King Khan
Never Hold On 7''
Khannibalism / Ernest Jenning Record Co
2016
Rating: 8 hot, buttered corn-on-the-cobs out of 10
Despite being a fan for a long ass time of all things King Khan
related, over the last couple of years my fervor for keeping up with
his every release has somewhat waned. Then he comes out with this stone
cold jam called "Never Hold On," all lush and smooth, and I'm totally back in.
This track sounds like a throwback to the Brill Building days, complete
with string section arrangements. I couldn't love this any more than I do. The
b-side "A Tree Not a Leaf Am I" is fine, not special or boring really,
just there. Sorta slow and sultry, but not particularly exciting. That a-side is fire though, and worth the price of admission alone.
Apparently
the songs from this release (along with another seven inch from Khan
called "America Goddamn" that I'm not feeling quite as much as this one)
are taken from the soundtrack to a documentary called "The Invaders"
that may have some involvement with the world's strangest filmmaker,
Alejandro Jodorowsky. I can't find out a lot about it though. I may not have tried very hard, to be honest.
King Khan and the Shrines / Destroyer
Split 7''
Merge
2014
Rating: 7 weeping willows out of 10
The fourth Merge subscription seven inch - this one on purple vinyl (As you can sorta see above). The King Khan contribution is a cover of the Saints "Know Your Product," and he fills the songs with horns and a real party vibe - if I didn't know better I'd think it was one of his original songs. The Destroyer side was written by a Chilean named Victor Jara, but having no knowledge of the guy or song I couldn't tell you any more than that. I'm guessing it was recorded at or near the same time that Dan Bejar recorded the "Five Spanish Songs" EP, because it is very much that flavor. And in Spanish. That part might be the giveaway. It still feels very much like a Destroyer song, hard not to with that voice.
King Khan and the Shrines
Idle No More
Merge
2013
Rating: 7 piles of cat fur out of 10
King Khan, this time joined by the Shrines (one of many bands he is a part of), stepped up to the big leagues and put a record out on Merge. Maybe that only seems like the big leagues because they're local, I dunno. Anyways, a new record by everyone's favorite Indo-Canadian-German music personality, and how is it? Pretty damn good. If you've listened to the man with the Shrines before, you know their sound is more akin to juke joint soul combined with James Brown-style shenanigans than the garage rock he is best known for. Hell, when I saw this group on tour a few years back they had a cheerleader on stage for the entire set who did nothing but, well, cheer. "Idle No More" very much continues down the same path as "What Is?!" and the compilation "The Supreme Genius of..." that both came out on Vice a few years back - soul hooks (without the prototypical soul voice), horns - damn good party music.
