Molesome (Sweden)
A Night at Raji's EP (2001, 17.58) ****/TT
A Night at Raji's
Pavement Mute
Naples
Narcotics
22nd March
Songs for Vowels & Mammals (2004?, 61.41) ****/TTT½
Track 1
Track 2
Track 3
Track 4
Track 5
Track 6
Track 7
Track 8
Track 9 Track 10
Track 11
Track 12
Track 13
Track 14
Track 15
Track 16
Track 17
Track 18
Dial (2007, 32.55) ***/TT
Dial
Current availability:
All titles: downloads from Roth-Händle site??
Mellotrons used:
All titles: Mattias Olsson's M400
To be honest, I don't know an awful lot about Molesome, only that Änglagård drummer Mattias Olsson is heavily involved (it's Mattias' proud boast that there's Mellotron to be found on every single album he's played on, which has to be applauded...). Like most of his recent work, such as Geller and Pineforest Crunch, A Night at Raji's (sort of) falls into the 'intelligent, offbeat pop' category, which can be no bad thing. Mixing programmed instruments with good old-fashioned acoustic ones, it's actually effectively instrumental, although with some spoken word parts, so I suppose it isn't 'pop' at all, really. Narcotics is particularly good, with an amusing exchange on the subject of, er, 'substances'. Mellotron flutes on both Naples and 22nd March, with a couple of pitchbends to let you know it's real (as if...), along with the glockenspiels, tremolo guitar etc. A Night at Raji's is a pretty cool, modern record, which even died-in-the-wool prog fans may find acceptable; I've no idea if the band is an even remotely full-time proposition, or simply another one of Mattias' projects, but a whole album of this stuff would be most welcome.
You know when they say, "You should be careful what you wish for..."? Three or so years later, what should fall onto my doormat but a full-length Molesome album, Songs for Vowels & Mammals. Is this generally available? Depends on your definition of 'generally available', I suppose; I believe it is/was available on Mattias' Roth-Händle site, if you can actually gain access to the thing. It's weirder than its predecessor, and is clearly a Mattias solo project this time round, featuring the usual array of cranky old keyboards and drum machines, and what's more, I have no idea what (if anything) any of the tracks are called. What is undeniable, though, is that the man has a way with a tune; many of the tracks have beautiful melodies, usually played on MiniMoog or Mellotron, though possibly more in an 'art-house film soundtrack' way than a 'worldwide hit single' one, which is probably a good thing. Moments of humour rear their ugly heads here and there, too, with Track 8 being a worthy successor to Raji's Narcotics.
It's likely that some of the 'programmed drums' are actually Mattias' old Chamberlin Rhythmate, which, since it's a tape-replay device, should count as a Chamberlin, but unless/until I'm informed as to what is and what isn't, I really can't comment. As far as more standard Mellotron stuff goes, while I'm certain to miss some of the sounds used, particularly when they're stacked up in the mix, this is what I can actually hear: Cellos, flutes and strings on track 1, strings on 4 and some gorgeous, upfront flutes backed with cello on 5. Flutes and strings on 6, cellos on 10 and ghostly choirs (are there any other kind in Mellotronland?) on 11, with unidentified orchestral something-or-others on 13. 15 features flutes through a Digitek Whammy pitchbend pedal, making for some interesting octave effects, with a final Mellotronic appearance from the cellos, strings and flutes on Track 18. Now go on, tell me what I've missed.
2007 and it's another Molesome album - of a sort. Dial is the sort of thing that lazy reviewers might call 'ambient', only ambient music isn't meant to be this discordant and all-round odd, I suspect. It largely consists of moaning synth with random brass stuck on top, vocal samples, and the odd bit of piano thrown in, so it would seem that 'intelligent, offbeat pop' no longer applies. Actually, this doesn't sound entirely dissimilar to Julian Cope's very odd Odin, only shorter, and with slightly more variety. Mellotron? There's something stabby at around the 16-minute mark, and some background choirs a few minutes later, with some definite flutes and strings around 24 minutes. When suddenly... 26 mins, and full-on strings! Almost rhymes, too. That would appear to be your lot.
See: Änglagård | AK-Momo | Geller | Nanook of the North | Pineforest Crunch | Reminder
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:>)
Originally Posted by Roth-Handle Studios
Mattias!
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