Kakapo da Capo

Love broadened their scope into psychedelia on their sophomore effort, Arthur Lee's achingly melodic songwriting gifts reaching full flower. The six songs that comprised the first side of this album when it was first issued are a truly classic body of work, highlighted by the atomic blast of pre-punk rock "Seven & Seven Is" (their only hit single), the manic jazz tempos of "Stephanie Knows Who", and the enchanting "She Comes in Colors", perhaps Lee's best composition (and reportedly the inspiration for the Rolling Stones' "She's a Rainbow"). It's only half a great album, though; the seventh and final track, "Revelation", is a tedious 19-minute jam that keeps Da Capo from attaining truly classic status.

Luca Francesconi is one of the most prominent Italian composer of his generation with a substantial and varied output to his credit. The release under review provides a good idea of his output although all the works recorded here are already some ten or twenty years old. Da Capo (1986) for small ensemble is the earliest work here and is probably one of Francesconi’s best-known and most popular. It is not difficult to understand why. It is a brilliantly scored, colourful piece full of nice instrumental touches and lively rhythms, although it opens and ends in a rather subdued manner. The other works were all composed at about the same time: between 1994 and 1995. They, too, display a considerable variety of means and moods. Etymo is the most substantial both in length and in content. The title, Etymo (as in etymology) is about the search for the origin and development of language. It sets texts from various poems from Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal for soprano, large ensemble and electronics. The final words are drawn from Baudelaire’s Carnets intimes.

Until this release on Garden of Delights, the one and only LP of the Fürth-based band Da Capo couldn’t be heard yet on CD. Only 500 copies had been made then and half of them were destroyed. Thus, today the disc belongs to the most expensive three or four German rock records ever. But it doesn’t sound that very German at all. Its sound is more like West Coast, brand Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service or Jefferson Airplane. The LP’s reviews reached from trivial to great. Legitimate re-releases on LP were the 1988 edition on Little Wing of Refugees (although in a completely different cover) and the 2004 edition on Amber Soundroom. The available release on Garden of Delights (hopefully) is everything you could possibly wish for concerning its representation.

In 2014, original Kaipa members Roine Stolt, Ingemar Bergman (drums) and Tomas Eriksson (Bass) re-grouped under the name Kaipa Da Capo to play the old music from the first three albums as well as brand new music. To complete the team they called Mikael Stolt (vocals, guitar), brother of Roine, and Max Lorentz (keyboards). After a series of concerts in 2015 the group started the recording of a new album in June 2016.
Each track has its own idiosyncrasies, each its own classic prog band reference point - so the influence of Yes, Caravan, King Crimson, Genesis and Camel can be heard at various points…

Love broadened their scope into psychedelia on their sophomore effort, Arthur Lee's achingly melodic songwriting gifts reaching full flower. The six songs that comprised the first side of this album when it was first issued are a truly classic body of work, highlighted by the atomic blast of pre-punk rock "Seven & Seven Is" (their only hit single), the manic jazz tempos of "Stephanie Knows Who," and the enchanting "She Comes in Colors," perhaps Lee's best composition (and reportedly the inspiration for the Rolling Stones' "She's a Rainbow"). It's only half a great album, though; the seventh and final track, "Revelation," is a tedious 19-minute jam that keeps Da Capo from attaining truly classic status.