Dungen
Swedish collective Dungen is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Gustav Ejstes and their music blends '60s-styled psychedelic rock, free jazz, Swedish folk, and instrumental ambience. With a band of like-minded explorers surrounding him, Ejstes' records with Dungen expand sonic boundaries with songs that sound like lost psych-pop hits from late-'60s Europe. Early efforts like the 2004's Ta Det Lugnt set the scene for an evolution that continued for over two decades on subsequent works like 2022's En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog.
Raised in the small village of Lanna in Vastergotland, Sweden, Ejstes was weaned on regional folk music and '60s rock at a young age by his violin-playing father. He discovered the world of hip-hop as a teenager and quickly embraced the genre, later deeming it his "punk phase." An obsession with the science of sampling followed, and through his own experiments with the genre he was exposed to a wealth of '60s and '70s Swedish underground music. The organic nature of the recordings stirred something in Ejstes, who wanted to prove his capability in playing all of the instruments he'd previously been sampling. He subsequently moved to his mother's farm in the woods of nearby Smaland and began honing his craft in a studio in his grandmother's basement.
Ejstes made his debut with Dungen, an ambitious album that was released in 2001 by his friend Stefan Kéry's label, Subliminal Sounds. The record received enough attention from the underground community to attract the Dolores/Virgin label, and Ejstes found himself back in the studio to record a series of three Dungen singles, one of which appeared on the soundtrack for The Jungle Book 2. Dungen's breakthrough international album, Ta Det Lugnt, was then released by Subliminal Sounds in 2004, followed by a second release (this one accompanied by a bonus disc) by the American label Kemado in July 2005. Although Ejstes handled many of the album's instrumental passages himself, he also pieced together a lineup (including guitarist Reine Fiske, bassist Mattias Gustavsson, and drummer Fredrik Björling) to help him during the recording process. The Dungen collective then hit the road in support of Ta Det Lugnt, whose psychedelic sound had won the band a number of fans in America.
A follow-up effort, Tio Bitar, arrived in 2007, focusing on well-crafted songs as well as Dungen's traditional jams, and 4 appeared the following year. Featuring a newfound emphasis on piano, the album also included percussion from a new drummer, Johan Holmegard. The group toured in support and played several dates with Fleet Foxes before returning home to work on Skit I Allt, which was released in 2010. Following a five-year gap, their seventh album, Allas Sak, which loosely translates to "anyone's thing," arrived in September of 2015.
In between Skit I Allt and Allas Sak, the band was asked to write and record a score for the 1926 film The Adventures of Prince Achmed. The all-instrumental piece was produced by Mathias Glavå, mixed and edited by hand onto analog tape, and finally released by Mexican Summer in late 2016 as Häxan. Norwegian space-disco producer Prins Thomas was asked to remix the album's sessions, and Häxan (Versions by Prins Thomas) appeared in September of 2017. A few months earlier, the band had played 2017's Marfa Myths Festival in Texas, where one of the other headliners was the band Woods. As part of the festivities, the two bands were given a chance to collaborate; Ejstes and Fiske teamed with Woods' Jeremy Earl and Jarvis Taveniere to write songs and record them free of outside pressures. The results were released by Mexican Summer in early 2018 as Myths 003. In 2022, Dungen released En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog, their eighth proper studio album and first in seven years. Roughly translated from Swedish, the album's title means "One is too many and a thousand is never enough."
© James Christopher Monger /TiVo
Similar artists
-
Alberto Balsalm (Aquarium Drunkard's Lagniappe Session)
Rock - Released by Mexican Summer on Jun 6, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Häxan (Versions by Prins Thomas)
Alternative & Indie - Released by Smalltown Supersound on Sep 20, 2017
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ta det lugnt
Rock - Released by Subliminal Sounds on May 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog
Rock - Released by Mexican Summer on Oct 7, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Myths 003
Alternative & Indie - Released by Mexican Summer on Mar 16, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
4
Alternative & Indie - Released by Kemado Records on Sep 30, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stadsvandringar
Pop - Released by Parlophone Sweden on Oct 4, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
-
Tio Bitar
Alternative & Indie - Released by Kemado Records on May 15, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Skit I Allt
Alternative & Indie - Released by Mexican Summer on Sep 14, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Turn Around
Alternative & Indie - Released by Mexican Summer on Jan 30, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Desert Moon
Alternative & Indie - Released by Sapphire Records on Jul 20, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Nattens Sista Strimma Ljus
Rock - Released by Mexican Summer on Jun 29, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Var Har Du Varit
Rock - Released by Mexican Summer on May 22, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Om Det Finns Något Som Du Vill Fråga Mig
Rock - Released by Mexican Summer on Aug 9, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo