FEATURED CD: Kvartetten Som Sprängde - Kattvals

[Poisoned Youth]

Today's feature suggestion comes from Joe F. This is a pretty cool little one-off obscurity from the early 70s that has a bit of Flasket Brinner and a Santana vibe going.


Review from ProgArchives (ozzy tom):

Kattvals" is a little known gem of Swedish 70s prog-rock scene. It's a pity that most of ambitious rock fans don't know "Kvartetten Som Sprängde" band and their only album. Their music is a combination of instrumental psychedelic rock, jazz-rock, heavy prog and some Scandinavian folk influences. Thanks to omnipresent organ floods they can be easily compared to other Swedish group "Hansson & Karlsson", however Finn Sjöberg's electric guitar makes a significant difference and brings to mind parallels to British heavy proggers from "Atomic Rooster".

Let's review these 7 great, instrumental tracks one by one:

1. "Andesamba" - fantastic, slightly schizophrenic beginning full of wild Hammond riffs and busy, Santanesque percussion. After 2 minutes tempo becomes a bit lower and we can enjoy some nostalgic guitar soloing.

2. "På en sten" - jazzy composition with relaxed tempo and non obstructive guitar playing, based upon warm organ background. In the second half of the song Fred Hellman proves that he can play piano as well as organ and Finn Sjöberg supports him with his charming, folk-influenced flute sounds.

3. "Gånglåt från Valhallavägen" - the longest and the best track on the album. I love this Scandinavian folk melody which reminds me of medieval, Viking times of "heroes & dragons" and so on. At first music is led by gorgeous guitar lines and later Hammond "strikes back" with extremely well played, nostalgic notes. There's just impossible that you won't tap your feet while listening to this pure gem. I'm sure that Pär Lindh & Björn Johansson were inspired by this band and were listening to them a lot before their 3 albums - "Bilbo", "Discus Ursi" & "Dreamsongs From Middle Earth" - were recorded.

4. "Kattvals" - track which gave a title for the whole album is a very energetic instrumental full of flashy, almost ELP-ish organ solos. Successful mix of heavy prog soloing, jazzy rhythms and folk guitar melodies.

5. "The Sudden Grace" - another winner of the album! It's mainly Hammond-led freak out but with enough guitar moments to keep everyone happy. Can be easily compared to Atomic Rooster's instrumentals but it's more melodic and restraint.

6. "Vågspel" - it's a composition which the most reminds me music of "Hansson & Karlsson" duo. Situation of complete lack of guitar gives a space for melancholic organ floods. Really relaxed, highly melodic piece.

7. "Ölandsshuffle" - very energetic but slightly too repetitive tune, this time rather dominated by guitar riffs, however Fred also plays 2 tasteful jazzy organ solos here. Nothing special but enjoying track.

Overall "Kattvals" is a hidden gem of Swedish music which should be especially entertaining for fans of organ-driven prog-rock with melancholic, "Scandinavian" feel, just like "Hansson & Karlsson", "Fläsket Brinner", "Sound Express", "Råg i Ryggen", "Swedish Family", "Bootcut" and "Pär Lindh & Björn Johansson". Fans of "Atomic Rooster" and early "Santana" should also like these exciting organ/guitar duels included on the album.

Surely worth 4 solid stars.

[Pr33t]

That Flasket Brinner vibe makes this one of the more enjoyable Santana-esque albums for me. Solid, but doesn't blow me away like many of the other things coming out of Sweden at the time.

[Joe F.]

Nice album.

The vinyl reissue sounds pretty good.

[Joe F.]

Is this going to be a new low for posts on a featured album?

Thanks for sharing the links, Cozy!

[Progbear]

It’s a quite fine organ jazz type of album, but I don’t think it’s the Holy Lost Classic it’s often hyped to be.

-------------
MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"Siento que debemos saber para el sueño de quién brillará esta luz
o consagrar una propia estrella" --Alberto Felici

N.P.:“Camino Real (Parts 1, 2 and 3)”-Duncan Browne/The Wild Places

[spacefreak]

Not among the Holy Grail of scandinavian albums or even a classic, but very enjoyable nevertheless...

[Scrotum Scissor]

The vinyl reissue sounds pretty good.

Yes, it's good. But a tad overrated, IMHO.

[mellotron storm]

If you like that jamming style of music this is well worth checking out. They have a sense of humour as well, I believe their band name means "The quartet that blew up". Excellent instrumental music, but as others have said there are many, many other albums out of Sweden that surpass this. I'm glad I own it though.

[Poisoned Youth]

I think it's a cool little album. I'm trying to figure out why everyone's comments are peppered with 'putting the album in it's place'. It's an 11 on Gnosis, with the ratings pretty squarely between 10-12. So who is actually overrating this?

[Smörgåsbord]

If there is "Gånglåt..." in the name of a Scand prog piece, then there's good stuff!

[Zeuhlmate]

Lots of musical relations to Kenny Håkansson/Kebnekajse and Hansson and Karlsson.

[nosebone]

I think it's a cool little album. I'm trying to figure out why everyone's comments are peppered with 'putting the album in it's place'. It's an 11 on Gnosis, with the ratings pretty squarely between 10-12. So who is actually overrating this?

I agree!

Out of the ten of us who are even aware of this record, which one is the gusher?

Anyway, "cool little album" sums it up nicely for me also.

[saulgoodman]

I agree!

Out of the ten of us who are even aware of this record, which one is the gusher?

Anyway, "cool little album" sums it up nicely for me also.

It's been years since I heard it, but I remember it being decent enough. The Swedish Subliminal Sounds label just reissued it and I'm curious what other 70's Swedish Psych/Prog obscurities they will get their hands on.

[Progmatic]

I think it's a cool little album. I'm trying to figure out why everyone's comments are peppered with 'putting the album in it's place'. It's an 11 on Gnosis, with the ratings pretty squarely between 10-12. So who is actually overrating this?

Guilty

I like that raw vibe of the album, ability to craft simple powerful melodies...and particularly the use of the keyboards...Recommended!!!

[hippypants]

Never heard of the band before, but I like the audio clips.

[Zeuhlmate]

You may like Kenny Håkanssons music too then (He was guitarist in Kebnekajse)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-oXROEI3DA&list=PLjuDLpPDMPm7S-UL1EitxXyoOSkUwIcIp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-cN0hCL2Ig

[Pr33t]

I think it's a cool little album. I'm trying to figure out why everyone's comments are peppered with 'putting the album in it's place'. It's an 11 on Gnosis, with the ratings pretty squarely between 10-12. So who is actually overrating this?

I think part of that might be the rarity of originals in collector's circles. Personally, it's squarely in a style that maxes out for me quite quickly. When people think of 'obscure' things from Sweden, thinks like Algarnas Tradgard, Archinmedies Badkar, Kultivator, etc. come to mind first, and are all much more original. 'Santana with a slight Swedish twist' just isn't as exciting

[Progmatic]

'Santana with a slight Swedish twist' just isn't as exciting

I think this Santana comparison is overblown out of proportion. They indeed use similar instrumentation and play a samba style song but the whole album has so much more offer than one song...for me it is more like instrumental proto-prog...

[Scrotum Scissor]

I think this Santana comparison is overblown out of proportion. They indeed use similar instrumentation and play a samba style song but the whole album has so much more offer than one song...for me it is more like instrumental proto-prog...

Yes, but the supposedly "Latin touch" is usually mentioned, prompting me to expect something akin to Som Imaginario or thereabout when I was first presented with Kvartätten - and it's not quite up there. IMO, of course.

[nosebone]

good guitarist for that era.

[mellotron storm]

I think this Santana comparison is overblown out of proportion. They indeed use similar instrumentation and play a samba style song but the whole album has so much more offer than one song...for me it is more like instrumental proto-prog...

The first track reminded me a lot of Santana but only that song, the rest brought to mind Flasket Brinner because of their jamming style.

[ashratom]

I feel obligated to say that this should be the Featured LP, as there is no legit CD to date. It did just come out as an LP reissue from Subliminal Sounds (thus Joe's suggestion here). They did the same thing with Resan. It appears the label is not interested in doing these on CD, which is a pity.

[Calabasas_Trafalgar]

I think it's a cool little album. I'm trying to figure out why everyone's comments are peppered with 'putting the album in it's place'. It's an 11 on Gnosis, with the ratings pretty squarely between 10-12. So who is actually overrating this?

Makes no sense to me. there's one 8(from Sjef Oellers, who hates everything), and 3 or 4 13s, from Longo, Jager, and a few others. I gave it an 11, which seems low in retrospect. Like others, I think the Santana reference is overblown. When I got it, I hadn't heard that, and was surprised to read it later on. They don't sound anymore like Santana to me than Camel.

[Zeuhlmate]

A lot of swedish rock-prog-fusion-bands had latin-american/african percussion whithout me thinking 'Santana' - including this band.

This looks like a legit CD release? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kvartetten-S.../dp/B003DYVQUI (also on vinyl)

[ashratom]

Unfortunately Tone Arm is a pirate label.

Exactly right about the Latin American influence in Sweden (Sabu Martinez anyone?). There's an obscure 1972 album from a band called Mendoza that is probably the most obvious of these (not a great album, but if you get a chance to hear it, do so).

I do actually hear some Santana on 'Kattvals' (especially the first track as mentioned) ... the Hammond organ and Latin American influence is very apparent in some of the grooves. While the album as a whole isn't Caravanserai Vol. II, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Kvartetten SS were influenced by them. I have the reissue LP on the way to me now, and I'll be curious if the liner notes talk about this at all.

(Jim, I have an 11 on it too. I think it's very fine record).