Sleeping In Traffic: Part One

I hadn't heard of Beardfish until fairly recently when a posting on the Procol Harum forum "The Beanstalk" sang its praises. Though the keyboards on Sleeping In Traffic:Part One sound nothing like those in Procol Harum, it is obvious that the guy making the post was jazzed merely because keyboards figure so prominently in Beardfish's music. I like keyboards as well and am keen on some of the great prog rock that has emanated from Sweden in the last twenty years, so I took the plunge and ordered this.There are a couple of tunes here that stand out immediately, the rest take a few more listens. The short accordion intro, oddly reminiscent of something I've heard by R Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders, neatly segues into a very meaty Sunrise. That alone is enough to grab your attention. Then the McCartneyesque Afternoon Conversation completely changes the mood and illustrates the band's versatility.The heart of the CD is the epic Roulette, a lyrically bleak but musically interesting treatise on the future of humanity, which evokes the cultural attitudes of the avant-garde of the late 1960s. After that high point, the rest of the album is decent but mostly not as impressive with the exception of The Year of the Knife and the last segment of Same Old Song.Overall, I'd sum it up by telling you that this CD is another example of modern Swedish Prog that is worth hearing. The music is imaginative and the lyrics intelligent. What more can you ask for?

This is Beardfish's 3rd studio album and first to be released here in the U.S. The album is part one of a two disc concept piece. Part one is the "day" with part two being his "night". Overall I don't like this quite as much as the band's previous effort "The Sane Day", but the album certainly has its moments. Musically the band takes it's sound from many progressive rock influences. Hints of Frank Zappa, Gentile Giant, Pink Floyd, Yes, and others permeate the disc. There are also passages that evoke jam bands similar to Umphrey's McGee. These guys are great musicians and show off their chops throughout the disc. The vocals and songwriting are also strong. Sweden has been a hotbed for progressive rock in the last decade or so, and Beardfish rank right up with the best of the lot.

Well thought out. But faster, involved too. Peaceful. Political. Angry. Sincere. Loving. Prog rock. Part two is even better.

I've been a fan of Beardfish since seeing them at ProgDay 2006. I would call their previous release, The Sane Day, the best album of the new milennium so far! Why do I feel so great about their stuff? Because the music is intricate while still being incredibly fun, the themes are engaging and imaginative, and because it's so obvious that the band works together well as a unit. This music is dynamic and really grabs you. Highly recommended.

Best new prog band in a long time. Great musicians and song writing. The disc is very melodic. I had high expectations before I heard them. However, when I heard them they surpassed my already high expectations.

Sweden's Beardfish make their debut on Inside Out with the first part of their Sleeping in Traffic piece. Firmly rooted in the aesthetic stylings of 70's prog, most notably Gentle Giant, Genesis, and Zappa, Beardfish's aim is certainly not to break any new ground, but rather to pen songs that carry a distinct retro prog rock sound to them -- and this disc is testimony to their success.Starting with the beautiful accordion melody of "On the Verge of Sanity", the album moves into heavier (as in purer) prog rock domain, at once evoking the surprising turns of Gentle Giant's earlier work, particularly in the way the acoustic guitars are arranged. The song is blessed with big dynamic shifts, rocking hard thanks to the tight rhythm section; and then slowing down in order to create dense, instrumental passages. Rikard Sjoblorn is not merely responsible for the amazing vocals here -- he also plays guitars, accordion, percussion, and keyboards. The synth work on the album is uniformly gorgeous -- the blazing organ sound is reminiscent of Uriah Heep or even early Deep Purple, but the piece also stands out for its Zappa-esque craziness and the maniacal screaming at the finale.More of the band's Zappa influence can be detected on the twelve-minute monster "Roulette", which starts out more in the vein of Supertramp's melodic signature and then transforms into Camel's smooth acoustic guitar arrangements. Having toured with Paatos before, the stark, brooding tone of their music is carried over and comes through during the middle section, which is ultimately darker than anything else on this album. Sjoblorn doubles his vocals here, creating a somewhat disturbed "internal dialogue" vibe, as his subconscious spews forth psychotic statements to contrast his regular, more heldback vocal style. This is also the most political song on the album, and would make for a good piece to introduce the current sound of Beardfish.Slower songs also permeate the album: the Beatles-like piano ballad "Dark Poet" has a sublime vocal harmony while on the acoustic piece "Without You", a short but moving cut, the band opts for a more solemn statement. As for the instrumental aspect of the CD, the Floydian guitar work in the intro of "The Ungodly Slob" resolves with calculated fuzzed out sections and an addition of myriad instruments, including ethnic drumming. It would be interesting to hear more instrumental pieces on the following album, which is said to be in the works already. Also, if you enjoy jam-like sessions where the bands do not lose focus of context, then "And Never Know" is your song. It moves in a freestyle jam, highlighting monstrous rhythm instensity and ferocious guitar work not to mention funky bass throbs taking the lead at times.This band has already two other albums under their belt, but due to lack of promotion, they went unheard even by most prog fans. Now that they're on Inside Out, hopefully their back catalog will receive some attention as well.

sleepiung in Traffic part one. Is the opening of a double album. It opens with some lovely French accordion, which is a showcase for the humour of the band the accordion quickly dissolves in to a kind of ultruistic metal song almost, splashing of keyboard and rambunctious drumming and strumming , striking guitar, What is instantly noticeable is the overall timbre of the band is different to many of the other bands in their general genre category ( I don't really do genres as such) instead of nice fairy keyboard the keybnoard seem quite aggressive and the guitars aren't especially melodic and pure they seem quite gritty and the same with the drums they are quite uncivilised sounding, the bass is quite out of focus giving is a power all it's own. The vocals are in style that is not so dramatic as some other bands on the inside out label, The band however experiment just as much as labels mates and in manys ways they experiment in a much more original way. forexmaple the song Sunrise sounds almost perfectly French. I can picture a mime dancing to this song. The band however hail from Sweden.This is a brilliant start to the double album with its slight Jazzy slightly 60's psych feel mixed with the classic sort of prog.only argument is it lacks a really long song

As with a lot of prog, the more you listen to it the more you like it. I'd already bought Part 2, which is innovative and put together well and I would image written in small chunks and patched together, so Part 1 seemed an obvious next purchase. After the first listen I wasn't sure, but now having played it several more times, including on shuffle it measures up well to Part 2. It's not really background music and needs the listener to sit and appreciate. A good purchase, if in doubt get it :-)

Excellent all round

I came across Beardfish quite by accident, which is sometimes the best way - then you're not disappointed if you check a band out that someone has recommended and they fall short of expectations. Anyway, I seem to be doing exactly that now, don't I?.So, I won't "recommend" them, but I do suggest that you try and get a listen to them. I won't go through the album track by track as I'm still digesting it, but for those of you who like prog without the musical histrionics that sometimes accompanies it, or the over-produced ,clinical, could-be-played-by-computer sort of thing, then this could be for you. The musicianship is top quality (mainly two guitars,bass and drums with additional keyboards and accordion), the arrangements are thoughtful and interesting(changes in tempo and time signature without trying to fry your brain and turn you into a gibbering wreck), and if a song can be performed in a couple of minutes, it is - no unnecessary drawn out solos. The singer's voice doesn't grate, the lyrics are easy enough to follow, even if the grammar goes a bit funny now and again (they're not English, you see), and there is clearly a sense of humour there. There are two instrumentals which avoid going over the top, like some do. Oh, and there is definitely a nod in the direction of the great Gentle Giant (I notice that Giant's guitarist Gary Green is "thanked", as is Roine Stolt of the Flower Kings). I think they're really good and I'd like to see them live.'Nuff said.

Mit Einflüssen aus den 70er Jahren (Zappa, Gentle Giant, ELP) und trotzdem neu... Übringens: auch live ist die Band erlebenswert.

Um sich mit dieser Band anfreunden zu können, sollte man so Einiges gewohnt sein und sehr offenohrig sein. Ausserdem sollte man das Album kaufen und es hören wollen. Ein "Reinhören" führt eher zu voreilligen Schlüssen, die dazu führen könnten, dass ein Urteil der Band nicht gerecht wird. Auch ich habe mich auf das Urteil anderer verlassen und mich mit der Truppe warmgehört. Anfangs war ich nicht so begeistert. Zu schräg und unausgereift schien der Klanghaufen beim Reinhören während dem Auto fahren.Dass dieser erste Höreindruck täuschte zeigte sich darin, dass ich, sobald ich die Cd aus dem Player nahm um etwas Altgewohntes zu hören, mich danach sehnte die ein oder andere Stelle aus "SiT:PO" nochmal zu hören. Eine nicht erklärbare Anziehung ging nach und nach von dem Album aus und ich kaufte mit Begeisterung alle weiteren Neuerscheinungen der Band und wurde immer positiv überrascht.Fest steht, das die Songs alle durchweg sehr schräg klingen und die Melodieführungen es oft im wörtlichen Sinne sind. Der Sänger scheint oftmals bewusst in Lagen abzudriften in denen er vollkommen überfordert ist. Dieses bewusste Stilelement irritiert anfangs, entpuppt sich im Laufe der Zeit jedoch als schönes Schmankerl der Wiedererkennung und der bewussten Schrägheit.Wilde Tempo- und Themenwechsel , das Anreissen von Ideen, das wieder Verwerfen derselben und der rohe Sound bilden das Grundgerüst einer Wilden Achterbahnfahrt.Oft fragt man sich, ob man nicht ein bekanntes Thema der Beatles gehört hat und schon wieder fragt man sich, wie man darauf kam. Ein weiteres kurzes Aufblitzen einer zuckersüßen Melodie und dann wieder diese seltsame Schrägheit. Plötzlich ein sehr französisch wirkendes Schifferklavier, was zusammen mit einem uralt klingenden Klavier in die Vergangenheit einlädt und schon wieder ein verzerrtes Gitarrenriff. Altbacken und frisch, transparent und verwaschen, sperrig und doch eingängig.Instrumententechnisch steht die Orgel oftmals stark im Vordergrund und prägt neben dem extrem charakteristischen Gesang das Bild.Einzelne akrobatische Leistungen an den Instrumenten stehen nie im Vordergrund, obwohl doch sehr komplex musiziert wird.Die Band agiert als homogene Einheit, was bei diesem Chaos an Ideen auch absolut notwendig ist.Unterm Strich läst sich schwer beschreiben , wie die Band klingt. Sie waren von Anfang an sicherlich hochinteressant und die Anschaffung lohnt sich für jeden Abenteurer. Eine solche Musik darbieten zu können verlangt auf jeden Fall können und Hingabe. Sie ist tatsächlich progressiv, eigenständig und essenziell für das Genre.

スウェーデンのプログレバンド、ビアードフィッシュの3rd。2007作1stを聴いた時点ではブルージーでレトロな70'sロック風という印象だったが、2枚組の2ndに続く本作では一聴して音のダイナミズムが増している。70年代を思わせる懐古的なロックを基盤にしているのは前作と同じだが、北欧的な叙情が増して、メロトロンなどもより効果的に使われるようになった。曲におけるメリハリのつけ方や、聴かせ所をしっかりと盛り上げることでサウンドと楽曲の説得力が増して、聴いていてぐいぐい引き込まれる。ブリティッシュハードロック的なヘヴィさと、ブルージーでサイケな質感を上手に北欧プログレの要素にくるめて作り上げたセンスが光っている。

若い世代のバンドながら、同時代の他のプログレアクトとは一線を画するユニークなグループである。音的にはフラワーキングスやポーキュパイン トゥリーからの影響を感じさせる部分があり、カンタベリー/レコメン系の要素も意識しているようだ。だが、このバンドの偉い?所はこうした多様なエッセンスを、“70年代プログレ”という一貫したサウンドコンセプトのもとに再構築した点であろう。今まで有りそうで無かったバンドのように思う。特に本作はInsideOutからのデビュー作でもあり、力の入っている様子が伝わってくる好作。松花堂弁当のようなバリエーションに富む楽曲を楽しめる。