You’ve probably heard me singing the praises of Dungen’s brand of Swedish psych-folk rock before, and I’m still singing…especially after the recent release of the 4 album and the Kemado Records CMJ showcase that they headlined on Friday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. If you have any kind of ear for beautiful throwback psychedelic rock they way that I do, you are already a big fan. And if you’ve never heard them and you’re still reading this, listen up below! This is “Satt Att Se” from their new album, 4 (which is indeed their 4th album)….
Dungen – ‘Satt Att Se’: [audio="http://kemado.com/_files/audio/dungen/SATT_ATT_SE.mp3"]
See! I told you so. Dungen is one of the newer bands out there now on the rock fringe, proving that rock music can still be adventurous and even sound pretty…and still rock hard. They are part of the new batch of neo psych-rockers (along with bands such as Black Mountain, Wooden Shjips, Howlin Rain, and Earthless) that are keeping that vibe alive in what may just be a reawakening era of rock music.
Dungen are a band who jam, but aren’t a jam band (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). Their live show is pretty true to the music on their albums, and when you hear their albums, it makes you want to hear them live. It’s beautifully-composed pastoral soundscapes with bursts of raw guitar feedback freak-outs and real old-school groove from a rhythm section that knows how to sit right outside of the pocket. All that AND Swedish lyrics.
Definitely go see them on tour if they come to your town. It’s the best kind of music out there…at a value price, because they don’t quite have the mediocre appeal of bands like Coldplay (sorry, Coldplay fans…no I’m not).
Get their new album, 4, here at Amazon, or the other highly-recommended Ta Det Lugnt from 2005. Oh yeah, and it’s pronounced Doon-yen!
More pics after the jump…
Check out my last Dungen feature from earlier this year
October 27th, 2008 at 4:08 am
even lady who knows nothing about rock (lwknar) can testify to dungen. i saw them with the newms a couple of years ago and LOVED me some long-hair swedish rock magic.
October 27th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Ah! I’ve been wondering about your acronym…I thought you were a norse god or something :-)
This is good stuff newms, and I’m not surprised. I’m a massive fan of the greatest swedish guitaist of all time – Janne Schaffer -not only did he play with Marley, he released an album on CBS called Earmeal, which i believe is the only known occasion when the whole Porcaro family played on one album, father Joe, and brothers Steve, Jeff and Mike. Check out this piece from janne in ’74 called “The Chinese”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOedJFj3lYE
October 27th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Wow Kev…that’s awesome!!! Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to seek out the album.
October 27th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
He’s amazing Newms – he’s responsible for a lot of the tasty guitar work on the Abba records too. I met him in Denmark back in 1980 – he was doing a concert in the hall attched to our hotel when we are on tour!
December 21st, 2008 at 6:33 pm
[...] Okay, I’ve cheated at my own game here. This is the 11th album I’ve listed, but it’s impossible for me to leave this one off. You’ve seen me write about Dungen plenty of times in the past, and that’s because they’re one of the best current bands making beautiful psychedelic rock music…and all their lyrics are Swedish. But you don’t need a translator when the music’s this good, but it does make it hard to sing along! 4 is a beautiful piano and guitar-heavy sounscape album that jams but then lays back and relaxes just when you want it to. This album was an improvement on their last album, Tio Bitar, and it is up their with their already classic, Ta Det Lugnt from 2005. Check out NewmRadio’s old posts and pics of Dungen here and here. [...]
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.