TRÄD, GRÄS OCH STENAR

This review unlike my others will be short, because I have not many words to say about this terrible album.

Träd Gräs Och Stenar are a Swedish psychedelic rock band from the late sixties. I knew that this album did not have any ratings and decided that it would be a good thing to buy it and review. Well I regret paying 2 dollars for it in the bargain bin. This album is the epitome of terrible, not only due to the amazingly disgusting sound quality, but also due to the fact that the songs on the A-side are jams that not only utilize boring chord sequences (The Am-C-Bb-C chord pattern on All Along The Watchtower gets a bit boring after 4 minutes. Well it lasts 8 here!) and the songs on the B-side are studio jokes that go on forever without lasting more than 5-6 minutes tops.

'All Along The Watchtower' is the best song here, and would be the only reason to listen. But the crappy quality of the sound drags it down with the rest of the songs, and the microphone for the singer isn't adjusted right either. You can barely hear the vocals. Now, the song might had been good had it been 3-4 minutes in length. But it drags for 8 minutes with a 6 minute guitar solo that is so extremely boring you'll most likely find yourself skipping the track without hearing it fully once. I love long guitar soli (Willie The Pimp is 8 minute long and really stuns me) but this one is a major failure.

The same goes for the second song. And the B-side is more like a 15 minute joke than anything.

Overall, a really dissapointing album. I'm usually very generous when giving ratings, and often overrate a lot of albums, but this one is truly one of the worst albums I have ever heard. I do not recommend you to buy this, as it has nothing going for it. There is no progressive in this, and there's nothing spacey about it either. It's a garage-esque jam CD that never goes anywhere. Ugh.

Now, this is a pretty stupid album..

No, really. Träd gräs och stenar is an album made by swedes who really thought that they were doing something cool. Definitely a terrible band in any way imaginable. No one really knew how to play an instrument, and no the songwriting is terrible throughout all of side two, which is the only part the band wrote themselves. Out of these 4 quite terrible compositions, "Sanningens silverflod" is the most interesting, being a not totally unenjoyable psychedelic track, but after that follows some of the most freaked out, in a bad way, music i have heard. It's not even particularly avant-garde, it's just silly, in a very pretentious way.

Side 1, however... is a little more interesting. It consists of two cover tracks, psyched out rather seriously, and extended as long as... well, as long as Bo Anders could hold his guitar without falling asleep, i guess. Now, don't expect anything revolutionary about these two tracks. They are just as lazily performed as the tracks on side two, but since the material from the start is a lot stronger, they can only really mess them up to a certain degree. To get an idea of what it sounds like, think about what Gong were trying to do on "The isle of everywhere", for example. Now, imagine it 10 times worse, without anybody being able to play guitar like Steve Hillage, and with the Riff from "Satisfaction" repeated over and over, only faster, for 12 minutes straight. And with terrible sound quality.

Personally, i quite like side one despite of the lack of variation, and when i'm all by myself, i like to do "the Hippie-dance" to All along the watchtower and just space out for a while.

Not the best there is, but if you're looking for something seriously psychedelic, then you might find something of interest in it after all. (But try the live album "Gärdet 12.6.1970" instead, if you can get your hands on it).

The total submersion in marmalade seas

Now this has got to be one of the only times, where I've witnessed the sound production decrease with every release. The first couple of albums spawned by this act, though under a different moniker, were recorded in the 60s, so throwing stones at them for being muddy and fuzzed out during that time, is like accusing a fish for being wet. On this one they had morphed into a new name, which translates into Trees, Grass and Stones. They still sound like they're playing in a bog with home-made amplifiers made out of mosses and bark, and whilst that may be considered a trait if you were one of those up and coming young punk bands from the English suburbs towards the end of the 70s, the feel of this particular album makes this listener think of a doomed drug venture a la Hunter S. Thompson running wild in a Swedish field with a run down mic strapped to his forehead.

It's a a shame really, because during the first two cuts here we are treated to the charming Kraut sensibilities of this band with the somewhat distorted dragging chug rock wafting over you like a regular ghost of bearnaise sauce. The band wades through the open sound planes with a careless attachment to structures and beats, though still maintaining the proper up link to what essentially fuels this kind of music. So what does? Pure sense and feel for the given moment for lack of a better phrase really.

What bugs me about these two "compositions" is that they're not really theirs - even if they do their very best to add that special Swedish Krautrockabillyish delicate swampfolk thang to it. Personally I think it is rather unimaginative, which is a word I use sparingly around these psychedelic Scandinavians. The thing is, that throughout every single step of this band's natural progression, there's been a laissez faire - do whatever you feel like attitude prevailing - yet still firmly rooted in a way of thinking that inspires every other band member to pick up their feet and roll with it, give me some!!.... Satisfaction!!! As much as I try, I feel totally unmoved by this release, and that has (almost) nothing to do with the poor recording techniques wielded, but decisively more to do with the lack of inspiration and mind fuel. Take the Stones cover of Satisfaction for example: This has the feel of a teenage garage band playing at the local high school after one too many Bacardi freezers. Yes they're jamming - making up stuff as they go, - and as much as that is my thing (in fact I openly admit to being a sucker for music based around improvisations), - this effort just falls flat on its face like a dizzy Bambi on telescopic stilts. Bahh!!!

The only redeeming facet of this release, is the interplay happening between the drums, guitar and bass. These are old friends, and you can certainly pick up the odd traces of the band's infancy, and this listener does so with a big fat smirk on his face. Come to think of it, it is the only thing worthy of praise here really. Otherwise the badly produced whimpering pseudo English and Swedish vocal sections along with the feel of total mass retain syndrome in the upper regions of the binary brain functions - also known as brain melt in the studio caused by drunk like a skunk and tripped out squirrel like behaviour - all of these combined amounts to a complete clusterf*ck beyond expression.

I'm being a bit hard on these guys, but quite frankly I only do so, because I have come to expect so much more from a group that single-handedly gave birth to an otherwise completely monopolized German produce, which is the overpowering, earthshaking and shattering, jello-like, fire breathing and totally mind engulfing sonic mistress also known as Krautrock.

This record is underrated! I am saying that and afterwards giving it two stars. I really don't think it is so bad you probably think it is. With one star I mean that the music totally lacks good intentions. That is almost true here ? but just almost.

Träd, gräs och stenar's first record with this new name from 1970 features Bo Anders Persson (guitar, violin, flute, song), Arne Eriksson (piano, cello, flute), Torbjörn Abelli (bass, harp and flute) and Thomas Mera Gartz (drums, harp, flute and vocals) and contains six(or seven) songs. This music is heavy and I can recommend two of the songs. First "All along the watchtower"(6/10), a Bob Dylan cover which perfectly shows us how Träd, gräs och stenar want to play rock music. Thay have a groovy sound which you can drown in or take drugs to (perhaps they did). The other song worth listening to is "Sanningens silverflod" (Truth's silver river") (7/10) which is beautiful and has caught the nature, a spring in the forest and some singing elves. This song ends up in a little political but bad sung bit "Riksdagsman" (Swedish MP) (4/10) about the hypocrites who rule our country. Two more songs won't give you headache: the cover "I can't get no satisfaction" (4/10) which is much too long and bland and "Svarta pärla" (4/10) which could have been made much better. It has some good ingredients such as a jew's harp, a melancholic folky feeling and a nice and mystic text (here bad sung). Two tracks are awful: "Tegenborgsvalsen" (2/10) and "All makt åt folket" (0/10). The first sounds like a hooked up vinyl record and the second one is just noise from "lergökar" (Swedish very simple ocarinas).

As a conclusion I would say this isn't rubbish, but it isn't good. There are som interesting track you should listen to but just listen to the rest if you are insterested in how bad music can be if you don't try to sound well. Definitely something for you interested in the Swedish "progg" movement or perhaps if you like Krautrock, I don't.......

This is a very misunderstood album. The unfortunate label of proto-Krautrock slapped into Pärson Sound from the start is like a phantom that has forever haunted the band throughout their evolution. The false image created by this label has resulted in people approaching their albums with blurred expectations that fail to be fulfilled. With the "Green Album", this problem is most notorious.

The true "experimental" aspect of Pärson Sound was always the minimalistic music inspired by composers like Terry Riley. The improvisational exploration and development of a small phrases through repetition while maintaining a drone is at the heart of the sound of the band. Their philosophy and world view also included interaction with the audience. The use of "unconventional" instruments like the jew harp, body percussion and bowed instruments was also an important aspect of the "experimental" side of the band and was present in their performances. Every PS/IH/TGS album features these characterstics to varying levels and are the core of their musical style. That being said, by the time of the Green Album, the level of abstraction has been lowered in favor of a more accesible rock sound.

The first half of the album consists of 2 covers. Both are totally different from their original versions and are adapted very naturally into the bands sound. The recording quality is excellent, the guitars are fuzzy and the rhythm section is groovy and prominent. The singing, as always, is not exceptional but is authentic and fits the music. The jamming is present in both tracks but kept controlled so the overall song length feels natural. TGS make the songs theirs, the delivery is spot on. The jamming and the sober interplay of instruments is the true value here.

The second half of the album features the most controversial aspects of the band and probably the one that earns it the dislike of the majority of listeners. The second half of the album features the said "experimental" traits of TGS like the ones found in Sov Gott Rose-Marie which consists of short songs, recordings of interactions with the audience and folk inspired tracks.

"Tegenborgsvalsen" is music for dancing, it is an interesting rendition of light music in a rock band format. The sound is akin to wind bands common in town festivities. "All Makt Åt Folket" is an improvisation with the audience in pure PS style. It even features the classic fade in and fade out that hides the beginning and end of the music giving it a everlasting feel. A monolithic beat is kept by clapping while a series of chants and wind instruments freely fired off as the music grows in hypnotic intensity. As in minimalism, there are gradual changes ocurring throughout the piece. The result is a type of classic controlled ecastasy like the one found in the PS recordings.

Sanningens Silverflod and Svalta Pärla are more traditional songs that begin and end the second half and being much more "grounded" music, they round off the second half pretty well. Sanningens Silverflod is a rocking track that features a folk tune sung by a group of people as a postlude, very reminiscent of Sov Gott Rose-Marie. Svalta Pärla is an eerie acoustic song that ends the album in a dark and completamplative tone. The disparity of moods that occur in the album produces mind trip the previous ones do.

There is really no bad track in the second half, only ones that would maybe would feel "out of place" if you weren't aware of the band's style or expecting something equal to the first half. There is no reason to turn the volume down after the first part (listening to "All Makt Åt Folket" with the volume turned up is a walk in the park compared to "Tunis" from the PS album and is very empowering). The crazy parts are cornerstones of the band's sound and very much enjoyable if you are interested in improvisation. In this sense the Green Album is not unlike Sov Gott Rose-Marie in musical content.

I think the real fault of the Green album is its duration. Every element heard in previous albums is here but in a smaller scale. Had the album been a double LP maybe it could have been much better balanced. I have no doubt they would've had material to spare. How it stands, the album tries to fit to much aspects of the band in such a small time span and the resulting ordering seem confusing to new comers and lacking for fans of the earlier and later material. It gives sense of incompleteness when the album is over, even if it was great until the last moment. In comparison, TGS's live albums are very decently sized and do not leave the same sensation although they are not as faithfully recorded as this one (which is another of its strengths).

So, in terms of musical scale, the Green Album is a small though elegant album, almost with an EP-like feel for PS/IH/TGS standards. In this sense, this is TGS's most tight album as it sheds a great deal of abstraction while retaining the band's musical roots. The music is focused and polished, but short. Whether this is the intended result the band tried to achieve, be it because of bad planning, because of their desire to have a more direct format, no one can say for sure. In any case, The Green Album portrays faithfully the musical ideas and concepts TGS was exploring at the time. Its fuzzy and sour psychedelic sound is effective and leaves us wishing for more.