, guitar, moog, bass) and Rune Carlsson (drums), along with Gunnar Bergsten (saxophone) and Sten Bergman (flute). Basically its an instrumental album featuring the organ, which was influenced by Tolkien's fantasy novels. If you had to guess by looking at the artwork you would say that this must be prog music, but to me it seems to be more jazzy in a moody introspective ECM records style.

The musicianship is good on this. According to the liner notes, these guys used to jam with Hendrix. So this isn't a schmaltzy endeavor by any means. Composing this music must have required a good deal of effort by Hansson. This is artistic stuff, not a mercantile attempt to cash in on the legacy of Tolkien. I mean that's what Bilbo Baggins hates, after all....

But again, this is an organ-based instrumental album set in Middle Earth! It makes for decent background music. It begins with the hobbit's flight from the Shire and ends with the Grey Havens basically. A lot of material to cover in one compact disc, as opposed to three lengthy movies. And yet.......




On this disc Tom Bombadil Lives!

Though in the official movies he has been erased in the same way Communist leaders disappeared from the public record in the 1930's, Hansson found room for him on his 75 minute recording. The second song is entitled The Old Forest and Tom Bombadil. Word is that New Zealand authorities managed to force a confession out of old Tom B., and he remains languishing in some Dunedin gulag....

Since the 2nd film in the Hobbit trilogy was released I thought it would be fun to talk about this album. I know I'm joking a little bit about this, but honestly the record is pretty good for what it is attempting to do, and if you love Tolkien, chances are you would be happy to have this on your playlist. It's definitely a one of a kind recording.

Here's my little attempt at some international diplomacy.......

Toy Love----Before there were Tall Dwarfs...The Loving Finger Points At....Cuts!

Who's At the bottom of your Swimming Pool?

Been listening to the wonderful Cuts anthology by New Zealand's Toy Love all weekend, released by Flying Nun back in 2005. Was always a huge fan of Tall Dwarfs, Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate's fantastic lo-fi DIY collaboration, and also Chris Knox's solo work and Bathgate's Gold Lame album. But I didn't really know much about Toy Love until I bought Cuts.

Knox is one of the legends of the New Zealand music scene, and in a just world, his legacy ought to straddle continents. One of the wildest, most charismatic, and uniquely talented performers. Sadly, in 2009, he suffered a debilitating stroke, at a relatively young age. Friends and admirers came together and put out the tribute album Stroke in order to help cover extensive medical costs. When people come together like this, it is a testament to his musical legacy, and also the high regard people have for him as a person. Like the Por Su Vida album for Alejandro Escovedo. Some of the performers on Stroke are AC Newman of the New Pornographers, the late Jay Reatard, Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, Portastatic,Yo La Tengo, Will Oldham, Lou Barlow, and the Mountain Goats, plus a veritable who's who of New Zealand artists like Alec Bathgate, David Kilgour of the Clean, The Bats, Don McGlashan, The Chills, Verlaines, Jay Clarkson,  Hamish Kilgour, and Shayne Carter of Straitjacket Fits.

Tall Dwarfs I think are an essential part of a good music collection, but dip your toe into any part of Chris Knox's career and you will discover great music. Toy Love, the band he was in after the punkier band The Enemy is an equally good place to start. Cuts is a 40 track 2 Cd collection, with the first disc comprising their recorded output, their singles and sole album. The second disc has studio demos of many of these recordings plus a few more treats. I think the music is a little hard to categorize beyond say, punk or new wave. They sounded like a band that did what they wanted to do, in some ways like Tall Dwarfs performed with a full band. Serious at times, and at other times irreverent, experimental, crazy, sarcastic, lots of energetic fun. Fronted by the madness that is Chris Knox.

I feel I'm an extremely lucky person, because I did see Chris Knox perform in NYC quite a few years ago at the Mercury Lounge, at about the time his Songs of You & Me came out. It was one of the best shows I've ever been to. It wasn't Tall Dwarfs. Just Chris Knox's one man and a headset musical onslaught. I can't even remember so much of the specifics. It's like a Marx brothers movie, where things occurred so quickly that you are always onto the next gag, and forget what just happened because you have to try to keep up with the narrative. I don't know if I laughed more at a gig in my life. He had this manic look on his face while performing, and I remember that the opening act was Lida Husik, and he was completely taken by her name... he kept saying it over and over again. Lida Husik!!, Hu-sik, Husikk, Hoosik. He chewed up the scenery like Robert DeNiro. He had on a tank top and shorts,tribal tattoo on his arm, and played guitar and keyboards with his microphone headset on. He did so much improvisation, doing the poignant ballad about the love he has for his partner Barbara, but he changed all the words, making the song completely insane! I remember him squeezing in lyrics into the song about projectile vomiting!!! We also got to hear an improvised song that never made it to one of his albums, entitled "could somebody please buy me a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale"?

It was a memorable concert that I'll never forget. Even my buddy, the world's most interesting man enjoyed himself that night. He didn't know the music at all, but I know he was glad I dragged him to the show that night. I got to hear him sing Nothing's Going to Happen!Like the WMIM, I didn't know what hit me that night, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I couldn't help but scratch my head, because Mercury Lounge is a pretty small venue for an artist traveling from halfway around the world. I don't even know if they have a capacity of 200 people there, but even before a small crowd, he gave his manic all, and he seemed to enjoy putting on the show as much as we did watching him. There's nobody out there like him. Came that close to getting an armband tattoo.

And the Tall Dwarfs? Probably to Knox's cover artistry, I always described them to people as if Lennon and McCartney were resurrected as Zombies. It doesn't make sense, but in my own twisted mind it seems apt. Maybe it's also the horror/B-Movie references scattered through their tracks.

Hunks of Cold Cold Meat

But as far as Toy Love goes, this was just more great Chris Knox/Tall Dwarfs music that magically appeared to me in reissue form, like if an unknown Who album from the 60's was recovered from a vault. I'm talking about a treasure trove here. Punk rock, but also music reflected through the prism of rock and roll's past, like the Beatles and 50's music. I can also see the formative influence these guys must have had on better known groups like The Clean, and The Chills. In addition to Knox and Bathgate, Toy Love included Paul Kean on Bass, Jane Walker on Keyboards and Mike Dooley on Drums. Though together only about 2 years (1979-1980), their influence on the New Zealand scene must have been significant.



Probably the song that stands out for me on this collection is Sheep, a straight forward anthemic punk tune, for me one of the great New Zealand rock standards. On the other hand, you have a song like Swimming Pool, with great harmonies, sounding like the Soft Boys doing a garage rock tune. And all about dead rock stars!Rebel sounds like a punk rock version of a 60's girl group tune. Bride of Frankenstein is a Toy Love take on Country music, about basically what the title says, Frankenstein's monster in need of a mate. Pull Down the Shades is another one of my favorites, and this is why!



The Crunch is another great tune, kind of like Pointed Sticks, and sounds like The Clean's Getting Older was a response to this tune. I don't know for sure, but it sounds that way, with the "Getting Older" chorus. Squeeze is another classic, a new wavy pop song with a very catchy guitar riff. Equally winning is Don't Ask, which sounds like a punked out Beatles song. Another favorite is the high energy stuttery vocalled I Don't Mind, which has a fantastic bass line by Paul Kean. You also get the macabre Death Rehearsal, which according to the copious liner notes are character sketches of people they knew. I'd also be extremely remiss in not mentioning the unique song Frogs, which seems to go in a new direction every few seconds, with crazy improvisational lyrics, Mozart, acoustic guitars, noise. What a ride!



I can't recommend this any more highly. If you are one of the people unfamiliar with Chris Knox, it's high time you joined the party. I think he is one of the most singular, unique artists out there. If nothing else, he has certainly influenced a few generations of musicians beyond New Zealand that you probably love, like Pavement and Guided By Voices. And certainly anyone who picks up the Stroke tribute album is contributing to a worthy cause. Burning Sky Records has also has put out a Toy Love tribute collection All Stitched Up---and three bucks from every Cd goes directly to Chris Knox and his family. Not a lot of familiar names, but Burning Sky seems to do a fine job with tributes. There's Shayne Carter, Don McGlashan, Hamish Kilgour and Proud Scum. And its not too much of a contribution to give for someone who I consider one of the greats. Listen up and you'll love him as much as I do.

Getting Even Olderer--Tally Ho!--Flying Nun's Greatest Bits--Happy 30th!

"Roger slings the hits"

So New Zealand's Flying Nun Records is 30 years old this year and is once more helmed by its original founding father, Roger Shepard. If you are paying attention to things, it seems as though they are sorting out their back catalogue and re releasing some superb music that has been out of print for many years. They also have been selling some pretty cool looking nostalgic T-Shirts on their website. So many great bands put out music on this label, like The Chills, Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, The Clean, Straitjacket Fits, Able Tasmans, The Bats, Pin Group, Bailter Space/Gordons, Tall Dwarfs, Verlaines, Cakekitchen, Look Blue Go Purple, The 3D's, Dead C, Sneaky Feeling and so on and so forth. Here's hoping that some great new artists will have their music released sooner than later.



Of course if you are unfamiliar with these names, or only the most notable in the bunch, you will be happy to know that after all these years, Flying Nun has released a 2 Cd Greatest Hits collection. If you want to dip your toe into the waters of the Kiwi rock scene, this would be a very logical place to start. Sure they have put numerous samplers out in the past, and they put out a big fat 25th Anniversary Box set which is a work of art (which unfortunately did not include rarities or anything too far off the beaten path). I don't own the new collection, but the tracks lean toward the earlier years, but as it is an overview includes more recent bands like High Depency Unit, The Subliminals, and Phoenix Foundation. The recording includes the classic Randolph's Coming Home, by Shayne Carter and Peter Jefferies, one of my favorite songs, a grand, moving elegy to Wayne Elsey, who played with Shane in Bored Games, who died in a train accident. One of the great New Zealand songs. Buddy by Peter Gutteridge's band Snapper is another great tune that more people should get to know.



But I don't want to over-dwell on things here. Unless you want to whole hog and start picking up legendary records like The Chill's Submarine Bells, give this collection a spin. I was fortunate to have seen a cross section of these groups when they toured the US, and I assure you that as far the quality of this music is, nobody has any right to put baby in a corner. Check out this new compilation and discover why I've devoted so much blogspace to the Dunedin sound. Happy Thanksgiving!