DUNGEN Ta Det Lugnt (Kemado) 2cd 15.98
The Dungen frenzy continues. The Swedish psych-pop sensations just played some shows on our shores (to mixed reviews -- they might not be an accomplished live act quite yet) and now their much hyped Ta Det Lugnt album from a year or so ago makes the transition from import item to domestic release. We were like, big deal, we have this already and the import's not that expensive -- until we discovered that this digipack US version on Kemado is a DOUBLE cd. That's right, this comes with an extra disc of otherwise unavailable Dungen tunes. Argh. But a good argh I guess, if you're a Dungen fan willing to buy this again 'cause you love 'em so much and want the extra songs. And no argh at all if you've slept on 'em this long -- get it now and then all your already into Dungen friends can burn the bonus disc off of you...
The album proper got this review from us before, let's revisit that review with some updates:
Like fellow Swede and AQ-fave Bjorn Olsson, Gustav Ejstes is a brillant timewarped melody-maker. Though, his "solo" project Dungen sounds more like a band than Olsson's albums do. Wunderkind Ejstes is certainly enamored of '60s/'70s psych-pop and his obsession has borne some fabulous fruit. This is his third album to date (the first being a self-titled LP since reissued on cd in expanded form, the second being the now-hard-to-find Stadsvandringar cd that Allan raved about on our list three years ago, soon to be reissued too we're told). Ta Det Lugnt rocks more than the last one, being brasher, with more in the way of electric guitar frenzies in a Hendrix kinda style. But otherwise it's pretty similar, with Ejstes singing his hook-filled songs in the same somewhat nasal, Swedish langage voice as before. There's jazz jamming, folk frolics, and plenty of fuzz. A retro trip indeed from searing electric rippage to spaced-out, sentimental melodicism. Hard not to love, we've found.
Now, there's the matter of that extra disc, which is fourteen minutes in length. The five previously unreleased songs on there are AWESOME. So basically, if you really like Dungen you've got to buy this (again). Sorry but that's the way it is. 'Nuff said.
MPEG Stream: "Panda"
MPEG Stream: "Ta Det Lugnt"
MPEG Stream: "Sluta Folja Efter"