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In fact, my last two guitar player purchases (Trace Bundy was the other) came about as a direct result of Pandora.com. The final track, "Fortuna," actually ends at 6:16. This is a gifted guitarist looking for her voice. This is another artist I encountered while listening to Pandora.com. And to my ears, she's on the right track. Also, note there is a bonus track. RECOMMENDED [Running Time - 38:03]
But rather than be a mere clone, she assimilates these different styles and makes them her own. While this may not be King's crowning achievement (as some reviewers have claimed), it certainly bears repeated listening. It's a pleasant if not memorable piece. There are occasional missteps. After the final note, she concludes with a spoken "yeah, whatever," clearly indicating that this is not yet a finished song.
[I have my personal station set up for Leo Kottke]. At the 7:13 mark, King begins playing a simple melody and later adds wordless vocals. But "Night After Sidewalk" has a subtle beauty to it, and "Close Your Eyes & You'll Burst Into Flames" slowly builds until the midpoint of the song where it explodes into a cascade of blistering fretwork. After having listened through this a few times time, it's easy to see some of King's influences: Preston Reed ("Kewpie Station," "Carmine Street"), John Fahey ("The Exhibition," "Fortuna"), and Leo Kottke ("Happy As a Dead Pig in the Sunshine"). For instance, "Steamed Juicy Little Bun" and the title track tend to be overly repetitive--song fragments that don't really go anywhere.
Those who really know this style will share my frustration. But her first two solo guitar albums just do not do it for me, because she has not found her own voice with the acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. I think Kaki is moving in the right direction by experimenting more with different instruments on her albums and vocalizing more.
I first bought this CD several years ago, and I just want to say one thing about us naysayers:we are not trying to be mean. Go and listen to these players, then ask yourself what would have become of Hedges had he made "Everybody loves you" instead of "Ariel Boundries." There is no comparison, people.All that being said, I like Kaki, and judging by what I've read she seems to be a very nice and humble person, and it's not her fault that she made it big. Okay, I am going to be as polite as I can here.
It's the fault of the media for making her out to be some kind of genious. But I think she will improve, given time. It's just that we recognize that this style of music has a rich history of great players, who have already laid a golden foundation for acoustic guitar: Will Ackerman, Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Preston Reed, Billy McLaughlin, Brian Henke, Adrian Legg, Leo Kottke, and as of late, Andy McKee.I have no problem with anyone who likes Kaki's music.
What I can't stand is when people say she is as good as the other players that I've mentioned above.
Listen to the incredibly beautiful "Night After Sidewalk". It may not be for people looking for something particularly exciting in terms of hard rock or for those looking for calming background music (some tracks fit the bill, others less so). In fact, I think I love it. With beautifully played songs that perhaps lack a central theme and are full of technical aplomb, the CD tells small individual stories in the form of songs. Reading the other reviews here show that there are quite a few people out there who don't quite like Kaki King's playing or music.
It's got variety, beauty, style, and pure technical ability. CDs, for me, usually comprise of tracks not as a whole. It's fun to listen to, either as background music or as something to be taken in deeply. It will, however, be good for music lovers in search of a good CD played nicely and providing listeners with varied and special music. It will bring to mind a number of vivid and intriguing images that together will tell a story. Other songs are just plain cool, even if their story is a little more random ("Kewpie Station" is less vivid than others, but starts out the CD with a pretty rocking song).
One reviewer mentioned lack of "substance". Maybe that's the problem, but here came a CD that gave me a wide variety of interesting solo-guitar music, pretty sounds, exciting beats, and an all-in-all cool listen. "Everybody Loves You" [CD] is pretty great. Now I'll add my two cents.I really liked this album. Other songs, like "Carmine St." will do something similar, in that the listener feels (again, this listener at least) like they're walking along a road and someone's telling this story. Seriously.
See, I'm a big music fan and I spend all day listening to music of sorts. These songs, for me at least, told stories through music.
I have to admit, I was excited by the idea that a new acoustic monster had put a cd out. If the negative reviews do not dissuade, then by all means spend your hard earned money on this disc. King's guitar playing, are passionate about their opinions. Hedges guitar style. Unfortunately, the cd ended up going straight to the used bin. I listened to the samples in the store, and was "wow'ed" by her varied and aggressive style of guitar playing.
Maybe you will find the lack of musical form passable--especially when one factors in the guitar pyrotechnics and "wow" factor. I've posted comments elsewhere on this series of reviews. It seems the defenders of Ms. I found myself trying to put structure to what seemed to be noodling and rambling through each recorded track.
Her playing strikes me, as it seems to do several other reviewers here, as a kind of unprepared, "let's see what sounds we can make with the guitar", and lacking in any musical form--AABA, for example, with a bridge in there somewhere. Yes, there was a surprise guitar tap here, an unexpected harmonic there; however, I couldn't sit through the first two selections. I'm sorry to say I didn't have the patience to sit through more than a cursory sampling beyond the first two tracks, and none of the entries were outstanding in any shape. In the end, I fear you will not find anything substantial here.
I have to wonder, however, how many of the angry reviewers who give but one star are, like me, slightly angry that someone with a few chops, but no sense of music, (and certainly not an advanced sense of melody), can gain such wide exposure so quickly.Finally, it does seem that the reviewers, both pro and against Ms. Like a herd of lemmings, I walked out of the store with the cd in hand, looking forward to listening through it. Sure, if your idea of music is ting, pop, strum and bang, this might be the cd for you. King's cd are a little defensive, as are the ones who didn't care for her music.
When one has to work to put structure and melodic form to someone else's music, then either the music is lacking, or it requires further listening attempts. King's music was thought through--even as I made an effort to follow some kind of compositional form. The employee had pointed her cd out to me, and he too, made reference to M. I got home and (I have to say) tried to listen straight through, but was put off by the lack of a feeling that K.
Combined them all, this fearless, ambitious, and youthful album may be the most impressive and memorable one of hers to date. To lesser extent, these ingredients are heard on "Steamed Juicy Little Bun," "Carmine St.," "Close Your Eyes," and "Joi." "Carmine St." also carries incredible counterpoint between bass line and melody, performed simultaneously without over-dubbing, while "Everybody Loves You" features Debussy-esque harmony. Kaki King's debut album, Everybody Loves You, may be the best to showcase her talent as a guitarist/composer. As heard in probably the most prototypical track, "Kewpie Station," she taps the fret and the body of the guitar like a percussive instrument, plays unfamiliar chords, and structures the song with various odd beats that keep changing.
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