Label: Happiest Place – HP01LP
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered, 180g
Country: Sweden
Released: 20 Aug 2021
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Experimental, Noise, Industrial, Punk
It goes without saying that Gothenburg is the centre of the world right now, and this one takes us right to the roots of its current boom. Previously only available as a tape in an edition of 50 (long since gone), this LP documents a live action from 2016 by Gothenburg scene godparents Neutral. Combining just the right amount of dead-eyed industrial noise and clatter with their trademark, endlessly affecting, two-people-lost-in-a-room feeling of deep gnomic mystery. The wonderfully hand-scrawled / photo-collaged insert retells the story of how the gig came about, with details alleged about how the group turned up to play on an industrial estate on the outskirts of the Swedish city of Växjö (alleged once a medieval trading centre that’s pivoted to ‘the greenest city in Europe’) at a venue affectionately named ‘Funkibator’. Despite the primitive recording means, the recordings capture the raw essence of the show - Herner’s droned, spine-scraping, bowed guitar givin’ the feel of Tony Conrad on the wrong side of a 3 day bender whilst Dan Johansson’s head-mangling tape manipulation dragging us deeper into into a stupefied yet acutely aware state. I dunno.. I’m a sucker for an insert but I feel with this added context in mind, it goes beyond being a live album (a dubious format!) to being the document of something genuinely special.. (Mint / New - with insert).
Tracklist
A1 Intro
A2 Du
A3 Bond Ultra Mild
B1 Gaze
B2 Köldgatan
B3 Ingen Rätt
