Author |
Topic Search Topic Options
|
HackettFan
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 20 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Status: Offline
Points: 7946
|
Topic: Henry Kaiser Posted: June 19 2014 at 13:37 |
Here is a positive, neutral, and negative comment about Henry Kaiser I found on YouTube, edited for space and chosen for lack of cuss words. I like his playing, but the positive and neutral comments were quite hard to find. The venom over his playing is really quite extraordinary. Time for a PA vote, I think. Which comment most reflects your opinion of Henry Kaiser's playing.
|
|
Man With Hat
Collaborator
Jazz-Rock/Fusion/Canterbury Team
Joined: March 12 2005
Location: Neurotica
Status: Offline
Points: 166178
|
Posted: June 19 2014 at 14:02 |
He's a good one. So option #1 for me.
|
Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.
|
|
HolyMoly
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin
Joined: April 01 2009
Location: Atlanta
Status: Offline
Points: 26133
|
Posted: June 19 2014 at 15:09 |
I'm surprised there are that many people talking about him. He seems to have been under the radar since the more high profile days of the 80s/90s. So I wasn't even aware he was a controversial figure at all. I mean if you like that kind of music (experimental), what objection could one possibly have against him in particular? And if you don't like that kind of music, how did you come to hear it in the first place? Maybe I missed something, I dunno.
Anyway, to the point, I have a few albums of his, mostly rock-oriented stuff, and he's quite a player. Maybe even a virtuoso.
|
My other avatar is a Porsche
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased.
-Kehlog Albran
|
|
HackettFan
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 20 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Status: Offline
Points: 7946
|
Posted: June 19 2014 at 15:50 |
|
|
HolyMoly
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin
Joined: April 01 2009
Location: Atlanta
Status: Offline
Points: 26133
|
Posted: June 19 2014 at 16:41 |
Ah. That makes sense, I wasn't aware of those videos.
|
My other avatar is a Porsche
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased.
-Kehlog Albran
|
|
octopus-4
Special Collaborator
RIO/Avant/Zeuhl,Neo & Post/Math Teams
Joined: October 31 2006
Location: Italy
Status: Offline
Points: 13358
|
Posted: June 20 2014 at 01:20 |
Sorry, who is Henry Kaiser?
|
Curiosity killed a cat, Schroedinger only half. My poor home recorded stuff at https://yellingxoanon.bandcamp.com
|
|
Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
Status: Offline
Points: 15916
|
Posted: June 20 2014 at 01:35 |
The only Kaiser related LP I have is a collaboration album by French, Frith, Kaiser and Thompson. It's a great album....
|
|
argybargy
Forum Newbie
Joined: March 13 2010
Location: uk
Status: Offline
Points: 9
|
Posted: June 20 2014 at 03:45 |
Apart from the collaborations with French, Thompson and Frith he's also done some interesting work with other people. He did an album "The Mistakes" with Mike Keneally, Prairie Prince and Andy West. And also an album called "Invisible Rays" with Trey Gunn and Morgan Agren. Both are quite rocky with some great instrumental work, some of it improvised I guess , from all the participants.
|
music adds meaning
|
|
BarryGlibb
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 28 2010
Location: Melbourne, Oz
Status: Offline
Points: 1781
|
Posted: June 20 2014 at 03:48 |
Tom Ozric wrote:
The only Kaiser related LP I have is a collaboration album by French, Frith, Kaiser and Thompson. It's a great album.... |
Tom, I reckon you are talking about their album Live, Love, Larf & Loaf I have that as well, and their follow up Invisible Means....two all time favourite albums of mine. Very experimental; wierd, sad, spine tingling and lots of humour as well...... Surfin' USA and Loch Lomond as you've never heard them before, March of The Cosmetic Surgeons, Now That I am Dead (hilarious!) . This quartet has been discussed before and I still don't understand how they are not on PA for those 2 albums. Kaiser is a avid appreciator of Richard Thompson (the Thompson in the quartet) whose guitar work, both acoustic and electric, are well known....well I assume they are..
Edited by BarryGlibb - June 20 2014 at 03:51
|
|
Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
Status: Offline
Points: 15916
|
Posted: June 20 2014 at 04:54 |
Why yes, Surfin' USA - total crack-up ........and some more 'serious' pieces as well : Where's The Money?, Drowned Dog Black Night, Tir-Nan-Darag etc. Naturally, I picked up the LP in the 90's coz it had Frith on it. I did know of Thompson, but the other two folks were lost on me. I don't know what sub-genre they'd be under - perhaps R.I.O. ?? This L,L,L&L album is a winner for sure.
|
|
octopus-4
Special Collaborator
RIO/Avant/Zeuhl,Neo & Post/Math Teams
Joined: October 31 2006
Location: Italy
Status: Offline
Points: 13358
|
Posted: June 20 2014 at 05:49 |
I'm honestly ignorant about this guy. Does he deserve a listen?
|
Curiosity killed a cat, Schroedinger only half. My poor home recorded stuff at https://yellingxoanon.bandcamp.com
|
|
HackettFan
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 20 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Status: Offline
Points: 7946
|
Posted: June 20 2014 at 12:16 |
octopus-4 wrote:
I'm honestly ignorant about this guy. Does he deserve a listen? | Oh, yeah. He's a product of the California scene, was a friend of Frank Zappa from what I understand and probably belongs in the same RIO/Avant sub-genre. Be willing to laugh. He invokes humor in a lot of things. His guitar style is very idiosyncratic and a common component of his style of humor. I get a real kick, for instance, out of his YouTube video, Radio Flyer. Live, Love, Larf and Loaf, which was already mentioned, is a fine recommendation. His pairing with Fred Frith on With Friends Like These... has some pretty avant-garde guitar torture. I don't know what they're doing, but I'm pretty sure it involves in some part scraping stuff with pliers. FYI, Henry Kaiser is also the grandson of the highly rich industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. It is clear from several YouTube comments that that is held against him.
|
|
Cali_Dreamer
Forum Newbie
Joined: July 22 2014
Location: Bay Area
Status: Offline
Points: 4
|
Posted: July 22 2014 at 00:51 |
Wait, did I understand that right? You thought Radio Flyer was funny? An example of his humor? How do you figure? Although I thought it was generally a good performance piece, the narrative freaked me out! I mean, WTH, grandson of HJK grows up institutionalized year-round in an abusive military boarding school? It blows my mind.
|
|
Evolver
Special Collaborator
Crossover & JR/F/Canterbury Teams
Joined: October 22 2005
Location: The Idiocracy
Status: Offline
Points: 5482
|
Posted: July 23 2014 at 12:33 |
I have a bunch of his albums, and love them all.
Very complex, so not for everyone.
|
Trust me. I know what I'm doing.
|
|
HackettFan
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 20 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Status: Offline
Points: 7946
|
Posted: July 23 2014 at 20:47 |
Cali_Dreamer wrote:
Wait, did I understand that right? You thought Radio Flyer was funny? An example of his humor? How do you figure? Although I thought it was generally a good performance piece, the narrative freaked me out! I mean, WTH, grandson of HJK grows up institutionalized year-round in an abusive military boarding school? It blows my mind. |
Point well taken, and shared, but, of course, humour has dealt with many lamentable topics in the past. Please note that the exact opposite sentiment to yours abounds in the YouTube comments. The animosity toward HK pretty well astounds me.
|
|
Mirror Image
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 13 2011
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 2111
|
Posted: July 23 2014 at 21:02 |
The number two option for me, but I would extend it to say that he's just not my cup of tea.
|
“Music is enough for a lifetime but a lifetime is not enough for music.” - Sergei Rachmaninov
|
|
HackettFan
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 20 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Status: Offline
Points: 7946
|
Posted: July 23 2014 at 21:37 |
Mirror Image wrote:
The number two option for me, but I would extend it to say that he's just not my cup of tea. |
Ha! I'm not surprised. I just left the Zappa/Floyd poll. If you're not strong on Zappa, Henry Kaiser indeed probably wouldn't be your cup of tea. Interestingly, there are a couple of Henry Kaiser videos on YouTube that people have trashed in the comments section that were actually Zappa covers. The commenters seemed generally unaware too.
|
|
Cali_Dreamer
Forum Newbie
Joined: July 22 2014
Location: Bay Area
Status: Offline
Points: 4
|
Posted: August 11 2014 at 23:07 |
I think that's because he does a poor job of his Zappa and Beefheart covers. I found videos of the originals to some of his covers, and they have a melodic quality that his renditions lack. I can't help wondering if he can't hear the difference, or if he deliberately plays them the way he does. If the latter, I don't know what the point is, what he's aiming for. Maybe for him, it's more about experimenting with extreme pedal effects. But I can see why he gets flack for those.
Edited by Cali_Dreamer - August 11 2014 at 23:08
|
|
HackettFan
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 20 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Status: Offline
Points: 7946
|
Posted: August 12 2014 at 09:42 |
Cali_Dreamer wrote:
I think that's because he does a poor job of his Zappa and Beefheart covers. I found videos of the originals to some of his covers, and they have a melodic quality that his renditions lack. I can't help wondering if he can't hear the difference, or if he deliberately plays them the way he does. If the latter, I don't know what the point is, what he's aiming for. Maybe for him, it's more about experimenting with extreme pedal effects. But I can see why he gets flack for those. |
He probably is experimenting with extreme foot pedals. They're not pristine covers. They're live practice sessions uploaded to YouTube. The Ship Ahoy cover was done in someone's living room. These YouTube vids are not the equivalent of any album he has put out, and I don't know why anyone would expect it to be. He takes his own liberties, but he's an improviser. I personally like that. I'm an improviser and would take liberties with anything I were to cover too. All that aside, the YouTube comments as I recall seldom both recognize the Zappa cover he's playing and trash it, while many of the comments trash the actual music itself. Other comments trash him for being a "smug a****le" or being the grandson of a rich tycoon. Those commenters tend to also trash the music. There's an asymmetry there.
|
|
HackettFan
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 20 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Status: Offline
Points: 7946
|
Posted: August 12 2014 at 10:29 |
HackettFan wrote:
octopus-4 wrote:
I'm honestly ignorant about this guy. Does he deserve a listen? | Oh, yeah. He's a product of the California scene, was a friend of Frank Zappa from what I understand and probably belongs in the same RIO/Avant sub-genre. Be willing to laugh. He invokes humor in a lot of things. His guitar style is very idiosyncratic and a common component of his style of humor. I get a real kick, for instance, out of his YouTube video, Radio Flyer. Live, Love, Larf and Loaf, which was already mentioned, is a fine recommendation. His pairing with Fred Frith on With Friends Like These... has some pretty avant-garde guitar torture. I don't know what they're doing, but I'm pretty sure it involves in some part scraping stuff with pliers. FYI, Henry Kaiser is also the grandson of the highly rich industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. It is clear from several YouTube comments that that is held against him. | Moose and Salmon is probably his most Avant-Garde, full of squeaks and squeals. I like it, but it would be a hard listen for most. Lemon Fish Tweezer is a highly recommended album of solo guitar improvisations from 1973 to 1991. Where Endless Meets Disappearing is a more recent solo improv album from 2009 that's absolutely beautiful and highly recommended. Requia and Other Improvisations for Guitar Solo is another recent album that I would recommend.
|
|
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.