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VON ZAMLA - 1983 SWEDEN Rating: * * * * 1983 / 1999 CUNEIFORM RUNE 121 Time: 64:16

Musicians: Michel Berckmans: Bassoon, Oboe Eino Haapala: Guitar Lars Hollmer: Piano, Organ, Korg, Accordion Hans Loelv: Piano, Organ, Korg, Melodica Wolfgang Salomon: Bass Mårten Tiselius: Drums

Songs: 1. Ten Tango (7:23) 2. Forge Etyde (4:23) 3. Harujänta (7:56) 4. Temporal you are (5:59) 5. Antsong (5:34) 6. Für Munju/Indojazz (4:46) 7. Glassmusic (1:00) 8. Rainbox (3:11) 9. Doppler (7:57) 10. Akarondo (2:48) 11. Dancing Madras (0:30) 12. Clandestine (6:59) 13. Ödet (Bonus track) (5:42)

Lars Hollmer and Eino Haapala formed Von Zamla in 1981 as an offspring from the legendary 70's Swedish progressive band Samla Mammas Manna. Von Zamla took part in the R.I.O. (Rock in opposition) movement and released two albums: "Zamlaranamma" (1981) and "No Make Up!" (1983). Other band who also were in the R.I.O. movement were Art Bears, Etron Fou, Universe Zero and Stormy Six etc.

This CD contains recordings from two live concerts in Germany during Von Zamla's Spring 1983 European tour. As I knew about Von Zamla before my expectations were very high when I pressed play on my CD player. I wasn't disappointed when Von Zamla's well-recognised music came out of the speakers. The production is very good especially for being live recordings.

"1983" features songs from both "Zamlaranamma" (1981) and "No Make Up!" (1983) together with some songs that has never been released on any album before.

The cover artwork "Halvtid" is made by Tage Åsén who also did the art work for Samla Mammas Manna's albums "Måltid" (1973), "Klossa Knapitatet" (1974), "Schlagerns mystik" (1978) and "Kaka" (1999).

Fans of Samla Mammas Manna / Von Zamla have had very much to enjoy this year, as Samla Mammas Manna has released a new album this year called "Kaka" on the Swedish label Amigo. Both these releases are indispensable stuff. Highly recommended!

SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA - Kaka SWEDEN Rating: * * * * * 1999 AMIGO AMCD 884 Time: 50:43

Musicians and sounds: Coste Apetrea: Guitar, Bouzouki, Veena, Voice Hans Bruniusson: Drums, Percussion, Marimba, Voice Lars Hollmer: Keyboards, Accordion, Melodica, Voice Lars Krantz: Bass, Voice

Titles and pieces: 1. Stämma lite (0:29) 2. Lyckliga Titanic (5:12) 3. Oh sa Masalana jämfört med Ålman River (2:03) 4. Första Ikarien (6:39) 5. Reptilgärna (2:16) 6. Satori (3:28) 7. Vegetariskt impro, svar direkt (2:38) 8. Frestelsens Café (8:14) 9. Tung Krupa Tejpraga Tra La La (2:36) 10. Andra Ikarien (3:33) 11. Även oss får tiden åldras Spasmodskij Engelbert Humperdinck Blues (5:12) 12. Hatman (2:28) 13. Tredje Ikarien (5:30) 14. OQ (0:19)

Samla Mammas Manna was formed in Uppsala, Sweden in 1969. The last offspring of Samla Mammas Manna, Von Zamla, did their last album "No Make Up!" in 1984, so it has gone 15 years since then. Now the long awaited reunion on album for Samla Mammas Manna is finally here. Von Zamla however had little to do with the band you can hear on this album. The line-up on this album made their last album "Snorungarnas symfoni" in 1976, so actually it's 23 years since they did an album together. Therefor you can understand that it is with great pleasure and high expectations I started listen to this album.

If you liked Samla Mammas Manna back then I promise you that you won't be disappointed. It is with satisfaction I notice that not much has happened with their music over the years. The playfulness, the craziness, the humour, the experimentation's and the improvisations is ever present and it sounds just like it did back then. This is said in a positive way. I don't think that anyone would've wanted Samla Mammas Manna to take on another direction in their music. The only thing that has changed is that they're even better musicians today and that the sound on the production has improved since the 70's. If you haven't had the joy of hearing Samla Mammas Manna before I can tell you that their music is a blend of mostly instrumental 70's progressive rock, jazz-fusion, avant-garde, RIO (Rock In Opposition) and World Music.

I had the opportunity to have a long discussion once with the drummer Hans Bruniusson. He talked a lot about musicians he admired and recommended me to listen to bands and musicians such as Art Bears, Chris Cutler, Etron Fou, Universe Zero, Albert Marcoeur and Fred Frith. I think that much of their music is also reflected in Samla Mammas Manna's music.

The material on this album is a mix of live recordings ranging from 1993-98 and new recordings done in Lars Hollmer's legendary studio "The Chickenhouse". The cover artwork "Ha Kakan Kvar" is made by Tage Åsén who also did the art work for Samla Mammas Manna's albums "Måltid" (1973), "Klossa Knapitatet" (1974) and "Schlagerns mystik" (1978).

This is without doubt one of the best albums in 1999. If you're a fan of Samla Mammas Manna you won't have to think twice: buy this album immediately. If you haven't heard them before this album is a perfect starter. Highly recommended!

A Selected Samla Mammas Manna Discography:

Samla Mammas Manna:
Samla Mammas Manna (Silence SRS 4604) (LP 1971)
Måltid (Silence SRS 4621) (LP 1973)
Klossa Knapitatet (Silence SRS 4627) (LP 1974)
Snorungarnas symfoni (MNW 70 P) (LP 1976)
Kaka (Amigo AMCD 884) (CD 1999)

Zamla Mammaz Manna:
Schlagerns mystik/För äldre nybegynnare (Silence SRS 4640 A+B) (2LP 1978)
Familjesprickor (Silence SRS 4662) (LP 1980)

Von Zamla:
Zamlaranamma (Urspår URS 10) (LP 1982)
No Make Up! (Urspår KRAX 3) (LP 1984)
Von Zamla "1983" (Cuneiform Rune 121) (CD 1999)

Lars Hollmer:
XII Sibiriska cyklar (Silence SRS 4670) (LP 1981)
Vill du höra mer (Urspår KRAX 1) (LP 1982)
Från natt idag (Urspår KRAX 2) (LP 1983)
Tonöga (Urspår KRAX 4) (LP 1985)
Vendeltid (Ding Dong Rec KRAX 5) (LP 1988)
The Siberian Circus (Resource RESCD 502) (Compilation CD 1993)
Vendelmässa (Amigo AMCD 874 KRAX 8) (Compilation CD 1996)
Andetag (KRAX 10) (CD 1997)

Ramlösa kvällar:
Ramlösa kvällar (Silence SRS 4648) (LP 1978)

Hans Bruniusson:
Mannaminne (Alternativ ALP 14) (LP 1983)

Coste Apetrea:
Nyspolat (MNW 81 P) (LP 1977)

Members of Samla Mammas Manna have also appeared on various albums with musicians and band such Triangulus, Anita Livstrand, Björn Holm, Greg Fitzpatrick and The Flower Kings.

Contact and information about Samla Mammas Manna and Von Zamla:
Samla Mammas Manna official Website: http://www.nocom.se/~samla/
Mail to Samla: hassebru@bahnhof.se
Silence Records: http://www.cabal.se/silence/
Silence Records e-mail: office@silence.se
Samla Mammas Manna unofficial Website:
http://www.algonet.se/%7Ebeckmann/katha/samlamammasmanna.htm
Amigo: http://www.amigo.se/
Amigo e-mail: sales@amigo.se
Cuneiform Records: http://cuneiformrecords.com/
Cuneiform Records E-mail: cuneiway@aol.com

ABRAMIS BRAMA - Dansa tokjävelns vals SWEDEN Rating: * * * * * 1999 RECORD HEAVEN RHCD20 Time: 49:41

Abramis Brama are: Christian Andersen: vocals, percussion, harmonica Per-Olof Andersson: guitar Dennis Berg: bass, vocals, guitar Fredrik Jansson: drums, percussion

Track listing: 1. Guld och gröna skogar (5:28) 2. Mamma talar (4:08) 3. Svarta madam (4:43) 4. (Dansa) Tokjävelns vals (5:01) 5. Tunga tankar (7:48) 6. Sömnlös (4:27) 7. Ogräsblues (6:13) 8. Motalaboogie (7:04) 9. Parantesvals (4:45)

One of Sweden's premier labels, Record Heaven, has once again found a new interesting band. Record Heaven has Landberk, Lotus, Lucifer Was, Bigelf, Timescape, Qoph, Ensemble Nimbus, Valinor's Tree, Etcetera, Book Of Hours, Ten Jinn etc. on their label, and now the excellent band Abramis Brama.

Their music can't be described in a better way than a mix between Black Sabbath and November. It's heavy as hell with killer riffs á la Toni Iommi in his heydays and lyrics in Swedish singed in a typical November vein. There's also reminiscences to Bigelf's magnificent album "Closer To Doom" and Captain Beyond's classic first album with the same name. The production is good with a great 70's sound that fits very well with the music.

The CD contains 11 tracks, all of them hard as a rock with no weak moments. It has Black Sabbath's heaviness and the blues feeling of November. I'm a big fan of both Black Sabbath and November, so you can imagine that this is one of my favourite albums from 1999. Highly recommended!

You can also check out Record Heaven's Captain Beyond tribute, where Abramis Brama are doing a Swedish version of "Mesmerization Eclipse".

Record Heaven Website: http://www.recordheaven.net/
Record Heaven E-mail: order@recordheaven.net

Prog-Reviews Contact: Greger Rönnqvist, Nordringen 1, 833 35 Strömsund, Sweden
Email: greger.ronnqvist@infodata.sema.se

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