This 26-track collection represents a transition for Lars Hollmer, marking the end of his original Chickenhouse studio (represented by the final track, the two-second sound of a closing door) and the opening of a new Chickenhouse, which, as Lars wrote in the liners, used "the best parts of the old one." Vandelmässa assembles odds 'n' ends composed and recorded mainly between 1983 and 1993 -- that is, between his studio album Från Natt Idag and the live Door Floor Something Window -- and these recordings feature Lasse overdubbed on his typical array of keyboards, accordion, and anything else he could get his hands on. Five tracks -- "Träumeri," "Växeltango," "Doina," "Årstidsvisan," and "Novelty" -- were re-recorded during autumn 1993 at the new Chickenhouse with involvement from a number of longtime Hollmer collaborators (including drummer Hans Bruniusson, keyboardist Olle Sundin, guitarist Eino Haapala, saxophonist Ulf Wallander, bassist Lars Krantz, and bassoonist Sven Aarflot), not to mention vocal contributions from Hollmer kids Gabriel and Rinda, and several new tracks with Lars unaccompanied by others also appear. For the most part, Vandelmässa avoids sounding scattershot, particularly given that the whole album was mixed and edited during the same fall 1993 time frame. And there are some true Lasse classics here, including the lovely, melancholic version of Zamla Mammas Manna's "Årstidsvisan (Seasonsong) dating all the way back to 1972, sung gently by Lars and featuring a beautiful contribution from Aarflot. Other tunes are here for the first time and would reappear on subsequent Hollmer discs, such as "Südaf," recorded in a more chamber-esque version as "Südaf II" on 2000's Utsikter; "Växeltango" and "Novelty," recorded by the fiery young SOLA ensemble in Japan and appearing on the Global Home Project CD in 2002; and "Alicetheme II," one of his theater music pieces from 1989, which would be reworked as simply "Alice" and appear on Viandra in 2008. And "Teatime," from 1989, is a jaunty little number lasting scarcely over a minute here; the piece would become positively frantic and discombobulated across four and a half minutes on Door Floor Something Window.
Among the numbers that (seem to) appear only on Vandelmässa, "Träumeri," composed in 1987, is an energetic and powerful opener. Driven by keyboard arpeggios and a steady rhythm first heard as a ticking clock (a much slower clock would be used more unsettlingly to mark the passage of time at the conclusion of Viandra's "Alice" 20 years later), the tune is leavened by Lasse's Canterbury-esque wordless vocalizing and accordion melodies, while nonetheless unfolding dramatically as it segues from one section to the next. "Gåvan" (The Gift), with all instruments played by Lasse in 1988, ambles along at a relaxed pace with ukulele strums that give the tune a Simon Jeffes/Penguin Cafe Orchestra feel. "Sväng," on the other hand, tightens up with multi-layered syncopations punctuating its 5/4 root rhythm -- the acoustic/electric percussion mix underpins a Middle Eastern-flavored accordion melody in a mélange that is world music on one hand, and pure Lars Hollmer on the other. Scattered throughout are interludes of Hollmer at his more "experimental," one of the most intriguing being the two-minute "Valgrotta," with mysterious ghostly emanations and keyboard voicings seemingly from "Through Glass," the most ethereal and otherworldly track from Vendeltid (and indeed, "Valgrotta" appears to have been recorded concurrent with that landmark album). "Un Affair" is definitely Lasse at his wackiest, including a parody of seduction with a spoken vocal suggesting a German/Scandinavian Barry White (with harp embellishments) and a bridge of crazed cartoon music, all seguing into a sort of Hawaiian-flavored clanking robotic coda set to a rhythm loop of snoring. Over 73 minutes long, Vandelmässa is a generous offering, mixing the undeniably great with a few Chickenhouse scratchings that reveal the madness to Lars' method -- idiosyncratic, entertaining, and sometimes moving, it is a worthy addendum to his other recordings of the period.