Tonoga/Fran Natt Idag/Vendeltid

As of the mid-2000s, this two-CD compilation of three Lars Hollmer albums from the 1980s is the most extensive serving of the composer, keyboardist, and bandleader's wildly creative music to be shoehorned into one package. Here is Hollmer as rock & roller, avant-garde sonic experimentalist, Swedish folkster accordionist, unserious composer of serious music, and more -- all over the stylistic map and still exerting a singular musical personality. During the '80s, Hollmer set off on his own path separate from the Samlas and their offshoots, and fully hit his stride with the release of 1983's Från Natt Idag, a sometimes quirky slice of Scandinavian folk-flavored prog rock on which Hollmer sang and played all the instruments, recording alone at night in his Chickenhouse studio. The accordion and Hollmer's occasional vocals impart warmth to the music, and Lasse's inventive use of the studio to sculpt sound and atmosphere had parallels in Brian Eno's ambient miniatures. "Nationsjazz," with its driving meter alternating between 6/8 and 5/8, would prove a killer tune for Hollmer's SOLA band to cover in a Tokyo studio nearly two decades later; the quintessentially uncategorizable "Fur Munju" would get the multi-tracked Hollmer treatment here while also showing up in a full-band sextet arrangement on Von Zamla's No Make Up!, also recorded at the Chickenhouse in 1983 and released the following year. For 1985's Tonöga, Hollmer brought a few friends into his studio to help out here and there, including Zamlas guitarist Eino Haapala and drummer Hans Bruniusson. The musical palette is even wider and deeper than Från Natt Idag, ranging from the full-on Zamla prog of "Slutet Pa Tangon" (sounding like a Familjesprickor outtake) to the gentle lullaby of "Höstvisa." Elsewhere, meters and harmonics are particularly adventurous in "Lilla Pas du Valse" and the title track, "Damernas Rumango" is a fairly straightforward prog tango, and "Arvevals" is an accordion waltz accented by a spectral flutelike melody. As the ever-changing program wraps up with the emphatic march-like cadence and dramatic crescendo of "Harmonium III," one could only guess at what Hollmer might dream up next, and it turned out to be a leap into bandleading with the Looping Home Orchestra's 1987 release, Vendeltid. Here, the sonics of Hollmer's five-piece group take on the flavor of a Rock in Opposition band, particularly given the prominence of Sven Aarflot's bassoon, recalling Michel Berckmans' work with Von Zamla and Univers Zero, and perhaps Lindsay Cooper with Henry Cow. Flutes and bells dominate the jaunty neo-classical "Eyeliner"; the multi-layered arrangement of the propulsive "Utflykt Med Damcykel" is a stunner, both clean and complex as the piece builds to a slam-bang climax; and "Through Glass" is both beautiful and eerie, with sustained keyboards, an unsettling theme, and a solitary bassoon seemingly providing a glimpse into an otherworldly realm. Other highlights include "Vendeltid" and "Misery," presenting moments of understatement and drama, balancing light and darkness, and standing as two of Hollmer's finest compositions of the decade. With the compilers perhaps guided by the wish that neither Tonöga nor Vendeltid be split between the two discs of this set, Tonöga in its entirety leads off disc one, with Vendeltid featured as the first ten tracks on disc two and Från Natt Idag split between the latter portions of each disc. Seven bonus tracks are also featured, including such rarities as the appropriately named "Joggingcharleston," released ("for fun," according to Hollmer) as a KRAX single in 1984, and a hyper live version of "Lilla Pas du Valse," retitled "Alfa Beta Pas du Valse" and somewhat mysteriously presented as a bonus track to Vendeltid instead of Tonöga. The order of tracks might not be chronological, but it makes perfect sense from a listening perspective. ~ Dave Lynch|