Alle Tiders Duster - Velkommen Hjem 7" 1981

Alle Tiders Duster were from Bergen, Norway. They formed as a punk band but soon developed in a more interesting direction, influenced by bands like Throbbing Gristle and Magazine. This is their first single where you can hear a lot of influence from Wire. Short, energetic punk anthems sung in norwegian.

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Månbröder - Utanför Mitt Fönster 7" 1986

Månbröder (Moon brothers) were Toni Holgersson and Krister Sand. They only released this self-published single before Toni moved on to become a big pop star in Sweden. This first output is a kind of laid-back soft synth pop. Nice, soothing and rare.

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Vi Har Rätt Till Jobb LP 1979

Here's another piece of the Pinheads-puzzle. Some of the members of Pinheads also played in TBC, which were kind of the first punk band in Umeå. This record deals with some kind of organization to promote workers rights and features the most important band from the small nordic town at the time. TBC later became Pinheads. Checkpoint Charlie and Rikets Affärer both made one single each at approximately the same time as this record. Steve Roper Band made three records, two of which are very hard to find. Every band plays nice power pop through punk or pub rock with lots of political discontent. The B-side of this record is mostly boring old Swedish folk music, so I haven't ripped it.

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SUB - Go Baby Go 7" 1987

This is another one of those Finnish bands that I don't know anything about. It's great late-eighties goth rock played with vigour. The band released a couple of more singles that will follow soon.

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Pinheads - Rot'n'roll LP 1985

Last LP from Swedens garage men. This one was recorded live at local venue Krogen krogen, Umeå, Sweden. Not much here for me, I'm afraid, but the music is nice and the mood is that feeling you get when you've worked a whole week and it's finally friday and you get two days off. Pinheads made music for friday evenings.

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Program 82 - Pictures LP 1982

Program 82 were from Bergen in Norway and started out as Program 81 in 1981. During the band's career they released four records, this being their third one. When 1982 changed into 1983 the band still kept the name "Program 82" - a move that has always surprised me. This is great post punk with lots of influences from new romantic-bands.

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Zägä Box - Kellopelipasianssi 7" 1986

Unfortunately I don't know anything about this band. They only released this single and vanished into obscurity. A pretty decent effort with the sound of the times and some gothic and post punk elements in the new-wave-mix.

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The Art Of Breeding LP 1983

Great sampler from Finland containing several great acts. Like Hefty Load, with three great songs not found on their wonderful album. Jimi Sumen, Finlands David Bowie, also appears, as well as Twiggy Oliver (another, less interesting Bowie-clone) and General Nassja. Great dance-wave music!

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Texas Instruments - Trial & Error 7" 1985

Texas Instruments were a short-lived band from Gothenburg, Sweden. Most of the musicians played in a variety of other local bands. Johan Söderberg and Zbigniew Karkowski were trained academic musicians exploring various ways of making music, mostly by doing some crazy stuff. Jean-Louis Hutha also bashed stuff together in legendary group Cortex. I don't know anything about the fourth member Carin Westman. This single is their only release with some nice blendings of post punk and industrial.

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AD - AD LP 1984

What can I say about one of the best records ever? Unfortunately I don't know much about the band at all. They released three records and changed line-up a couple of times. Some years ago they reformed and released some CDs but I haven't heard those records. This is their first and best album, where I can hear a lot of influences from Birthday Party. It's like a Finnish version of Nick Cave's gang drunk on heavy liquor instead of heroin. Do not miss this.

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Cockpit Music - Salute For General Wasteland LP 1983

This is the third album from those loveable, crazy jazz-danes. Cockpit music was and is hard to describe. There's elements of world music, jazz (off course), punk (small traces) and good old experimentation for the heck of it. I suppose they had a very organized idea of how they wanted to sound. I had a hard time separating the tracks - so it's just side A and side B.

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Moral - Hymn 7" 1987

Second and last release for Swedish gothic post punk band Moral. They still got that dark, manic sound but still manages to write a hit on the a-side. As I said before this is highly recommended stuff! After this the band split up and I think some of the members later played in a band called Laser Jesus.

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Moral - Karneval LP 1986

Moral had their roots in Karlskrona, Sweden, but later moved to Stockholm where they played most underground venues. Soon it was time for their debut release: Karneval. Released on Lennart Ökvists Parabellum Records. Parabellum were one of the best labels in Sweden at this time and released loads of great, darker music. This masterpiece have all the attributes of a great and dark post punk band. There's howling, anguished vocals and black lyrics to match. There's great rhythm work from the drums and bass annd shrapnel guitars. This is one of my absolute favorite Swedish records and I would be glad if it could get the recognition it so badly deserves. Do not miss this one!

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Ragnar Hare - Barn Till Himlen 12" 1986

I read somewhere that the band named themselves after the phrase "you think you've got it, but Ragnar's got it" which in Swedish translates to "du tror du har'e men Ragnar har'e" and the band got their name. I can't find that site when i browse the net now, though. This was Ragnar Hare's last release. Recorded in Sweden and still sung in that nice, charming "finlandssvenska" (finnish-swedish). I believe they made a video of the song-that-should-have-been-a-hit on this record: "Sven minns ingenting". Look for it on youtube. Also, look at that cover! Fantastic!

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Bizarre Orkeztra - Hunger For Pleasures LP 1988

For this, their third and last LP, the band seems to have aimed for a much more synthetic sounds. There's lots of that late eighties feel, sometimes bordering on the Depeche Mode-side of things. We also get a new version of the hit "Midnight show". After this album they released another single and then disbanded.

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Bizarre Orkeztra - A Beautiful Place LP 1987

For their second album they continued in the chorus-drenched tradition. Most second albums isn't that good compared to the first one (the classic first album-syndrome), but this one is really good. The songwriting is consistent and I have trouble finding one great stand-out track. Instead the album deserves to be listened to in its entirety.

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Bizarre Orkeztra - Midnight Show 7" 1986

1986 was a busy year for the Bizarre Orkeztra. This single was their third release for the year. Also, this must be their greatest song. Another one of those songs that should have been a world wide hit but weren't. One of the thing that strikes me with the band is the fantastic covers. I believe they were made by a guy called Toli. Can't remember what his real name was.

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Bizarre Orkeztra - Visions On The Wall LP 1986

Debut LP from Swedens answer to the Cure. On this record they continued to develop their chorus-infused sound to perfection. I always get the feeling of an old basement somewhere, where all the interesting stuff from the underground happens when I listen to this record. Between some of the tracks there's some soft instrumental parts. I don't know what's that all about but I separated these to separate files.

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Bizarre Orkeztra - Land 12" 1986

Bizarre Orkeztra was and is one of the most underrated bands in Sweden. They came from Gävle, where some members played in legendary punk band PF Commando before developing their music into Bizarr Sex and finally to the Bizarre Orkeztra. They started out as dogmatic Cure-worshippers but always had their own take on the genre. This is their first release containing the only song they made in swedish. Don't miss this one!

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