USA – The Great Beyond
Lars Boutrup’s Music For Keyboards: The Great Beyond
I first became a aware of Danish musician Lars Boutrup a few years ago upon hearing/reviewing his third CD Small As A Ball. His latest album is titled The Great Beyond and joining Boutrup (organ, keyboards, synthesizers) again is Niels W. Knudsen (bass). Rounding out the trio is Spike Nior (drums, assorted percussion).
As you can probably surmise from the title, keyboards are the dominant instrument but are held together by a solid rhythm section. As with the last album there are no guitars present but the good thing is Boutrup is really quite a phenomenal player and is able to squeeze a variety of sounds from his instruments. The rather short “The Rising” begins the disc with a keyboard drenched soundscape, including some spacey textures. “Mr. T.” has a steady mid-tempo groove supporting Boutrup’s keyboard walls and a pretty decent melody as well. Some big organ sounds find their way in the rocking “Ich Will Tanzen” and “The Great Beyond” while the piano led “Klavier Stück Für Freude” is more mellow and introspective.
This is a good album, especially suited for keyboard lovers. I did miss the lack of guitar this time around as it would have certainly added a little more zest and complexity to the album as a whole. The excellent melodies do however make this a pleasant enough listen. Check out the artist’s website (link below) to investigate further.
Track Listing:
1. The Rising (1:33)
2. Mr. T. (6:24)
3. Whatever Mama Said (6:03)
4. Dripping Cycles (7:48)
5. Jerry And The Suitcase (5:14)
6. Inventio (4:14)
7. Ich Will Tanzen (5:43)
8. Klavier Stück Für Freude (3:09)
9. The Great Beyond (6:50)
Added: August 11th 2020
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score: 
Related Link: Artist’s Official Site
Language: english
Reviewed by: Jon Neudorf
