Customer Reviews

Tio Bitar [Vinyl]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Personally, I never would have bet for Dungen to break out, outside of Sweden. Their dense psychedelic rock is not poppy even at their poppiest, and the whole thing is sung in Swedish.

But in fact, it did, with 2004's "Ta Det Lugnt," despite the music odds being stacked against it. And for the follow up, "Tio Bitar," Gustav Ejstes mostly sticks to the layered psych-folky hard-rock that has worked before, but gives it a slightly grimier edge.

It opens with a buzzing, screaming riff torn from a hard-rocker's heart, twisting around on itself like a coiled spring. But Ejstes throws in some twists -- around the halfway point, it cycles around a delicate flute melody and some rapid-fire drumming. And that's just the introduction!

He follows it up with the very different "Familj," a pleasant blend of ambient retro keyboard, dancy strings and solid drumming (mostly cymbals). You can't really put your finger on what it sounds like, and you can't really label it. Well, good.

The songs that follow are just as unexpected: intensely psychedelic hard-rockers like "Gör Det Nu," rippling pastoral ballads, fast-moving bass-rockers, gentle acoustic pop songs with spiraling riffs. And in the last three songs, Estjes makes his music even more complex -- the finale "En Gang I År Kom Det En Tår" is a masterpiece of fuzzy piano-folk and ambient synth.

"Tio Bitar" is a bit folkier and a bit rockier than Dungen's previous albums, and at times it seems to be split between those sounds -- first we get a psychedelic hard rocker, then a mellotron-folk song. But the heart of "Ta Det Lugnt" still seems to be there -- complex, strange and often meandering.

And Estjes packs this with even more instruments in his rapid, soaring music -- obviously there's the grimy bass and rampaging electric riffs, solid percussion and keyboards. But he packs in flashes of colourful mellotron, delicate flute, violins, and what sounds like klezmer, woven together into a shimmering psychedelic tapestry.

And I have no idea what Estjes is saying (except that the title means "Ten Pieces"), because I don't speak a word of Swedish. But he has a pleasant, mellow voice, sort of like a rockier Colin Meloy, and he can raise his voice to stand out in any kind of music.

"Tio Bitar" is a little bit folk-country, and a little bit rock'n'roll. But it retains the intense prog-psych-rock that Dungen is known for, and only makes it more entrancing.

I have no idea what Dungen is saying, but somehow it doesn't matter; melody and coutermelody interweave themselves through this psychedelic recording like few have done in recent memory. It's overwhelming at first... like hearing anything reinvented on a grand scale... shimmering harmonies laden with hooks and allusions, all seamlessly integrated... so much energy and hard rocking moments... it's a stratospheric journey through the annals of rock, one that leaves you haunted and reaching for the play button a second time.

A window into our own times. This is not retro...it is just pure cannibalism...Like Tropicalia was...I have seen these guys twice live...and they are even better then the records are. When they hit your town to tour this beast, it is a must if you want to see one of the last real rock bands on the planet.

I stumbled onto this disc purely by chance, so I come late to the party and my observations might be a little different. For example, where many people seem to hear Black Sabbath I hear Cream. Where listeners in 2007 codified the prog tendencies of Tio Bitar as "Jethro Tull," I'm going to say Mahavishnu Orchestra. All this may be splitting "heirs," but what stands out to me most is that this Swedish psychedelic outfit channels the late 60s (especially Brazil's tropicalia movement) explosion of acidic rock guitars and witchier, spacier instrumentation through a post-rock prism, resulting in 10 colorful splinters. Some, like the opening "Intro" and "Familj" succeed unequivocally for me, the latter really straddling the tropicalia of Os Mutantes with something more modern (like Super Furry Anmals?) quite well. Add a dash of "Volunteers"-era Jefferson Airplane and the retro-fetishism really lifts off.

Songs number 4 and 7 don't succeed as well for me. They aren't skippers, but their attempt to mediate the mood down a notch from acid-fried freakout comes across as a little more calculated than the rest of the album -- as if, in sequencing, the band was thinking "and here's where we'll give listeners a nice pastoral respite, before we take them to the outer limits again." It's just a touch of starch in an otherwise very free-flowing and untamed album; an album designed to be experienced loudly.

Which brings me to another point: the bass on this album is beautifully recorded. It is present without being bossy, nice and clear without any of the over-compression too many engineers seem to rely on. There's a lot going on in the bass lines, but the skillful recording and placement of the bass throughout the album makes it a nice thread among the intricacy of the music -- something that can be focused on if you'd like to hear every note of it, but it doesn't force its way in and the album doesn't rely on overly-heavy bottom end for its kicks.

As an entry point for Dungen, I'd say this is a great one, as it piqued my curiosity to hear more of their material. Apparently, Tio Bitar is "folkier" than some of the earlier albums. I would love to discover what people mean by that.

I love this band. This is the second LP I own of Dungens, and it won't be the last. They walk the very fine line of mainstream and underground. At times very melodic and at others very chaotic. Its weird, it takes very little time, but it has to grow on you. And when it does - you are hooked. My most listened to disc this year. And the french lyrics are way cool. Very classy, yet very challenging. Moments with great rock hooks followed by jazzy interludes, and always fun. Highly recommended.

Personally, I never would have bet for Dungen to break out, outside of Sweden. Their dense psychedelic rock is not poppy even at their poppiest, and the whole thing is sung in Swedish.

But in fact, it did, with 2004's "Ta Det Lugnt," despite the music odds being stacked against it. And for the follow up, "Tio Bitar," Gustav Ejstes mostly sticks to the layered psych-folky hard-rock that has worked before, but gives it a slightly grimier edge.

It opens with a buzzing, screaming riff torn from a hard-rocker's heart, twisting around on itself like a coiled spring. But Ejstes throws in some twists -- around the halfway point, it cycles around a delicate flute melody and some rapid-fire drumming. And that's just the introduction!

He follows it up with the very different "Familj," a pleasant blend of ambient retro keyboard, dancy strings and solid drumming (mostly cymbals). You can't really put your finger on what it sounds like, and you can't really label it. Well, good.

The songs that follow are just as unexpected: intensely psychedelic hard-rockers like "Gör Det Nu," rippling pastoral ballads, fast-moving bass-rockers, gentle acoustic pop songs with spiraling riffs. And in the last three songs, Estjes makes his music even more complex -- the finale "En Gang I År Kom Det En Tår" is a masterpiece of fuzzy piano-folk and ambient synth.

"Tio Bitar" is a bit folkier and a bit rockier than Dungen's previous albums, and at times it seems to be split between those sounds -- first we get a psychedelic hard rocker, then a mellotron-folk song. But the heart of "Ta Det Lugnt" still seems to be there -- complex, strange and often meandering.

And Estjes packs this with even more instruments in his rapid, soaring music -- obviously there's the grimy bass and rampaging electric riffs, solid percussion and keyboards. But he packs in flashes of colourful mellotron, delicate flute, violins, and what sounds like klezmer, woven together into a shimmering psychedelic tapestry.

And I have no idea what Estjes is saying (except that the title means "Ten Pieces"), because I don't speak a word of Swedish. But he has a pleasant, mellow voice, sort of like a rockier Colin Meloy, and he can raise his voice to stand out in any kind of music.

"Tio Bitar" is a little bit folk-country, and a little bit rock'n'roll. But it retains the intense prog-psych-rock that Dungen is known for, and only makes it more entrancing.

Facts about Dungen:
1) Their tour bus is a lot like Willie Nelson's, only the smoke comes from a dragon.
2) They are the only reason the word 'bodacious' was ever created.
3) There is no way possible to play the guitar solos on this record with your clothes on. If you tried to, the solos would beat you with your own guitar.
4) The last two songs are even better if you picture their lead singer on a snowboard, in slow-motion, doing a 720 through the clouds and into heaven.

Ok, tio bitar, 10 pieces...so what. This is another piece of over-rated swedish rock. The swedish rock scene has allways had some excellent local artists but has usually exported crap ones. This is no exception.