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6 out of 10
It's a bit odd, and not just because of the strange dreams mobile that Kaki invites you to make out of her album booklet. Having very little knowledge of King's work, my preconception was mainly; woman with guitar, lots of sad love songs. This would be treading down a rather familiar path, and if you couldn't have guessed, my initial reaction certainly wasn't hooray. For the 25% of the album that she does sing along too are tuneful and melancholy but ultimately unremarkable. Don't get me wrong, the songs are good but what I'm trying to get across is that while I know it to be the works of Kaki King, I only know this because I'm listening to the album. Had I heard the songs bereft of this knowledge, I would have certainly struggled to mark her out individually, it sounds unfortunately all too familiar. This isn't King's fault, more speculation on a genre, but this is when the whole review gets turned onto its head. King is a songwriter. My preformed ideas are wide of the mark as she comes across in the majority of the album as an ambient collection of the best bits from Battles and Ratatat. Imagine a slightly less 'worldly', Thievery Corporation but still with the same sort of lounge music and you get the Kaki King that my naivety missed. The tracks of sonic reverie are a joy to behold but at times feel a little disjointed, especially with the occasional break out into song. While her appeal is certainly more specialised than mainstream, for anyone who enjoys the composition of sound from that of the instrumental world like Explosions in the Sky, to the slightly weird a la Sigur Ros, may find solace in her work. Listen: www.myspace.com/kakiking
Tracklist:
1. Bone Chaos In The Castle 2. Life Being What It Is 3. Sad American 4. Pull Me Out Alive 5. Montreal 6. Open Mouth 7. So Much For So Little 8. Saving Days In A Frozen Head 9. Air and Kilometres 10. Can Anyone Who Has Heard This Music Really Be A Bad Person? 11. 2 O'Clock 12. Zeitgeist
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