Kaki King - Until We Felt Red
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CD Details
Artist: Kaki KingEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-08-08
Music Label: Velour Recordings
Soundtracks:
- Yellowcake
- ...Until We Felt Red
- You Don't Have To Be Afraid
- Goby
- Jessica
- First Brain
- I Never Said I Love You
- Ahuvati
- These Are The Armies Of The Tyrannized
- Second Brain
- Soft Shoulder
- The Footsteps Die Out Forever
- Gay Sons Of Lesbian Mothers
Music reviews of Until We Felt Red
Music Review: 8.5/10
Rating: 4 Stars
Volume I, issue XIX
The multi-talented guitarist Kaki King is back with a new album that is completely different from anything she has ever done in the past. If you know Kaki, you probably know her best for her fret-tapping guitar styles, and unique style of acoustic-based song writing. But this album is really a complete change of sound and style for her. Edgy, diverse and dynamic, Until We Felt Red could very well be her best endeavor to date. In fact, as her previous albums were mainly solo instrumental projects, she now seemingly has a full band, and has moved beyond songs that are entirely guitar-centric. There are vocals--and lots of them; very good I might add--and many other instruments that make for a splendid show of Kaki's compositional skill and innovation. This album ranges in style from loungy jazz to haphazard (in a good way) post-rock.
"Yellowcake" starts the album out beautifully: Kaki, as it turns out, has a very pleasant, ethereal voice, and she harmonizes so elegantly it's a wonder that she never sang (much) on her previous albums. The title track brings back instrumentation, but it is at this point where you realize that things are a bit different: slide guitar accompanied by slow, heavy, fuzzy, electric guitars. When first listening to this album, and this track in particular, it became apparent that King was making an attempted reach into the realm of post-rock, whether she knew it or not. And it turns out, her attempt is rather successful. "You Don't Have To Be Afraid" features more pristine vocals, and a full array of amazing instrumentalization from organs to chimes all overlain over an acoustic guitar passage in an amazingly delicate sunshower of musical beauty. Later in the song (which clocks in over eight minutes, as opposed to the other songs on the album most of which are under five), the rest of the band starts in with drums, fuzz bass, and even a flugelhorn! Things just keep getting more and more interesting. "Goby" has a more jazz vibe to it, as does "I Never Said I Love You." "Jessica" is another vocal triumph for Kaki, with a background of multi-layered music. "First Brain" is a very organic instrumental piece featuring a trio of guitar, flute and flugelhorn blended to make a wonderful mystical soundscape. "Ahuvati" starts as a trademark King guitar work, but then is invaded by a string section--a welcome intruder that starts off as an abrasive hum and progresses to an ambient companion melody. The album just continues to progress. You almost forget that the songs are so short (relatively), because each one is truly a unique entity that paints a different picture when you hear it, and though each one is summed up perfectly in the time allotted, you can't help but wish it would go on longer. One thing becomes clear throughout the album though: Kaki's voice is an instrument, and she plays it well. Truly a colorful orchestra is displayed on this album.
Barring some edits, I wrote this review upon my first listen of the album, because I just had to describe the virginal experience, so I apologize if it is a bit helter skelter...and long. But this album came as a total surprise to me, and is really a pleasant and welcome change for Kaki King. Not that I don't like her previous material (I do), but this is such an interesting alteration of style, and an indication that King has no intention of stagnating herself by sticking to just one style of music. There really is no all-encompassing "label" for the style of music on this album, but more than anything, I get a experimental/post-rock vibe from it, at times almost reminiscent of Explosions in the Sky with vocals. It is a triumphant success to say the least, and I hope she continues on in this wise now that we know of what she is truly capable. I highly recommend this album.
Description of Until We Felt Red
Kaki King has never been one for convention. Her third album (following 2003's "Everybody Loves You" on Velour and 2004's "Legs To Make Us Longer" on Epic) is certainly no exception. Over the last few years, she's enjoyed well-earned status as the zeit-girl of instrumental acoustic guitar. Here she bests herself and defies expectation again, ditching her acoustic for an electric, lap steel, and perhaps the most unexpected instrument of all: her own voice; disarmingly winsome and sweet for a woman with so much attitude. The haunting melodies are sadder, the lush orchestrations are fuller, and the sharp edges can cut.It would be reaching to equate Kaki King's new direction with Dylan's electric debut at Newport. Yet there's no doubt the New York-by-way-of-Georgia musician has taken a sharp left turn with her third full-length. After two discs composed primarily of acoustic guitar, Everybody Loves You and Legs To Make Us Longer, King has added vocals to her arsenal (something she first experimented with on her last album). It could have been a disastrous move. Fortunately, King, who actually started out as a drummer, hasn't morphed into a standard issue singer/songwriter--just as Dylan didn't abandon his folk roots when he plugged in. Rather, her minimalist musings add texture to the atmospheric, post-rock proceedings. And just as her fret work has been described as "singing," her fragile voice is but one ingredient in the mix, which includes bass, bells, and brushes. On the eight-minute "You Don't Have to be Afraid," for instance, she only sings near the beginning and the end of the track. Most vocalists would surely do the opposite. While previous recordings garnered comparisons to axe-slingers Michael Hedges and Preston Reed, the John McEntire-produced Until We Felt Red more closely resembles the sweetly melodic sounds of Lush or Asobi Seksu. McEntire (The Sea and Cake, Tortoise) also provides drums and "things" (synth, vibes, programming, etc.). Once described by National Public Radio as "The Queen of Acoustic Guitar," Kaki King could use a new slogan. How about "The Queen of Lap-Steel Shoegaze Pop"? --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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