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MATS/MORGAN BAND
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THE MUSIC OR THE MONEY?
RUNE 301/302
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The Music or the Money? was the second album by Mats/Morgan, which was originally self-released in 1997 and only available at their shows. The album showcases two different halves to the musician's work; spontaneous playing on compositions and improvisations by the duo with and without additional musicians and as a sort of stylistic counterpoint to that, music that relies on heavily programmed electronic materials, in the vein of Frank Zappa's synclavier works – it remains Mats' favorite album by the group. Both are top drawer players, but their music is not simply a chops-fest of blurred, fast notes - there is a lot of humor and restraint mixed into the virtuosity, which gives them a unique sound. This new edition of The Music or The Money? adds over 45' of unreleased material, all of which features the current version of the Mats/Morgan Band; Mats, Morgan and bassist Gustaf Hielm, who was the bassist of technical metal legends Meshuggah for many years.
"..influenced by Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Earth, Wind & Fire. (They are) tight and precise and seem capable of playing absolutely anything with great gusto...the Mats/Morgan men integrate everything and make it their own." – Audiophile Audition
"Voted the #1 'fusion' drummer in the 2010 Modern Drummer reader's poll: Morgan Agren
“I am floored by their ability to legitimately execute everything from light jazz to super-human staggered 16th note hell to the most violent Pantera-like machine-gun groove to overly-complex synclavier Zappa music… This band can do everything; and it’s just two weird guys from Sweden.” – Ink 19
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TRENDS AND OTHER DISEASES
RUNE 267
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"Trends and Other Diseases" is a reissue of their debut album, recorded from 1993 to 1995 and originally released only in Sweden. This release has been remastered and includes a 15 minute bonus track.
"Trends is our debut CD, and was also the first one we released by ourselves on our own company! It was a great exciting period, cause we had just built our first own studio, (one adat machine and a 24 track Soundcraft board etc). When finally having all the equipment we needed to record, we spent quite some time making this CD.
I like the album a lot, it not only reminds me of this exciting period, I like the songs too, and I was also happy with the way the sound came out, especially considering it was the first recording we did by ourselves.
Nice guest acts as well, such as; Fredrik Söhngen on and Gunnar Persson on Oboe and Bassoon, vocalists Dilba, Derek Huntsman, Meshuggah Guitarist Fredrik Thordendal, saxophonist Jonas Knutsson etc.
And, of course the title of the album is great, and quite appropriate, don’t you think?" - Morgan Agren
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HEAT BEATS LIVE // TOURBOOK 1991-2007
RUNE 265/266
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Mats Öberg (keyboards) and Morgan Ågren (drums) have been playing together for over 25 years. They released 6 previous album (as well as assorted side/solo projects) for their own UAE label for a decade before signing with Cuneiform and releasing their very popular "Thanks For Flying With Us" album. Heat Beats is an excellently recorded live album (except for the applause you would never know it was a live recording) which covers two years of work, featuring Mats and Morgan alone, together and with up to 3 additional musicians. The music is their modern blend of composition, improvisation, complexity and hypnotic beats, as well as their sense of humor. Also included in this package is a second disc, which is Morgan Agren's long worked upon and anticipated DVD release, both with Mats and with other musicians as well.
"This DVD contains various recordings made during a 16 year span, including live and studio recordings featuring many of my favorite musicians, plus lots of solo drums. I am happy that all of this material is recorded at all. It would have been a waste to set my hair on fire without being able to see it after..." - Morgan Agren
"...a fusion-ish instrumental band of almost impossible virtuosity and a palpable sense of fun." – Expose
"Morgan is quite simply one of the most interesting and exciting drummers I've ever heard. Rhythmically advanced and musical too. A rare combination of modern and classic." – Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree)
Above is a preview trailer Morgan made, which gives a really good idea of what the DVD is about, considering that the preview lasts 2:30 and the actual DVD is almost 2 hours long!
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THANKS FOR FLYING WITH US
RUNE 215
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Mats Oberg (keyboards) and Morgan Agren (drums) first began playing together 25 years ago (!!) when Mats was 11 and Morgan was 15. Originally very influenced by Frank Zappa, they actually played with Zappa in 1988, but while some of the Zappa influence remains, they have long since found their own voices. In the mid 90's, they began releasing CDs on Morgan's UAE label, eventually forming a stable band, which has been amazing audiences in Europe and the USA since 2001, and which consists of Mats and Robert Elovsson-keyboards, Jimmy Agren-guitar, Tommy Thordsson-bass and Morgan-drums. All players with superb playing ability, the quintet plays as a well-honed, cohesive unit, with more developed compositions than in earlier works, showing the band arriving at its own voice in progressive jazz/rock, with a modern-sounding blend of complexity, composition, chops and beats. Thanks For Flying With Us is their seventh album, their first release outside of Sweden and their first studio work since 1997. This is a great album by an absolutely monster band who await the world's discovery!
"They played unbelievable, just unbelievable." – Frank Zappa.
"Remarkable technical expertise and playing skills"– Bill Bruford
"Absolutely unbelievable, they drove me right out of my mind, it was so good. Buy their albums." – Mike Keneally.
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