DUNGEN [AKA: DUNGEN 1999-2001]

The Swedish outfit's first, best and most overtly psychedelic release, this self-titled effort was originally issued in 1999 on vinyl only and in a (very) limited run of just 500 units. A surprise underground success throughout Scandanavia and mainland Europe - and then belatedly in the USA - original copies quickly became much sought-after collectors item for vinyl-junkies and psych-freaks before the album was finally reissued in CD format in 2005, six months after the release of the group's fourth album 'Ta De Lugnt'. Happily enough, however, it was well worth the wait. Featuring a hazy, ethnic-tinged retro-psych sound fused with engaging pop melodies and deeply-cosmic instrumental meanderings, 'Dungen' pulls of the remarkable trick of sounding authentically old-school, like some lost soundtrack to a late-sixties exploitation flick that never was. Unlike the original album though, 'Dungen' the CD reissue condenses and remixes the music into three lengthy pieces(the original album featured eight tracks) each buzzing around the twenty-minute mark and each blending effortlessly into the next and therefore giving the impression that there is in fact just one, epic track making up the album. With it's vibrant mixture of jangly guitars, soaring flute runs, skittering percussion, flipped- out electro passages and haunting female vocals, opener 'Stadsvandringar' is a perfect example of Dungen's gloriously psychedelic sound, especially in the serene mid-section of twittering birdsong, grinding organs and misty soundscapes that brings to mind the haunting mid-section of the Pink Floyd track 'Dogs' from the English quartet's 1977 album 'Animals'. Even mellower and beginning with a haunting medley of glistening keyboards, follow-up piece 'Midsommarbongen' takes the listener into even deeper psych-scape territory, jumping head- first into a jazzy, sitar-drenched jam, before the album's final epic 'Lilla Vaennen' finds yet more spectral acid- rock rhythms bubbling away underneath an array of mystical flutes and delicately-cooked raindrops of late-night keyboards. Unlike later albums, which pursued a more Beach Boys-inspired psych-pop direction, 'Dungen' is, simply put, the full psychedelic experience. Topped off with a contemporary gloss, this is a wonderful slice of deeply mystical cosmic rock that should more than delight fans of late-sixties psychedelia.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012