Instrumental
International relevance: **
Opus 3 is an audiophile label having operated since the late 70s and is still in business. Their back catalogue is diverse but with an emphasis on jazz and classical. Among their releases is an album by Eric Bibb.
Knoa were Växjö ensemble spanning several genres and thus a bit hard to describe. Imagine a mix of renaissance and baroque music, folk and a dash of Penguin Café Orchestra and you get a rough idea of what they sounded like. The title of their first album means ”sudden twists and turns” and that is as a description as good as any. I assume they all came from the classical field and while they're technically proficient their music never gets bone dry. On the contrary, it's warm and vivid, and with such a stylistic range, it's full of surprises and fun to listen to. The second album was technically released as Knoa II and saw the group with an expanded line-up, but it's similar in style to their first. The main difference apart from the personnel changes is that the songs – always originals – are longer but equally well-crafted as on ”Tvära kast och vändningar”. The arrangements are a real pleasure and the instruments sound rich and present. Opus 3 knew their sound stuff for sure!
Knoa's two albums may not be the first
thing you think about when you hear the word 'progg' (although they are mentioned in the 'further listening' section of Tobias Peterson's
progg encyclopedia), but Knoa's approach to music was definitely
progressive, unafraid and explorative. They're well worth hearing,
and you can rest assured you're in good musical hands.
A compilation CD appeared in 1994, simply titled "A Selection of Knoa".
No links found
No comments:
Post a Comment