Striking photomontage cover picture set up the correct moods for the hallucinogenic dark visions of this album titled as "Coltsfoot", the fragile yellow flower announcing with its appearance the start of spring at the northern hemispheres". The supplementary cover text I understood stating "?crawling in the cosmic twilight zone with Anna Själv Tredje", the group name possibly referring to the mother of Virgin Mary. Though the inspiration for this solitary album of the Swedish duo is drawn from obvious sources, in my opinion these fellows have pleasantly focused to the early 1970's sound heritages of Berlin krautrockers, allowing the musty analogue solutions prevail at the time of recording along with the creations of Klaus Schulze. As for example I personally felt that during this time Tangerine Dream for example had cleared their own cosmic sound towards cleaner abstractions of "Stratosfear", further from their archaic pre-"Rubycon" sounds, and also Ash Ra Tempel's psychedelic organic tones had long ago dissolved as more sophisticated ambient constructions of Ashra.
On the start of the album, really dark electronic cosmic sounds are evocated, offering vision to vast sights "Sphagnum Bog"'s landscapes, populated by hollow calls and atonal distant crashes. Clearer sounding synthesizers with eerie motives are introduced, and later joined by sequenced looping, which start to dominate the composition along, with layers of keyboard structures. These interacting aural forms venture calmly with key changes, taking shapes with very affecting harmonic dramatics. My own favorite piece, "Incomes Out of Time" or something such, arrives from oppressing wall of whispers and spacey winds, blowing the music experience towards determined sequencer web and baroque-oriented fast keyboard sounds, these caressed by supporting ethereal electronic sounds. Long but minimal composition is composed brilliantly from these elements, allowing each layer to linger without hurry on the song. A change occurs in the middle of the tracks, as luminous electric guitar appears over distantly blowing huge gales, quiet tribal drum looping and persistently continuing whispers, which finally consume the song's flame.
The B-side of the album starts spinning the longest aural journey of the record, "Barbaric Sunday". It shimmers with minimalist network of both programmed and manually operated sounds, allowing a state of religious-resembling experience being borne. After a long contemplation the tension is tightened by focusing to an intensive synth theme strengthened with waves or drum cymbal plates, this reminding like electronic dreams of some dramatic sequences from early Pink Floyd or Ash Ra Tempel recordings. On the last phase, more focused devotions towards hypnotic minimalism are practiced, building as a whole also a very fine song experience. Last track's name possibly refers to technical permittivities of materials, on the context maybe to electronic devices or magnetic fields. This conclusion of the album is also most organic of the four songs, appreciating several layers of Mikael Bojen's electric guitar explorations upon calm and steady tom beating.
In the aftermath of last reverb echoes of the album, I would claim that even if the record might not be considered musically very innovative due comparison to the German electronic kraut classics which it resembles, it is still a very affecting disc from its own merits, and within this musical school of style. Thus I would recommend it warmly for anybody appreciating meditative vintage electronix. - Eetu Pellonpaa
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Originally Posted by ashratom
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