Träd Gräs Och Stenar
“Ajn Schvajn Draj”
(Silence Records)
The name translates as “Trees, Grass and Stones” and this group, an outgrowth of International Harvester, was integral to the development of ’70’s Swedish prog rock. This album, their first new studio album in two decades, was recorded piecemeal from 1998 to 2001. The record contains both songs and improvisations. All are new creations on this 13-track album, except two renditions of “Nothing” taken off the first Fugs album. Still proving themselves masters of the trance-inducing, psychedelic jam, this lineup does not include cellist Arne Ericsson but does include second guitarist Jakob Sjöholm. The full, swirling sounds of the two-guitar quartet, often in extemporaneous composition, exhibits the dense palette of sound that caused such neo-prog types as Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus to cite them as an inspiration.
