Château du Garage

This is a very strange concoction. Spöket i Köket (Ghost in the Kitchen) are a ten-piece band based in Sweden, on a Danish label, describing themselves as a Swedish/Danish/Belgian big-band playing Nordic-Canadian-inspired loungerave folk. The album takes on board the culinary theme by presenting the tracks as if they are items on a menu. The musicianship is of an undeniably high standard, but I find the whole feast rather indigestible.

That said, snacking on the odd track can be quite enjoyable; the French-Canadian ‘Canot d'Écorce’ is delicious, starting delicately and building into something satisfying and wholesome. Likewise, ‘Ninos Vaggvisa’ is a tasteful little lullaby on solo guitar, later reprised as a closing track with the full brass section. But there are moments when the whole band in full flow create something like a soundtrack to a lost The Benny Hill Show sketch, while ‘Light is Dim/Hommage aux Frères Pigeon’ sounds unnervingly like a dystopian wartime dance band, complete with a guest appearance by Nordic vocal group Åkervinda, made to sound like The Andrews Sisters. Peculiar and rather unsettling.