Myrbein

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BIOGRAPHY
Myrbein was formed as a trio in 1977 in Östersund, Sweden by Anders Lönnkvist, drums, Johan von Sydow, bass and Bosse Lindberg, guitar & keyboard. After a short compulsory hard rock period the band started to play covers of songs by King Crimson, 801, etc (Larks tounges in Aspic part II, East of Asteroid, Diamond Head ...). Henry Cow and the Swedish groups Wasa Express and Samla Mannas Manna were other groups that inspired the band. The following year they started to produce own songs ("Pucko vinner", "I helvitt förstår du" ...) in a humouristic and avantgardistic style. The same year the regional radio station made a half hour program on Myrbein and their music.
In 1979 Mats Krouthén, keyboard, voice & clarinet joined the group. Still as a local band, Myrbein made a concert in the autumn which was sent in the national radio in the program "Tonkraft"(Sveriges Radio P3). The band now had developed their experimental style at the local scene with a self-ironic approach to music and performance.
In 1980 Myrbein played three times in Stockholm (at Musikverket, Brygghuset & Kulturhuset). They also had a concert in Sundsvall, playing together with a sister band, the punk band Shit Kids, and they both participated in a summer festival in Tranås. In addition Myrbein wrote a lot of own songs often as a result of a collective process. This resulted in a self-produced LP record, "Myrornas krig" / "The war of the ants" (1000 copies) which was released in February 1981 followed by a short tour in Sweden (Ås, Borås, Stockholm, Eskilstuna & Östersund). The band rehearsed for a few more months but fell asleep that summer.
Myrbein, which means "ant leg" in the local dialect "jamtska", had a reunion at Christmas 1985, playing at the local ANC-aid concert in Östersund. In 1993 the LP was remastered into a CD, now enclosed with a new recording of King Crimsons Larks´ tounges in Aspic part II, bonus track. The ants woke up for another time. When will we hear them again?