TWILIGHT IN THE CRYSTAL CABINET

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.