ISKRA-FANTASIES, LP, SWEDEN, 1983

Though it's scarcely acknowledged as such, this fourth and final Iskra LP from 1983 sits at a
completely superior right angle to this Swedish band's main body of work. This is evident right out of the gate via an introductory piece that sounds like the aftereffects of ergot poisoning at a Swedish fairground. Unlike the modestly interesting improv tactics deployed on their first three LP's, the predominantly composed "Fantasies" finds Iskra operating in the ecstatic ethno-jazz realm of Archimedes Badkar's "Tre" and Bengt Berger's "Bitter Funeral Beer" and even veering off (on "Ancient Evenings/Future Mornings") into the realm of glorious psych trudge (read: Parsson Sound, Harverster, Arbete Och Fritid et.al.) that Sweden's underground has become so legendary for (and, by 1983, a trajectory long abandoned by their countrymen). One of the finest albums from 80's Sweden.

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