Anekdoten
A Time Of Day

Who among you has recently searched for albums that could at least partially recreate the magic of the early seventies British scene? I am among those who have tried, and as I kept searching, I discovered Anekdoten. After the Änglagård, the cold wind from Sweden has brought us this very interesting band, which with this album being reviewed, "A Time Of Day" (Virta, 2007) is on their fifth studio work. Since 1993, Anekdoten's discographic releases have always been rather spread out over time, which has proven to be a good and just thing, considering the high level of their works.

Characterized by a style that clearly winks at the progressive scene, the mother of timeless masterpieces, their music is a joy to the ears of both nostalgic lovers of the golden years and newcomers to this genre.

The band resumes the theme left by the Crimson King in "Red", favoring a heavy use of the mellotron perfectly played by the cellist Anna Sofi Dahlberg, introducing atypical instruments like the vibraphone or the cello and enriching the scene through the flute masterfully played by guest star Gunnar Bergsten.

The Swedish quartet stands out for their pursuit of soft melodies where the mellotron acts as a backdrop, always present but never over the top, of warm, dreamlike, sometimes melancholic atmospheres, for the simple but not trivial use of the guitar, the barely perceptible percussion, the delicate phrasings of the flute.

Stylish signals can be found for example in "30 Pieces" with its vaguely folk flavor and beautiful ending where Bergsten explains why he started playing the flute, in "Stardust And Sand", delicate and dreamy, in "In For A Ride" where the sounds become closer to those of the Canterbury school, and in the piece that closes the album, "Prince Of The Ocean" romantic and melancholic, leaving us with the sad awareness that the fairy tale has ended.

This is what Anekdoten is all about, a band that at least for me was easy to love, a band that chose the most difficult path but pursued it in the best way. Certainly, there is no intention of making comparisons with the illustrious names who wrote a piece of music history, but let's give them a chance, let's listen to them and maybe for a bit, we will go back a few years.