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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
awesome swedish psych rock (and more), November 23, 2004
Unless you are from Sweden, you will not understand a word of "Ta Det Lugnt." Unless you are adverse to stunning psych rock, your ass will be rocked sideways by Dungen. Hell, I'm not even a huge fan of the stuff myself, but Dungen has pulled something together with this 13 track release that has really grabbed my ears and knocked me back to about the date of my birth (almost 30 years ago now, yikes).
I think that had I heard a release like this when I was still in high school and searching for something, anything different, I would have run the other way. Now that electronic music has been glitched to high-heaven and taken in 100s of directions and rock music has been distilled and re-distilled again, it's nice to hear something that sorta takes it back to the rocking basics and does so in a very, very good way. The opening track of "Panda" very well be an ode to the bear of the same name, but after opening with some rumbling drums and absolutely scorching riffs, I think that most people would throw their rock hands in the air and not even care. Overdriven guitars alternately squeal and space out and the drumming is spot on.
"Festival" opens with strummed acoustic guitars but soon launches into a heavy wall of layered guitars and another punishing rhythm section while "Du E För Fin För Mig" starts out with an aching string quartet before building into one of the most epic sing-along tracks I've heard this entire year. At well over 8 minutes, the track stretches out to a perfect length, lolling off into trippy sections while slowly adding layers and eventually turning into a thunderous rock stomper. Imagine Sigur Ros versus Beta Band versus classic psych rock all sung in Swedish and maybe you're getting somewhere close.
Really, Ta Det Lugnt is done so well that it's not just a disc that's going to only appeal to those with a retro achilles heel. The group touches on symphonic (see the aforementioned description), garage, indie, and even stadium rock in their genre-blending release. In just over 50 minutes, there's only a relative few moments that aren't that engaging, and they're offset with some of the more stunning psychedelic rock I've heard in awhile. Unlike some bands doing somewhat similar things, Dungen has also remembered that it's the hooks that really sell the release. With catchy riffs in just about every track, "Ta Det Lugnt" this is a hugely fun release that might make you do a double take on first listen, but will surely suck you in.
(from almostcool music reviews)
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Back Through the Multi-Coloured Time Tunnel, August 6, 2005
I first read about this album several months ago, and was quite unsuccessful in tracking it down. Needless to say, this built up some high expectations that the actual product certainly could not match. Surprisingly, Dungen's "Ta Det Lugnt" manages to not only match, but exceed my already high expectations.
Simply put, this is the best old-school psychedelia to hit the shelves since the heyday of the Olivia Tremor Control. Nothing on this disc betrays that is was recorded after 1968, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The sound of the album is in a cavernous ball of noise comparable to "The Who Sells Out" or Pink Floyd's "Piper At the Gates of Dawn." on top of this is a whole lot of Nuggets like distortion and compression. The lyrics are entirely in Swedish, but with the extreme echo efeects on a lot of songs, I doubt they'd be too intelligible in English. But this isn't an album you'd put on for the lyrics, but for the amazing swirl of sound. Organs, loud guitars, and compressed drums sound like they're beaming in from high atop Swedish mountain peaks, and songs meander in innovative ways, with choruses and verses expertly blending together and codas seemingly coming in from nowhere. This is a dense album with high replay value.
If you're a fan of stuff like Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, Elephant Six, or the Flaming Lips, grabbing a copy of "Ta Det Lugnt" is necessary and most possibly your duty. Besides, the American pressing comes with a 15 minute bonus CD which serves as the fun, experimental EP-like dessert once you're finished digesting the album.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
what did he say?, December 5, 2004
Hearing that somethings from Sweden and labeled as psychedelic rock at the same time makes for funny images of a country getting some backlogged images from 1970's American culture. At least thats what I thought. Swedish Psych? They must be ripping off Zeppelin or Floyd. Right? Well, a little, but damn it if wasn't SO good! They may rip off some of the best sounds of the freewheeling seventies. They may not be playing the most original music. But if they were around in those ancient times of sex drugs and rock and roll, we might have a different band that influenced current musical culture. There are a few things that will make this appeal to many people that probably wont hear it. For one, the sounds of the guitars they use range from old school fazed out gutiar fuzz to thick heavy grungy guitar sounds from Soungarden and the like. Even though all the lyrics are in Swedish (yes thats right - no english) the singer has a wonderful voice that sounds liek the best of the beatles the birds and alot of current popular indie rock bands of today. Which brings me to another point. They also use so many of todays indie rock sounds which brings their classical rock sound forward about thirty years. Coupled with their mastery and depth of songwriting (and their penchant for getting trippy) this could be a huge hit amone many different genres of fans. From rock and rollers, to your hippie parents, to those kids that sweat everthing on pitchfork.com (yes I am one of them) Check this album out and spread the word, because its not often we get to hear so much goodness on one record.
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