GROVJOBB

GROVJOBB were a Swedish band who played a Folk/Psychedelic style of music kind of in the vein of KEBNEKAJSE. This is an all instrumental affair by this four piece with flute, sitar and violin adding some different flavours to their music. No keyboards surprisingly enough but that's fine with me. They released three studio albums between 1998 and 2001 and this is the middle one.

"Visa Fran Arendal" opens with acoustic guitar and flute, very laid back. Bass and drums will join in before a minute. It's slowly building as we get some energetic flute after 2 minutes before it all winds down late. "Gaddans Jakt" opens with bass as drums and flute join in. I like the rhythm section in this one. Tablas help out as well. The guitar starts to solo slowly over top at 2 1/2 minutes then the flute returns replacing the guitar around 4 1/2 minutes.

"Ganglat" has a tasteful guitar intro as violin, flute and drums eventually join in. It's more powerful 1 1/2 minutes in and the guitar comes to the fore a minute later as it picks up more. It settles right down after 3 1/2 minutes as violin, drums, bass and flute continue. This is the only track with violin on it and it's a nice touch. It builds again late. "Sauna" is uptempo with guitar, drums, bass and flute. Not really into this but I do like the guitar starting around 1 1/2 minutes and ending around 3 minutes.

"Skogsglantan Vattarnas Fest" is the side long closer at over 19 minutes. The sitar dominates from the start to around 6 minutes when a beat takes over. Relaxed guitar joins the beat as they seem to jam in a mellow way. I'm reminded of AGITATION FREE with those beautiful guitar leads. Love this stuff. Some bass and flute too but it's the guitar over the laid back drumming that drives this track.

A solid 4 stars all the way.

All instrumental Swedish outfit Grovjobb begun life in mid-90's originally as a bass/guitars/drums trio featuring Jerry Johansson, Ola Wolfhechel Jensen and Jonas Elgemark.Their sound though became richer a few months later with the addition of Danish flutist Simon Krarup Jensen, who around the time had moved to Göteborg.The band made their debut in 1998 on Garageland Records with the album ''Landet Leverpastej''.

The first work of Grovjobb outburst a strong Scandinavian flavor throughout the whole release, exploring psychedelic, jazzy and folk grounds depending on the track.Most of the tracks hide some pure energy and late-70's power reminiscent of KEBNEKAJSE, where the musicianship is led by Johansson's fiery psychedelic guitar grooves and riffs along with a dynamic rhythm section, often accompanied by strong flute solos by Jensen.These tracks contain strong Heavy Rock and Blues influences but at moments, when the guitars slow a bit down, there is a strong LANDBERK flavor to be tasted.But Grovjobb show also some love for somber and low-tempo instrumental tunes with a heavy Folk vibe.Then is when Jensen's flute work is certainly on the forefront, creating typical Scandinavian melancholic soundscapes and the rest of the band supports playing in a rather mellow style.Not the whole album is tightly structured, as Grovjobb offer also some loose arrangements with a jamming feeling and a light improvisation touch.

File next to all Swedish bands of the 90's (ANEKDOTEN, LANDBERK, ANGLAGARD), which tried to bring back the 70's Progresive Rock aura in one way or another.A nice album for fans of Scandinavian Prog with evident Folk, Jazz and Psychedelic Rock inspirations...3.5 stars.

Swedish fondue nr. 4

I remember buying this one back during the start of the new millennium - getting back to my stereo rack, looking at the speakers with a somewhat stupid and unintelligent expression on my face. Didn't I just buy an album from 1999? Well maybe the long-haired guy at the store gave me the wrong cd, he certainly looked kind of hazy and absent minded. But no, upon opening the booklet and reading about the music, it all became clear to me, that the kind of music I had been head over heels in love with - that old vintage psychedelic music from the good old days, that I actually thought was a thing of the past, - was indeed oozing out of my speakers like thick gooey marmalade.

We've been over this a million times. Retro prog. Retro music. Retro this and that, and all that really means to me personally is, that we're facing music that sports instruments and studio recordings such as you'd hear on a 1973 release. Well just because Miles Davis once utilized wind instruments within a rock mould, doesn't necessarily mean that a band like Mirthkon is ripping him off. Hell Eddie Jobson is such a fraud, I mean Mozart was using violins centuries before him! I know I'm exaggerating slightly here, but we owe it to ourselves to give the musicians a break sometimes. I've seen a lot of reviews calling acts Genesis clones because of a simple mix of mellotron and 12 string guitars, and that is just bs in my humble opinion. The reason why I'm mentioning this is because Grovjobb is one of those bands, that very easily could be tagged as Jethro Tull rip offs - all on account of the heavy flute work in their music. Yes it occasionally sounds like Ian Anderson, but that's only because Simon Krarup Jensen here also spits in his flute. The feel of this technique opens up to many associations, but I've always had this image of a fairly aggressive llama imitating the chew chews of a chew chew train, but hey that's just me. I love when the flute is played like this. It adds a certain edge to an otherwise ethereal and clean instrument. It's like painting a swan black, or like French kissing the queen's nose. Rrrrauuw!

On most of the tracks you could describe the flute as the lead instrument, because apart from the last marathon track on Vättarnas Fest, it is truly that, only swapping places with the reverberating waves of the guitar that at times decides to lead the parade if only for a short but memorable dance. But around all of this, we have something quite special, and furthermore something that sounds pretty original. Jethro Tull were never this psychedelic. They never jammed this much in their music. They never sounded this Krautrocking. Had this album been released in Germany back in 72, we would almost certainly be calling it a Krautrock classic today. I'm sure of that - believe you me.

It's a very persuasive kind of approach we get from these Swedes. You've got these rolling guitar infected grooves, that never really tries to do anything else than feed the atmosphere with long drawn out jams. Writhing and swaying blowing all over the spectrum - sounding like a psychedelic sonic string bending cheerleader in slow motion. Accompanying this lazy bugger, you have a brilliant bass acting like a true gopher - burrowing deep beneath the music, yet still soiling everything around it in earth and dirt. I simply love that little creature! Funky and meaty - just like I want it. And that's about it - as mad as that sounds! Though on the other hand, what really counterpoints this rather frugal musical excursion - is the amount of alternating, blooming, zooming, fast pacing, blossoming and fire breathing tempers of this band. They feel just as much at home doing sensuous deep-felt sections of chit chatting echoing wah wah guitars and jazzy rhythm mumblings to rock jam city with all out - full frontal bird attack flute travels with everything around resembling melting earwax - y'know those guitar textures that seem to dissolve in a sea of fuzz. It's all good.

Pretty much every track here is what I'd call a jam. Maybe these tracks have talked beforehand - laying down the principle rules of the game - deciding what to do and whatnot, but to me it all sounds like a perfect jam on one of those Friday nights, where everyone involved seem to have a secret hard line interconnecting each and everybody to the great big wide interweb of 4 completely different people. It's the music you don't need to discuss - you just know it instinctively. The memo was send in due time.

The final track here is the only one jumping out of the norm. It starts out like a beautiful sleepwalker - trudging slowly and steadily like an Indian hunter on the prowl. Tablas, crooked acoustic sitar, Eastern musical wanderings ebbing out into the musicians - creating an amazing intro to the last of these psychedelic mantras. It happens smoothly and gliding, but when the Indian spices have run out of steam - all of a sudden the wah wahing guitars step back in your life, and everything is right as rain. Starting like a raga and ending like a proper rock adventure in hi fi. Right on!

This album is anything but your average old school memorabilia get together - it's far more than that. It's an honest and warm blooded affair with just the right amount of analogue recording technique involved to let you be transported back in time - but first and foremost, it is music created on the spot by individuals that clearly were inspired by those good old days, but more importantly understood what all the fuzz was about: It was about creating grooves between the musicians - getting into it with heart and soul - tearing up the empty spaces and substituting them with saucy, sweating, authentic and free flowing sonic juice, that never gets old or outdated. Why? Because music is about feel - not the guy behind the table with the suitcase and ties. 4.5 stars.

This is real throwback psych folk, sounding more like something from the early seventies than the late nineties, which I think is great is the retro kind of way it was meant to be presented. I thoroughly enjoy listening to this CD and sort of lost it in my collection for quite a while before recently coming across it again. Too bad its been gathering dust as it is definitely top-drawer stuff.

I have a CD of old seventies psych music from my friend Peter Lindahl (In the Labyrinth) titled simply ‘Psychedelic Sweden’. The guitar on this record reminds me a lot of the Kawai Peter used to play “Syrran” and the unfinished “Mary Mercury”, which appear on that CD but were recorded nearly forty years ago. There’s also tabla and sitar here along with flute, which combine to paint a sort of patchouli hazy picture of light and smoky folk psych of the highest order (take “highest” to mean what you will).

There are no vocals on the album which I personally have mixed feelings about. On the one hand I love words with music, especially folk-leaning music, since the words help paint the story that is inevitably behind all the chords and rhythms. On the other hand singing can also get in the way of well-played instrumentals, and I have a hard time imagining in this case how vocals would have improved the overall sound. This is a trip best enjoyed sans words, I think.

The really amazing thing about these songs is that they are as vibrant and ranging as they are without any keyboards or digital studio effects to speak of. Simply guitar, tabla, flute, sitar and some decent yet understated violin. The quartet does a remarkable lot with just a little, for which they are to be commended.

The opening “Visa från Arendal” has an achingly familiar guitar riff that is not only recognizable but also sounds an awful lot like some sort of electric keyboard. Guitar experts could probably explain this if I knew one of those people, but I just dig the groove. These are highly melodic songs with fat-fingered string-bending and a toe-tapping backbeat that almost makes them danceable at times. Just the kind of groove that can keep your attention until the very last note plays out. “Sauna” in particular is not only smooth but also manages to rock out and manages to sound a lot longer than its 4:45 length.

And speaking of long, the band serves up another common psych offering with an extended tabla/sitar/guitar jam that seems to employ some raga constructions in the nearly twenty- minute long closing piece “Skogsgläntan Vättarnas Fest”. Despite the appearance of being an improvised jam, the construction is remarkably cohesive as the sitar weaves a series of movements backed by gentle tabla beats that sometimes rise to the forefront as alternating guitar passages wander in and out. The rather lengthy raga sequence takes forever to repeat itself, and when the rewind comes its not all that recognizable as the tabla has given way to snare drums and the sitar has been all but completely replaced by electric guitar. The transition is smooth and well done, rising slightly in tempo and energy before slowly fading to a close. A real trip.

I know very little about this Swedish band and to be honest only picked up their CD because of the unusual cover; that turned out to be a lucky move. This is a great album full of somewhat dates sounds delivered with the power of modern studio engineering and musicians having the advantage of learning much from the dusty old records in their fathers’ collections. I’d liken their approach on psych to contemporaries like Smell of Incense or even Voice of the Seven Woods. If you know either of these bands or their ilk you will undoubtedly get into these guys; if you don’t check them out anyway. A top-notch recording that falls just short of being a masterpiece only because I can’t quite add the word “groundbreaking” to the many superlatives already heaped on it. A high four stars though, and well recommended.

peace

Grovjobb (translate in hard work) is a swedish band formed in mid '90's. They have since now 3 albums , this one Under solen lyser solen is the their last album from 2001. Grovjobb's music sounds if was made in 1974 or even earlier with a touch of Kebnekaise or Triode (from France), the atmosphere , the way they manage to create the passages gives you the feeling that you listen to some obscure early to mid '70's band. But surprise is given by the year of release - 2001. With this latest and aswell the final release Grovjobb come with an impressive album, but nor quite as exciting as two previous releases. The album is again full of brilliant guitar parts interplayed very well with flute and in places with sitar. As many bands from the newer generation tries to sound like their teachers - Grovjobb is no exception - they really succeded to sound like a 70's progressive band in vein of kebnekaise, Triode and even in places I trace some Jethro Tull (Stand up or Benefit era). What gives to Grovjobb musical uniquess is that they don't have keybordist and keys, the only instruments are guitar, drums, flute, bass and ocassionaly sitar. Very good and intristing are the prog elements combined with native folk motives and aswell some jazzy moments here and there, psychedelic atmosphere can be traced on this album aswell like on previous two ,that gives a special feeling to the pieces. All album is instrumental that is another thing that the members must be congratulated, because they done a great effort with this album, and have enough space to create something of a true value in progressive rock these days.Now I find this last album a little less intristing than previous two, because they run out of ideas here, not band but nothing special like previous album for ex who was a total winner for me. Some intristing sitar arrangements and flute elements added between usual intrumetal passages like on itle track Under Solen Lyser Solen, make thi s album to be again good. What I don't really like aswell here is that the album is to much mid tempo, not a moment of bursting out, ok , this kinda tempos are available aswell on previous albums but here are to obvious mainly because the ideas are not so brilliant and in places are to repetaive on the longest traks, a thing that was mentioned by the previous reviewer aswell. So, 3 stars for this album, a good one by this unknown and yet very intristing band, that desearve a better view in prog circles. The CD is available or it was 'till a couple of years before on the small swedish label Garageland Records. Underrated band in my opinion.

Grovjobb (translate in hard work) is a swedish band formed in mid '90's. They have since now 3 albums , this one Landet Leverpastej is the first one from 1998. Grovjobb's music sounds if was made in 1976 or even earlier, the atmosphere , the way they manage to create the passages gives you the feeling that you listen to some obscure mid '70's band. But surprise is given by the year of release - 1998. With this release Grovjobb come with an impressive album - Landet Leverpastej , with some brilliant guitar parts interplayed very well with flute and in places with sitar. As many bands from the newer generation tries to sound like their teachers - Grovjobb is no exception - they really succeded to sound like a 70's progressive band. What gives to Grovjobb musical uniquess is that they don't have keybordis and keys, the only instruments are guitar, drums, flute, bass and ocassionaly sitar. Very good and intristing are the prog elements combined with native folk motives and aswell some jazzy moments here and there, that gives a special atmosphere to the pieces. All album is instrumental that is another thing that the members must be congratulated, because they done a great effort with this album, and have enough spave to create something of a true value in progressive rock these days. For a debute album this is real something. All the pieces stands as excellent to me, not a weak moment for sure. As one of the reviewers said earlier is that Grovjobb are often mentioned but rarely reviewed, not because thier music is unintristing or something alike, but because their are very unknown in prog circles and is a damn shame. They are not an everyday band, thay have their own sound and quite intristing arrangements all the way. I will give 4 stars for this debute , excellent work by this unknown band. The CD is available or it was, I don't know because I have them all three albums for some years from Garageland Records, a small label from Sweden. Intristing and aswell intriguing is the cover art, looks like a railway bridge lost somewhre in the swedish lands. Recommended

Grovjobb (translate in hard work) is a swedish band formed in mid '90's. They have since now 3 albums , this one Vattarnas fest (The water festival) is the second one from 1999. Grovjobb's music sounds if was made in 1976 or even earlier, the atmosphere , the way they manage to create the passages gives you the feeling that you listen to some obscure mid'70's band. But surprise is given by the year of release - 1999. After the excellent debut album fromthe year prior, Grovjobb come with another impressive album - Vatternas fest, with some brilliant guitar parts interplayed very well with flute and in places with sitar. As many bands from the newer generation tries to sound like their teachers - Grovjobb is no exception - they really succede to soun like a 70's progressive band. What gives to Grovjobb musical uniquess is that they don't have keybordis and keys, the only instruments are guitar, drums, flute, bass and ocassionaly sitar. Very good and intristing are the prog elements combined with native folk motives and aswell some jazzy moments here and there, that gives a special atmosphere to the pieces. All album is instrumental that is another thing that the members must be congratulated, because they done a great effort with this album, and have enough spave to create something of a true value in progressive rock these days. All 5 pieces stands for me as very good, with nice interplays between flute and guitar and ocassionaly sitar. The last pieces is an epic of over 19 min, a real journey in their unique sound, with a trippy sitar opening solo and marvelous flute and guitar moments. Sometimes their music can be compared at some point with thier country fellow Anglagard, Kebnekaise and even in places I can here because of the flute sound some Jethro Tull and Triode (the french one), but as a whole is one of the most original albums I ever heared in years, great work. I wonder why they are so unknow to prog listners, with such music is hard not to come with a solid fan base or a wider recognition. Another thing that needs to be said here is about the cover art - -extremly well done and hand in hand with the music - the painting is made by Hans Arnold and represent as the previous reviewer observe, Greger : "A parade of different creatures with bodies or body parts formed as music instruments, happily playing and singing as they're marching on" . So, finaly a masterpice of progressive rock with folk influences, an album that must be collected without any hesitation, worth every second of it. Also all three albums were released at swedish label Garage land records, don't hesitate to take a listen to this band they are among the best. 5 stars easely , among the best albums from my collection and from entire prog music and higly underrated and unnoticed and is a damn shame.

Often mentioned, rarely reviewed, this Swedish bluesy jazz-prog group released three albums in the late 90's that were noticed by the prog scene. An instrumental quartet on this album lead by guitarist/Indian sitarist Jerry Johansson, this unusual line-up included flutist Simon Jensen as well.Released on the small Garageland Record label and sporting an intriguing railway bridge lost out in Sweden's mountainside, this instrumental prog album is a bit unusual from what the average proghead might expect from Sweden.

Grovjobb (hard work) is indeed a bit different than most of their countrymen in that that they don't have a keyboard player (let alone a mellotron) and that they are often in the happy jazz rock mode (with a persistent bluesy jam tinge) rather than the sombre symphonic realm, but somehow, you won't have to overstretch yourself to guess their country of origin once the disc is halfway through, because the usual Swedish melancholy is there, often inspired by Anekdoten. In that regard, the title track is the textbook example.

As their leader Johansson wrote all of the tracks (but sharing half of those credits with drummer Jensen and then-outsider Lundgren), the album might seem a bit monotonous at first and it will take a few listens to start getting in the different tracks, among which the hauntingly enthralling Sommarvals (summer valleys, I think), with its heart torn between early Anekdoten and Anglagard. While the album is loaded from flute, it escapes the usual Tull comparison, its style being between Van Leer, Mel Collins and Ian Mcdonald, rather than the Mad Flauter's saturated antics.

As JJ will continue his musical career well after Grovjobb's demise, specializing and getting a solid reputation in classic Indian sitar, I am not aware of what the Jensen brothers or bassists Jarold became, but LL is a good album that all progheads should appreciate for its typical Swedish ambiance.

This is a very pleasant instrumental psychedelic folk rock album much inspired by early 70's Swedish bands like Kebnekaise but as well with a strong oriental touch. The five, mostly rather extended compositions being in a more sluggish to mid-tempo pace sound relatively gentle with some nice mesmerizing atmosphere but still there's a good portion of electric guitar as well. Simon Krarup Jensen is playing apart from flute also alto sax on "Resor och näsor" where we get as well some vibraphone played by guest musician Klas Assarsson who's providing congas in the track "Blomkrukans sång" in addition. Second guest Camilla Wahlberg plays Tambura in the title track which is heavily inspired by Indian Raga music. Here Jerry Johansson switches from guitar to the more appropriate sitar and he's playing this instrument in a brilliant way I've to say. Usually I'm not that much into classical Indian music but I quite like this one. Though the music gets at times a bit repetitive (especially in the two longest tracks) it's never losing any of its attraction and magic at any moment. Anyway everyone who doesn't mind well played instrumental music which is more in a jam session vein will love this record. I've got it since almost one year in my collection and played it quite often I've to say. Though I'm not quite sure if it can be considered an essential addition in a general sense I'd still round up my rating to 4 stars since it's an excellent one IMHO.

Fantastic!!! This is far better than Änglagård!!! Not that they are similar, but they are both contemporary Swedish instrumental prog bands, so that's the reason for the comparison. In Änglagård, I've always found the music a bit stiff. Grovjobb has a heavy and quite jazzy groove in their music, and with a lot of "live-feel". This jamming and groovy playing makes it sound like a live set. There are also folk-inspired parts, so the directions are jazz, folk and rock, but it blends together perfectly with the superb musicianship. The flute brings thoughts to Jethro Tull, and the jazzy parts to King Crimson. If you're a fan of old school prog and appreciate good musicianship you would probably love "Landet Leverpastej". The band name "Grovjobb" translates "hard work", and that's certainly what this band puts in their music. I'm not patriotic, but this is definitely an album that deserves full five stars! Without a doubt!