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Album: Kaki King: Legs To Make Us Longer
Street Date: October 5, 2004
Length: 45:09
Rating: 
Reviewed by: Kevin
There's been various labels attached to Kaki's genre of music. The one she likes best is "Math Rock" yet even she has no idea what that means. A term I heard once that best applies is "Percussive Guitar" because her style of playing is more than just playing the acoustic guitar like most people do, she uses the body of the guitar as a percussion drum instrument at the same time. The result is a style and skill that is one of the most unique you will ever hear.
1. Frame - The album begins with a slow strumming piece. It is short but has a lot of mood behind it, makes for a good opener.
2. Playing With Pink Noise - This is a fast paced piece. Her talents really shine on it which is why it's the lead single from the CD. Many of her unique guitar tricks are incorporated into the track. She even made a music video for the single which is included on the ECD portion of the CD. This is likely to be the only way you will ever see the video since Kaki is not likely to get any airtime on MTV.
3. Ingots - A mid tempo beat keeps the song driven. The guitar piece for the tune is quite well done and has a pleasing rhythm to it.
4. Doing The Wrong Thing - This is one of the more jazz oriented tracks, mainly because of some other added instruments like drums, a cello, a violin and more. I think it's great that she uses the track to expand beyond just the acoustic guitar sound.
5. Solipsist - A solo piece with a similar tempo to "Pink Noise" but more straight forward and less guitar tricks.
6. Neanderthal This is a slower tempo track, quite beautifully done. Reminds me somewhat of a Duncan Sheik song called "Days Go By."
7. Can The Gwot Save Us? - For this track she uses a steel slide guitar. Her motives behind the track are politically based. She is quite unhappy with the entire election process, was not a fan of any candidate. The title "Gwot" stands for "Global War On Terror", so without any lyrics, this was the best way she could express those views.
8. Lies - She uses some blues influence at the beginning of the track, but then the tempo picks up and gives the tune a whole new feeling.
9. All The Landslides Birds Have Seen Since The Beginning Of The World - Long title aside, this track plays like an epic. It begins slow, builds and builds with a definite climax in the last 30 seconds of the track.
10. Magazine - It starts off slowly, but halfway into the track is like an explosion where the speed takes off and becomes an intense pace that keeps you glued to the speakers.
11. My Insect Life - She sings! Hard to really even tell what she sings but there are vocals present. It's about the equivilant of a sweet lullaby. A steel slide guitar is used once again.
11b. Hidden Track - At 5:41 on the 11th track begins the hidden track which is about 2:20 in length. The sound used for the musical piece is southeast asian in origin. It allows her to experiment with different sounds and textures and wraps up the album well.
Overall:
I will be honest and admit that Kaki King's style is not for everyone. Yet anyone that can see beyond mainstream music and can appreciate true talent and skill will without a doubt a love Kaki's music.
This album shows her continuing to grow as an artist. Her first CD Everybody Loves You which was a small label release was completely acoustic guitar driven. Here we hear additional instruments on select tracks adding a new depth to Kaki's unique style.
For an almost entirely instrumental album, each track is able to keep you drawn into every guitar lick waiting to see what technique she will play next. You can't help but be impressed by her.
For more information see: www.kakiking.com (Angel Kaki / Demon Kaki)
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