Björn Olsson
Björn Olsson might not be a familiar name to any of you out there, he barely is for me as well, but he is a member of legendary swedish punk outfit (although not to my taste) Urban Carbide Productions and more recently as the guitarist for popular (although not to my taste) psych rock band Soundtrack Of Our Lives. Not liking any of the artist's main projects, it's difficult to say why I even began listening to his albums in the first place. I believe it goes back to a conversation I was having with one of the store clerks in my favorite music store in Montreal (which is sadly gone today) about the then recent re-releases of classic heavy psych albums from Sweden (Harvester, International Harvester, Pärson Sound and Träd, Gräs Och Stenar which are actually all the same band). I think it was the clerk who suggested I give a listen to Olsson's solo albums (I wasn't aware of his main projects back then) and immediately fell in love with his strange take on the psych sound.
The man is obviously heavily influenced by the aforementioned swedish legends, but even more so by Ennio Morricone and traditional "svenska visor"; this exotic blend has given way to some of the most exhilarating tunes I've heard coming out of this nordic country. Very cinematic in scope, filled with addictive melodic hooks, but strange and warm at the same time, it's nearly impossible not to be swept away by the man's these atmospheric and groovy tunes. Unfortunately, after his second and best album Upa, Olsson drifted away towards more and more commercial territory (a problem with many swedish artists today in my opinion) and took all the freshness out of his sound along with him. I would need to give these later albums a second chance, but the little I've heard was cringe-inducing and nowhere near as original as they had once been. Still, his first two albums are absolute modern psych classics which should be heard by any fans of the genre.
Instrumentalmusik... Att Sjunka In I... Eller Kanske Att Försvinna TillLabel: Omplatten Release: 1999 Format: CD Cat. no: FJORD 004 |
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UpaLabel: Gravitation Release: 2002 Format: CD Cat. no: GRA011 |
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