CD Review: Kaipa - In The Wake Of Evolution

Monday 19th April: It doesn't take much to get me to try out new music and, in the case of In The Wake Of Evolution - the tenth studio album by Swedish band Kaipa - it was nothing more than an advert on the back of Classic Rock Presents Prog magazine. Kaipa have a long history, having been around since the mid 70's but they are currently in their second incarnation - they originally split in the 80's but were reformed by keyboard player Hans Lundin in the early 2000s. Lundin, the only original member, has put together a band featuring some of Sweden's best prog musicians, including members of The Flower Kings, Ritual, Karmakanic (great name) and an ex-Zappa drummer. (Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings and Transatlantic has been a past member of both incarantions.)

Weighing in at over 70 minutes of music in just 8 tracks, In The Wake Of Evolution is a CD of mixed styles, fusing folk and prog rock with some heavy guitar and drum work to produce an exciting, engrossing and, it has to be said, at times meandering album of superb music.

At times, the vocals, both from Patrik Lundstrom and Aleena Gibson, across as a bit theatrical. Lundstrom often sounds a bit like a snarly villainous figure, especially during the opening title track and Gibson comes across as a Swedish Bonnie Tyler during The Words Are Like Leaves, a track where her vocals are almost drowned by the music anyway. But that can be forgiven and, I suspect is at least partly due to them singing in what I assume is their second language.

There is, however, nothing to forgive in the music which is at times whimsical in its use of keyboards and recorder, at others orchestral and at others a lot heavier than most of the prog in my collection. In true prog style, however, there are some incredible variations, not just between individual tracks but within them. Tracks such as In The Heart Of Her Own Magical Field and Folkia's First Decision (the shortest track and only instrumental on the album) start of lightly before bursting into energetic life. There's some unusual drumming two thirds of the way through the epic (obligatory, it is prog) eighteen minute Electric Power Water Notes, when it sounds as though the drums have been stuffed with pillows to deaden the sound. This track also stand out for some wonderful surrealism towards the end.

The addition of Fredrik Lindquist on recorder and Elin Rubinsztein on violin through the album only adds to the pleasant folky feel of some of the tracks. It is, however, Lundin's keyboards and Per Nilsson's guitars which stand out throughout the album. Both have some incredible solo's and work together to produce some very complex tracks. It is Nilsson's work, especially, that adds to the heaviness of the music to be found here.

Strangely, despite opening in a very similar way to the title track, Arcs Of Sound features for most of its length vocals over drums and some very strange whistle sounds that bear little resemblance to a tune but somehow manage to work very well. Smoke From A Secret Source, on the other hand, manages to be interesting for the way that different instruments are used to produce the same (or very similar) passages of music in a very lively introduction which mixes keyboard, violin, guitar and rums to spectacular effect. Album closer The Seven Oceans Of Our Mind, at times almost operatic in its delivery, is also the album's weirdest track in terms of lyrics (not that many of the lyrics made sense to me at all). "Why do rocks always survive, on their journey through the motions? Why do they not grow old, in the mystery of time?" Brilliant stuff!

Throughout the album, there are hints of Yes (particularly in some very Anderson-like vocals during the title track) and even a little bit of Queen in some of the guitar playing. However, while a sticker on the case proudly proclaims, "For fans of Yes, Transatlantic, The Flower Kings" this album is pretty unique in my collection. It may not end up in my top five for this year, but I'm guessing it will be fairly close.

Track Listing:

1: In The Wake Of Evolution

2: In The Heart Of Her Own Magic Field

3: Electric Power Water Notes

4: Folkia's First Decision

5: The Word's Are Like Leaves

6: Arcs Of Sound

7: Smoke From A Secret Source

8: The Seven Oceans Of Our Mind

Musicians:

Hans Lundin - Electric & acoustic keyboards, vocals

Per Nilsson - Electric & acoustic guitars

Morgan Agren - Drums

Jonas Reingold - Electric basses

Patrik Lundstrom - Vocals

Aleena Gibson - Vocals

Guests:

Fredrik Lindqvist - Recorder (tracks, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8)

Elin Rubinsztein - Violin (tracks 1, 4, 5 and 7)

A Minor Embarrassment

Monday 12th April: I learned long ago not to be embarrassed by my musical tastes. Very few people ever see my CD collection (and there are some very dodgy CDs in there...) and on the fair few occasions that I go to a gig on my own, it's easy to hide away next to a pillar, partially pretending that the rest of my attending group are at the bar, buying me a drink. Anyway, it's generally dark and nobody would recognise me.

It was slightly different tonight. When I arrived at Fibbers (a lot earlier than I usually would and still in full daylight), the queue stretched right along the street. And it was mainly made up of approximately sixth form aged girls. Most of them wondering why some old f*rt had joined the queue. I may not have been the eldest there but I was almost certainly the eldest who wasn't accompanying his or her children. I did my best to look nonchalant and spent quite a long time wondering why it was taking about an hour to get the sell-our crowd of 280 into the venue. I guess having to check the majority of the attendees' IDs adds quite a bit of time. (Sadly, nobody on the door asked me for my ID. They must have recognised me from my frequent visits...)

Anyway, I eventually got in and found a position at the bar (just behind a woman and her daughter - it's possible we inadvertently looked like a family group) just before The Shower Scene took to the stage amid much enthusiastic screaming. This four-piece from Dublin, performing for the first time in the UK, started out as a solo acoustic act but are now listed as "pop punk". I bet that's not a metamorphosis many bands go through. There was some nice guitar work and some very powerful drumming but I thought the vocals were lacking something during the louder songs (which, being part punk, most of them were). Strangely the one quieter song, which might have been called Run Away Tonight or, perhaps, Your Are Everything, was easily the best song vocally and proved a popular sing-along for the crowd. Vocalist Eoghan also seemed to be saving himself between songs as it was guitarist Goc, full of Irish charm and brogue (reminiscent of a Boyzone member with added swearing) who did all the talking, introducing the songs and providing a bit of commentary. This was a fair, if not outstanding set and provided a good opening for tonight's main act. I was impressed enough to shell out for the debut EP.

Arguably Elliot Minor are York's most successful band at the moment and, while a large part of their audience does seem to be composed of young (and, once again, screaming) females, they have produced two extremely good albums. Their live act is slightly different to the recorded output as the latter includes a large degree of string arrangements, but it can't be said that they aren't a very good live act. They certainly know how to play and how to work an audience, with Alex making good use of the stage barrier to get closer to the fans. Tonight's set comprised songs from both the debut album and last year's Solaris and, while the latter does (in my opinion) include at least one poor song, there wasn't a duff or dull part of the set, which included all my favourites - Jessica, Parallel Worlds, Running Away, Fireflies (a non-album release cover of Owl City's original) and the wonderfully riffed Electric High.

There was a lot of energy in the performance and all the band (or, at least, those that I could see) seemed to be enjoying themselves on what was the first gig of their current tour. I think it was the first time I had been to Fibbers when it was sold out and the place soon started to take on a steamy, sticky atmosphere, even for those of us not dancing or bouncing around. After about an hour, we got the usual announcement, "This is our last song." "Yeah, right," I thought, "except for the encore." The song was duly played, the band put down their instruments, took their bows and left the stage. And then nothing happened. No cries of "More!", no slow hand clap, no cheering. Nothing. In fact, people started leaving. I'm not sure whether the young audience didn't realise the rules, or whether the band didn't do encores, or even whether bands in general only do encores if people do actually shout for one but, after a few minutes, the lights started to come on and it was obvious that the last song was, in fact, just that.

It was a bizarre, surreal end to the evening and despite the quality of the performance I couldn't help but feel slightly cheated. With two albums worth of material, I would have thought the band could play for more than an hour, even if they intended to not come back on stage. Still, definitely a band worth seeing live - this was my second time and I wouldn't hesitate to see them again.

No Strings Detached

Saturday 10th April: So far in 2010 it's been unusual to see the whole gang at a gig and tonight is no different as it's just Andy and I at Fibbers to see Nick Harper, just over a year after the first time I saw him at what turned out to be one of my highlight gigs from 2009.

First support tonight was Martin Hughes, another in the seemingly endless line of men with guitars who show no fear of performing their own material in front of other people. This was acoustic, folky (not the "hey nonny nonny" type) and Martin was a pleasant enough start to the evening. To be honest, though, none of the half dozen or so songs that he performed had anything in them that reached out and grabbed me and there was nothing to really catch my attention. As a counter to that, it's always strikes me that opening at Fibbers is a difficult job - there was barely anybody in yet, so the place sounded hollow. I suspect Martin might be better hear in a smaller, more intimate venue.

By the time local boy Jonny Dobbs took to the stage, more people had turned up and Andy and I had moved forward to get a better view. This may partly explain why I enjoyed Jonny's set more than Martin's. Or it may have been that the songs were catchier, the playing more complex and the voice more to my tastes. The voice was lighter than Martin's, the songs were lighter and more varied and Jonny used a variety of guitar techniques. In a near-perfect piece of symmetry, Jonny finished his last song while beating time on his guitar's soundbox - the same way that Anne-Marie Helder (Nick's 2009 support) opened her set. Looking back, this is the second time I've seen Mr Dobbs perform - the first time I suggested his performance was a bit plain. It was anything but this time around.

As an aside here, on another night, I may well have been tempted to purchase one of Jonny's EPs. He told us that he had some with him but I didn't really take the time to track him down, being a bit short of funds. As with Jessica Gardham a few weeks back, it seems that the only place to buy his output is at his gigs. I really wish there was somewhere (or some website) where unsigned or smaller label local artists could sell their output. Maybe when I get my lottery win...

Anyway, back on track... Nick Harper finally appeared and treated us to one song before wandering off to the side of the stage to retrieve a bottle of wine (and a glass). "C'mon, we've only got two hours!" came a shout from the crowd and the tone was set for the evening. Last year, there were witty asides and bitingly satirical comments. This year, they were mixed with good-natured banter, verging on verbal sparring, between Nick and a handful of the audience who had obviously been to more than a few of his gigs and who were familiar to him. For me, this year's gig lost something compared to last years - having seen him once, the originality had obviously disappeared - but the music was still worth listening to and the humour still made me laugh. Sadly, last year's incredible encore song, "Love Is Music" wasn't part of tonight's set and, unlike at The Duchess, there was no wandering around the audience. Even more sadly, nick managed to play the entire two-hour set without breaking a string (and replacing it mid song), despite some very hard playing. I was looking forward to seeing that again. I doubt this will end up being one of the highlights of this year, but I will definitely be looking out for Nick playing York again.