ALRUNE ROD - Hej Du
Shadoks follows its reissue of the 1969 debut by Alrune Rod, of the most popular hippie bands from Denmark, and their third album (SHAD 187LP, 1972), with this reissue of Hej Du, their amazing second album from 1971. The band took its name from the Danish term for the mandrake root, inspired by the Danish author Albert Dams 1962 book Syv Fortællinger (Seven Stories). The book contains a story in which a Robin Hood-like character is sentenced to death by hanging. At the jerk of the noose he ejaculates, a mandrake root grows up where his semen hits the ground, and a virgin collects and cares for the root, which in turn brings good fortune. Alrune Rods musical style is often described as a hybrid between the Grateful Dead and early Pink Floyd. Hej Du is their real masterpiece. By late summer 1970 Alrune Rod had started recording the album and were given unlimited studio time at Vanløse Bio, a movie theater that housed and operated the Ivar Rosenberg Lydteknik studio at night after the final film screening. The studio was advanced for the time, with a home-built multi-track tape recorder that allowing for experimentation. Hej Du was released in June 1971 with promotional concerts by the new Alrune Rod scheduled across the country. Band member Leif Roden later recalled that Hej Du was on the radio charts for weeks during the summer of 1971, and sold a record-high 12,000 copies. According to the chart lists, Hej Du entered the bi-weekly top-ten album list on June 12, 1971 and stayed there until August 4, with a top position at number-three after Skousen & Ingemanns Herfra Hvor Vi Står and The Doors L.A. Woman. Hej Du is as close to Pink Floyds early sound as any other album from Denmark. Fantastic production and great, long, trippy, psychedelic tracks. 180-gram vinyl. Heavy sleeve. Includes printed inner sleeve and two-page insert. Numbered edition of 500. - Shadoks.