Swedish group Pallin has chosen a very difficult path for themselves inthe modern age of Swedish music. A market and genre that usuallyincludes fairly horrible bands with grating pop sensibilities has nouse for Pallin, who create guitar-and-strings-based simple compositionsthat are perfect background music for your Saturday afternoon fishingtrip. "A One Bedroom Apartment," then, is a decidedly quiet affair, butnot without moments of jarring efficiency. The first release I've heardby the band, this collection is assured, playful, yet not entirelystunning. The only thing I felt throughout my listening to this CD thattroubled me was the overwhelming feeling that I'd heard it all before,just by some other band. Some tracks were reminiscent of EricBachmann's work with Crooked Fingers and Barry Black, others soundedvaguely like structures on a gybe! record. But if you're going toremind people of other bands, you can't go wrong with those two. AndPallin rarely goes wrong. This music is soothing without pretense,gorgeous without effort, and memorable without complete originality. Itis a "yawner" in areas: the first moments of the title track left meclose to the longest sleep since Rip Van Winkle, and most tracks dotake a few moments to build to their true happy hunting ground.However, the musicians are confident in their abilities, and do holdcommand over their instruments. I haven't heard twang like this on mostcountry records of recent memory, and that's precisely where it shouldbe found. I could have done without the few moments of field recording,but, ultimately, it doesn't really matter by the final track, which isjust plain lovely while entirely too short. Easily my pick of the week.
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