Friday, December 05, 2008

dungen 4

got my hands on a copy of the new alb by evabody's fave psychedelic swedes dungen today (thanks, frank!) and have to say it's quite impressive -- concise where ta det lugnt (see clip below) was sprawling, it's over almost before you know it, leaving you wanting more (which is why i've played it so many times). it's a lot more orchestrated (opening cut intro reminds me of "ferry across the mersey," which you're probably too young to remember), poppy in a jim webb/arthur lee/zombies kinda way, and unabashedly melodic, 'cept for the little snatches of jamarama they call "samtidigt 1" and "samtidigt 2," and leader gustav ejstes is now concentrating on pianner vice gtr, but there's still plenty of fret damage and the new drummer still sounds like mitch mitchell, thank goodness. i hear they haven't quite got it as a live band yet, but they could keep making rekkids like thisun forever and i wouldn't complain.

1 Comments:

Blogger Jon said...

Yeah that is a great album. They were indeed a bore live. Gustav was more intent on looking and shaking his ass like Robert Plant than anything. Great guitar tones though, fucking great. Check out this lil' interview:

“We recorded the basic tracks for all but two of the songs on a purple 16-track recorder [Editor’s note: We’re guessing the unit might be a Korg D1600MKII. Somehow, the specifics eluded them!] in my mother’s farmhouse,” explains Ejstes. “I mixed a few songs on it, but most of the tracks were transferred to Apple Logic Pro at Konst & Ramar and Bergstromska studios, where we overdubbed vocals and a few other parts, and did final mixes. ‘Panda’ and ‘Festival,’?? were entirely recorded and mixed at the studio.” A classic Neve console and a huge assortment of vintage outboard gear—including an old Fender spring reverb unit—imparted additional analog coloring.

Ejstes and Fiske’s guitar parts were usually tracked directly into the “purple” workstation using a Line 6 POD-XT or a handful of pedals that included a ’60s Fuzz Face, an MXR Dyna Comp, a vintage CryBaby, and, most importantly, a late-’50s Klempt Echolette tape echo unit (which was used as a tube preamp even when the echo was bypassed). Several amps were also employed, including a vintage 50-watt Marshall with an 8x10 cab, a Vox AC30, and an ancient Hagstrom—all typically miked with a Sennheiser MD421. Ejstes played an Epiphone ES-335, and Fiske played a Fender Stratocaster assembled from early-’60s parts. One particularly interesting feedback effect was achieved on “Sluta Folja Eiter” by routing the guitar through a stereo hi-fi cab to get the almost headphone-like feedback.

As to how they were able to capture so much emotional range and power using such modest gear, both guitarists agreed that the environment was far more important than the technology.

“Recording in an old farm house with two dogs running around the whole time was a very special, and almost haunting experience,” mused Fiske.

“The ‘vibe’ of where you record really comes out in the music,” concurred Ejstes.

who would have thought those recordings were made on little digital unit with a POD? The modeling technology has come a long way

4:39 PM  

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