Dreaming of Revenge - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

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

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."

Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

The pop album March 15, 2008
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

I became a huge Kaki King fan after seeing her perform on The Late Show many years ago. I immediately fell in love with "Everybody Loves You" and "Legs to Make Us Longer." I was not as thrilled by her last album "Until We Felt Red" and most of that was due to the radio-friendly push and the addition of lyrics. "Dreaming of Revenge" is in a similar vein as her former album, except that she sounds more comfortable with her newly discovered pop sound.

That being said, long gone are the days where it was just Kaki and her guitar, working complex miracles with ease. Almost every song on this album has drums and percussion behind her, as well as many other instruments going on. It sounds like she has become "Kaki King's Band" and no longer just a solo artist. She does not have a bad voice, but oftentimes the lyrics simply detract from the music. The beauty of an instrumental song is its ability to evoke feeling and emotion without explicitly telling you what's going on in the song. Lyrics, of course, change that and Kaki is now singing on 1/3 of the tracks. The fact of the matter is that the lyrics do not add anything. Making an incredible guitar song into a poppy radio jam via upbeat, peppy percussion and lyrics about "breaking up" is not what she was originally about, and the new sound does not suit her nearly as well as the sound on her first two albums. One of the things I loved about her music was that, odds were, I would never see people listening to her song on the radio, bobbing their heads to the drumbeat and singing along to her lyrics. The new album isn't bad (I've given it 3 stars because it still dwarfs much of the musical competition out there) and songs such as "Open Mouth", "Montreal" and "So Much for So Little" are incredible and complex. However, to hear her singing along to "Pull Me Out Alive" and "2 O'Clock" simply dulls the experience.

5 out of 5 stars

Guitar Genius Reaching A New Phase March 11, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Kaki King is a young and very gifted guitarist reaching out....and with "Dreaming Of Revenge" has reached a new plateau...
All the music on this new recording is full of hope and promise reaching out to explore new sounds and new emotions. It fulfills it's promise in spades.
"Can Anyone Who Has Heard This Music Really Be A Bad Person?" Just listen and be your own judge. This is new sounds and styles opening up the listener to a whole new world of music and emotion.
True talent and imagination wins out in this wonderful release. But be your own judge and allow the magik to surround you with the beauty Kaki King longs to infuse your senses with. Enjoy as intended!!!!!

5 out of 5 stars

Kaki is King April 30, 2008
5 out of 5 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.

5 out of 5 stars

Worth the Wait March 12, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

I fell in love with Kaki when "Until We Felt Red" came out. I have been very anxious for this new CD and hoped it would meet my expectations. Thankfully it has. She has continued her track into songwriting (as opposed to her earlier albums which are great, but likely only to appeal to musicians). There is some singing (her little girl whisper is a welcome change from the American Idol wailing everyone else does) that is done very well and fits the songs. Her instrumentals have become more dense and emotional and stand on their own without words. She really has become a force in MUSIC, not just instrumentation.

4 out of 5 stars

7.5/10 March 20, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Multi-skilled guitarist Kaki King has returned with a fourth album, a seemingly logical progression from her previous work ...Until We Felt Red. As with the last album, this one is a diversion from her first two albums, which were almost exclusively instrumental and guitar-centered, and focused primarily on her finger-tapping style. Once again, she has assembled this overall mild-mannered album, which does not limit itself to any single genre, but rather dips in and out of various worlds of style, including bits and pieces of non-aggressive rock, folk, ambient jazz, and subtle post-rock, all the while retaining a sensible flow. She also takes on the role of a vocalist more strongly on this album. Much of her vocals here are very outright, as opposed to those on ...Until We Felt Red, where they were more subdued and delicate. With the vocals being more outright, it becomes more apparent that vocals are not exactly Kaki's forte, yet one still must admire her seemingly increased level of confidence in assuming the duty of singing.

The album starts with a short, semi-acoustic/semi-electric instrumental prelude with jazz/funk overtones. Throughout the rest of the album, there are several instrumental interludes, which contribute to the overall flow of the album, and do easily stand alone as individual works, such as the Metheny-invoking songs "Sad American," and "Open Mouth," and the shifty "Montreal." "Life Being What It Is" is the first track to exhibit Kaki's "new" vocals, giving you ample time to decide whether or not you like them. She does however still utilize wordless vocalizations in the background that add to the instrumental section, reminiscent of past songs such as "You Don't Have to Be Afraid." This harmony-rich technique prevails on other songs such as "Saving Days in a Frozen Head," and it is in this technique that Kaki's voice always does seem to succeed. "Pull Me Out Alive" may raise a few eyebrows at first, but it evolves into a catchy pop tune, and an album highlight.

Overall, this is a very good album. It may not have the staying power or even the full appeal of its predecessor, but it remains an indication of Kaki King's skills as a musician and songwriter, and her abilities to diversify and not limit herself.

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