Kaipa - Keyholder


Year of Release: 2002
Label: InsideOut
Catalog Number: IOMCD 132/SPV 085-65982
Format: CD
Total Time: 77:03:00

When Hans Lundin teamed up with his good friend Roine Stolt again in order to record the album Notes From The Past virtually everyone thought it concerned a pure one-off. The number of positive reviews got Lundin thinking. Meanwhile the contract with Musea would soon expire and Inside Out had shown an interest in re-releasing Kaipa's first three albums in remastered form and including bonus tracks. These bonus tracks might be pulled from the three singles the band released or include tracks from the band's forth and fifth albums Händer and Nattdjurstid which were never released on CD in their own right. The sudden interest in Kaipa, plus the fact that Lundin could enlist some great musicians, gave him extra energy to continue delivering outstanding music under the moniker of Kaipa.

As on Notes From The Past Ritual singer Patrik Lundström steps forward as being the band's lead singer, although we should also mention Aleena whose rather naïve sounding voice blends ever so well with the Mellotron during "A Complex Work Of Art." By adding drummer Morgan Ägren, who used to play with Zappa, and bass player Jonas Reingold, the band fuses some jazz references into their original music. The music of the current Kaipa still is based around the same parameters as in their early days, so do expect a fair amount of pure seventies sounds and tons of analogue keys. Next to the elaborate arrangements you can also expect a lot of rhythm changes and breaks. The latter often offer synchronised bass and drums which delivers a very powerful drive. In fact, Kaipa in this new century has no problem at all to even include eastern influences as during ?Sonic Pearls." Or to hit those chords a little harder as during ?End Of The Rope," where we also witness some Canterbury moments. The nice thing with Kaipa is that although they have two outstanding singers in the band, they still deliver lengthy instrumental passages. The passage where Roine's high pitched guitar blends with Lundin's Hammond organ simply is wonderful whilst the craftmanship of Morgan Ägren becomes very clear here. Also Stolt's slide guitar rules as well as his subtle fragile solos.

Originally launched in the glorious seventies no doubt the mighty Mellotron gets a special place in the history of Kaipa. On this new album it gets a prominent place in the intro for ?Across The Big Uncertain" which also sports some superb fretless bass from Jonas Reingold next to the wonderful melodies. ?Distant Voices" changes from Yes-like structures to pure improvisation where Reingold's bass sounds almost like authentic Squire! The album closes with one of the most powerful guitar solos on the album, backed with tons of Mellotron -- a proof of Kaipa's status as one of the purest symphonic outfits. The nice thing about this album is the fact that it's rather different than Notes From The Past yet it sounds like authentic Kaipa throughout. This kind of means that the band has once again put its recognizable stamp onto the music, yet has broken new ground as well. Especially in the rhythm section the band now tends to rub shoulders with jazz and fusion without making it too obvious. It's that constant weaving of different styles that finally creates the Keyholder.


Tracklisting:
Lifetime Of A Journey (8:14) / A Complex Work Of Art (11:57) / The Weed Of All Mankind (9:29) / Sonic Pearls (6:06) / End Of The Rope (13:59) / Across The Big Uncertain (8:30) / Distant Voices (13:00) / Otherwordly Brights (7:08)

Musicians:
Hans Lundin - Hammond organ, synthesizers, mellotron, pianos & vocals
Roine Stolt - electric & acoustic guitars, percussion & vocals
Morgan Ågren - drums
Jonas Reingold - fretless & Yamaha custom basses
Patrik Lundstr¨m - lead and backing vocals
Aleena - lead and backing vocals

Discography:
Kaipa (1975)
Inget Nytt Under Solen (1978)
Solo (1978)
Händer (1980)
Nattdjustid (1982)
Notes From The Past (2002)
Keyholder (2003)
Mindrevolution (2005)
The Decca Years 1975-1978 (2005)
Angling Feelings (2007)
In The Wake Of Evolution (2010)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin SE

Added: September 22nd 2003
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: www.kaipa.info
Hits: 2533
Language: english

  

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