Monday, March 12, 2007

Myrbein-Myrornas Krig,LP,1981,Sweden

MYRBEIN (which translates as ‘ant leg’) debuted as a trio in 1977 doing mostly KING CRIMSON cover songs. A trumpet player later joined in and they slowly expanded their influences to include more avant-garde bands such as HENRY COW, WASA EXPRESS, SAMLA MANNAS MANNA. By 1979, they had developed their own experimental style, a zany Scandinavian cocktail of fuzz guitar, electric piano, organ, bass and drum, with the occasional saxophone or clarinet. Their compositions were mostly the result of a collective process, often featuring silly, frenzied vocals and somewhat perverted folk themes. In 1981, they released an album titled “Myrornas Krig” (meaning “The War of the Ants”) and then rehearsed a few more months together before breaking up. The remastered CD version of the album features a live bonus track, the band’s own rendition of CRIMSON’s “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic”.
About half their album is instrumental and its 13 tracks range between 3 to 5 minutes, a short song format that seems to suit their style. Featuring complex arrangements, quirky mood turnabouts and changing time signatures, the music never stays long in one place. Try to imagine a mixture of The MUFFINS, KULTIVATOR and SAMLA MANNAS MANNA; then add a few echoes of GENTLE GIANT, the angularity of HENRY COW and a ZAPPA-like humouristic approach and you’ll get the full picture.
from:http://www.progarchives.com/

note this is the 1000 copies CD reissue from 1993 (includes a Myrbein live cover of King Crimson's "Lark's Tongues In Aspic Part II" as a bonus).

get it here

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

For those interested in the music of this marvelous band (and you really should be) there are two live takes plus a radio show available at the bands' website. Good sound quality to that. You can also get their album there. All encoded at 128kbps:

http://web.comhem.se/anders.lonnkvist/myrbein/lyssna.htm

Erik said...

Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Thanx a lot!