Henry Kaiser

He's a good one. So option #1 for me.

Man With Hat wrote: He's a good one. So option #1 for me.

HolyMoly wrote: 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.

He makes a fair number of YouTube videos on a variety of topics. I bought an effects pedal that I just love, a Red Panda Particle, after a demo that he did, for instance. I was not specifically searching for "Henry Kaiser" at the time. I figure a lot of non-Prog guitarists or non-Prog music fans came upon him indirectly.

Sorry, who is Henry Kaiser?

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.

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 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.

I have a bunch of his albums, and love them all.

The number two option for me, but I would extend it to say that he's just not my cup of tea.

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 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.