In daily life Hakan Almkvist is the guitar player with the very experimental Ensemble Nimbus. However, his adoration for the mysterious east goes way beyond the boundaries of the Ensemble Nimbus music, because there he has to take account of the musical influences from his fellow musicians. On Nagas he wrestles himself through contagious music filled with psychedelic sitar whilst playing all the instruments himself. Next to the evident bass, guitar, keyboards and percussion he also plays sitar, tabla, zither and tanpura. Add to this the royal amount of loops, tapes and special effects and you understand that Hakan is able to brew a contemporary sound. On “Snake Dance” he is joined by Lars Björk and Hasse Bruniusson both also members of Ensemble Nimbus so as to keep it in the family. The eleven songs on this album are all a bit short which means the repetitive element doesn’t go on too long so as to be gentle on your nerves. “Mayida” has that floating atmosphere, a combination between a cosmic approach backed by a rhythmic undercurrent. In “Kulfi” it’s as if Ravi Shankar has found new life, a life which is closer to reality and is even flirting with some reggae bass guitar here! With “Mata Hari” you immediately get a scarcely dressed beauty in front of your retina so that you need to be reanimated soon afterwards. In all a very neat experiment which certainly won't deliver a platinum award to Hakan but will certainly be digested by lovers of psychedelic tinted music. Now get that incense out of the bottom drawer! Reviewed by: John 'Bo Bo' Bollenberg |
