The Amazing Fader TV Session

The Amazing East Village Radio session

Foxy Digitals http://foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=4963
The Amazing (Subliminal Sounds SUBCD30 /XMLP-SUB34)
Another snorecore masterpiece from Sweden, whose artists seem to have cornered the market on psychedelic folk/pop. The Amazing, a veritable supergroup comprised mostly of members of Dungen is one of the main reasons why some of the best music in the world right now is emanating out of Scandinavia. On first listen, opener “The Kirwan Song” seems to be a tribute to the great Fleetwood Mac guitarist and there is a lushly romantic, Bare Trees vibe to the track, which ends with a lovely, extended guitar solo from Reine Fiske. “Dragon” is an evocative, thousand-yard strare with a memorable, country-flavored melody that sounds like Garcia in a pensive mood. This reflective, meditative mood sweeps across most of the album, dragging the listener on a journey across the frozen borderlines, wandering across open fields blanketed by a glistening snowfall. It begs the listener to cozy up in front of a crackling fire to enjoy its enveloping warmth. “Beach House” and “The Strangest Thing” sound more like Mark Kozelek than the Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon leader’s own solo work (I know what records vocalist Christoffer Gunrup has been locked up in his bedroom listening to for the past decade!), while dreamy cinematic soundscapes like “Code II” offer a tip of the dome in the direction of another one of Sweden’s fine psychedelic exports, The Soundtrack of Our Lives. “Deportation Day” is one of many tracks to capture the spirit of CSNY at their peak and “Is It Likely” rolls along with the stoned, Laurel Canyon vibe of Crosby’s If Only I Could Remember My Name’s drug-addled confab. And I haven’t even mentioned the killer psych pop conundrum, “Dead” or the coma-inducing, navel-gazing, 12-minute anthem, “Had To Keep Walking.” Highly recommended to fans of that early 70’s West Coast vibe, as well as the solo work of Kozelek and Majave 3’s Neil Halstead. In a year full of remarkable debuts, this may be the best and, for once, a band lives up to its haughty moniker. 10/10 -- Jeff Penczak (27 October,

2009) t5m.com - Introducing - September 09
The Amazing (Subliminal Sounds SUBCD30 /XMLP-SUB34)
The Amazing are one of those bands who have somewhat shot themselves in the foot by choosing a name that is impossible to Google (another is Lawrence Arabia). No matter, as this is another group from Sweden intent on dosing themselves with ‘traditional’ rock and roll, mild folkish psychedelia and Californian singer-songwriters and spewing out something innocently beautiful. It is a peculiar trait of the more under-the-radar-but-critically-adored Scandinavian bands in recent years to be peddling throwback rock with a fresh, untainted glimmer to it. The Amazing (hell, even their name suggests obliviousness to any contemporary trends, that’s the name of a glam rock band circa 1973 if ever there was one) have a self-titled debut album that is on one hand beholden to the UK folk revival bands of the late sixties, such as Denny/Thompson period Fairport Convention, and on the other a certain seventies Grateful Dead-esque woozy quality, along with pseudo-Neil Young songwriting. There is also the small matter of… Fleetwood Mac. The Amazing would probably be flattered by a comparison with that most bloated of rock juggernauts. The first song on their record, ‘The Kirwan Song’ is an exaggerated, but excellent, tribute to Danny Kirwan. Kirwan was the Mac guitarist from 1968 to 1972, and The Amazing apparently have a strange fetish for him. There are indeed Mac-ish touches all over the LP, certainly in the reverb-happy guitar sounds eeked out by Reine Fiske, but The Amazing have a more diverse palette than just humdrum white blues. The odd slip into Americana and even shoegaze ensure that. The Mac affiliation is furthered by the fact The Amazing are something of a Swedish rock supergroup. Fiske and drummer Johan Holmegard are full-time members of psych hipsters Dungen, while singer Christoffer Gunrup is a prominent Swedish solo artist and multi-instrumentalist Fredrik Swahn a member of Dream Boy. That’s appropriate, because these fellows really, really like Fleetwood Mac. An unfalteringly inventive yet painstakingly and gloriously derivative new band.
http://www.t5m.com/barnaby-smith/introducing-the-amazing.htm

Pitchfork :
The Amazing (Subliminal Sounds SUBCD30 /XMLP-SUB34)
"Freight train, each car looks the same," the Allman Brothers sing on their iconic road ballad "Melissa". For "Dragon", which has ringing acoustic chords and weeping slide guitar in common with the Allmans' song, that train would more likely be the California Zephyr, or maybe a rural English passenger line. The Amazing are Dungen members Reine Fisk and John Holmegard, plus ex-Granada frontman Christoffer Gunrup and his fellow Anna Järvinen collaborator Fredrik Swahn. They mine this mellow gold-- off their self-titled LP on Subliminal Sounds-- from both the unhurried singer/songwriting of 1970s Laurel Canyon and the mystic introspection of Nick Drake. Organ adds a seasonally appropriate gleam, while loose, conversational drumming keeps the song from drifting off into lullaby land. "Things turn brighter around here," Gunrup sings, in a light, effective, vaguely British-sounding tenor, which come to think of it might also appeal to people who like the twilit folk-pop of the Clientele. In deepest dreams, "Dragon" flies.[from The Amazing; out now on Subliminal Sounds] 7 points— Marc Hogan, October 20, 2009 http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11570-dragon/

Altsounds - News Piece - 16 October 09
The Amazing (Subliminal Sounds SUBCD30 /XMLP-SUB34)
THE AMAZING - 'The Amazing' (Subliminal Sounds) UK release for an album already receiving lashings of critical acclaim in The Amazing's native Sweden, this bold debut is an all-encompassing sonic soundscape of groovy electric folk rock, psychedelic pop and airy acoustic ballads. Comprising of musicians who were friends long before they formed a band, The Amazing boast two members of Dungen in their ranks. Gorgeous mix of Pink Floyd-esq sonic sounds (one for your headphones!) and delicate balladry that fans of Nick Drake will appreciate. http://hangout.altsounds.com/news/111908-latest-releases-from-the-phantom-band-paul-haig-and-the-amazing.html

The Amazing - The Music Critic - Album Review - 28 September 09
The Amazing (Subliminal Sounds SUBCD30 /XMLP-SUB34)
4/5
Calling yourself The Amazing could be taken as either a dangerous folly or a statement of intent, but you don't get the feeling that these guys saw it that way when they chose their moniker. The Swedish outfits music harks back to the heady days of Woodstock. A blend of Byrds style jangly guitars and Stephen Stills blues infused country rock all topped off with a big dollop of (pre Woodstock) Country Joe and The Fish. Released on the Swedish imprint Subliminal Sounds, the home of Lisa O Piu and Dungen, a label that is known for its love of psychedelia and that is exactly what we get here. Opener The Kirwan Song, a tribute to one time Fleetwood Mac guitarist Danny Kirwan, is an extended folk rock workout with a very English feel. I'm sure Kirwan would approve. I have to say that it is on the more stripped down acoustic based numbers that the band really come into their own. Beach House and Is It Likely are gloriously summer tinged and transport you to California's highway one, cruising in a Ford Mustang with the hood down. This is an album that is hard not to like, mainly because it has a certain familiarity to it. From the Hawkwindesque Code II to the Moby Grape sounding Deportation Day and with more than a whiff of Thunderclap Newman's Something In The Air about it, Dead. The best as they say, is saved to last with the epic Had To Keep Walking and wistful acoustic The Strangest Thing. The former, at 11 mins long, is a throwback to Neil Young in his finest alt-country mode while the latter, the shortest track on the album, is just acoustic guitar and vocals, and simply beautiful. If you are looking for the perfect accompaniment to the end of summer, then this album just could be it. http://www.themusiccritic.co.uk/2009/09/amazing-amazing.html

Dusted reviews Oct, 13, 2009
The Amazing (Subliminal Sounds SUBCD30 /XMLP-SUB34)
The Amazing filters psychedelia and California pop through a cool Scandinavian lens, wrapping eddies of drumming and rampant guitar in fuzzy serenity. The band’s combination of styles is perfectly understandable when you consider its members: four guys from Dungen and former Granada frontman Christoffer Gunrup.
It’s hard to overstate how damn pleasant this record is -- the very thing, if you’re so inclined, for staring out the window mid-morning on a nice Saturday. Little tempests of noise brew in the harder, more psychedelic tracks, but never disturb the tranquility. Dungen’s Johan Holmegard drums, often, as if he’s in a much louder band, building a busy, clamorous friction under watercolor washes of temperate sound. Reine Fisk, also from Dungen, strews globs of bent guitar sound over sunstreaked melodies, sometimes surreally lucid, other times explosive, yet always subsumed within an unruffled whole. And singer Gunrup has one of those cool, unhurried, effortlessly carrying voices suited for the backward-looking emotions of pop – regret, nostalgia, distant fondness. The best of the Amazing’s songs approximate Dungen’s luminous, psychedelic swirl with only a patina of pop. These songs dive the deepest into instrumental storm and drama, coming up only incidentally, breaking the surface into melody with the blinking dazzlement of deep sea swimmers. Of these, “Code II” seems the most successful, its taunts and squeals of organ coming over heavy, slow-paced guitar riffs and abstract flurries of drum. The instrumental part of this song is satisfyingly murky, mysterious and boiling with energy, yet it is pushed down in the mix, way under the dreamy vocals, producing the merest threat of violence at the peripheries. “Dead” is similar, a heavy psych barnstormer heard dimly from behind a thick glass of pop. Other cuts – “The Kirwan Song,” “Dragon” and “Is It Likely” -- are more like pure songwriter pop, light as air, devastatingly pretty, but without any palpable sense of tension. “Is It Likely” floats weightlessly, little bent guitar notes pinging through airy melodies, a vaguely Latin woodblock beat driving the motion forward. And finally, the CD (but not the vinyl) includes a trio of airly picked, softly sung folk songs – “Beach House,” “Romanian” and “The Strangest Thing” – performed primarily by Gunrup and one guitar. There are, however, a couple of songs that bridge the psych/pop divide nicely. “Had to Keep Walking” drops three minutes of abstract, feedback-dopplered guitar into a pristine pop structure, then picks up as if nothing special had happened, with the opening’s cool melodies and dual guitars. “Deportation Day” melds folk, pop and psych most effortlessly, however, the jangly, paisley garage guitars melting into the easy lilt of melody. The combination of velvety psyche and breezy tunefulness on "Deportation Day" makes you realize that, at its best, The Amazing is considerably more than a poppier, accessible Dungen. It’s like a unicorn -- very similar to a horse, made magical by a small difference. http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5311

EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD: The Amazing - Dragon
Posted 9/30/2009 9:30 AM by Mike Wolf
I am trying to avoid the obvious. Must…resist…argh…okay okay okay, I surrender: Hey everybody, check out this Amazing song! Ahhhh. Sorry, really I am, because this Swedish quartet deserves better than my cornball routine — in fact, the airy folk-rock band (which includes two Dungen dudes) goes a long way to reclaiming the true meaning of their name from the hipster hordes who hurl the word “amazing” at every faint breeze. The Amazing’s self-titled debut, out in a couple of weeks through the always-fresh Subliminal Sounds label, takes seasonally affecting melancholy and makes it something other than sad. Dig the sweet sweet sweet “Dragon,” its Nick Drake–style strum balanced against an achingly familiar guitar line — pure autumnal romance. Please forgive me my banalities, but this stuff is kind of amazing. http://rcrdlbl.com/2009/09/30/exclusive_new_download_the_amazing_dragon

The Amazing (Subliminal Sounds SUBCD30 /XMLP-SUB34)
The Amazing is een nog niet erg bekend Zweeds bandje dat zich voornamelijk laat inspireren door psychedelisch pop/rock van zo'n 35 jaar geleden. Dat gebeurt op hun titelloze langspeler met een groots en episch geluid. Ze weten perfect desolate, weemoedige dan wel hoopvolle klanken op te roepen, zowel in het wat voortvarender werk als in de akoestische ballads. De opener "The Kirwan Song" is wel gebaseerd op het thema van "Sunny Side of Heaven" van Danny Kirwan, maar ook daarna kan je niet om de kwaliteiten van The Amazing heen. Nergens klinken ze achterhaald en hun grootste troef is misschien zanger (en gitarist) Christoffer Gunrup, behept met een prachtig stemgeluid. Het is een album dat je steeds van voor tot achter wil beluisteren zonder te skippen, want zo wordt bijvoorbeeld "Code II" een echte climax na het akoestische "Beach House". Het zou zonde zijn mocht dit meesterwerkje snel in de vergeetput verdwijnen. Gepubliceerd op 25/09/2009
http://www.dreun.be/

The Amazing - Too Cool To Die - New Band Of The Day - 24 September 09
The Amazing are built around the songs and voice of lead songwriter Christofffer Gunrup, the rest of the Amazing world is coloured in by the Dungen players who bring their own particular palate to Gunrup’s songs.
The result? Their debut album has the instant icon status and the feel their songs have been soundtracking your life for years. The Amazing are no exercise in retro retreads, instead they take the template and lessons learned of classic rock’n'roll to reinvent and make their own world with songs. We had no choice but to track down Christoffer Gunrup and question him on the musical manifestos of the Amazing.
http://www.toocooltodie.com/index.php?/tctd/mp3blog/the_amazing/

The Amazing answer our Questions of Doom

The Amazing are built around the songs and voice of lead songwriter Christofffer Gunrup, the rest of the Amazing world is coloured in by the Dungen players who bring their own particular palate to Gunrup's songs. The result? Their debut album has the instant icon status and the feel their songs have been soundtracking your life for years. The Amazing are no exercise in retro retreads, instead they take the template and lessons learned of classic rock'n'roll to reinvent and make their own world with songs. We had no choice but to track down Christoffer Gunrup and question him on the musical manifestos of the Amazing.

The Amazing and Anna Järvinen both have come out of the former Granada band to release some frankly great music, do you feel Granada will be known as the lost classic Swedish band?
Christoffer Gunrup: No. I won’t mind if no one remembers Granada. I suppose we had some qualities as a band, or almost family, and perhaps Anna and I still have at least the lust for making music. But most of all i think Granada were afraid which seems kind of wonderful in retrospect.

The Amazing players have come out of Dungen world and have also played on Anna’s album, do you see the Dungen players as more of a musical collective in Sweden than a specific band (considering Life on Earth and the Works).
CRG: Personally I see them as friends and wouldn’t care who they play/ed with. But I think they should be seen as a band. Together they are quite fantastic.

What do you think the Dungen players brought to your songs?
CG: Laughs, wonderful and sometimes weird social get-togethers. But playing with Reine Fiske and Johan Holmegard makes it more of a collective thing than in Granada, actually. They really listen and bring their own thing into a song. And it almost always works out great. In that sense they are fantastic to play with. And like me; i don’t think they take themselves so seriously, but the music - yes.

What particular manifesto or aesthetic are you reaching for in the Amazing?
CG: We have to fly now.

Sweden seems to play host to a lot of fun, inspiration, eccentric and amazing music characters - I recently discovered the genius of Bjorn Olsson, what lost musical characters from Sweden, who we should be rediscovering?
CG: Maybe i leave that one to Reine. I’ve known Björn Olsson for ten years and he´s probably the funniest man alive and a loner. You have to respect that.
Reine Fiske: Well, there’s probably more characters, both present and from the past. Bo Hansson is from the past, but his music is timeless. He was something of a catalyst within the underground rock movement in the early 70´s in Sweden, most of the most amazing players was around him and his music I’m personally influenced mostly by Scandinavian musicians and albums from the 1960-70´s. But I also know that maybe I should broaden my perspectives a bit…

Do you find with myspace/CDR culture it is easier to reflect and explore music at a faster rate than before and do you think this is a good or bad thing?
CG: Sometimes that fast pace make you a bit tired, doesn’t it?

Are you searching for the perfect pop song? Do you think you’ve found it?
CG: No. Never will, i suppose. I’m not considering anything while writing songs or recording. Usually it just happens, feelings and what not and the others might feel a bit confused about where the hell a song is going, but in the end i guess i manage to make them happy. They certainly make me and the songs happy. It’s always the same ADHD-method I use when a make an album. It’s great fun for me.

Your label Subliminal Sounds has done some amazing reissue work, what albums do you personally recommend from the label?
Reine Fiske: I’ve worked quite a lot with Stefan Kéry and there are some more projects on the way, both in film and music. I personally put together most of the Pärson Sound and Baby Grandmothers CD´s so of course I like those, but Stefan’s ear for the unknown and bizarre music of the underground is pretty amazing. It’s hard to pin down which of the reissues that are the best… Our projects will hopefully continue to prosper next year though. One involves the music of BoAnders Persson recorded in the 60´s before and during the founding of Pärson Sound, the next is to put together a DVD collection of old private films from the Träd, Gräs och Stenar band family and also one with the amazing Norwegian multi-artist KjARTan who sadly passed away last year.

What is the biggest misconception you’ve received with your music?
CG: That we, for some reason, are put together because of whom we are or were, who we play with. That implies we don’t really mean what we do. I hate that.

What are your feelings about the new record and what do you feel is the tightest jam?
CG: I actually like it, today. I have a problem with this. I tend to want to make more music as soon as we’ve finished a record. And i guess I’m kind of in the middle of things in a way, so usually I hate my own input and love the others. But the record has a nice feeling, I think. It almost flies.

Why so serious about Danny Kirwan? I did a search after listening to your myspace and found out I was friends with a relative of Danny’s - why do you think a Kirwan retrospective is in order?
CG:Then i guess you have to arrange a meeting with Danny Kirwan and Reine Fiske! Mr Kirwan is one of the best guitar players ever. Unbelievable. Prodigy. And songwriter, “Sunny side of heaven” etc. The way he and Peter Green played together is absolutely mind blowing.

What is the Amazing’s greatest secret?
CG: Of course we can’t tell you that. It’s secret.

What albums, films or songs were you under the influence of when you were writing for the Amazing? Or are key to understanding the Amazing.
CG: Well, I guess my songwriting comes from the music I love from past till present. I never think about it, I never turn to music for inspiration while recording. When I’m making music and record music I rarely listen to other music. But when we get together to record it’s always an intense party, an inferno of drinks and - music. Master Reine Fiske is the ultimate DJ. He won’t let us near the records or YouTube from where he finds rare clips of amazing artists from the 60´s and 70´s. He once threatened to kill us if we didn’t like a song he was playing. He’s a wonderful man.