{"product_id":"civilistjavel-alvgang","title":"Civilistjävel! - Älvgång","description":"\u003cp\u003eWith his last three records all landing within a calendar year (2024-25), enigmatic Swedish producer \u003cstrong\u003eCivilistjävel!\u003c\/strong\u003e (aka \u003cstrong\u003eTomas Bodén\u003c\/strong\u003e) is on a hot streak of releases, his singular vision increasingly ambitious and expansive. There are few artists working at this level so consistently right now, reinventing, revising and continually developing their language. Following on from 2025’s radically re-worked ‘\u003cem\u003eVersions\u003c\/em\u003e’ (of \u003cstrong\u003eMayssa Jallad\u003c\/strong\u003e’s ‘\u003cem\u003eMarjaa…\u003c\/em\u003e’), Bodén returns to break further fresh ground with his new album, ‘\u003cem\u003eÄlvgång\u003c\/em\u003e’. Featuring contributions from \u003cstrong\u003eSoccer Committee\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eCarrier\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eguest\u003c\/strong\u003e (aka \u003cstrong\u003eJabu\u003c\/strong\u003e’s \u003cstrong\u003eJasmine Butt\u003c\/strong\u003e), ‘\u003cem\u003eÄlvgång\u003c\/em\u003e’ foregrounds a more brittle and insistent rhythm-based sound, whilst comprising his most broad-ranging collection of material to date.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eÄlvgång\u003c\/em\u003e’ grew out of a series of sketches made from late ‘24 and throughout the whole of ‘25 at Stockholm’s renowned EMS Studios, which gave Boden free rein to its extensive collection of vintage analogue equipment and rare modular synthesizers such as the Serge and Buchla systems. As a loose framework of tracks began to take shape, so did a reflection of sorts, on family and foundations, underpinned or influenced by sounds that drifted into Tomas consciousness around this time - ancient Swedish pastoral music, Georgian lithurgical chants, gongs, chimes. An idea settled into place, a dedication to his Grandfather, as the earlier release \u003cem\u003eFyra Platser\u003c\/em\u003e (tr. ‘Four Places’) was to his Grandmother. \u003cem\u003eÄlvgång\u003c\/em\u003e is grounded with the sense of time and place of an old family photograph, with the tracks over each side bearing one of two names that are more or less the same location - Strinne was the old name for a this loose collection of villages. These days it is more commonly known as Bjärtrå. Metaphorically speaking, the river runs through both.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCivilistjävel! conjures so many adjectives and descriptors, ‘glacial’ and ‘ambient’ frequently among them - but while not altogether untrue, such terms belie the tension and drama so often present in Tomas’ music. Listening to ‘\u003cem\u003eÄlvgång\u003c\/em\u003e’ is not a passive experience. The eight tracks here feel like a patchwork of memories that bathe in the same ethereal, otherworldly glow of Tarkovsky’s polaroids’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe machine pulses that dominate this landscape are reigned in and tempered by a human hand; lithe, untethered coils, breathing in and out. ‘\u003cem\u003eStrinne Ett\u003c\/em\u003e’ sets out with purpose, sensing awe and wonder through the murk, but as the final tone unfurls like a question mark, another chapter begins, unfolding\/building like a Tarjei Vesaas novel. These lyrical, abstract miniatures combine to reveal a wider context, fragile humanity standing alone against nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGuest appearances on Civilistjävel! records have become a regular occurrence (including recent collaborations with \u003cstrong\u003eMayssa Jallad\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eLaila Sakini\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eCucina Povera\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eThomas Bush\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eEldon\u003c\/strong\u003e + \u003cstrong\u003eWithdrawn\u003c\/strong\u003e), but are used sparingly and with increasing precision. On ‘\u003cem\u003eStrinne Tre\u003c\/em\u003e’ \u003cstrong\u003eMariska Baars\u003c\/strong\u003e’ (Soccer Committee) voice feels like a balm, a clearing. But as her simple, three-word incantation drifts further into fog, the meaning changes, and her words seem to curdle. Carrier’s beats widen the parameters on ‘\u003cem\u003eStrinne Fyra\u003c\/em\u003e’, a skittering promise that builds tension then refuses to release it; all false starts, Photek gongs, and trinkling modulars. Jabu’s Jasmine Butt pulls all the threads together for the final track, Thomas Tallis’ ghost walking over offset machine impulses, that work against their own symmetry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSide two begins inquisitively, scanning bleached, alien surroundings, its sparse pads recalling \u003cstrong\u003eAphex Twin\u003c\/strong\u003e’s ‘\u003cem\u003eSelected Ambient works Vol 2\u003c\/em\u003e’. '\u003cem\u003eBjärtrå Två\u003c\/em\u003e’ picks up the baton from ' \u003cem\u003eStrinne Fyra\u003c\/em\u003e’ with a ruptured Simmons SDS200 analogue drum synth set free from its shackles, the rhythm eventually slotting into the spaces that were hiding in plain sight. What follows seems like an epiphany; ‘\u003cem\u003eBjärtrå Tre\u003c\/em\u003e’ is achingly beautiful, a euphoric, winding ascent that leads to devotional plainsong. ‘\u003cem\u003eBjärtrå Fyra\u003c\/em\u003e‘s final unheralded shift feels both tragic and haunting.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SIX OF SWORDS","offers":[{"title":"Black Vinyl LP","offer_id":59351590437209,"sku":"SDZ-52086","price":26.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":59351590469977,"sku":"SDZ-52087","price":15.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0588\/3455\/0945\/files\/CAR_20260909_1500_140257_724_v_5056321699367_005.jpg?v=1788967048","url":"https:\/\/spindizzyrecords.com\/products\/civilistjavel-alvgang","provider":"Spindizzy Dublin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}