SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA

'Maltid', Samla Mammas Manna's second studio album, is the ultimate culmination of the band's great sense of humor, avant-garde properties, and just overall musicianship. The best way I can describe this record is rock in opposition in opposition. Other bands in the RIO category tend to take themselves seriously: The Cardiac, The Residents, etc. But SMM maintains the technicality of those bands whilst still incorporating humor and fun into all of their songs. These tracks are all light-hearted, even goofy at times. Even the two mini-suites on this album find their way through wacky grooves, calling back to early Frank Zappa. And the first of these mini-suites is the first song on this album, 'Dundrets Frojder'. Fast-paced, groovy, and not afraid of the pure absurd, this song goes full-circle: a melody plays at the beginning, goes through a long improvisational section, then refrains to the original melody. This song makes a switch to the jarring vocals of 'Oforutsedd Forlossning'. Most likely a drunk man screeching in Swedish. Bound to make one laugh uncontrollably, as it did me. There's a long and insanely groovy piano section and the song ends. 'Den Aterupplivade Laten' is a jazzy mood, starting with an Ornette Coleman jam session deal, then entering a slowly-building guitar and bass-led groove that concludes the song. 'Folkvisa I Morse' is a classic jam-band style song, combining acoustic and electric instruments. In the background are noises of someone grunting whilst opening a package of some sort. 'Syster System' is a certifiably weirdo jam that ends with some chanting. As all of the songs on this album, fun and groovy. 'Tarningen' is electric guitar-led, and high-octane as it gets. Sounds like ELP at times. 'Svackorpoangen' is the most vocal-led song on the album, with pub chanting going almost throughout the song. To me, it's the only song on this album with at least okay vocals. But the music is so good, you forget all about it. 'Minareten', the second mini-suite, clocking in at around eight minutes, is arguably the most diverse track on the album. At the beginning, it sounds pretty normal: just like your average whimsical psych rock, like Kaleidoscope or something of the sort. Then, It gets into a Can-esque groove and it's all crazy from there. You got cowbell, Yoko Ono-like vocalizations, funky bass, and so much more all falling into place, it's enough to make you jitter. But it makes me want to dance. The track is too complex for me to describe anymore, but trust me: you'll like it. The ninth and final track, 'Vaerelseds Tilbud' wonderfully and very SMM-ly closes this record. Lilting electric guitar that joins hands with piano, and closes the album in a beautiful fashion. This is an extremely eclectic record. You can make out anything from Can to Magma to Beefheart, and all in record time! This studio effort by Samla Mammas Manna is not one to overlook, no matter how underground it is. Believe me when I say that it's worth the spin! Prog on!

Known for their wild mix of jazz, rock, folklore and circus music, this early album displays the band in simpler form before they went hog wild into jazz-fusion territory on their second album "Måltid" and despite cranking out some veritable rockin' grooves and pounding rhythmic drives, the SAMLAS crafted this debut completely with no guitar sounds at all, another attribute that they shared with their Dutch brethren Supersister but only on this first album. Guitars would become a prominent feature as the band evolved however on this one it's the organ that is the star of the show followed by the bass lines that also include a bit of piano and a subordinate percussive section in the form of drums and congas.

For the most part this is an instrumental journey that mixes the disparate musical elements of 60s psychedelic rock, turn of the decade Canterbury jazz and the silly Zappa-esque avant-prog experiments. The opening "Circus Apparatha" is the most blatant example of the band's career long fascination with carnival music and circus jingles but the vibe remains all throughout the album even when this quartet drifts off into long freeform jamming sessions. Vocals are sparse but when they occur they maximize the Canterbury whimsy and avant-prog absurdities to the n-th degree. The opener contains fairly nonsensical lyrics with some exaggerated German lyrics thrown in whereas elsewhere vocals are primarily used to lighten up the otherwise serious virtuosic musical constructs.

Musically speaking this album is all over the place in many ways. While the first track is steeped in circus music that screams out that the show has come to town, the Canterbury sounds immediately replace the festival and as time goes on psychedelic jams and even some 60s garage band sounds can be heard. The congas at times bring some Santana-esque Latin rhythms to the forefront but without any guitars to wail away, it sometimes sounds a little lacking. "Manna Jamma" is more akin to early Krautrock similar to what bands like Xhol Caravan were crafting around the time. While the later albums would really delve into the more avant-garde experimental world of progressive rock, this SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA debut is actually quite accessible much as the earliest Soft Machine albums were before the band went for the avant-fusion jugular.

This album really sounds like no other even within the greater SAMLAS discography. While recognizably the SAMLAS, this one is missing the guitar heft that Coste Apetrea would bring to the table on "Måltid" and the effect sounds like a more stripped down crude refinement of the more familiar albums that followed. Nevertheless, despite this not measuring up to some of the later works, this is a dynamically unique sounding album that shape shifts throughout its run and keeps the party churning on as the circus show unfolds. While the most 'normal' of the SAMLAS canon, this is by no means a simple rock album. There are many adventurous journeys not only into the absurd but these tracks also contain healthy doses of off-kilter time signatures and unorthodox fusions of disparate sounds. This is a compelling listen for sure and while the band would improve in virtually ever aspect of their sound on the sophomore release, this is by no means a throw away debut. On the contrary this may be required to actually understand how all the craziness came to be!

The music on Måltid blends influences ranging from as far as Canterbury scene to Swedish folk music. The group seems to be highly inspired by Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Their sound is comedic, circus-like, and quite eclectic. The influence of Gentle Giant is also visible in places. Despite that, Samla Mammas Manna have their own distinct sound and Måltid is generally considered one of its finest examples. The band's sound is definitely odd, but surprisingly pleasing, even at the first listen. The cover definitely looks peculiar, despite the fact that there is nothing really unusual or ambiguous about it.

Especially for this album, Samla Mammas Manna recruited a fusion guitarist Coste Apetrea, whose gentle touch plays an important role in the band's music. Despite Apertrea's outstanding solo parts, he does not seem to have an urge of being at the first plan with his guitar often playing a role of a rhythm instrument that lays down a simple groove and repeats it. Lars Hollmer, the band's keyboardist showcases his versatility, going from bebop-like and even classically-inspired piano touches to full-on fusion passages on Fender Rhodes. Hollmer also supplies the band with smooth Mellotron sounds, which bring Matching Mole to mind. As opposed to the band's previous work, he sadly does not play organ, which gave the band a rather interesting flavor. Some of the pieces include whacky high-pitched vocals, which sound a bit like the great late David Byron of Uriah Heep was fooling around. The rhythm section of Hasse Bruniusson on drums and Lasse Krants on bass guitar also does a fantastic job and perfectly keeping up with the dynamic aspect of the group's music.

Despite being classified as avant-prog, Samla Mammas Manna are rather careful with musical sophistication. Odd time signatures, a common element of Henry Cow's music, appear seldom while unusual harmonies, alterations, bitonality, and free form parts are quite uncommon. The group seems to put greater emphasis on the eccentric quality of their music, which indeed is quite entertaining. The songs are quite diverse, without giving an impression of musical inconsistency. "Minareten" puts the band put in the more rock-oriented scenario, which resolves into a jazzy jam, "Svackorpoangen" shows the group's traditional jazz sensibilities, while "Tarningen" has elements of Yes' music with a funky rhythm being put into a symphonic-inspired form.

All in all, Måltid is a very adventurous work characterized by musical intelligence, good sense of humor, and vigor. This will make a perfect addition to every progressive rock collection and is an essential Rock In Opposition album. Highly recommended, 4.5 stars!

Dundret's Frojder (Dundret's Delights) has some fun parts to it, and is tasty. Den Återupplivade Låten (The Revived Song), and Tarningen (Dice) are also good.

I recommend the much better and more completely satisfying "Klossa Knapitatet" and "Snorungarnus Symphoni" which are both 5-star masterpices.

Few artists have embraced such a excentric posture as the core of the group itself. Maybe only Frank Zappa, but he was one man, here we are talking about a band, working organically to be exactly what Samla Mammas Manna achieved to be. And what they achieved? A kinda of cirkus music, with child' touches. That vocals in the fisrt track and in the middle of the album was something my brother and I would do when very young to substitute true lyrcis. But, Samla managed to do that without ANY prejudice to the music itself. Its music of great quality and you can hear every joke as something well placed in the tracks.

Its explosive, its high skilled music, its everything you need for a tired day. Its a 5 star.

Gone are the discreet symphonic orientations of the debut in the name of an even more adventurous and complex sound with an evident R.I.O. approach, while an increase appears in the humoristic edges of the album, either being some playful tunes or the wordless falsetto vocals of the band.The role of the accordion and the acoustic piano is more dominant and so are the jazzy and folky orientations.The album was structured through some short instrumental introductions and longer, complicated pieces with endless tempo and mood changes, always fronted by a Nordic flavor, main reason setting the band part from other R.I.O.-driven groups of the time.To my ears they sound like a cross between RAGNAROK and GENTLE GIANT in this album, delivering intricate and highly technical musicianship full of sudden breaks, swirling around romantic tunes and jazzy arrangements, highlighted by the monumental accordion performance by Hollmer, a man who definitely introduced the instrument to Prog music.And then there is Apetrea's flawless and schizophenic guitar executions, supported by Hollmer's often atonal piano lines.The music sounds often chaotic, but it has a weird charm with all these twists and turns, listening to the 10-min. ''Liten dialektik'' is enough to understand the band's evolution, passing through Jazz, Folk and Rock themes in a blink of an eye.

An album created for those who dare to listen to frenetic, multi-influenced Rock music.Folky Prog/Jazz Rock with a clever addition of Scandinavian nuances.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

Without singing(always something of a pity) the group Samla mammas manna here manage to once again create astonishing progressive rock, totally unique. I wouldn't say Samla has become inferior. On seven of these fourteen tracks they're amazing. I am sure you would hear the magic of wild compositions, symphonic rock, crazy piano and screamings. Samla mixes some sweidsh folk variations with orientalic and europeic craziness and they master accordion, guitar, piano, bass and drums as good as I want. The best tracks are "Frestelsens café", "Oh sa masalana jämfört med Alman river", Första ikarien, Lyckliga Titanic, Satori, Andra Ikarien and Tredje Ikarien. The second of these is an experimental joke and a perfect summing of SMM. The other mentioned songs continues where they quited some years ago with a totally melodic and innovative prog.

The other tracks, unfortunately take the glory away from this record. Well, they are experimental and in a small dosage it's pleasent but when every other song isn't a song there is too much of it. As musical art those tracks certainly have a worth but it disturbs my listening to this otherwise perfect music. So my advise to you is to skip those not mentioned tracks. Listen to the good ones, they're worth it. If this was a lp-record it's time would have been 38-40 minutes and I think the result would have been better. With some awful fillers my rating will be three stars.

Måltid (Meal)'s brightest shining stars are three: "Dundrets fröjder", "Den återupplivade låten" and "Folkvisa i morse". "Dundrets fröjder" (The thunder's delight) is a solid compisition with some recurrent themes, flying on the glory wings of Apetrea's guitar, Hollmer's piano, Bruniusson's drums and Krants' bass. It's a perfect Samla song (of which you can here more of on their two next comming discs), proving masterwork instrumentation och crazy songwriting. "Den återupplivade låten" (The revived tune) begins slowly and explodes in cascades. A totally different Samla song. "Folkvisa i morse"(Folk song this morning) is a short "progg hit" I knew from my childhood, with an easy little joyful melody playing around a breakfast table.

The "Tärningen" (The Dice) is a very good composition and "Oförutsedd förlossning", "Svackorpoängen" and "Minareten" are also worth listening. I don't find "Syster System" or "Vaerelseds tillbud" as interesting as the others. The first of those is little annoying(deliberately) and in the other it doesn't happen som much.

A very interesting and good record but not as important as "Klossa knapitatet" which for me is their best. But please check out Samla mammas manna if you haven't done it(2nd, 3rd or 4th records). Four strong stars from me!

I have had this record for over ten years. Me father and I collected Swedish "progg"-vinyls when I was small. Then we prefered the more political music such as "Nationalteatern" or "Dan Berglund" so this record has grown for me and it is now, when I have found my new gods in the progressive world I finally can appreciate SMM's music.

This is an extremely good record I warmly recommend. I didn't enjoy their first record "Samla mammas manna" so much, their second is better but this is perfect. "Snorungarnas symfoni" is also a masterpiece in their production but this is closer to what sound we do interconnect SMM with. I wouldn't say Klossa knapitatet involves everything, but It does almost. There are som many strong melodies here, played in a wonderful genuine way with all the instruments can do. Some tracks are more experimenting than others but all the time they are so coherent and real it's hard to not love it. "Ingenting", the starter has a nice little melody that welcomes us and "Liten dialektik" is more exploring and asking. It's like a mystery they were trying to solve. "Långt ner i ett kaninhål" has a symphonic melody and it is like a comedy or a satire of pop music. The next side starts with revolutionary "Kom lite närmare" which talks to the audience and frightens them. "Musmjölkningsmaskinen" is as absurd as its name (The mouse-milking machine) with a wild and crazy melody and "Influenser" is opposite to everything. "Klossa knapitatet" uses accordions to make its wonder and "Ramlösa kvällar" closes everything in a good way.

This is a wordless record but the instruments tell a lot. If you haven't heard Samla mammas manna this is a perfect beginning. Don't be afraid of their left wing opinions, you won't hear them. The revolution is in the music, and they have a lot in common with Frank Zappa for example. Also a plus for its different cover, a painting of Tage Åsén.

First I thought this to be a great five star record because of wonderful "Circus Apparatha". That track is amazing, built up by a cirkus stroll and becomes deep and eventful. The lyrics are both silly and sad. It's about different people and animal at a circus. Folks laugh at them and they smile but inside them it is dark. If every track had been like this how amazing it would have been.

Other great tracks are "Flickan i skogen" which is also dark but very beautiful and has a fast and melancholic melody, "Pausus" which however is short but nice and "Vidgat läge" which has a deep and little jazzy seventies picture.

The other tracks are good but it is not the melodic "Samla" I am found of. Many of the tracks seems to resemble jam sessions. I think about "Manna Jamma" and "At-one-ment" for example. Good work but not interesting. I lack something, a distinct and driving melody instrument, perhaps what came with Coste Apretea's guitar the year after. This is in some way not enough to enlighten me. I would recommend some tracks but not everything. I would say "Circus Apparatha" is an essential prog piece and I give you an advice: learn Swedish. It's a great language. Without guitar "Samla" should have sung more, just an opinion.