K-X-P is an electronic rock band from

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Finland. The band consists of Timo Kaukolampi (vocals, electronics and guitar), Tomi Leppänen (drums), Anssi Nykänen (drums), and Tuomo Puranen (bass). For their second album ''II'' the band are signed to

Melodic Records Melodic Records is a British independent record label founded by David Cooper in 1999. Based in Manchester, England, the label have recently released their 132nd release as of October 2021 (Strawbery Guy's 'Sun Outside My Window' album) and cele ...

in the UK.https://www.facebook.com/kxp.official/info

History

Both Kaukolampi and Puranen were part of Op:l Bastards, before forming K-X-P in 2006. The band existed only in studio live jam sessions until their demos reached the

Smalltown Supersound Smalltown Supersound is an independent record label, founded in Flekkefjord in 1993 and now based in Oslo, Norway. It is dedicated to new forms of jazz, rock and electronic music. Their catalog features albums by Kelly Lee Owens, Deathprod, Nen ...

label (Norway). K-X-P was first called K-N-P, from Kaukolampi, Nykänen, Puranen. Anssi Nykänen (the N) was always playing other shows with various bands and artists, so the N became X marking mystery revolving spot for drummer. K-X-P records nowadays with both drummers Anssi Nykänen and Tomi Leppänen in the studio. There have been rare live concerts with both of them onstage. Tomi Leppänen, who also plays with

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

Aavikko Aavikko is a Finnish synth music band, formed in Siilinjärvi in 1995. Their hallmarks include a campy, decidedly "East European" style and plastic-sounding synthesizer themes. The band themselves call their style "''muysic''" (a portmanteau of ...

and

Pharaoh Overlord Pharaoh Overlord is an experimental rock (music), rock music band, initially featuring three members of the Finnish group Circle (Finnish band), Circle, Jussi Lehtisalo, Janne Westerlund and Tomi Leppänen. Originally begun as a vehicle to indulg ...

has been the regular for most live shows.

Lauri Porra (born 13 December 1977) is a Finnish bass guitarist and composer who has written scores for films and other media, as well as commissions from orchestras such as the Lahti Symphony and the Finnish Radio Symphony. He is also known for his wor ...

, Finnish bassist of

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band. Formed in 1984, they have released sixteen studio albums, six DVDs and six live albums. The band's line-up has changed many times, with no founding member left since the departure of drummer Tuomo ...

is also often playing with the band both on stage and on their records. In 2017 band members Tuomo Puranen and Timo Kaukolampi composed a

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

for a feature film Euthanizer. Their work won in the best film soundtrack category in

Jussi Awards The Jussi Awards are Finland's premier film industry prizes, awarded annually to recognize the achievements of directors, actors, and writers. History The first Jussi Awards ceremony was held on 16 November 1944 at the Restaurant Adlon in Hel ...

2018. In 2024, Kaukolampi and Puranen composed the score for the occult documentary Shadowland.

Releases

In 2010 the band released their first record, the self-titled K-X-P, earning favourable reviews from Q, Future Music,

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

and

XLR8R ''XLR8R'' (pronounced "accelerator") is a website that covers music, culture, style, and technology. It was originally also a print magazine. History and profile ''XLR8R'' was founded as a newsprint zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in S ...

. They describe their sound as "Original - Electronic - Motorhead - Space - Trance - Spiritual - Rock - Meditation - Freejazz". Reviews from the likes of

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

and

Clash Magazine ''Clash'' is a music and fashion magazine and website based in the United Kingdom. It is published four times a year by Music Republic Ltd, whose predecessor Clash Music Ltd went into liquidation. The magazine won awards including the Best New M ...

also define the sound as having a strong

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...

element. Publications like UNCUT have reviewed their music as "Fertile experiments, broad and flexible enough to incorporate

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

glam-rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists dre ...

and goth-metal elements" and Pitchfork stated "their music is incredibly rhythmic, their grooves—paranoid dark

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

and motorik—deep.' The band released a second album in February 2013 entitled ''II'' and rated 7/10 on Pitchfork. They toured in support of the album from March 2013 onwards. Third K-X-P album was released by

Svart Records Svart Records is a Finnish independent record company focused on heavy metal music, especially doom metal. It concentrates mostly on releasing LP reissues of albums previously unavailable on vinyl. Discography * Callisto, ''Providence 2LP'' ( ...

in two parts, ''III Part 1'' in 2015 and ''III Part 2'' in 2016. Both got good reviews on

Q Magazine ''Q'' was a British popular music magazine. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ''Q'' was published in print in the ...

and

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

. In summer 2018 the band released a self published limited edition "

white label White label may refer to: * White-label product, a permitted replication and rebranding of a product * White label record, records with plain white labels attached. * White Label Music, an independent record label based in the United Kingdom * ''Wh ...

" vinyl LP of previously unreleased music, that was only available for sale at their live gigs. The fourth K-X-P album titled ''IV'' was released by Svart Records in May 2019.

Live

The band are noted for their intense live performance featuring costumes, audience interaction, and experimentation with different instruments. They have supported and toured with James Blake,

Zombie Zombie ''Zombie Zombie'' is a ZX Spectrum computer game developed by Spaceman Ltd (Sandy White and Angela Sutherland), published in 1984 by Quicksilva. It is a development of Spaceman's previous ''Ant Attack'', and uses an updated "Softsolid 3D" isome ...

and

Moon Duo Moon Duo is a psychedelic rock band from San Francisco, California formed in 2009 by Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada. History Their debut album ''Mazes'' was released on Sacred Bones Records in 2011. The band's style is i ...

, amongst others.

References

{{Authority control Finnish rock music groups Smalltown Supersound artists