Philemon Arthur and the Dung is a

music group A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, ...

from

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, consisting of two members known only by their

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s ''Philemon Arthur'' and ''the Dung''. The band formed in the early 1960s under the name The Popbeams, which they changed before the release of their first album in 1972. The duo's true identities are most likely known only to a few individuals at

Silence Records Silence (Silence Records AB), is a Swedish record company located outside Koppom, Värmland in Sweden. Silence was started in 1970 in Stockholm and released records by, amongst others: Bo Hansson, Philemon Arthur and the Dung, Samla Mammas Manna, ...

, the record label that the band has worked with since 1971. Philemon Arthur and the Dung do not want their identities to be known, lest those who live in their small village find out who they are. The band's music is recorded on reel-to-reel tape decks with crackling

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

s and is played on untuned

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

and a home-made

drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player ( drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsti ...

built of

tin can A steel can, tin can, tin (especially in British English, Australian English, Canadian English and South African English), steel packaging, or can is a container for the distribution or storage of goods, made of thin metal. Many cans re ...

s and

tray A tray is a shallow platform designed for the carrying of items. It can be fashioned from numerous materials, including silver, brass, sheet iron, paperboard, wood, melamine, and molded pulp. Trays range in cost from inexpensive molded pulp tray ...

s, with the occasional accompaniment of household objects such as

saucepan Cookware and bakeware is food preparation equipment, such as cooking pots, pans, baking sheets etc. used in kitchens. Cookware is used on a stove or range cooktop, while bakeware is used in an oven. Some utensils are considered both cookware ...

radiator Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

s and toy instruments. The lyrics vary from utter

nonsense Nonsense is a communication, via speech, writing, or any other symbolic system, that lacks any coherent meaning. Sometimes in ordinary usage, nonsense is synonymous with absurdity or the ridiculous To be ridiculous is to be something which is ...

, to profoundly whimsical observations about everyday life, to

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

concerning social phenomena such as

homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

, and

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

. Despite their

outsider Outsider(s) may refer to: Film * ''Outsider'' (1997 film), a 1997 Slovene-language film * ''Outsider'' (2012 film), a Malayalam-language Indian film * ''Outsiders'' (1980 film), a South Korean film featuring Won Mi-kyung Literature * Outside ...

-persona, the band has received much notice across Sweden. Their surrealistic self-titled debut won a Swedish Grammy for the best Swedish LP of 1972, which came to the dismay of many. Modern Swedish bands like their fellow Scanians bob hund have been greatly inspired by Philemon Arthur and the Dung, and it was this eccentric duo who discovered and forwarded bob hund's

demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

to Silence Records. Their songs have been covered by several Swedish artists including bob hund, Träd, Gräs och Stenar and Dom Dummaste. Their identities have not been revealed, but

Magnus Uggla Per Allan Magnus Claësson Uggla (pronounced ; born 18 June 1954) is a Swedish artist, composer, actor, and occasional radio host. He is known for his satire, satirical lyrics. Uggla was born in Stockholm. He was the lead singer of the hard r ...

's 1987 cover of " In Kommer Gösta" was credited to Mats Larsson.

Discography

*''Philemon Arthur and the Dung'' (1971) *''Skisser över 1914 års badmössor'' ( Eng. ''Sketches of the bathing caps of 1914'') (1987) *''Musikens historia del 1 och 2'' (Eng. ''The history of music part 1 & 2'') compilation disc, (1992) *''Får jag spy i ditt paraply?'' (Eng. ''May I vomit in your umbrella?'') (2002)

References

External links

Record label's website
{{Authority control Swedish musicians Swedish satirists Lo-fi music groups Outsider musicians Unidentified people Silence Records artists