Walking Up That Valley is the fifth studio album by Norwegian band Needlepoint.
Founded in 2010 by jazz guitarist Bjørn Klakegg (b.1958), Needlepoint plays progressive rock that can easily be classified as a subdivision of prog under the Canterbury scene. Of course, Norwegian Canterbury prog may sound a little strange, as it’s a long way from the fjord country to the idyllic university town of Canterbury, which originally gave birth to the genre. The two mainstays of the Canterbury scene at the very beginning were Soft Machine and Caravan, and a little later the flag of that style of music, which combined jazz, pop, psychedelia and a strange and very English sense of humour, was flown by the likes of Egg, Hatfield And The North and National Health. Since the 1970s there have also been bands outside England that took their influences from those original and ’real’ Canterbury bands and have thus become stylistically associated with the subject. Such bands include the Dutch Supersister, the French Moving Gelatine Plates and the Italian Picchio dal Pozzo.
Canterbury prog was never as popular as the ”symphonic” main branch of progressive rock, which included giants such as Yes and Genesis. Probably because of this, very few bands have emerged since the 70s that could be classified as belonging to the Canterbury scene. The certain down-to-earth modesty and strangeness associated with Canterbury doesn’t quite fit in with the modern prog zeitgeist, where the most popular associations are often with prog-metal bands displaying superficial virtuosity.
Indeed, Needlepoint is one of the few distinctly Canterbury bands to have recorded regularly since its inception, and has a catalogue of no less than five albums to its name.
Read also: Soft Machine: Six (1973)
The album’s first song ”Rules of a Mad Man” is an excellent introduction to the mood of the album. It acts as a time machine to the 60s/70s. A dancing bass pattern carries the song with a delightfully organic and relaxed ambience. The song would have fit perfectly on a couple of Caravan’s first albums. Klakegg’s vocals underline the effect. He sings with a pleasant, soft voice, slightly reminiscent of Richard Sinclair. He is not a particularly colourful or skilful vocalist, but his voice suits the music perfectly. Needlepoint started with instrumental music on their 2010 album The Woods Are Not What They Seem, but on their second album Outside the Screen (2012) Klakegg ventured into singing and since then his sympathetic vocals have played an important role in the band’s music.In addition to guitar and vocals, Klakegg also plays some violin, flute and cello here and there throughout the album. A multi-talented guy.
The best song on Walking Up That Valley, in my opinion, is the second track ”I Offered You the Moon”. The eight-minute composition is Needlepoint at its most versatile. It combines Olaf Olsen’s jazzy drumming with Canterbury horns and a hint of Pink Floyd influence. These are particularly evident in David Wallumrød’s mid-track, Rick Wright-esque, wistful Minimoog melodies. The couple of instrumentally driven minutes in the middle of the track are so tasty to listen to that the return of Klakegg’s vocals is almost anticlimactic. Wallumrød’s role is mostly one of creating moods and textures, so even here he is more of a Wright-style player than an actual soloist. His tools are a varied selection of vintage keyboard instruments. In addition to the Mini-Moog, he plays piano, Rhodes electric piano, piano and Prophet-5, ARP Odyssey, ARP Solus synthesizers. Of course, Wallumrød also gets to play a few tasty solos on the album.
The few shorter songs on the album also bring to mind the folk singer-songwriter scene of the US West Coast in the 60s, and I wouldn’t be far-fetched if Walking Up That Valley worked well not only for prog fans but also for fans of, say, Crosby, Stills & Nash.
”Carry Me Away” has a hint of soul influences and on the other hand its percussions also take the mood in the direction of Latin-inspired jazz-rock. At the end of the song there is a six-piece ”choir” which again takes the mood strongly in the direction of Canterbury. Unfortunately, the song ends rather abruptly in the middle of the excellent choral part. A similar flaw is experienced in the almost 11-minute title track which ends with a really strange and even jarring fade-out. Fortunately, this song is otherwise excellent and gives Klakegg a chance to showcase his skills, but also his sense of style as a guitarist.
The most beautiful song on the album is ”Another Day”, where Canterbury wistful nostalgia mixes with Nordic melancholy, perfectly accompanied by a ringing harpsichord.
Walking Up That Valley is crowned with natural-sounding and breathtakingly vibrant sounds. The soundscape is retro, but not in a forced and obvious way.
Walking Up That Valley’s retro-prog is certainly not reinventing the wheel or innovative music in any area, but for all its strong debt to the Canterbury heroes of the 70s, it does get the job done with sufficient originality and the songs themselves are well crafted, melodic and above all very pleasant to listen to. Needlepoint will probably never make a masterpiece, but if in a few years time there is a set of new Needlepoint songs of similar quality, I will gladly embrace them. Needlepoint’s output has been fairly consistent, especially on their last three albums, but in my book Walking Up That Valley stands out as the band’s best album to date thanks to their strong songwriting.
Best songs: ’I Offered You the Moon’, ’Another Day’
Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI
Tracks
- Rules of a Mad Man 05:11
- I Offered You the Moon 07:51
- Web of Worry 03:34
- So Far Away 03:11
- Where the Ocean Meets the Sky 04:25
- Carry Me Away 03:56
- Another Day 04:45
- Walking Up That Valley 10:44
Needlepoint:
Bjørn Klakegg: vocals, guitars, violin, flute, cello David Wallumrød: Hammond organ, clarinet, Fender Rhodes electric piano, harpsichord, piano, Prophet-5, Arp Odyssey, Arp Solus, Minimoog Nikolai Hængsle: bass guitar, backing vocals, guitars (1,4) Olaf Olsen: drums
Guests:
Erik Nylander: percussion Indra Lorentzen, Camilla Brun, Maria Vatne, David, Nikolai: ”choir” in ”The Carry Me Away”
Producer: Nikolai Hængsle
Label: BJK Music
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