Denmark is one of the least-known and overlooked Progressive Rock scenes that I know of. However...I can assure you that for a country of it's diminutive size- and dominated by neighbors, though never culturally- it's almost unbelievable how much good music percolated from the Copenhagen scene in the years 1968-75. RA#8 is dedicated to exploring that scene.
The famed Progressive Rock Hall of Infamy Top 50 Prog Albums Ever list (surely to pass the equally-famed NWW-list in terms of influence and definitiveness, if not vitriol and slander from one Franz de Byl) is loaded with Danish contributions, but the ones I would like to emphasize are Alrune Rod (who opens the show) and Ache- if you see ANY album by these bands, my suggestion is to at least give it a listen. The first Alrunes record is a total freakout masterpiece; as for Ache, their first two records feature two side-long epics without a bad note in sight, and many other splendid moments from a band that lay astride two eras- Psych and Prog- and never blundered in moving gracefully between them.
This episode also includes contributions from Iceland- and that does not mean Sigur Ross and Bjork, either. For a nation of barely a quarter-million people (roughly the size of Lincoln, Nebraska- not exactly known for anything other than an illiterate horde of culturally-deprived football fanatics, by comparison) the Rock scene from Iceland is truly impressive. Hard Rock legends Icecross are rather well-known amongst those with a taste for Skald-ing Proto-Metal and Doom, but the traditional sounds of the island- from the wondrously named Hinn Islenski Fiursaflokkur (roughly, "A Pack of Icelandic Trolls")- also found vent in an era when, of course, you do pretty much anything musically due to the liberating vibe of "Prog". I also wanted to include Sume, from- seriously- Greenland. The track I picked is from a terrific Prog Folk album that has a heavy Country flavor to it, and this is no mere historical curiosity; the first true record sung in the actual Innuit-tinged Greenland tongue, and not the Danish dialect that is the "official" language, this album was a spark of the purest and most noble kind of patriotism- Greenlanders were so proud of this album, of the scant 50,000 people who make up the nation, TEN THOUSAND of them went out and bought Sumat. Imagine 60,000,000 people buying a single record album in a single year by an American band, and you get the idea of the kind of pride this band evoked in native Greenlanders. And as I've said...it's also a damn good album.
Denmark is probably second only to Sweden in terms of Scandi-Prog and Psych; we'll be hearing from the Swedes in a few weeks (a fabulous show brewing there, I promise) but until then, dig on this Tasty Danish and groove to the mighty sounds of Copenhagen. - TKR
Setlist for RA#8 A Tasty Danish
1) Alrunes Rod- "Alrune Rod"
2) Ache- "De Homine Urbano"
3) Culpepper's Orchard- "Teaparty For An Orchard"
4) Hurdy Gurdy- "The Giant"
5) Young Flowers- "Oppe I Traeet"
6) Blast Furnace- "Ginger Cake"
7) Secret Oyster- "Mind Movie"
8) Day Of Phoenix- "Cellophane No. 2"
9) Burnin' Red Ivanhoe- "Second Floor"
10) Vestenvinden- "Det"
11) Savage Rose- "Bruden Pyntes"
12) Sume- "Nye Tider"
13) Furekaaben- "Kom Lad Os Dulme Vores Nerver Lidt"
14) Feo- "Bedstemor"
15) Dr. Dopo Jam- "Cowboysangen"
16) Coma- "Financial Tycoon 2"
17) Hinn Islenski Fiursaflokkur- "Stoum Tvo i Tuni"
18) Eik- "I Dvala"
19) Pelican- "Sprengisandi"
20) Svanfridur- "The Woman Of Our Day"
21) Icecross- "Solution"
22) Manar- "Songur Satans"
23) Ache- "The Invasion"
24) Day Of Phoenix- "I'm Feeling So Lonely"
25) Pan- "Song To France"
26) The Beefeaters- "Lad Mig Blive Noget"
27) Thors Hammer- "Believe In What you Want"
28) Rainbow Band (Midnight Sun)- "Where Do You Live"
29) Secret Oyster- "Paella"
30) Pan- "Lady Of The Sand"
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