A grower and a keeper

For serious music fans, it comes as no surprise that Timo Kämäräinen is an accomplished guitarist, apt composer and crafty improviser. He has travelled far and wide in a colourful variety of circumstances.

He has played the guitar hero in many a group gleaning inspiration from 1970s progressive rock and jazzrock thus cementing his position in the same lineage with stylistic forebears like Jukka Tolonen and Raoul Björkenheim. He has performed and recorded with top Finnish singer-songwriters and pop icons and cut his teeth as a producer.

In addition, he has led bands and released his own material ever since Unea, the 2005 debut effort by his solo project Beagon. Shuttling from one style to another with ease, Kämäräinen has made a name for himself as a guitar journeyman par excellence. He has also collaborated with ensembles from the contemporary classical music scene.

Nevertheless, with these twenty-three miniatures, Kämäräinen takes an unprecedented plunge into the unconscious mind. All very fitting for a self-confessed fan of the existentialist theories of Søren Kierkegaard. 

Mainly acoustic and bare, the tracks on Blink and You Miss It flow with a hypnotizing ease. Preferring meaningful meanderings that have more in common with the subdued stylings of Rush’s Alex Lifeson than the flamboyant fireworks of Al DiMeola, the music comes across well-rounded and poised. Perhaps that’s Kämäräinen’s superpower: He manages to sound like a bandmember even when occupying the sonic space all by himself. What an absolute gem of a disc Timo has come up with.

TIMO KÄMÄRÄINEN: Blink and You Miss It

Eclipse Music