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TWILIGHT IN THE CRYSTAL CABINET

My Brother The Wind

Psychedelic/Space Rock


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My Brother The Wind Twilight In The Crystal Cabinet album cover
3.74 | 77 ratings | 8 reviews | 14% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 2010

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Karmagrinder (13:47)
2. Electric Universe (10:10)
3. Twilight In The Crystal Cabinet (3:59)
4. Precious Sanity (1:47)
5. The Mournful Howl Of Dawn (13:08)
6. Death And Beyond (16:47)

Total Time: 59:38

Line-up / Musicians

- Mathias Danielsson / guitar
- Nicklas Barker / guitar
- Ronny Eriksson / bass
- Tomas Eriksson / drums

Releases information

Artwork: Teolinda with Anna Sofi Dahlberg (photo)

CD Transubstans Records ‎- Trans 056 (2010, Sweden)

2xLP Transubstans Records ‎- TRANSV02LP (2011, Sweden)

Thanks to windhawk for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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MY BROTHER THE WIND Twilight In The Crystal Cabinet ratings distribution


3.74
(77 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(14%)
14%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(45%)
45%
Good, but non-essential (34%)
34%
Collectors/fans only (5%)
5%
Poor. Only for completionists (1%)
1%

MY BROTHER THE WIND Twilight In The Crystal Cabinet reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Rivertree
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Band Submissions
4 stars This blows me away - highly energetic jams provided with psychedelic respectively spacey ingredients and some periods of rest in between. 'Twilight In The Crystal Cabinet' was recorded on a vintage tape machine during not more than 2 hours in May 2009 and mixed within another 2 hours. A rough diamond if you will because truly spontaneous and not reworked. At least since one starts to listen he/she will know that this four musicians involved here are not beginners on the stage - first of all to name both guitarists Nicklas Barker, delegated by the recommended Anekdoten, and Mathias Danielson, formerly of Gösta Berlings Saga.

Anyhow - the album lives from the fantastic intuition of all musicians, also comprising Ronny Eriksson (Magnolia) on bass and drummer Tomas Eriksson. Something magical in fact if you consider that they never had worked together before when starting this recordings - the vision behind that project was to meet and play an album totally out of the blue. So let me first notice the short eclectic Precious Sanity which probably is the most prolific proof. In any case this song steps out of line here most likely when speaking about a jamming approach at least.

Okay, now coming to the starting point, on Karmagrinder they immediately augment the sound to something you can call rage of enthusiasm. Wow ... it's really impressing how this escalates to a point of culmination by and by and then glides into a free formed meandering improv afterwards. When listening to the uptempo Electric Universe you first may think of a new Anekdoten song coming up due to this heaviness where the melancholic relaxed title song is cosmic/ambient tinged. Nice one!

The more spacey coloured The Mournful Howl Of Dawn and Death And Beyond appear surprisingly melodic and can convince due to a wonderful interplay of both guitars. In the light of this excellent performance you easily can pardon some little recording quality errors here and there. 'Twilight In The Crystal Cabinet' was released by Swedish Transubstans Records - a recommended snapshot if you're interested in inspired psych/space jams.

Review by Eetu Pellonpaa
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars "Twilight in The Crystal Cabinet" album was recorded without preliminary rehearsals by the guitar players Nicklas Barker and Mathias Danielson, and accompanied with Ronny and Tomas Eriksson in the rhythm section. This quartet delivers some really nice spontaneous instrumental vintage rock music, which is quite balanced and focused to reveal the inner world, where the listeners can reflect their own emotions. In these abstract innovations it is pleasant to listen how the musical themes emerge and start to progress in the evolution defined by the enthusiasm and talents of the players involved. The devotion of creating coherent musical entities from the appearing collective ideas creates a flow of joyful discoveries and very powerful personal psychological responses. For me only the sound of Nicklas Barker's guitar was familiar earlier, and one association from of this record's sound was the final sequence of Morte Macabre's "Symphonic Holocaust" jam. There are also tonal textures resembling King Crimson's Muir-era concerts present in a short & bold blast out, which though sadly ends quite suddenly. Overall feeling is quite relaxed, which has probably been beneficial for the improvisation session itself. Also the music is not very dark, containing hopefulness in its mystical mantras and straightforward rock riffs. The longer sessions here bring deliverance for those pilgrims who search elevation from aural poetry, which is denying the choice of calculated arrangements and predefined goals. Music fans more keen on melodic beautifulness won't be dissatisfied either, if the lack of clear arrangements and structures is not too much to bear. But most certainly, tender and honest psychedelic romanticism is revealed for those listeners who are open to free rock playing, and for them I would recommend this record most warmly.
Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Certainly the attraction to this band for me is Nicklas Barker the great lead guitarist / vocalist / mellotron player etc. for ANEKDOTEN. We also get a second lead guitarist here in Mathias Danielsson (MAKAJODAMA) along with drummer Tomas Eriksson and bass player Ronny Eriksson. Four Swedes who offer up some great trippy Psychedelic jams much in the style of fellow Swedes THE SPACIOUS MIND. The liner notes say : "The sounds you hear are exactly as these four relative strangers delivered them. Unrehearsed and improvised with no overdubs. Recorded in two hours from the soul, through the fingers, directly to tape". The cover art photo was taken by none other than Anna Sofi Dahlberg (ANEKDOTEN).

"Karmagrinder" is such a good title but they have some other good ones too. Love this opening tune that is laid back to open and dreamy. It starts to slowly build 1 1/2 minutes with drums joining the guitars then bass 3 minutes in.The guitars get louder as they jam.The guitars are so good here, very psychedelic. Sounds echo late. "Electric Universe" is the one track I can't get too into. It's uptempo with the guitars playing different parts as bass and drums throb. I just prefer the more trippy, spacey jams that's all.

"Twilight In The Crystal Cabinet" has this laid back guitar throughout and it's quite spacey. Great sound. "Precious Sanity" seems a little out of place as it's dissonant and bombastic. Crazy but short. "The Mournful Howl Of Dawn" picks up before a minute. Again the guitars sound so good. A very melodic tune. "Death And Beyond" is my favourite. A guitar intro as the drums and bass join in.The guitar sounds incredible 4 1/2 minutes in. So emotional. Great sound 6 1/2 minutes in as the drums pound and the bass digs deep.The guitar is ripping it up 8 minutes in. It settles before 13 minutes.

I shouldn't be surprised that my two psychedelic friends Uwe (Rivertree) and Eetu beat me to this review, and I can only agree to their words. A solid 4 stars.

Review by Windhawk
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Swedish band MY BROTHER THE WIND came together for the first time in 2009, and in the span of just a few hours crafted what was to become their debut effort "Twilight in the Crystal Cabinet". Swedish label Transubstans Records picked up this project and issued it the following year, and many fans of psychedelic space rock will be eternally grateful for just that.

In an era where it's relatively easy to add effects and rich arrangements to songs, the sheer simplicity of this album stands out, in a good way. The musicianship is anything but simple however, the instrumentalists are skilful and manage to convey their talents in a most excellent manner. But it's the concept of instant improvisation, utilizing pure musicianship and capturing an unrehearsed performance "as is" which represents the simplicity for this endeavour.

The basic premise for these efforts are set up by drums and bass, the former maintaining momentum and setting pace and the latter adding basic motifs for the guitars to improvise upon in addition to underscoring the sticks as well as adding a few wandering excursions on occasion. The guitars are the starts of the show though, in a tightly interwoven performance stunningly beautiful landscapes are crafted and mixed nicely into a universe with room for harder hitting energetic passages as well as laidback, mournful explorations.

Barker and Danielsson takes turns in supplying the dominant textures, and similar to bands like Oresund Space Collective slowly evolving textures is the name of the game. Most stunningly beautiful in the mournful and laidback universe explored in the brief title track, most eloquently and with broadest range and diversity on final track Death and Beyond.

In sum this results in a high quality creation that should please fans of guitar driven, improvised psychedelic space rock, containing many moments of sheer brilliance and beauty. A highly recommended effort, and one pretty close to perfection as far as this reviewer is concerned.

But a side note is in order: For record labels utilizing digital distribution as means of promotion, is it too much to ask to get digital files of decent quality? The digital skips and jumps on the promotional files for this item made it a taxing and headache-inducing experience going through this production. Which frankly made me postpone taking on this effort quite a bit.

Review by Bonnek
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars My Brother The Wind is an improvisational outfit consisting of acclaimed Swedish musicians from Anekdoten, Mahajodama and Magnolia. The album is the result of a one-time improvisation get-together during a concert in 2009.

It's hard to believe that this album is the result of an impromptu session between said musicians. Especially the two melodious ending pieces sound as if they're played by musicians with a long history of playing together. The interplay is very spontaneous and emotional. The opening "Karmagrinder" appeals just a bit less to me but is still very good. "Electric Universe" is a more straightforward psych-rock jam, not the best I've heard but it still develops nicely. The reflective title track is a little highlight that will remind fans of the earlier Anekdoten side-project Morte Macabre. "Precious Sanity" is a bit of Crimsonic craziness.

"Twilight in the Crystal Cabinet" isn't entirely consistent but that's not really a big issue with this sort of release. As long as the highlights are high and plenty! 3.5 stars, at least.

Review by Neu!mann
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars A fellow Progarchivist with impeccable taste recommended this new Swedish ensemble to me, and like a participant in some sort of Space Rock pyramid scheme I feel obliged to share my enthusiasm. Do likewise with ten of your own friends, and unlimited wealth (or at least some awesome music) will be yours!!

The quartet is drawn around the familiar Post Rock configuration of two guitars and a rhythm section, and likewise shows a similar affection for long, evocative album and song titles. But their music is pure, unadulterated instrumental psychedelia, offering further proof that Krautrock was never a strictly German phenomenon, and didn't fade away at the end of the 1970s.

And in the classic Kosmische Rock tradition of instant composition (as opposed to random jamming) the entire album was produced in about the same length of time it takes to play it twice: two hours, more or less (!) That sort of totally spontaneous, live-in-the-studio energy is hard to resist, especially when expressed in the rising intensity of a track like 'Karmagrinder' (possibly the best name for any piece of Space Rock, by the way), or the adrenalin drive of 'Electric Universe'.

There's a nice symmetry to the running order too, with a pair of shorter numbers sandwiched between four longer thrashes. The title track provides a brief, dreamlike respite from the harder workouts, while the aptly-named 'Precious Sanity' is a mere 100 seconds of angular guitar tuning straight from the playbook of Robert Fripp.

The extended improvisations sometimes meander a bit too far, but cut these guys a little slack, please. They had only just met when they entered the studio, and were still becoming acquainted while the tapes were rolling. Which is exactly how music of this sort was meant to be created: no fuss, no muss, no egotistical rock-star posing...just four likeminded musicians following their muse, who fortunately was in a mood to kick some cosmic butt that day.

A strong debut, with even better to come.

Latest members reviews

3 stars 'Twilight In The Crystal Cabinet' is another 2010 debut (have you noticed how many we had this year?) released by Swedish Transubstans Records This time coming from Sweden a band formed by apparently known musicians like Nicklas Barker from Anekdoten,Mathias Danielsson from Makajodama, and Ronny Er ... (read more)

Report this review (#376494) | Posted by idlero | Saturday, January 8, 2011 | Review Permanlink

4 stars This 6 track album was recorded on analogue tape over the course of 2 hours of improvised jamming by Nicklas Barker, the guitarist from the mighty Anekdoten, along with Mathias Danielson (Makajodama) - Guitar, and Ronny Eriksson - Bass, Tomas Eriksson - Drums. Some of it reminds me of Man at ... (read more)

Report this review (#289511) | Posted by Starless | Wednesday, July 7, 2010 | Review Permanlink

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