I went on Amazon and there was the box set. They had III available and the live one but not much else so instead of searching and searching I pulled the trigger. It was $259 but from what I've heard so far from these guys I doubt I'll be disappointed. And besides, what else am I going to spend my money on? I don't have any kids and the indie scene is all EDM and other assorted nonsense (although I am excited about the new Deerhuner LP...as the new one from The Dear Hunter was a little meh) so I guess I'm all in here.
I'll let you all know my thoughts. So excited. Did not even know there was a box set!!!
The Prog Corner
^Congrats, man. You saved a LOT of money AND you have everything in one fell swoop.
Predictable but...II is their classic, has all their great tunes on it. Get the Electric Bird reissue with all the best from their debut as bonus tracks (actually it feels like an expanded edition of the old compilation LP Self Portrait, which was my first taste of Kenso).
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Both Kenso II and III are great. There's also a live one called In the West. Can't go wrong with any of the three.
Kenso’s NEARfest performance is still one of the highlights of the whole history of the festival for me. They were simply amazing that night. Although I like their studio albums, live they were something eles.
Seeing them at Progfest 2000, they were blinking amazing. For me easily the best set at the festival. Showed when I did a review of the festival back on rmp.
I think I remember that. You uploaded it the same night, right? I remember your remark about the bassline in "Hyoto" (if that was you).
But yes, EASILY the best set of the fest. I needed another hour of them. Unfortunately, a certain "supergroup" was due on, and somehow they put on the worst set of the fest!
Kenso at ProgFest 2000:
^^^^ Awesome live clips! Sora is an awesome track. They kill it live!
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
Ha, that wasn't me. I was much into the dual keyboardist approach Kenso took. Still they destroyed. And as far as the "supergroup" was concerned, I did like their cd. But it was mostly the technical issues (One of the few times I've ever seen a musician so put out) that killed it for me. Okay some of the "I'm too cool for school" antics kinda made my eyes roll as well. But hey, I remember a crowed really getting into it nearer to the front in front of the band, while a few of us couldn't take anymore of it, and took a powder.
Kenichi Oguchi also plays on Koenjihyakkei: Nivraym
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Wow, a thread hater. Who knew.
The one before the new one was pretty good - I think it was released in 2006.
The new one was fairly poor.
The album which had "Gips" on it was mediocre as a keyboard album as I think it had more hard edged guitars on it.
As far as I can tell, their 80's and early 90's records are worth listening to but I'm not a specialist on those.
I personally liked Uchi Naru Koe Ni Kaikiseyo, their 2014 release, a lot. I can see why some Kenso fans might not. It does have a different sound for them, far less "frantic" than much of their stuff, which, like it though I do, often wears me out. I've said before, I think they often pack too much into their compositions, and with Uchi Naru Koe Ni Kaikiseyo, the seem to back away from that a bit and let the pieces "flow" a bit more. The extensive us of the vocalist on the last track may also be a turnoff for some, though again I think it was extremely effective.
They used vocals on four tracks on Utsuroi Yuku Mono (2006) as well. One of these tracks I thought worked well, but the suite of three songs at the end of that album was hard to listen to for me. I made a CDR without those that I listen to.
GIPS is the only track from Esoptron that I really love. But I found a cheap copy a few years back and over time I've come to enjoy it a bit more than when I sampled it when it came out.
Bill
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