ANEKDOTEN

Jan Erik Liljeström - bass, voice
Nicklas Berg - guitar, mellotron, voice
Peter Nordins - percussion
Anna Sofi Dahlberg - keyboards, cello, voice

In May 1990, Nicklas Berg, Jan Erik Liljeström and Peter Nordins formed a King Crimson cover band under the moniker King Edward in the town of Borlänge, Sweden. Cellist Anna Sofi Dahlberg joined the group in August 1991. As the band began focusing on original material the name was changed to Anekdoten, first suggested by Nicklas. In December 1991, Anekdoten's initial demo tape was recorded, which included the songs Karelia, The Old Man & The Sea, Thoughts In Absence, Darkness Descends and Sad Rain. A second demo was laid down the following year, which contained the songs Where Solitude Remains, The Flow, Longing, and Wheel. These songs comprised the material for Anekdoten's debut CD Vemod, which was professionally recorded at Studio Largen in Sweden in the spring of 1993. Vemod is translated as "melancholy, sadness", an apropos title. The dark, brooding, but beautiful soundscapes full of angular Crimsoid guitars, haunting cello and mellotron, and plaintive English vocals, made Vemod an instant latter-day progressive classic.

Anekdoten's freshman disc garnered exceedingly positive reviews, and invitations to perform live all around the world. During 1994 the band played to enraptured audiences in Europe and North America, culminating in a headline performance at Progfest '94 in Los Angeles. Recording for a second album began in earnest in the summer and fall of 1995. The heavier sophomore effort Nucleus was the fruit of these sessions. This CD was as well received as the first, and Anekdoten gigged all over Europe and Japan in 1996 and 1997. The 4-song live EP from a Swedish concert, and the double live album Official Bootleg- Live in Japan, was released in 1997. The Japanese live set included 5 previously unreleased tracks. This pristine-sounding recording is the definitive document of a typical powerful Anekdoten performance.

In summer 1998 Anekdoten performed at the week-long ProgEst festival in Quebec City, and came south of the border for a few US club dates. In October 1998 Nicklas Berg and Peter Nordins teamed up with Stefan Dimle and Reine Fiske of Landberk to form Morte Macabre. This side project produced the bone-chilling but gorgeous Symphonic Holocaust CD, mainly consisting of soundtrack themes from 1970's era horror movies.

October 1999 saw the release of the long-awaited third studio album From Within. Nicklas Berg has more lead vocals on this new CD, as the band felt his voice better suited the material. Introspective and dark, but musically and emotionally powerful, From Within shows further development in Anekdoten's composition and lyric writing. Immediately after the album's release Anekdoten played gigs in Italy, Germany, France and Belgium. After a few weeks rest, the band embarked on their first-ever South American tour.

As anyone who has seen Anekdoten perform before can attest, the tremendous musical impact of their studio albums is exceeded by their live performance. Anekdoten was one of the first bands booked for this year's festival because of this reputation! We are honored to present this world-class group to you at NEARfest 2000.

Discography

Vemod (1993)
Nucleus (1995)
Live (EP, 1997)
Official Bootleg- Live in Japan (double CD, 1997)
From Within (1999)

website: http://home2.swipnet.se/~w-25753/anekdoten/
email: anekdoten@anekdoten.se