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Pupillerna I Kosmos: Review by Mika Kertunnen "Timmen" (1967) featured the psychedelic club Filips. (Which existed during the summer of 1967 to the winter of the same year) They showed the SWE Psych scene of the times. A classic everyone must see. "Symfoni Realista 1 & 2 " (1967) Kjartan Slettemark and his mate Robert Jäppinen do their cult plastic wrapping art, in which Kjartan is mummified in plastic as an political statement against the U.S. military's use of napalm in Vietnam. "Symfoni Realistista 3: Diamanten hué" (1968) Shows us Kjartan and Robert having an art happening on Sergels torg, Stockholm. Background music is by the heaviest of heavy Baby Grandmothers…yes Hardrock with Marshall stacks for the right warmth and blast-a-rama. "Symfoni Realista 3 Dipoli art happening, Helsinki, Finland (1968) A Finnish art happen in which Kjartan and Robert do their cult wrap art to the background music of Baby Grandmothers! It's no wonder that of the 2000 entries only 200+ made it and this was one of them. With a mind expanding plastic wrapping of Kjartan, backed by Sweden's H –E- A- V- I- E-S-T hardrock band you can't go wrong. It's said that Baby Grandmothers recorded a single in Finland as well during this trip. (I need to hear it!) "Being is more than life" (1969) Yes my gurus Mecki Mark Men and their video/film for that way great meditative track from the B side of the 2nd Mecki Mark Men album "Running in the summer night" (1969) You have Mecki and crew in their hippie gear meditating in the SWE forest, I could watch this film every day of my life…It's a crime no one supports Mecki and his band. People lack the basic talent to comprehend this band or others like Harvester/Träd, gräs och stenar. This song was originally a Baby Grandmothers piece. (Mecki teamed up with the Baby Grandmothers and together they became Mecki Mark Men MkII) "Shrink" (1969) Kjartan time again! Yes wrapping in plastic in South Sweden at the Underground 69 art exhibition, which was prosecuted for being too provocative. Yes you all know the legend of the hasch smoking naked chick poster being burned etc, etc. This Kjartan piece is backed by way psyched out minimalistic music by Kjartan Himself! "Stadsvandringar" (1969) A film by Kjartan filming Stockholm hippies walking in the city and playing guitar on the lawns of the Stockholm parks and in the process provoking Stockholm common Joe's while just being themselves! The background music here is by sitar psych guru's Handgjort! "Polisväxten" (1969) The police plant as in a one week old marijuana plant (I love this countries naiveness…Hell has anyone in this country seen a real 6 foot hemp plant with potent buds?) Well this was Kjartans pro marijuana campaign, which revolved around the said week old plant, planted in Humle Gårdens Park in a real posh side of Stockholm called Östermalm. The backing music to the first part of this film is a way great, a hazy acid blues, hardrock jam by an underrated SWE band called Telefon Paijsa. (I need to hear them. Freaks get in touch!) The second half of the film is backed by a wasted minimalistic Kjartan piece. (If my memory serves me correct.) "Lektion i konsten att falla" (1969) Kjartan time! Well the idea behind this happening was that Kjartan got problems with the mainstream society due to his freaky yet cool ways. He lost the teaching position he held at Stockholm's art college due to not wanting to conform to the rigidness of the mainstream society of the times. Society wanted this provocative person out of action and tried to get place him under psychiatric "care". Well they failed and Kjartans anti-psychiatric art phase began. This happening involved International Harvester (Träd, gräs och stenar) backing Kjartan musically while the man himself walked symbolically on a rope to demonstrate his "balance" (read: sanity) This happening was staged at a packed Ceders Kafé in South Stockholm, you actually can see Mecki and Co in the crowd!. I meet Kjartan at the Hjärtat sitter till vänster art exhibition and I can say the guy is among the sanest guys I have meet, how many "modern people" would decline a $15 000 offer for one of his works of art. That is sanity and a sign of spiritual growth. He is a cool dude and I hope he gets a renaissance very soon! "I Villande skogen / Sommaren 1969 (1969) 20 minutes of a deep Heavy psychedelic Harvester. (pre Träd, gräs…) Pure magic in the beloved Swedish forest…a true transcendental experience, a trip which makes drugs opposite …Just amazing both film and music! The second half of the film shows us the band at their country place in Hälsingland up North! We love and appreciate our gurus! "Högpartiet" (1970): There is no stopping our friend Kjartan… He organized a pro marijuana political party and ran for parliament here in Sweden. The posters he used featured the (at the time) leader of the conservative - party: Yngve Holmberg. (Finally I know who the guy is. I thought he was a "Big brother sees you" kind of character) During the original film festival of 1998 this "gubben" (dude) as we dubbed him, was freaking us out. The film shows us Kjartan and his hippie friends smoking, tripping to their hearts and minds delight in the forest and at some marshland. This film was backed by real cool transcendental eastern style minimalistic music. "Norrlands resa/ Brinnande bilder" (1969) Time for Träd, gräs och stenar…First the road movie with the guys driving up north in their hand painted hippified cars. Torbjörn's DKW had a way cool tree on the bonnet and cool psych art all over. Who owns it now? Brinnande bilder (Burning pictures) is a classic, which is still very much in time, as Bo Anders Persson acknowledged at the happening. (Which also screened the Pupillerna films.) It shows you pictures of consumer goods being burnt while a heavy melancholic, Träd, gräs piece is played in the background! This is Träd, gräs at their amazing peak. These mentioned recordings MUST be made available to the public (Guru it's time for a SWE Re soon isn't it?, keep your eyes peeled for that!) "Kjartans psykiska ohälsa – ett borderline case" (1969) Yes the on going odyssey about straggle with the Swedish psychiatric health care system. Well they couldn't have him admitted so they described some heavy duty downers for him called Hibernal (read: hibernation) Well Kjartan didn't take these "zombie trips" so he began to create anti-psychiatric works of art using these mentioned pills as an foundation. Kjartan's case got space in the big SWE morning newspaper Dagens Nyheter (The day's news) and this exposure put a permanent halt to the psychiatric systems attempts to get Kjartan admitted. Kjartan asked for internal - political asylum against the Swedish society's harassment of freaky hippies. (Editor: Way to go! fight for your right to be yourself, predjoiced Joe's can take a hike!) "Jo-Jo" (1969/70-71) this guy, Sture Mars was active as a youth worker during the early 70's and ran the youth place Terrassen and Gamla bro. This film shows us the activities that went down at these places. "Gamla Bro" (1970) At the pop källare (pop basement) of this youth place we got to see live tracks by Ljudbolaget (A band which sounded like Arbete & Fritid to my ears), Mecki Mark Men MkII (Wow!) and Träd, gräs och stenar (Wow again!)This is really amazing footage which, I for one appreciate very much. "Drakfest" (16.5.1970) This is the famous kite festival on the legendary Gärdet field just outside Stockholm's city. You have freaky hippies flying their kites to the Heavy jamming of Träd, gräs och stenar playing live together out there on the field. Träd, gräs… would find themselves hosting the legendary Gärdet festival three weeks after this event on this very same field. "Huldra, mamba, gräs" (1970) A film by Joakim Skogsberg (The same hippie who recorded Träd, gräs och stenars live set during the first Gärdet Festival, which was Reissued a while back!) This film has the guy walking in the forest while puffing a way on his bong pipe ha, ha. Later on you see the guy taking a dip in a waterfall. All this backed by the enticing sounds of a mouth harp (No not a harmonica, it's one of those ding,dong, dang things) (Editor: Are you sober?) "Festen på Gärdet" (12. 6. 1970) The first legendary Swedish hippie music festival on the Gärdet field outside of Stockholm's city. This film shows us the whole process of organizing the happening to the actual bands playing out there on the field with all the way cool people who attended it. You get way great live cuts with Glans över sjö och strand (amazing high quality Folk rock), Fläsket Brinner (I live for seeing the drummers beanie with the swinging tuft (Swe: "tofs") and stoned gaze! They play a early version of the classic "Tysta Finskan" (Trans: The quiet Finnish chick), Gudibrallan play a wacky version of the 60's SWE pop tune "Cadillac" naturally re titled and reworked no doubt. Träd, gräs och stenar play a cover of the Swedish minimalist joke band: Philemon Arthur & the dung's "In kommer Gösta"(also featured on the reissued CD but this original version is heavier and has more warmth!) This is a Classic film, which should be reissued on Video or DVD together with the rest of this amazing stuff. "Musikfester"(1970) More footage from Swedish music festivals, with performances by Telefon Paijsa (underrated!), Glans över sjö och strand (more great folk rock!), Members of Fläsket Brinner???!! , An incredibly H E A V Y monster hardrock piece by Träd, gräs och stenar among others. I love this film. "Mecki Mark Men- Stockholm's terassen summer 1970" (1970) A MONSTER Heavy Psych/hardrock wet dream from the summer of 1970 by a dangerous Mecki and crew…Man they put their Marshall stacks to work (Editor: the only way to go!) The guys start of with a tune probably of their 1970 album "Marathon". (No at the time of writing I still haven' t heard that album! freaks get in touch or I will explode! ha) They play the song and after approximately 4 minutes they freak out into a Blue Cheer/Freedom's children Live like Monster jam never experienced since! Fuck this Live track devastated the crowd last year and it still kicks your ass to smithereens. Well the original track was 20 minutes long! But the videotape fucked up so it stayed at aprox 10 to 15 minutes…Yes the tape couldn't hold this monster blast. The law of physics friends. This Mecki live stuff (and the rest) must be reissued or this world is more fucked up than I first could comprehend. Well it will happen in due time. "Dom där" (1971) Well my sidekick Jim thought I was too hard in my last review over these hippie kiddies, Well I wasn't. You don't ask the common Joe's permission to do your thing, you work for it with your sweat and frustration as any underground freak will tell you. These kids demanded mainstream society to give them a place to hang out. For the under aged kids I can dig it but the adults among them should work for there places. The Mecki look a like dude had a good attitude that you must work for your stuff yourself and not ask the mainstream crowd for help. This film shows you how this country has developed. People are slaves of the government, they can't do a thing without them. As I say, if there is a genuine will there usually is a way providing it is physically and mentally possible. It usually is possible. Break the chains of illusion fellow music freaks. Just look at Guru and his buddies. They have single handedly made the scene happen, take note sleep walkers of Sweden! "Kjartan på Liljevalchs/Fläsket Brinner" (1971) The first part of this film shows us Kjartan silk-screening Nixon pictures in twisted psychedelic colors with provocation as goal. The second half of this film shows the amazing creation of the cover of Fläsket Brinners debut album. Kjartan and Hans Esselius took a pig's head and placed it in a fire place and lit the creation while they filmed the creation, creating that burning pig's head featured on the cover of Fläsket Brinners classic debut. Before seeing this film I thought it was a painting. Now we know… "Handgjort
och Mecki Mark Men – Gärdet 1971" (1971) Monsters from the Swedish
music scene, like the underground lists would say. Handgjort play that "Tillsammans"
song which the old hippies at this video lounge recognized and sang along with,
way to go!, (by the way, hello again! Det var otroligt eller hur!) Mecki Mark
Men play here their last show together as the MkII line up. During the same year
Kenny Håkansson and the other 2 previous Baby Grandmothers members Bella
Linnarsson and Pelle Ekman form Kebnekaise and release the cult "Resa mot
okänt mål" album. It's a pity people didn't give Mecki Mark Men
more attention. They were a great band. "Moment" (1971) This was a television
program about the closing of a jazz/progressive rock club called Gyllene cirkeln.
(Golden circle) The reasons for the closure give you a picture about the attitude
the mainstream society had concerning underground music. This place lost it's
liquor license despite the fact most of attending crowd were around 25 years of
age? It sounds more like harassment against alternative life styles by the mainstream
society, hell they should have sent Kjartan on the bureaucrat in charge. Anyway
this program shows us November playing "Allt genom dej" live. All in
all this was an amazing film festival, which grows on you after each time you
see it. I saw the reprise on two evenings. (On the 28th from 12 noon to 3.30 in
the afternoon and on the 29th from 2pm to 7.30 in the evening, with no breaks
or whatever. I was too tried to go and see it on the 30th , wonder why?) My sincerest
thanks to Stefan Guru Kéry and Reine Fiske for organizing this and other
great happenings/Mika |
