TRÄD GRÄS OCH STENAR

3.5 stars. This is one of a couple of comebacks the band has made over the decades. They are from Sweden and formed in 1969 from the ashes of PARSON SOUND and INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER which is where the bass player and drummer are from on this 2017 album I'm reviewing. The guitarist was also from that early 70's incarnation so these guys have been around. We get a guest bass player from ARCHIMEDES BADKAR playing on the three tracks that the original bass player couldn't be on. The other guest is Reine Fiske adding his guitar talents on four songs and helping with the compositions.

After two studio albums with the last one being in 1972 they didn't get back into the studio for another 30 years releasing an album in 2002 and then in 2009. This 2017 release follows that. The music reminds me of Krautrock and they jam a lot, I mean this is around 71 minutes long over seven tracks and a lot of this is repetitive. Still I like their sound a lot but man they could have dropped the last track along with "Money" a silly tune with vocals that doesn't sound like it belongs at all and the closer "Farewell" that trips along without much happening for 14 1/2 minutes. The album's title translates to "So long" and with the title of the closer thrown in clearly this is an album to close out their careers. But no they have released another record since this one with Fiske back on board.

The opener "E Moll Slow" like the closer plods and trips along but this at least has more going on but then it's also 20 minutes long. My favourite song is "Coffee And Cake" because it has a Jazz Fusion feel to it early on believe it or not. It's surprising all the intricate sounds after 2 minutes. Love the guitar before 4 minutes.

This album is just too long and samey for my tastes but it really does work as background music and I really like that Krautrock vibe.

Rock För Kropp Och Själ is TGS's follow up to their self titled and though it shares a bit its format, is much more consistent in style. The album highlights the fuzzy blues rock style the band transitioned to and the result is a energetic and direct sound sometimes leading to truly heavy moments like in "I Ljuset Av Din Dag". TGS studied the style very well and sounds very fitting. The trademark vocal harmonies, sectional structures and thumping rhythm section are in their place and keep the bands sound distinct.

The first half of the album starts on a good note with a staple cover of live TGS shows, "In Kommer Gösta", delivered in a very uplifiting and unrestrained performance. Afterwards we have the multi sectional and fuzzy "I Ljuset Av Din Dag". The song features numerous tempo and character changes reminiscent of Sov-Gott Rosemarie from the PS recordings. The pace of the album is interrumpted by the interlude Solen Går Upp, Solen Går Ner, a recording of interaction with the audience. Unfortunately unlike the Green Album's "All Makt Åt Folket", the recording is too short to give a sense of progression or evolution in the music, with no clear demostration where the music came from or could have gone to, the track ends up as a simple filler, not uncommon for the time period but a filler nonetheless. "Var Vila" rounds things up with a more slowly paced (but not less energetic and fuzzy) boogie that paves the way for the title track.

"Rock för Kropp och Själ" is another classic minimalist jam from TGS, a type not featured since the Harvester period. The track compensates the lack of improvisation and drones in the first half, which centers more on riffs and chord progressions. A short mantra like riff is taken to its fuzzy extreme by its patient repetition. The music starts of in an ambient sort of way, keeping steady, the changes and nuances in the music between the bass and the drums and the guitar work make it for a compelling journey through its ups and downs in tension until the final climax. Interestingly enough, the track transitions in to "In Kommer Gösta" and fades after a few seconds bringing the album to a close.

My biggest gripe with this album is its sound quality. Althouth some tracks are marked as live performances, they really show no real difference in quality with their studio counterparts. The sound quality overall is not clear as in the Green Album's best moments, although more consistent.

Along with the Green Album, these are the only studio albums from their most active period, they are both the most straightforward releases and most close to Blues-Rock commercial standards of the time. Precisely what the band tried to achieve: abstraction is shed in favor of more grounded rock. Where the Green Album shows the bands more exotic and psychedelic side, "Rock för Kropp och Själ" shows their steady and rocking one. These two albums could be considered as part of a single release that illustrates and encompasses what TGS stood for when they where in their prime.

This is a very misunderstood album. The unfortunate label of proto-Krautrock slapped into Pärson Sound from the start is like a phantom that has forever haunted the band throughout their evolution. The false image created by this label has resulted in people approaching their albums with blurred expectations that fail to be fulfilled. With the "Green Album", this problem is most notorious.

The true "experimental" aspect of Pärson Sound was always the minimalistic music inspired by composers like Terry Riley. The improvisational exploration and development of a small phrases through repetition while maintaining a drone is at the heart of the sound of the band. Their philosophy and world view also included interaction with the audience. The use of "unconventional" instruments like the jew harp, body percussion and bowed instruments was also an important aspect of the "experimental" side of the band and was present in their performances. Every PS/IH/TGS album features these characterstics to varying levels and are the core of their musical style. That being said, by the time of the Green Album, the level of abstraction has been lowered in favor of a more accesible rock sound.

The first half of the album consists of 2 covers. Both are totally different from their original versions and are adapted very naturally into the bands sound. The recording quality is excellent, the guitars are fuzzy and the rhythm section is groovy and prominent. The singing, as always, is not exceptional but is authentic and fits the music. The jamming is present in both tracks but kept controlled so the overall song length feels natural. TGS make the songs theirs, the delivery is spot on. The jamming and the sober interplay of instruments is the true value here.

The second half of the album features the most controversial aspects of the band and probably the one that earns it the dislike of the majority of listeners. The second half of the album features the said "experimental" traits of TGS like the ones found in Sov Gott Rose-Marie which consists of short songs, recordings of interactions with the audience and folk inspired tracks.

"Tegenborgsvalsen" is music for dancing, it is an interesting rendition of light music in a rock band format. The sound is akin to wind bands common in town festivities. "All Makt Åt Folket" is an improvisation with the audience in pure PS style. It even features the classic fade in and fade out that hides the beginning and end of the music giving it a everlasting feel. A monolithic beat is kept by clapping while a series of chants and wind instruments freely fired off as the music grows in hypnotic intensity. As in minimalism, there are gradual changes ocurring throughout the piece. The result is a type of classic controlled ecastasy like the one found in the PS recordings.

Sanningens Silverflod and Svalta Pärla are more traditional songs that begin and end the second half and being much more "grounded" music, they round off the second half pretty well. Sanningens Silverflod is a rocking track that features a folk tune sung by a group of people as a postlude, very reminiscent of Sov Gott Rose-Marie. Svalta Pärla is an eerie acoustic song that ends the album in a dark and completamplative tone. The disparity of moods that occur in the album produces mind trip the previous ones do.

There is really no bad track in the second half, only ones that would maybe would feel "out of place" if you weren't aware of the band's style or expecting something equal to the first half. There is no reason to turn the volume down after the first part (listening to "All Makt Åt Folket" with the volume turned up is a walk in the park compared to "Tunis" from the PS album and is very empowering). The crazy parts are cornerstones of the band's sound and very much enjoyable if you are interested in improvisation. In this sense the Green Album is not unlike Sov Gott Rose-Marie in musical content.

I think the real fault of the Green album is its duration. Every element heard in previous albums is here but in a smaller scale. Had the album been a double LP maybe it could have been much better balanced. I have no doubt they would've had material to spare. How it stands, the album tries to fit to much aspects of the band in such a small time span and the resulting ordering seem confusing to new comers and lacking for fans of the earlier and later material. It gives sense of incompleteness when the album is over, even if it was great until the last moment. In comparison, TGS's live albums are very decently sized and do not leave the same sensation although they are not as faithfully recorded as this one (which is another of its strengths).

So, in terms of musical scale, the Green Album is a small though elegant album, almost with an EP-like feel for PS/IH/TGS standards. In this sense, this is TGS's most tight album as it sheds a great deal of abstraction while retaining the band's musical roots. The music is focused and polished, but short. Whether this is the intended result the band tried to achieve, be it because of bad planning, because of their desire to have a more direct format, no one can say for sure. In any case, The Green Album portrays faithfully the musical ideas and concepts TGS was exploring at the time. Its fuzzy and sour psychedelic sound is effective and leaves us wishing for more.

This record is underrated! I am saying that and afterwards giving it two stars. I really don't think it is so bad you probably think it is. With one star I mean that the music totally lacks good intentions. That is almost true here ? but just almost.

Träd, gräs och stenar's first record with this new name from 1970 features Bo Anders Persson (guitar, violin, flute, song), Arne Eriksson (piano, cello, flute), Torbjörn Abelli (bass, harp and flute) and Thomas Mera Gartz (drums, harp, flute and vocals) and contains six(or seven) songs. This music is heavy and I can recommend two of the songs. First "All along the watchtower"(6/10), a Bob Dylan cover which perfectly shows us how Träd, gräs och stenar want to play rock music. Thay have a groovy sound which you can drown in or take drugs to (perhaps they did). The other song worth listening to is "Sanningens silverflod" (Truth's silver river") (7/10) which is beautiful and has caught the nature, a spring in the forest and some singing elves. This song ends up in a little political but bad sung bit "Riksdagsman" (Swedish MP) (4/10) about the hypocrites who rule our country. Two more songs won't give you headache: the cover "I can't get no satisfaction" (4/10) which is much too long and bland and "Svarta pärla" (4/10) which could have been made much better. It has some good ingredients such as a jew's harp, a melancholic folky feeling and a nice and mystic text (here bad sung). Two tracks are awful: "Tegenborgsvalsen" (2/10) and "All makt åt folket" (0/10). The first sounds like a hooked up vinyl record and the second one is just noise from "lergökar" (Swedish very simple ocarinas).

As a conclusion I would say this isn't rubbish, but it isn't good. There are som interesting track you should listen to but just listen to the rest if you are insterested in how bad music can be if you don't try to sound well. Definitely something for you interested in the Swedish "progg" movement or perhaps if you like Krautrock, I don't.......

The Swedish "progg" movement contained both prog rock bands and political rock bands and it was a political left wing movement that was very big. Träd, gräs och stenar was a stripped and improvisation based band sprung from Harvester, International Harvester and Pärson Sound. They made two 70s studio records of whom I think this is the most interesting. I admit they were talanted and quite lonely with their sound and if you try them perhaps you'd like them. My listening to their music was interesting but I'm not very impressed.

If you'll find this record, listen to the first two songs ? they are good. "In kommer Gösta" was made famous of another swedish progg (and prog) band Philemon Arthur and the Dung but this version is heavier and better (3/5). "I ljuset av din dag" (3/5) is a hippy song with a nice mood and a melody but still their unpolished sound. I my opinion they should have been more pretentious. "Solen går upp, solen går ner" (0/5) is a totally meaningsless rubbish and "Våran vila" is perhaps political but it is hard to hear the lyrics(2/5).

If you liked the two first songs perhaps you can try "Rock för kropp och själ"(2/5) - the monster of this record. It is a minimalistic jam that runs for over twentytwo minutes. For me it is very monotonic but somewhere you can hear really good guitar being played. If you like minimalistic things or Krautrock this could be something for you. I'm more up to symphonic, folk and eclectic prog or political "progg". Träd, gräs och stenar intended to sound living and careless. Their message was: "everybody can play!". TGOS could play but ? they didn't. This was to carelessly build for me. Even if this record only could get two stars from me I think it is their perhaps best record ? better than their first and better than Harvester Hemåt.

The total submersion in marmalade seas

Now this has got to be one of the only times, where I've witnessed the sound production decrease with every release. The first couple of albums spawned by this act, though under a different moniker, were recorded in the 60s, so throwing stones at them for being muddy and fuzzed out during that time, is like accusing a fish for being wet. On this one they had morphed into a new name, which translates into Trees, Grass and Stones. They still sound like they're playing in a bog with home-made amplifiers made out of mosses and bark, and whilst that may be considered a trait if you were one of those up and coming young punk bands from the English suburbs towards the end of the 70s, the feel of this particular album makes this listener think of a doomed drug venture a la Hunter S. Thompson running wild in a Swedish field with a run down mic strapped to his forehead.

It's a a shame really, because during the first two cuts here we are treated to the charming Kraut sensibilities of this band with the somewhat distorted dragging chug rock wafting over you like a regular ghost of bearnaise sauce. The band wades through the open sound planes with a careless attachment to structures and beats, though still maintaining the proper up link to what essentially fuels this kind of music. So what does? Pure sense and feel for the given moment for lack of a better phrase really.

What bugs me about these two "compositions" is that they're not really theirs - even if they do their very best to add that special Swedish Krautrockabillyish delicate swampfolk thang to it. Personally I think it is rather unimaginative, which is a word I use sparingly around these psychedelic Scandinavians. The thing is, that throughout every single step of this band's natural progression, there's been a laissez faire - do whatever you feel like attitude prevailing - yet still firmly rooted in a way of thinking that inspires every other band member to pick up their feet and roll with it, give me some!!.... Satisfaction!!! As much as I try, I feel totally unmoved by this release, and that has (almost) nothing to do with the poor recording techniques wielded, but decisively more to do with the lack of inspiration and mind fuel. Take the Stones cover of Satisfaction for example: This has the feel of a teenage garage band playing at the local high school after one too many Bacardi freezers. Yes they're jamming - making up stuff as they go, - and as much as that is my thing (in fact I openly admit to being a sucker for music based around improvisations), - this effort just falls flat on its face like a dizzy Bambi on telescopic stilts. Bahh!!!

The only redeeming facet of this release, is the interplay happening between the drums, guitar and bass. These are old friends, and you can certainly pick up the odd traces of the band's infancy, and this listener does so with a big fat smirk on his face. Come to think of it, it is the only thing worthy of praise here really. Otherwise the badly produced whimpering pseudo English and Swedish vocal sections along with the feel of total mass retain syndrome in the upper regions of the binary brain functions - also known as brain melt in the studio caused by drunk like a skunk and tripped out squirrel like behaviour - all of these combined amounts to a complete clusterf*ck beyond expression.

I'm being a bit hard on these guys, but quite frankly I only do so, because I have come to expect so much more from a group that single-handedly gave birth to an otherwise completely monopolized German produce, which is the overpowering, earthshaking and shattering, jello-like, fire breathing and totally mind engulfing sonic mistress also known as Krautrock.

TRAD GRAS OCH STENAR evolved out of the band INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER, in fact all four members here were in that earlier band. These guys carry on the spirit of INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER who were very innovative, in fact i'd call them trail-blazers. They had a psycedelic style with lots of jamming. This particular album is posthumously released and is a live record from the very first Garten Festival held in June of 1970. This was the first so called alternative or underground music festival of it's kind held in Sweden and TRAD GRAS OCH STENAR were a big part of getting it organized which took over a year. All the bands that performed here were outside of the commercial music industry and they all played for free and helped in every way they could. The government back then was conservative and there were so many road-blocks in getting this approved that they finally decided to do it illegally. They advertised it heavily hoping that if many people showed up the police would let them carry on. Well even in setting things up the police were frequent visitors and many arguments resulted but in the end the concert went ahead in the pouring rain. The owners of the field decided to let the concert go ahead and the police were instructed to keep the hippies on the field and when it was over those involved with the concert were procecuted. TRAD GRAS OCH STENAR had the honour of performing first. This was all recorded by a man who was a friend of the band seated near the front of the stage. He used a tape recorder with a microphone. This was before the band had released any albums so this really is their first recording.

"Frihetsdans I D-Moll" is pretty much the band jamming repetively over and over. "Tegenborgsvalsen" is more of the same only the jam is much shorter. "Lifeforce #3" builds very slowly. Drums to the fore as it ends. "All Along The Watchtower" is a Bob Dylan track made famous by Hendrix. It took me quite a while to even know this was that song. Lazy guitar and vocals help out. "In Kommer Gosta" kicks in with vocals before a minute. Catchy stuff. "Satisfaction" is another cover this time of THE ROLLING STONES hit. It's okay.

Well it's in part because of the sound quality, although it's not bad. Maybe it's because it's live or maybe it's the material but this doesn't come close to being as good as INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER's debut. A good album though and maybe more important because of it's historical significance on Progressive music in Sweden.

More Trees Grass and Stones

The band Träd, Gräs Och Stenar (Trees, Grass and Stones) has existed since 1969, and even before that the principal members were together under other names. While they could hardly be accused of flooding the market (this is only their fourth studio album), the band has to be admired for their persistence and longevity. Released a mere seven years after the 2002 album "Ajn Schvajn Draj" this is widely regarded as the band's final album. While co-founder Thomas Tidholm is absent, the rest of the original line up is here, together with Jakob Sjöholm who has been in the band since 1971. Reine Fiske adds additional guitar on one track.

Bo Anders Persson provides vocals on the opening "Punkrocker", a song which is in so many ways the antithesis of punk. This brooding, riff laden dirge oozes atmosphere in a Neil Young sort of way. Indeed the song could have been lifted from Young's nod to punk "Hey hey my my" on "Rust never sleeps". Vocals are rare on the album though, Jakob Sjöholm's contribution on "Pondering wondering" being their only other appearance.

The rest of the tracks are guitar dominated instrumentals. The intrusive drumming on tracks such as "The Railway Engine of the People in Irresistible Motion" are symptomatic of Post rock, and while there are similarities with that style at times, the music is generally too dynamic to be labelled that way. That said, the band do include drone type effects through the multi-tracking of the guitars.

At times the performances are a bit too basic, the overall effect being of a bunch of guys bashing something out without too much concern for the quality. Sometimes though, the simplicity works, and the music becomes reasonably rewarding if seldom remarkable.

I notice that the band are listed here under the sub-genre Psychedelic/Space Rock. Being unfamiliar with their early work, I would not presume to comment on that allocation. There is though little of that style here, the music being closer to Krautrock, Post Rock or even avant-garde. As such, this is not an album for the masses, and should be approached with some caution.

Keeping up with their unpolished live-sounding aestethics, this is TRÄD, GRÄS OCH STENARs new and probably last album. Mainman Bo-Anders Persson has announced his retirement at an age of almost 80 years.

Mostly, this is remicient of their INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER days of minimalistic jamming but it's the more structured songs that shine here (even more so in the company of the noodle- tracks).

"Punkrocker" is a song by TEDDYBEARS originally released in 2000. It's already one of the most covered Swedish Rock Songs, TEDDYBEARS themselves having done two more versions.

"Summer Disco" is indeed a Disco instrumental but I was still surprised to hear it at a Stockholm nightclub.

"Wedding Reel" sounds more like another Swedish Prog group of the 70s, the newly resurrected KEBNEKAJSE.

"Pondering Wondering" is the only song with vocals (this time in Swedish) apart from "Punkrocker"

Of the jam-tracks, the mellow "The Most Beautiful Part of the Dream" and druggy "Unexpected Encounter in the Mushroom Forest" are the best.

These are very obscure, archaic live sessions from this 70's psych rock collective. the sound recording is really poor, garage and amateurish (sometimes provoking an absolutely painful listening) but we have to try making abstraction of this and infiltrate the intimate compositions and improvisations delivered. The opening tune represents the highlight of the album with an epic stoned soundscape, starting as a CAN song with obsessive rhythms, then transformed into a dense, melancholic acid 'trip" with fuzzy guitar solos and attractive melodies. It's closed to weird krautrock jams without experimentations. After this deep spaced out free form composition the musical quality declines with absurd songs as "Dibio" (a such "ridiculous" humorous short composition for acoustic guitars and naive hyppie like vocals) or the grotesque folk- ish "munfiol". "Var vila" is not a more serious affair, including heavy guitar riffs with ultra sick voices but the melodies really rock and try with a certain success to catch the essence of freaked out psych rock classics. An explosion of sounds for the best and the worst.