| Dreaming of Revenge | 
 enlarge
| Artist: Kaki King
Label: Velour Recordings
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy New: $8.49
You Save: $5.49 (39%)
Buy New/Used from $6.99
Avg. Customer Rating:   (15 reviews)
Sales Rank: 3547
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 804
UPC: 687480080427
EAN: 0687480080427
ASIN: B0013K6WOO
Release Date: March 11, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Tracks:
| • | Bone Chaos In The Castle | | • | Life Being What It Is | | • | Sad American | | • | Pull Me Out Alive | | • | Montreal | | • | Open Mouth | | • | So Much For So Little | | • | Saving Days In A Frozen Head | | • | Air And Kilometers | | • | Can Anyone Who Has Heard This Music Really Be A Bad Person? | | • | 2 O'Clock |
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
When Kaki King went into the studioto record the tracks for her fourth album, Dreaming Of Revenge, her producer, Malcolm Burn (Dylan, Chris Whitley, Emmylou Harris), had one condition: "He said, `If someone can't be sawing a log in half and whistling along to the song, I don't want it on the record,'" King recalls with a laugh. And so the bar was set. Burn's mandate was just the push King needed to make her most accessible CD yet. "Even though half the tracks are instrumentals, I feel like I'm writing pop songs," she says. "We really concentrated on the melodies. Everything I write tends to be dense and chordal, but this time the idea was to layer the challenging guitar work under very simple, beautiful melodies. I really wanted them to be memorable." That strict attention to song craft is a logical step for King, whose previous album, 2006's ...Until We Felt Red propelled this dazzling young guitar player and composer, known to instrumental music fans for her finger-picking, fret-slapping, and percussive thumping style, into previously uncharted indie-rock territory. Red found King branching out with songs that featured electric and pedal-steel guitar, horns, and, for the first time, vocals. Dreaming Of Revenge picks up that thread, continuing her evolution from acoustic instrumentalist to full-fledged, multi-faceted songwriter. Previously, her whispery, ethereal voice was used as mainly another element in her sonic arsenal. This time around, King put more effort into both her vocals and the lyrics she wrote for such deeply felt tracks as "Pull Me Out Alive," "Saving Days In A Frozen Head," "Life Being What It Is," and "2 O'Clock," the latter two of which she describes as break-up songs. "The words mean something now," she says. "They're actually telling stories."
Amazon.com
The diminutive guitarist Kaki King acts her three roles--player, composer, and singer-songwriter--to the hilt on her fourth album. Dreaming of Revenge ricochets between instrumentals and hushed vocal numbers united by King?s unerring sense of melodicism and her prodigious, two-handed tapping guitar technique augmented by electronic delays, loops, and other effects. "Pull Me Out Alive" sounds like a pop hit from an alternate universe, with King?s softly purring voice flitting between chanted verse and a siren-call chorus. Several numbers evoke gothic forest or moonlit city dreamscapes. In particular, "Montreal," a guitar duet with producer Malcolm Burn featuring ornate layers of acoustic, electric, and steel guitars. King?s most affecting recordings are the stark ones like "Life Being What It Is," a ballad about heartbreak and sugarcoated anger featuring King?s fragile vocalizing backed only by acoustic six-string guitar. Diverse and exceptional, this disc will win acceptance beyond her core audience of guitar fans. --Ted Drozdowski
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 a little dissapointing, but ok September 2, 2008
Well, its not nearly as good as Until We Felt Red, and there are some really weak tracks like Pull Me Out Alive, which is really dumbed down and has a very simple structure, almost sounds like Tegan and Sarah or something. The music seems to lack the creativity of her previous efforts, and many of the instrumental songs sound underdeveloped, as in they come off as sections of a larger work that doesn't quite complete. The guitar work isn't nearly as interesting as her other records, with the exception of Air and Kilometers.
But that being said, its still not a horrible album, and it does grow on you a bit, so its worth a download. The best tracks are, Saving Days in a Frozen Head, and Air and Kilometers.
 Dreaming of Revenge July 14, 2008
Most of the songs on this album remind me of video games from the 90's. Kaki King has a sweet, pop-ish sounding voice that appears in some of the songs (many without vocals). Her guitar playing is amazing/percussive, which I think is the best part of this album.
Kaki evolves further from her roots, too far for me June 24, 2008
I can almost repeat my review of "... until we felt red," where I wrote "I was at a Kaki King concert last night. I wasn't expecting to like her new material as much as the old, but came away quite impressed." However, this latest concert was a few months back, and I'm still ambivalent about this new album. Kaki goes further in the direction she took with "... until we felt red." Since I like her first two albums best, anything different has to win me over. I like the songs on this album that most resemble her earlier work, but unfortunately the rest isn't that great. There aren't enough of the former to carry the album as a whole.
Clearer than Previous Album, Still Many Possibilities to Develop June 3, 2008
The direction of Kaki King's 4th album, Dreaming of Revenge, is similar to her 3rd, Until We Felt Red--self-indulging ambient rock. But several elements have made the new work clearer. Each song is more clearly outlined, rather than blurred under the total album concept. King's vocal style, which has become more conventional, also helps making the sonority tighter. The contrast between King's guitar and string trio/quartet on three tracks adds tonal variety to the album. Still, several points to improve remain. For one detail, drums, played by King on several tracks, could be more powerful. For a bigger picture, the music could have featured King's guitar virtuoso more. While undoubtedly an excellent performer, as a recording artist, King still seems to have many possibilities to develop.
 Kaki is King April 30, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm not a huge instrumental music fan. Yes, I appreciate fantastic musicians, but still I can rarely sit through an entire album of instrumental music (I need a chorus a bridge, etc.). That is precisely why I am so appreciative of this album. I've always known Kaki to be an incredible guitarist, but this album brings her up volumes in my book. Why she didn't sing all the time, I'll never know, because I LOVE her lyrics and her voice. I love this album, front to back... and have NO problem with the instrumental tracks...in fact I love them. Standout "singing" tracks are Life Being What It Is, Pull Me Out Alive and Saving Days in a Frozen Head. Standout instrumental tracks are Sad American, Montreal, Open Mouth and I Need a Girl Who Knows a Map... I just about named almost all of the tracks (and I can't say there is a bad apple in the bunch), which means you might as well buy the album. I can't say enough good about Miss Kaki King.
|
|
|
