The Flower Kings

[tot_Ou_tard]

I just listened to the first disc (Room 111) of Paradox Hotel by the Flower Kings as per Spudsy & Super Swede recommendations.

Wow! It's been a long time since I listened to prog rock as I usually like music with a bit more soil & organic feel to it. These guys, however, are really amazing. I would say that if you were walking though the woods with the moonlight glistening on the dewy leaves and came upon a clearing where humans, angels, and extraterrestrials were jamming then you must've happened on a Flower Kings concert.

So is prog rock big in Sweden? I usually think of England as the land of prog...ELP, Yes, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Peter Gabriel, etc.

Have any of you heard french prog a la Malicorne or Magma? The former is quite interesting and the solo stuff from lead singer/songwriter Gabriel Yacoub is incredibly poetic; the latter is steeped in odd and rather forboding mythopoetic iconography that I find a bit disturbing.

Someone once told me that I should listen to van der Graff generator, but I've never heard them.

[Spudman***]

Welcome to the Hotel. I'm sure you won't be able to check out for a while so enjoy the stay.

Paradox Hotel just keeps getting better and better with each listen. Even Roine Stolt says that he is surprised by what he finds when he re-listens to it. He keeps finding new gems within the music that he hadn't noticed before and he recorded, mixed and mastered it. I think it will be remembered as one of their best (they have 12) albums. Uninterrupted listening is highly recommended. Each song will continue to expose it's own unique beauty after subsequent listens. The musicianship is superb and yes they sound like that live!

Prog is huge all across Europe with smaller outbreaks in North America. Baha Prog, Nearfest, Calprog, NJ Proghouse are some of the more consistent supporters in North America. I'm sure I have left many off the list.

One of the best places to get your Prog fix is on the web is from Delicious Agony Radio http://www.deliciousagony.com/. One of the owners Don is a big Flower Kings supporter. You will also hear stuff from the 70's 80's & 90's that you never knew existed and ALL of it good.

There are divisions of the Prog genre for labling purposes. Prog Metal, Symphonic Prog, Art Rock, Canteburry, etc.

Right now almost all music is big in Sweden. From talking to Tomas Bodin of The Flower Kings he tells me that for a long time Sweden didn't have much going on musically but they were listening. Well they certainly have listened well. Music from Sweden is very good.

The thing I find so refreshing about Prog is that everything from the sounds of the instruments to the arrangements to the song topics are at a different level than much of mainstream music. Especially in the case of the Flower Kings...it is H.G.M. or Human Growth Music. If you like The Flower Kings then many of the offshoots and related bands you will probably like as well. Kaipa, The Tangent, Karmakanic, Tomas Bodin, The Swedish Family, Transatlantic, Neal Morse, Spock's Beard to name a few.

I think there are some clips of Magma on Youtube.com

[tot_Ou_tard]

It is truly amazing the amount of good music that I have never even heard of.

[tot_Ou_tard]

What's truly funny is how deep & inside the references are. If you go to the Flower Kings website they describe Swedish Family as a prog version of Spinal Tap. A make believe band in the vein of 70's swedish prog rock bands like...& they go on to name bands I've never freakin heard of. What could better than to hear a spoof of a genre you've never heard?

Sheesh! Pretty soon I'll probably be learning swedish.

[Spudman***]

The Swedish Family is the brain child of Tomas Bodin. Since The Flower Kings are really the forerunners of Swedish prog they wanted to pretend that something came before them to make it seem as if there was a legacy of progressive music in Sweden. Enter Swedish Family. The songs on the album are very organic with a 70's flair for prog. Quite a good and unique album destined to become a collectible disc.
With Spinal Tap in mind the Swedish Family was formed if only to prove that something existed when in reality it never did.
Probably the most amusing thing about the whole Swedish Family story is that a music journalist from Sweden swears he remembers seeing them back in the day. Ya right! Along with midget Druids and a 3 foot tall Stonehenge.

[SuperSwede]

Prog is not really "big" in Sweden if you consider what is played on the radio as big. Prog is bigger on the alternative scenes.
The swedish forerunners in prog music was the fantastic Nationalteatern (National Theatre). Only sang in swedish, but my GOD what great songs they managed to write

[Spudman***]

True. Prog is not big in Sweden, but music sure is. At least it seems that way.
Credible bands with a lasting message are what I'm seeing from Sweden. I don't know if the Hives have any worthwhile messages but plenty of other bands do. There seems to be an intact sense of dignity and purpose that is missing in much of mainstream USA music right now. Gone from much of US music are the messages that aim to change mankind for the better, the lyrics that really force us to look at ourselves. That seems to still exist in most Swedish music that I have heard lately. From judging the current state of world affairs I would say that the planet can really use that now.
Viva Sweden!

What do I have to do to get Swedish citizenship?

[Tim]

First change your eating habits there Spudman. Then move to Sweden. Then the rest of us fretters can come and visit you and the Super Swede.

[Spudman***]

First change your eating habits there Spudman. Then move to Sweden. Then the rest of us fretters can come and visit you and the Super Swede.

I'm always up for visits, but what are my eating habits? Are you referring to spudnuts? I'm never gonna go there...it's just wrong, like cannibalism.

[SuperSwede]

Sweden is potato land so I guess you would feel at home here Spuds
You can apply for citizenship at any IKEA store. All paperwork needed comes on the Absolut Vodka Sticker.

There is a lot of experimental music happening here right now, which I think is great. And the non-mtv kind of music is to be found everywhere. Unfortunately the radio/TV here plays much of the same crap that they play all over the world.

[tot_Ou_tard]

Sweden is potato land so I guess you would feel at home here Spuds
You can apply for citizenship at any IKEA store. All paperwork needed comes on the Absolut Vodka Sticker.

You get free swedish meatballs and loganberries with every application! The downside is that have to give cute swedish names to all of your belongings.

[Nelskie]

Guys - Could we focus on posts about music here? Again, no disrespect intended to your discussion, but this is exactly how threads start to spin way off topic. Thanks - Nelskie

[SuperSwede]

You are right Nelskie, sorry!

Lets continue talking about prog/f.kings

[Spudman***]

Here is some news on the new album to be released this September titled "The Sum Of No Evil."

This link is to their myspace page and there are several videos of them in the studio. All the music in the background is on the new record. Great little peek into a classic studio.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...oID=2034986306

[tot_Ou_tard]

Here is some news on the new album to be released this September titled "The Sum Of No Evil."

This link is to their myspace page and there are several videos of them in the studio. All the music in the background is on the new record. Great little peek into a classic studio.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...oID=2034986306

Cool! Thanks Spudrocker.

[SuperSwede]

Here is some news on the new album to be released this September titled "The Sum Of No Evil."

This link is to their myspace page and there are several videos of them in the studio. All the music in the background is on the new record. Great little peek into a classic studio.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...oID=2034986306

Where do they record?

[Spudman***]

Where do they record?

Varispeed Studios http://www.varispeedstudios.com/ I think it's in Malmo

From the band's web site:

The sound quality is head and shoulders above what we got from the Medley on Paradox Hotel, Petrus is a genius and the Varispeed studio with it's 3 NEVE desks and old U 47 Telefunkens, old Neumans etc. is the coolest and the best studio I've ever recorded in, the result is top notch and the vibe there was all late 60's and early 70's.

We had the pleasure to use lots of vintage keyboards, a custom modified ( by expert Brian Davenport) Hammond B 3 that sounded just fabulous and along with that we will, or have used real Minimoogs, Wurlizer, Fender Rhodes pianos and a Grand Piano.

This means that this album will see more of the vintage keyboard sounds than on any other TFK record, I feel it goes well with the songs that have great melodic and warm melodies that take me back to the glory days of Procol Harum, ELP, Genesis, Yes, Focus, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple and The Beatles.

I have tried to remember the feeling of standing on stage when the band sound great and we really feel like we're moving air and we're moving peoples hearts and I've tried to write from that perspective, perhaps with a less intellectual style and more of a direct soulful vibe.

Now we are a few weeks into overdubbing vocals and percussion, extra guitars and keys and hopefully by mid June we have delivered a steaming hot new CD album to Inside Out that we're proud of and that will take you back to the glory days of prog.

In my opinion TFK have never sounded better and never delivered such a compact collection of melodic symph/prog, what we do best, I admit we took a few (interesting) detours but this is what defines the band, this is as close as it gets to what I set out to do 12 years ago.

Roine.

[SuperSwede]

Ah.... quite a lot of nice stuff there! I havent heard if this studio before, but then again Malmoe is loaded with recording studios. I noticed that they have recorded many classic swedish artists there.

[Spudman***]

Apparently it's a very nice studio. Roine, who has been recording since the 1970's with Kaipa, says it's the best studio he's ever been in. And that should translate into one fine new album. I can hardly wait.