KLOSSA KNAPITATET

Figures that if I find an album from an unfamiliar (to me) group that I consider a masterpiece, then the next one I get from the same group will inevitably disappoint in some regard. Such as the case with Samla Mammas Manna; MALTID is an eclectic, complex, silly masterpiece, and KLOSSA KNAPITATET is essentially a lighter version of MALTID.

The longest track (''Small Dialects'') gives the listener an idea where Samla was headed on this album; greater focus on the tight instrumentality of the group. It's a great showcase of the band's talents, especially Coste Apetrea, but missing are the chirpy vocals that gave MALTID its charm. It's lead-in (''Nothingness'') still carries the humour with the bizarre ballroom number at the end of which the band starts whistling at some point in the piece.

The rest of the album carries the instrumental power from ''Small Dialects'' pretty swimmingly. ''Way Down a Rabbithole'' is easily the highlight with the proper mix of the idiosynchratic music style of Samla and their humour; here, they do a polka jig in the middle with someone yodeling. Doesn't get much more comical. The chirpy vocals creep their way into ''Influences'' and the ''Come a Little Closer'' track is nothing more than Samla goofing off with bike horns and Bruniusson's odd percussions. Those looking for the more musical highlights will find ''Mousemilkingmachine'' and ''Framless Night'' doing the trick.

I came into this from MALTID, and with the praise I have for MALTID, it was pretty hard for KLOSSA KNAPITATET to top that. Even if the title track is a cool accordion thing, it just doesn't do the trick that MALTID did. Still, KLOSSA KNAPIATET is an excellent melodic album from the RIO field that would fit very nicely in many a prog collection.