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The
Toast of
Whimpering Cynicsville
Dungen
Ta Det Lungt
(Subliminal Sounds)
by Vincent Dee
Ta Det Lugnt,
the fantastic new record by Dungen, the namesake of virtuosic
24-year old multi-instrumentalist Gustav Estjes, has gone
very suddenly from being the anonymous beauty echoing from
the walls of Kim’s Video, to the toast of the indie
town. They call it “Whimpering Cynicsville.”
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The term being thrown around Whimpering
Cynicsville to describe Ta Det Lugnt is “Swedish
prog-psychedelia.” It’s not just whistled Dixie, either.
Track by track, the record is a collage of late 1960’s &
early 1970’s pop & rock genres. Several songs give squinty-eyed
greeting to the seven-minute mark, many hosting multiple sections;
and Dungen is not averse to the acid freak-out. Nor is he averse
to invoking the spirit of Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, or Ritchie
Blackmore (only one of whom is clinically dead) by way of guitar
frenzy. For that matter, Dungen isn’t all too averse to
string quartets, free jazz, or 70’s lounge, either.
And it’s all in Swedish.
Now that the weak-hearted have been
brushed aside, I must proclaim: If you have ears, you should obtain
this record. It’s filled with some of the most exciting,
beautiful sounds released in, well, a mighty long time. Despite
the recording’s sonic penchant for days past, new ground
is broken on nearly every single track. Estjes’s guitar
work ranges from the intangibly gorgeous to the heroically awe-inspiring;
his lush, at times angelic vocal harmonies are pitch-perfect;
his bass work sounds like Billy Cox after having just eaten a
big meal, and his drumming has that long-gone, Mitch Mitchell
or John Bonham organic, furious tribal energy. Times thirteen.
In fact, due to the widespread
virtuosity present on Ta Det Lugnt, it only really
becomes at all fathomable to think one man is playing all
of these instruments when one stops and realizes how cohesive
each arrangement is. It’s all the work of one very
talented, very Swedish man. There is no idiot bass player
to overdub, there is no keyboard player typing out wedding
reception licks. Prime examples of this are “Festival,”
“Det Du Tänker Idag Är Du I Morgon,”
and “Lejonet & Kulan,” the second of which,
to my ears, rather seriously flirts with sublimity.
And have I mentioned how hard
this album rocks? It’s almost silly to, as it becomes
so plainly apparent from the first ten seconds of Panda,
Ta Det Lugnt’s lead-off track. Also in the
rock department are the final two minutes of “Du E
För Fin För Mig.” It’s really something
unbelievable; Estjes does a thick, swirling impersonation
of Jimi Hendrix— and while it leans against an unabashed
acid-freak out which recalls very old pornography, if it
doesn’t “wow!” you, then you should probably
stop hoping to be “wow!’d” by rock music.
Perhaps Deep Throat would be more up your alley.
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You
Dig? You’ll Dig…
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Love
–
Forever Changes |
Jimi
Hendrix Experience –
Axis: Bold as Love |
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The
Byrds –
The Notorious Byrd Brothers |
From
Amazon.com |
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While this record may wind up being
one of those records that stirs up an annoying racket in Whimpering
Cynicsville, Ta Det Lugnt itself is definitely something
very special, and worth hearing for yourself. Tell ‘em Vin
sent ya. Then explain to them who I am.
Discography
Dungen (Subliminal Sounds, 2001)
2 (Subliminal Sounds, 2002)
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