My Favorite Records of 2004 - #7 - Dungen Ta Det Lungt (Subliminal Sounds)

This is one of those albums that I (and I think most of the world outside of Sweden) have to give credit to Pitchfork for their gift of exposure. Ta Det Lungt was released on the tiny Subliminal Sounds label and only recently got some promotion in the States, due in no small part to the aforementioned 'Fork, which seems to be the indie kingmaker since 2002's whole Interpol/...Trail of Dead coronation.

But as I don't feel like writing too much today, I'm only going to say that this album is a lot of fun, and sounds like it was recorded in 1967. It's very warm and the only giveaway of it's post-postmodern recording date is the careful mixing. The opener, "Panda", sounds like Black Sabbath if Black Sabbath were good (sorry, Sabbath) and "Festival", besides being the only other cognate title on the record, is a wonderful little pop song. Elsewhere, "Du E För Fin För Mig" has elegant string arrangements leading like a velvet staircase to, appropriately, a hard-ass acid guitar solo that sounds like Jimmy Page and Thurston Moore making out. Duel on, electric tongues. The rest of the album is good, too, but if you're human then your brain has already melted and you're just careening down the other side of the rock pyramid. But anyway, Sweden, huh? Sounds nice.

Ta Det Lungt sails in at #7, freak flags flying high.