Sume - Sumut - 1973 (Grl) Progressive Rock

From one of the farthest corners of the Kingdom of Denmark, namely Greenland, comes a band called Sume. Sume was formed in Sorø (a town located on Zealand in Denmark) in 1972 centered around Malik Høegh. The group was inspired by American rock bands, but sung in Greenlandish. The band was very critical about being a part of Denmark and uttered this through their lyrics. The group disbanded in 1977 and all of its members moved back to Greenland. The band is still occasionally active today and has been the pillars of Greenlandish rock since their formation. They released several records through their short lifetime as a band, this is their debut released on the Danish label "Demos". The record sold very well in Greenland, so well that a fifth of Greenland's citizens bought a copy! The line-up on the album was Malik Høegh (vocals & 12-string guitar), Per Berthelsen (vocals, electric & acoustic guitar), Erik Hammeken (bass) and Hans Fleischer (drums), with guest performances by Ole Høst (alto-sax), Anders Peter Novman (guitar), Henrik Anthony (bass on Forår and Kravle Ind I Mit Indre), Thor Backhausen (organ & flute), Kaj D. Holm (violin) and Jørgen Lang (harmonica).

Imagine a softer version of Midnight Sun that is only the occult themes and lyrics away from sounding like Black Widow, well, that is pretty much what Sume did sound like on this album. Even though labeled progressive the songs tend to be pretty straight forward although with variation and progression reflected by the use of different instruments to emphasize the songs. The band really shows some enthusiasm concerning what they do on this record thus making it a great effort and a great debut. The album is simple, nevertheless effective, making this record really enjoyable for the listener.

1. Piffiit Nutaat - Nye Tider (New Times)
2. Upernaaq - Forår (Spring)
3. Pilerineq/Tikinneq - Forventning/Ankomst (Expectation/Arrival)
4. Tamorasaariat - Den Første Bid Af Sælen (The First Bite of the Seal)
5. Illunut Pulallunga - Kravle Ind I Mit Indre (Crawl Into My Center)
6. Eqqissineq Sapiinnarama - Uro (Unrest)
7. Eqqasuuteqarneq - Bekymring (Worry)
8. Heimaey Eqqaallugu - Ode Til Heimaey (Ode To Heimaey)
9. Imigassaq - Ildvand (Firewater)
10. Ukiaq - Efterår (Autumn)
11. Nalunaarasuartaat Toquvoq - Telegrafen Er Død (the Telegraph Is Dead)*
*This could also mean "the Telegrapher Is Dead", but since it is not indicated what it means in Danish as "Telegrafen" means both "the Telegraph" and "the Telegrapher" it is hard to decide on how to translate it into English.

Bitrate: 320kbps
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Furekåben - Prinsesseværelset - 1970 (Den) Psych Folk

In a Danish hippie collective located in Copenhagen in 1968 a band called "Furekåben" was formed. Since "fure" means three different things in Danish it is hard to decide on how to translate their name to English. The band was formed around Hans Vinding (guitar & vocals) of Hyldemor "fame". After two years of writing sessions in the collective they released their first album "Prinsesseværelset" (The Princess' Room) and would eventually release a second LP under the title "2nd" or "Furekåben 2nd" in 1971 only to disband a year after that, which led to the formation of Hans Vinding's other band "Hyldemor". Through the years the line-up of Furekåben varied quite some, the members (besides Hans Vinding) through the years were Thorbjørn Thomsen (guitar & vocals), Mikkel Bayer (cello), Søren Barfoed (flute, 1968-69), Vivi Jo Heede (vocals), Jens Thorning Hansen (guitar, 1969-72), Anthony Barnett (flute & percussion, 1969-72), Emmerik Warburg (flute, 1969-72) and Steen Claesson (violin & guitar, 1971-72).

An interesting fact about this record is that it was released with lots of different covers, but the one in this post being the most commonly known cover today. Musically the album seems more like a protest or moaning than an actual music album. The first track starts off with some promising guitar patterns and with somewhat loud percussion parts, in which it seems that pots and pans were used for percussion rather than percussion instruments. The vocals are classic psych folk, but will at some points drown in the horde of different instruments played at once. The strings (cello) on this track are worth accentuating though, as they add a great mood to the song . Following up is the long excessive repetitive second track which is introduced by a quite annoying arrangement of the violin, but contains much clearer and better vocals, which are really fun for the Danish listener as their lyrics are quite funny at some points. The third song has much more to offer than the first two, which probably is for the best as it makes up a half of the entire album. It has deeper aspects and a nice use of percussion. Overall the lyrics and expression seems more important to the group than the music itself. It has a good folk vibe comparable to Trader Horne and a lesser fuzzy version of Trees and the like. At some points the album is great, but some times it seems very bad too. Recommended for fans of Trader Horne and fans of all things repetitive.

1. Den Gule Filthatmand (The Yellow Felthatman)   
2. Kom Lad Os Dulme Vores Nerver Lidt (Let Us Ease Our Nerves A Bit)
3. Lædersexdress (Leathersexdress)

Bitrate: 320kbps
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