SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA

I can't remember the time before my love of the song "Circus Apparatha". I guess I discovered it by way of listening to the follow-up, "Måltid", where the song was included as a bonus track. Now, I still think that the song is a true masterpiece, showing off the all that's great about SMM: the tight musicianship, the really heavy jazz-rock, the avant-garde, the whimsical and the outright insane. It's true that the debut by SMM is less of a crazy affair than later albums but that don't mean there's not insanity. What I love most of all is the naive joy of playing. It's like the start of a fabulous journey into the unknown, a kind of gathering for the musically insane, trying out each others strengths and abilities. I won't go into details about each song, all I'm gonna say is that SMM:s debut is well worth hearing. Though it might be more conventional jazz-rock on this album than later ones, it's a great jazz- rock album with that special swedish touch, that I like. Not only because I'm swedish myself, but because it gives the music a certain flavor that is special, just as with any prog from any nation.