Music Banter - View Single Post - Kayo Dot

Kamikazi Kat · 07-07-2009, 11:49 PM

Kayo Dot
Blue Lambency Downward

Kayo Dot's music to me, is the perfect combination between the progressive side of music, the avant-garde, and the abstract. Each album that Kayo Dot has released has become progressively darker and more experimental, demanding more from the listener. In Choirs of the Eye, the band's music was abstract and experimental, while still being beautiful and almost soothing. In Blue Lambency Downward, we see Kayo Dot adopt a much darker, violent, open and free sound that makes this album much more difficult to listen to and has even left many long-time fans of the band with mixed views of the album.

The album starts off with a very mysterious, ghostly almost folk inspired sound. This song perfectly represents the album art. It has an ethereal sound with a dark underlying, filled with echoed vocals, frantic drums that add a chaotic background texture, flutes, acoustic guitar and various psychedelic effects. Throughout the album, the band touches on many styles previously never heard on their previous albums. It never feels however, like the band is just playing another style of music just for the sake of doing. In Clelia Walking, the band explores free jazz and dark ambience with sudden violent outburst of distortion and dissonance. On The Sow Submits, a Jewish influence is present.

The album overall comes across to many as un-focused, but I almost think this is what the band's focus was, creating abstract movements using audio as their medium. The music constantly switches emotion and feel, while still retaining a sense of flow in a stream-of-conscious fashion. This is not an album that you casually listen to, but experience. The band highly recommends listening to the album in its entirety and has even provided a website to stream the entire album. This is a hard album to listen to, especially if you do what I did and listen to the entire album with no interruptions. You really need to be in completely different state of mind to appreciate this. The aim of this band's music isn't simply to be enjoyed, but to explore every realm of human emotion. It’s an album that needs to be appreciated from an artistic standpoint. Overall, I’m not sure what to think of this album. It is one of those albums that definitely feels like a grower, so I’m going to wait before coming to a final conclusion. As for those who want to get into Kayo Dot’s material, I would suggest starting with their first album, Choirs of the Eye and as for this album in particular, Right Hand is the One I Want is probably the most accessible track on the album. I think it would also be good to mention that the band has provided a website where you can listen to the entire album for free at www.bluelambencydownward.com.

07-07-2009, 11:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
Kamikazi Kat Music Addict Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Michigan Posts: 329	Kayo Dot - Blue Lambency Downward Kayo Dot Blue Lambency Downward Kayo Dot's music to me, is the perfect combination between the progressive side of music, the avant-garde, and the abstract. Each album that Kayo Dot has released has become progressively darker and more experimental, demanding more from the listener. In Choirs of the Eye, the band's music was abstract and experimental, while still being beautiful and almost soothing. In Blue Lambency Downward, we see Kayo Dot adopt a much darker, violent, open and free sound that makes this album much more difficult to listen to and has even left many long-time fans of the band with mixed views of the album. The album starts off with a very mysterious, ghostly almost folk inspired sound. This song perfectly represents the album art. It has an ethereal sound with a dark underlying, filled with echoed vocals, frantic drums that add a chaotic background texture, flutes, acoustic guitar and various psychedelic effects. Throughout the album, the band touches on many styles previously never heard on their previous albums. It never feels however, like the band is just playing another style of music just for the sake of doing. In Clelia Walking, the band explores free jazz and dark ambience with sudden violent outburst of distortion and dissonance. On The Sow Submits, a Jewish influence is present. The album overall comes across to many as un-focused, but I almost think this is what the band's focus was, creating abstract movements using audio as their medium. The music constantly switches emotion and feel, while still retaining a sense of flow in a stream-of-conscious fashion. This is not an album that you casually listen to, but experience. The band highly recommends listening to the album in its entirety and has even provided a website to stream the entire album. This is a hard album to listen to, especially if you do what I did and listen to the entire album with no interruptions. You really need to be in completely different state of mind to appreciate this. The aim of this band's music isn't simply to be enjoyed, but to explore every realm of human emotion. It’s an album that needs to be appreciated from an artistic standpoint. Overall, I’m not sure what to think of this album. It is one of those albums that definitely feels like a grower, so I’m going to wait before coming to a final conclusion. As for those who want to get into Kayo Dot’s material, I would suggest starting with their first album, Choirs of the Eye and as for this album in particular, Right Hand is the One I Want is probably the most accessible track on the album. I think it would also be good to mention that the band has provided a website where you can listen to the entire album for free at www.bluelambencydownward.com. Last edited by Kamikazi Kat; 07-08-2009 at 02:05 AM.