Djam Karet - a newbie

[Hour Candle]

Hi!

I recently got to hear a few pieces of Djam Karet and enjoyed it much. Now I'm looking forward getting a few albums. Where should one start with these guys? Thanks for any help!

[dropforge]

Get these three yesterday:

The Devouring
A Night For Baku
Burning The Hard City

[Hour Candle]

Ok. Thanks! Must be getting these. Somebody told me not to begin with The Trip from last year. I wasn't given any explanation why?

[NogbadTheBad]

The Trip is great but probably not a good entry point as its one 45 minute spacey/ambient piece. Buy the three mentioned above particularly The Devouring. Great band, enjoy the exploration

[dropforge]

Ok. Thanks! Must be getting these. Somebody told me not to begin with The Trip from last year. I wasn't given any explanation why?

It's one album-length track. That's basically the only reason. If you like DK, you'll still like it, but start with the others. Check out Reflections from the Firepool, The Heavy Soul Sessions, Live at Orion and Live at NEARfest, too.

[SteveSly]

Their albums can be very different from each other. My personal favorites are:

1. Burning The Hard City
2. The Devouring
3. Live At Orion

[notallwhowander]

Well, I'll give a three-point list too, and you can triangulate.

1. The Devouring
This is the album that really drew me into the band. This really defines what the band is about, IMO.

2. Ascension
This one is more acoustic, and does a bit more with field recordings than your usual DK record. It's been my long time favorite from the band.

3. The Trip
As mentioned above, this is more of a chill-out ambient outing, but I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. If you want something with more bite and crunch, Burning the Hard City is a natural choice.

[NogbadTheBad]

My favorite three are probably

The Devouring
Recollection Harvest
Suspension & Displacement

[Digital_Man]

The devouring is great and probably one of the best prog albums from the nineties. I haven't heard much else.

[GuitarGeek]

Start with Burning The Hard City and Reflections From The Firepool. Then get everything else.

[dropforge]

2. Ascension
This one is more acoustic, and does a bit more with field recordings than your usual DK record. It's been my long time favorite from the band.

Unless the band reissues this, it'll be harder (read: more expensive) to acquire. They only pressed a few hundred copies.

[Hobo Chang Ba]

The Devouring & Recollection Harvest are really the only two I listen to anymore.

[warrplayer]

Devouring
Reflections from the Firepool
New Dark Age
But, really you could just randomly buy any three of their albums, and you'd be guaranteed to have some great music!


(Disclosure: they are friends of mine. I've played on a couple of Firepool Records releases. Don't hold that against DK though.)

[notallwhowander]

Unless the band reissues this, it'll be harder (read: more expensive) to acquire. They only pressed a few hundred copies.

I think it is available as download, though. Plus you could email the band and see if they have any extra copies. I did this with their second CDR release 2, and managed to score a copy even though it was no longer listed in their online store.

[spacefreak]

Start with Burning The Hard City and Reflections From The Firepool. Then get everything else.

I'll add Ascension and I'm seconding...

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

My favorite three are probably

The Devouring
Recollection Harvest
Suspension & Displacement

Those are the ones I would recommend as well

S&D is one very cool head trip... quite ominous sounding and unlike anything else they did really

[Yanks2014]

I would think their live at Nearfest set would be a good starting point as it's a nice selection of songs from the first several albums, and a good performance too! Of course it leaves out some nice music they have recorded since, especially Boku and Recollection Harvest.

[zombywoof]

I started with "The Trip", and then "Regenerator 3017". Good stuff, but not something I return to often. Will have to check out "The Devouring".

[Garden Dreamer]

Can't go wrong with Burning the Hard City and Reflections from the Firepool!

[NogbadTheBad]

So there you have it, buy all of them, but start with The Devouring.

[arturs]

1998's Live at Orion is a lifetime top-twenty disc for me. The Devouring and Burning, where many of Live's songs come from, are great too. this is my favorite period of DK, where they rock hard and with precision.

They then became much more lush and cinematic in the 2000s. Good albums from this period, too, such as Baku and Recollection Harvest.

Last year's "The Trip" is good too, but I wouldn't start there. Their Floyd influence is back at the forefront with this one, and it is influenced by the members' interests in ambient and drone musics too.

[Joe F.]

Ascension
The Devouring
Burning the Hard City

[rcarlberg]

Check out Reflections from the Firepool

That one would be my first recommendation, with the others mentioned here closely following.

[warrplayer]

I would think their live at Nearfest set would be a good starting point as it's a nice selection of songs from the first several albums, and a good performance too! Of course it leaves out some nice music they have recorded since, especially Boku and Recollection Harvest.

Or the Heavy Soul Sessions. Live in the studio greatest hits album from a couple years back. Mike Murray's debut. Great album.

[warrplayer]

I started with "The Trip", and then "Regenerator 3017". Good stuff, but not something I return to often. Will have to check out "The Devouring".

Both of these favor their ambient mellow side. Their other side is more of a KC channeling the Allman Brothers (Eat a Peach era) peel the paint off the walls type of vibe.