Sweden again proves that the pure water from the fjörds offers a great deal more than just quenching your thirst! Whilst Roine Stolt's Flower Kings are getting more and more recognition, their keyboard player Tomas Bodin has found the time to write his very own album An Ordinary Night In My Ordinary Life. Released at the very end of '96 it nevertheless got as high as number two in my list of favourites for 1996.

Surrounded by an authentic Hammond C3, Fender Rhodes, Mellotron, loads of synths and backed by guitarist Roine Stolt, bass player Michael Stolt, percussionist Hasse Bruniusson and drummer Jaime Salazar you can easily say that you almost get a new Flower Kings album in your hands.

The end result simply is a "must" for all those who love a succession of rhythm changes done by a choice collection of some of the best musicians around. However it hasn't become a showcase for a bunch of individuals but a well-oiled group sound with of course the leading part reserved for the rich keyboard patterns from Tomas.

Don't be put off by the spacey psychedelic opener "Entering The Spacebike" as I think that's Tomas' way of including a joke, but it has to be said that there are plenty of psychedelic side-tracks throughout the album! "Into The Dreamscape" makes you glide into a deep, blissful trance just like the title suggests (and this without the use of harmful products!). There's a crowning feature for guitarist Roine Stolt in "The Ballerina From Far Beyond."

I already told you about Tomas' love for humour in his music. The best example comes with "An Ordinary Nightmare In Poor Mr. Hope's Ordinary Life" where a voice is heard saying "Number ten, number ten" as opposed to the Beatles "Number nine." "The Magic Rollercoaster" is a funky jazzy thing that is a showcase for the versatile talent of bass player Owe Eriksson.

In fact there's not one weak moment on the entire album so it's useless introducing them one by one. However I would like to stop at "Three Stories," a song based on the diverging characters of Tomas' three children. He gave each of them an appropriate title: Samuel - the knight, Adam - the prophet, and Miranda - the queen.

Ah, the life of a musician can be grand even if he only sees it as An Ordinary Night In My Ordinary Life. Some of them are never satisfied!