Orient Squeezers is a solo project by Swedish musician Håkan Almkvist, someone that many will remember due to his sitar and tabla parts in the excellent Stardust we are by The Flower Kings. Almkvist is a very versatile and imaginative musician and, we could add, a hard-working man. At the moment he is involved in four projects that produce a part of the most innovative, experimental and interesting progressive rock of the moment, and I don't exaggerate, not even a bit: the prog-RIO band Ensemble Nimbus, the ambient Tween Deck 2, the collaborations with Peter Lindahl in In The Labyrinth and, finally, his Oriental-prog adventure Orient Squeezers. And why is the music of these four bands so interesting? Because they understand progressive rock as generous synthesis of influences, because they expand the limits of the genre with their talent, risk and imagination, and because they are really far from repeating any traditional clichés of the prog rock scene, which is what are 90% (and maybe more) of the current progressive bands and musicians usually do. 

Orient Squeezers published their first work, called Sadhu, in 1999, and one year later they released a new album. Nagas, starts with the sound outlines taken from their prime opera, which means, an advanced progressive rock style with a strong oriental, more precisely Hindu, component, though it is relatively different. The complexity of textures and rhythms has remarkably increased, and there is also a slight reduction of the melodic parts of the music. Moreover, the presence of electric guitar and keyboards has also intensified, and it gives the music of this second work a nearer approach to standard progressive rock than on the first one, although the distance is still really large. Finally, the general tone of the album is darker and also more hypnotic, something that can be directly related, in part, to the increasing complexity of this music. 

The mention of the instruments used in the work can probably give the progVisions reader an idea of the kind of music included in Nagas. Almkvist takes part as a sitar, chart, tanpura, zither, electric guitar, bass, keyboards and percussion player as well as voices, sampler, tapes, loops and Fx controller, whereas two members of Ensemble Nimbus collaborate in one theme: Lars Björk at the altered clarinet and Hasse Bruniusson at rhythmloop and sound effects. 

There are eleven tracks in the whole record. "Hawks bay" (5:00) presents dark airs full of mystery in a theme dominated by keyboards, electric guitar and some excellent rhythms. Next, "Sun wheel" (4:49) brings near us to the heart of India thanks to its sweet and elaborated melody based on sitar and with a great work from the tabla and the electric guitar. "Rat bag" (4:08) includes a powerful and complex rhythm base and a supple and vibrant melody, and that’s why we could say that it is a very dynamic and wild piece. "Snake dance" (5:23) is a hypnotic and repetitive improvisation of Almkvist, Björk and Bruniusson, closer to Ensemble Nimbus ambient-more electronic music than to Orient Squeezers. "Mayida" (4:51) presents an extraordinary percussions work while the melody is built on synthesisers. It is a piece aimed at liberating details and textures off a very high complexity more than showing a melodic argument. 

"Cosmic dancer" (4:28) sounds like an improvised track due to its strange structures, concluding with some very interesting instrumental fusions dominated by the sitar. "Kulfi" (4:43) seems to be a recreation of an Oriental traditional air, with a very sweet and melodic tune, a bright one. "Garuda" (4:15) is a repetitive piece that seems to recreate the whole magic and mystery of the oriental nights. "Mata Hari" (3:36) introduces a stunning rhythm, with an excellent sitar and an impressive rhythm, we are certainly in front of one of the most interesting songs of this album. "Rambutan" (3:34) frees those hidden nocturne airs, developing between ambient atmospheres, as if it were an Oriental version of the Tween Deck 2 project. The disc closes with "Princess of clouds" (5:20) that includes an electric guitar and some highly worked synthesiser parts, presenting us a special and well balanced blend of progressive rock and Hindu music. The instrumental developments are very beautiful, just marvellous. 

Of course, for fans of progressive rock that evolves constantly, it is compulsory to enter the world of the four bands that I have mentioned, and this Orient Squeezers' album is a beautiful sample of the synthesis and innovation that progressive music should lead. Peter Gabriel, Jon Anderson, Asia Minor, Jade Warrior, Agitation Free, Jethro Tull and many other interesting groups noticed that the Oriental music also has a place of its own in rock music. Orient Squeezers are in charge of proving it once again with Nagas. I heartly recommend it. 

Jaume Pujol - September 2000

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