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Last Active 01-01-70 12:00 am
Joined 01-01-70
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| Kayo Dot Ranked
I was going to rank every Kayo song with descriptions but don't have the time, so
here's the next best thing. Enjoy. | | 1 |  | Kayo Dot
Choirs of the Eye
I doubt that anyone reading this list would be surprised by the position of Choirs at the top,
and I don't feel obliged to defend it. The sheer power, beauty, scale, structure and emotion of
this album are barely believable and it can be listened to again and again without losing its
strength. There are hundreds of small details that add a vast amount too it (see: the short
horn solo in Marathon, just before it breaks off into ambiance), but each track here is a
behemoth in its own right. The Antique is still the best closer to any album I have yet to hear
and stands as Kayo Dot's greatest composition, whilst The Manifold Curiosity will always be
hailed as a song of rare beauty, ambition and might. 4.9/5 | | 2 |  | Kayo Dot
Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue
In my opinion, Dowsing is Kayo's subtlest album. It has a few powerful climaxes, but they are
not the focus of the album - that focus is the album's sparse, beautiful approach. I wrote a
long review on how it toys with evolution and devolution and eventually embraces the latter
with surprisingly peaceful results, and I find that 'concept', or main theme, more powerful than
Hubardo's epic tale of the poet and the meteor, despite its lack of substance. Absolutely
nothing on Dowsing is rushed, even the chaotic outro of Gemini Becoming the Tripod or the
thrilling build in Aura on an Asylum wall; the album drifts along at its own pace and is much
the better for it. Literally my only problem (even if it is a 12 minute-size one) is that the
closing section of ___On Limpid Form is just too fricking much. 4.5/5 | | 3 |  | Kayo Dot
Hubardo
Ranking this beast of an album at #3 was not easy, but I'll explain why with #2. Hubardo is
arguably the most ambitious project released thus far by any Toby Driver project; almost 100
minutes of music that is a dense as one might expect from KD is not an easy listen, and
although Hubardo is without filler, its expansiveness is somewhat overpowering for me and is
therefore one of the factors holding it back from position #2. However, the music here really is
extraordinary. It feels like Toby examined certain vibes from Gamma Knife and took them to a
whole new level - Hubardo is heavy as hell and absolutely beautiful in places. The final three
tracks seem to focus on neither and are possibly the most interesting and compelling to be
found here (aside from album highlight, Zlida Caosgi). Hubardo is monolithic to a degree that is
hard to absorb, but is ultimately one of KD's greater achievements. 4.4/5 | | 4 |  | Kayo Dot
Blue Lambency Downward
Possibly their most controversial album, BLD rejects almost all heaviness in favour of uneasy
soundscapes and a much jazzier sound. While some would like to pretend the three albums
released between Dowsing and Hubardo had never existed, I both enjoy them in themselves
and think they show exactly how multidimensional a project Kayo Dot is. Blue Lambency
Downward is the strongest of these albums and evokes a whole range of feelings within the
spectra of nostalgia and tension. The last three songs are particularly powerful, and
Symmetrical Arizona remains my second favourite Kayo song. My problems with the album
mainly center around the title track (bar the excellent opening minute) and The Sow Submits,
which fail to generate atmospheres as engaging and captivating as the rest of the album does.
4.1/5 | | 5 |  | Kayo Dot
Coffins on Io
Kayo's most recent outing is a little more immediate than I expected. They display their
influences much more openly and whilst it still sounds very much like a Kayo Dot album, I find
Coffins less distinctively original than anything else the band has released. Additionally, there
are some sections here that go on for too damn long (the outros of Offramp Cycle and Library
Subterranean, and the saxophone solo in the somewhat underwhelming closer Spirit
Photography). Fortunately, the sexy 80s driving-at-night vibe is utilised nicely enough to hold
the album together and some songs (The Mortality of Doves, the first half of Library
Subterranean, The Assassination of Adam) are just fantastic. 3.91/5 | | 6 |  | Kayo Dot
Gamma Knife
I really really like this album. It's peculiar, short and bewildering in a way that makes it just as
charming (take with a pinch of salt) as it is disturbing. The beautiful bookends of Lethe and
Gamma Knife (top 10 Kayo without a doubt) contrasts wonderfully with the black
metal/woodwind hellfest in the middle. My slight complaints are that the middle section is a
little too confusing for its own good, and that the album's length prevents it from reaching the
heights of the band's strongest albums, but this is still excellent. 3.9/5 | | 7 |  | Kayo Dot
Coyote
KD's darkest album is, unsurprisingly, their least accessible. I can count the moments I would
describe as 'pleasant' on one hand, and although that's not really the point, it certainly doesn't
boost Coyote's replay value. My main gripe is that although there is a vast amount of emotion
behind this album, only a limited amount actually gets transferred. That said, the abyssally
bleak atmosphere is as strong a soundscape as any Toby Driver as produced and I still find
myself haunted by it. 3.6/5 | |
JohnnyoftheWell
10.24.14 | That took longer than I expected. Enjoy. | AnimalsAsSummit
10.25.14 | i love how different these rankings are. such an enigmatic band. gonna make mine soon!!!! the one here i disagree with the most is 7 but everything else is really well justified | Lord(e)Po)))ts
10.25.14 | so fucking wrong | Lord(e)Po)))ts
10.25.14 | 1. BLD
2. Coyote
3. Hubardo
4. Gama
5. Choirs & Dowsing
6. Coffins
but really 2-5 are all 4.5's so it doenst matter much as long as bld is 1 and coffins is last
| Lord(e)Po)))ts
10.25.14 | i love you tho | ShrillYell
10.25.14 | Coffins is probably my fav even though it technically isn't as strong as Hubardo or Choirs. I just love those vibes. | AnimalsAsSummit
10.25.14 | i think coffins beats hubardo personally; coyote owns both of them tho | Scoot
10.25.14 | choirs is the undisputed 1 | AnimalsAsSummit
10.25.14 | ^agreed 100%
| Yazz_Flute
10.25.14 | Choirs
Dowsing
Hubardo
Coffins
Coyote
BLD
Gamma Knife | Artuma
10.25.14 | choirs
hubardo
coffins
dowsing
gamma
coyote
blue lambency | p4p
10.25.14 | 2 is 1 | Veldin
10.25.14 | I have a completely different rating, but I think that's the cool thing about Kayo Dot, they offer so much that perspectives and opinions are bound to differ. Sweet list, though, and I dig the descriptions, mate. Plus, I view Choirs and Dowsing as like a double LP for some reason, so it's hard to imagine them apart. | JohnnyoftheWell
10.25.14 | Nice to see the amount of respectful disagreement here :]
I kinda get the double LP vibe too, but I see them more as parts in a series | Zig
10.25.14 | Cool to see Choirs on top. For me, 7 should be at least 3.
Great list, btw. | AngryNeighbor
10.25.14 | Coyote should be #2 but great list nevertheless. | JohnnyoftheWell
10.25.14 | Coyote will probably remain their most divisive album...I wish I could get into it more | AnimalsAsSummit
10.25.14 | i can see why coyote is challenging to get into for some, as its really a "mood" album that could totally prove ineffective if not in the right emotional mindset. it is a brilliant album and showcases so much "humanity" that some kayo dot releases fall short on.
i listened to coyote non-stop during winter 2012 in the wake of my grandfather's death; never has that album ever been the same for me | JohnnyoftheWell
10.25.14 | I suppose I just haven't been in a dark enough place over the last few years to appreciate it fully
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