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Baker's Dozen

Monumental Simplicity: Anna Von Hausswolff's Favourite Albums
John Freeman , December 8th, 2015 09:51

The Swedish musician talks to John Freeman about the 13 records that "opened doors" and helped create the blueprint for the mighty organ drone of her new album, The Miraculous, before she plays two UK shows

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Earth And Fire - Song Of The Marching Children
I don't know a lot about this band. I think they are quite a secretive band - they had a lot of success in the '70s and then they went from being a prog rock band to being a pop band, when they started to sound more like ABBA. I am not a fan of their pop material, but I really liked their old style and I think it is a shame they changed and it would have been cool if they had insisted on sticking with their original style.

The reason I like this album so much is largely down to Jerney Kaagman's voice. It is very powerful and also very honest in its expression and fits the music perfectly. Her voice is quite similar to Nico's voice. I love all of the songs on this album and this album is almost like a soundtrack to me, because of how the songs connect to each other.

It also seems to me that they had a lot of fun in the studio while making this record. The sounds and the song structures are very harmonic and there is a lot of incredible improvisation. I also love the Hammond organ on the album and it seems like something Bo Hansson would have played if he had been in a prog rock band and less into jazz. Earth And Fire are a band who make me think of other bands I really enjoy like Coven, but I think this record is above any other prog rock band.