Announcing his first album in 2016, New Zealander confirmed it was the first in a project entitled 10/10/10: ten albums in ten different genres in ten years, followed by retirement. Remarkably, he's still on track. Highlights include (psychedelic soul), (roots reggae) and the brilliant (a folk singer-songwriter hybrid made with another Kiwi, Delaney Davidson).
The albums are soulful and blur into each other quite nicely – genre boundaries aren't entirely respected – but album number eight, recorded at the fabled Rancho de la Luna studio in Joshua Tree, stands out as a real labour of love. It's an album that reflects Kingi's admiration for 's , with the fuzz ramped up and song titles like and . And it works.
, and are suitably sludgy, and the frantic whips like the tail of a trapped scorpion. is a lovely slice of lilting Tex-Mex psychedelia, while the thumping is a junior desert rock classic. Only , a lumpen freakout based on a riff somewhere in the vicinity of 's , fails to impress.
Otherwise, pass the Mezcal. . Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014.
38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author.
Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović. Old blokes: What is it with them and when will they stop? A sort-of review of the Sex Pistols and Frank Carter at Bush Hall The 10 bands that defined Bloodstock 2024 "The whole 'I Hate Pink Floyd' thing was hilarious.
Anyone who took that seriously needs a new head." The story of the unlikely friendship between The Sex Pistols' John Lydon and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour.
