Artist: Mando Diao
Label: EMI Records
Release: 2006
Mando Diao are loyally building on their musical identity, and with the album “Ode To Ochrasy” they’ve only reinforced the demand they sparked with their earlier releases. Why swap out a winning horse? Well, for now they don’t seem to think it’s necessary, so what we get is a record that, pretty predictably, shuffles between harder, faster tracks and slower ballads propped up by a string quartet. Taken as a whole, every song feels perfectly suited to a gathering around a campfire, with an old guitar in your hands, a warm beer within reach, a sausage over the flames and your crush by your side.
But there’s other stuff here too! Songs about a budding hockey hero and occasional actor, Luc Robitaille, about the original “unabomber,” Ted Kaczynski, a rhyme for (Al) Pacino with Demons, and similar curiosities – those can’t go unnoticed! They really do deserve at least a bit of attention. Or maybe they already get too much?
The music itself isn’t bad either. In fact it’s pretty varied, accessible and very easy to listen to. At times it does toy with way too many clichés and patterns we’ve heard way too often, which can even be a little annoying, or at least unnecessary. On the other hand, you can’t ignore the fact that, with all the guest musicians enriching their otherwise pretty classic rock sound with trumpets, saxophones and strings, a lot of potential sadly goes untapped. All it would take is expanding and building on a few clever little touches that their arrangements only barely brush against, and the whole thing would sound far more recognizable, original and distinctive. The line between Mando Diao and the thousands of other similar-sounding bands would get sharper, to their own benefit. Ode To Ochrasy leaves a bittersweet aftertaste for any listener who’s even slightly critical and slightly more demanding, because you can’t quite shake the feeling that, with a few exceptions, it’s all made mainly for undiscerning, easily satisfied listeners.
Well, for many people, including review writers, that’s apparently enough, since at the end of the day it doesn’t look like their music career is going anywhere but up. One more reason to stick with the same horse for at least a while longer!
Lineup
Bjorn Dixgard – vocals, guitar
Gustaf Noren – vocals, guitar
Mats Bjorke – organ, keyboards, backing vocals
Carl Johan Fogelklon – bass guitar, backing vocals
Samuel Giers – drums, percussion, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Andreas Forsman – violin (#9,10,13)
Erik Arvinder – violin (#9,10,13)
Erik Holm – viola (#9,10,13)
Anna Landberg Dager – cello (#9,10,13)
Goran Kajfes – trumpet (#2,4)
Per Rusktrask Johansson – tenor saxophone (#2,4)
Gabriel Munck – backing vocals (#8)
Production
Mando Diao, Patrik Heikinpieti & Bjorn Olsson
Tracklist
01. Welcome Home, Luc Robitaille
02. Killer Kaczynski
03. Long Before Rock ‘n’ Roll
04. The Wildfire (If It Was True)
05. You Don’t Understand Me
06. Tony Zoulias (Lustful Life)
07. Amsterdam
08. TV & Me
09. Josephine
10. The New Boy
11. Morning Paper Dirt
12. Good Morning, Herr Horst
13. Song For Aberdeen
14. Ochrasy
Album length: 46.11
