Record Reviews

HAAKON ELLINGSEN ~ BOUNTY PERFECT POP 57 (Barcode: 7090001911279) ~ NORWAY ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 2005 Released: 2005 3rd album by this Norwegian artists, who further develops his personal style based on a mixture of Pop, Psychedelica and Prog. As on his earlier albums, Haakon is accompanied by a bunch of fellow Norwegian musicians, all of them excellent players, which gives the album rich instrumental contents and enhances the beautiful melodies even further. The overall sound is very similar to the familiar Psychedelic sound of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which could easily fool the listener to believe he is listening to an unknown album from the glorious past. Haakon wrote all the music and lyrics (except one poem by Lord Byron) presented here and his songwriting seems to be developing beautifully from one album to the next, which of course makes me already curious about his next album. If you are a fan of deeply melodic, superbly arranged and somewhat melancholic music in the 1960s-1970s vein, grab this album ASAP – satisfaction guaranteed.

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend

HAAKON ELLINGSEN ~ THE PLUM ALBUM TERMO 02 ~ NORWAY ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 2008 Released: 2008 4th album by Norwegian singer / songwriter Haakon EllingsenFind albums by this artist, one of the great music craftsmen who is able to combine Pop harmonies, Prog instrumentation and Psychedelic memories into beautiful songs, like only very few contemporary songwriters can. With help from several excellent Norwegian musicians, some of which are members of Norway´s great Prog bands like White WillowFind albums by this artist, Haakon creates a magical atmosphere of sophisticated Pop with Prog and Jazz undertones and exquisite melodies resembling the best of the 1960s output. However, this album goes way beyond simple nostalgic revisit of times long gone, adding contemporary values of excellent production and studio technology and bringing the 1960s legacy up to date. There is not much more I can (or should) add here, just relax and enjoy this great music and if you don´t have his earlier albums, grab them ASAP! Delightful!

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Recommend To A Friend

HAAKON ELLINGSEN ~ WHAT IS TO COME...? PERFECT POP 53 (Barcode: 7090001919985) ~ NORWAY ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 2004 Released: 2004 2nd album by Norwegian singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist from Oslo, with a bunch of fellow musicians helping him out under the banner of “Sir Haakon And The Popular Musicians”. The Scandinavian countries are of course an endless source of great music, but I’d have never discovered this gem if not for maestro Haakon himself contacting me on MySpace and later on sending his CDs over. I was honestly quite surprised when the music started playing. This is a splendid mixture of Pop, Psychedelica and Prog, with a beautiful retro sound, which creates an imaginary “lost” treasure from the 1960s, sometime circa “Strawberry Fields” give or take a year. Mind you, I am not saying here that Haakon is a Beatles impersonator, nothing could be further from the truth. Some influence of the Lennon / McCartney style is present, but all in good measure, with many other influences evident. Haakon manages to combine all these influences splendidly to create his own personal songwriting and singing style (the vocals are in English) and his melodies are just excellent. Add to this the strong instrumental work by him and his supporting band and great recording sound and you get a truly beautiful, delightful and interesting album, which deserves repetitive listening. Warmly recommended to ageless hippies (like myself) and younger people who still have enough left of their hearing sense to spot a good melody.

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend