Linnaeus Väsen / Linnaeus Vasen

Linnaeus was the Swede who created the system of taxonomy we use for plants and animals, and 2007 marks the 300th anniversary of his birth. So it's hardly surprising that Sweden's best acoustic band, Väsen, should have been commissioned to make the music for the celebration. The remarkable thing is that what they've assembled, apart from one track, is music that relates pretty directly to Linnaeus. Even better is the fact that it's superbly played by the quartet. They've continued to grow in stature, and now they have the power of a rock band — except for the amplification. They're not afraid to get atonal — moments of the solo on "Skimspolska" resemble a feedback electric guitar solo. There's real elegance in the arrangements, which play to the strengths of all four musicians, and the percussion, in particular, deserves a mention. It's subtle, often unobtrusive, but gives a real propulsion to everything. Every aspect of this impresses, from the research to the performance, on a superb record.