Customer Reviews

Kill Your Darlings

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Kid Loco has been talking to me for some time now.

About 18 months ago I began exploring the whole downtempo/lounge/chill-out/wallpaper/call-it-what-you-will scene.

K&D, Fila Brazillia, dZihan & Kamien, anything on Ninjatune, Air... and on and on.

So far, so predictable. Most people reading this review will know the above names, and if there are any that are new to you, please go for a browse around Amazon...

This wonderful range of call-them-what-you-will artists border trip-hop, drum & bass, jazz, techno & house. They cross-over, switch back, mix and match, and generally make up their own rules.

Throughout this journey, a name kept being thrown up. Kid Loco. Again and again. The Kid is French, cue references to DJ Cam and Dmitri from Paris - not bad references to say the least.

So I finally took the plunge with three Kid Loco CDs. This one, Jesus Life, and DJ Kicks.

It might well have been three different artists, and thus I immediately understand how some people may have been disappointed with "...Darlings", but for me variety is not just the spice of life, its the very essence.

All three CDs are excellent and well worth an investment.

So, what is THIS one like?

Actually, Amazon's own review covers it very well. The Velvet Underground is all over this CD, and it evokes images of drug induced trances, mellow moments for the high, and lazy come downs.

Clearly this is a big change from Loco's previous work, but hey, keep your mind open. Kid Loco not only gets away with this change, he has created a marvellous opus.

The Kid did good.

It was there all along. Echoes of Lou reed and the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan's defiance,
and Serge Gainsbourg's 60's kitsch. You had to listen carefully under the electronic beat layers
of "Prelude to a grand Love Story"(Kid Loco's first album) to capture the mad blunted prodigy's
influences. "Kill your Darlings" offers no apologies for being a rock album, and mocks a
worldwide consensus that the French can't(rock). Kid Loco's "pastiche" humor saves "Darling"
from being self-indulgent and cliché, and never takes itself too seriously. But his genius lies in a grand fakery of sampling and knob tweaking, which with the enlisted help of singers Tim Keegan (Departure Lounge) and Louise Quinn, creates the perfect illusion of a great band lost in time.

As the top of the CD wrapper reads: "Ten ballads for the t*ts, bums, and mickeys of beverly hills." Essentially what you are getting is an evokative downtempo disc, with relatively lush insturmentations (lots of accoustic guitars, live bass, very organic overall). The lyrics are completely forgettable overall, but the singing adds to the sultry, hot-summer night feel of the disc. The feelings of seduction are all over this disc, and it's easy to imagine this being played in the background of the "makeout room" at some house party somewhere in LA.

Well, Kid Loco is finally back. His new album is an interesting adventure through humor and love. There are songs that are for past fans of his music, and many new and inventive ideas. It is not an album for everybody, however, but that is why I did not give it five stars. That is the ONLY reason.

The Kids' production quality is even better than with "Grand Love Story." There is also much more vocal help with this album, and that is where the humor and the love come in.

One warning, there are a couple of songs that are not everyday listeners. They are good songs, funny songs, but once you heard them a few times you might skip to the next. Listen to the samples and have a good time getting LOCO.

-B-

Well yeah, it's short album, and not at all like Kid Loco's other original works. This isn't Trip-hop, Lounge, or any of that DJ electronica stuff we love... I mean, it's got guitars, and songs!
Good stuff though, and some funny lyrics to boot. Sounds like a cross between the Gorrillaz and The Eels.

An incredible addition to ANY audiophile's collection. {By the way, if you ARE, take a listen to Melody Gardot (lovely) and Madeleine Peyroux (think Billie Holiday] to round out your collection- [smooth] jazz, btw].

This my first cd from Kid Loco and I like it. "Kill Your Darlings" is a good cd. All of the songs are decent. But "Horsetown in Vain" is my favorite one so far. It's the reason why I decided to get this cd. I might get more Kid loco cds later. If u are a fan of Kid Loco or just into laid back music, this is for u.

Being a fan of Kid Loco I wouldnt say that this a bad album or that this is not his stlye. I think Kid has come with something fresh and new alot of people can get with the velet undergorung with that dark edge. Its the kind of cd I can put on with friends sit back and drink Martinies and reflect on life!

You know what I like to call this kind of CD? Utterly Erotica.
Slow, subtle, delicate, fluffy, seductive down beats....

I like this album. I like Kid Loco in general. All of his albums are kind of enchanting atmospherics and giving you the chance to imagine you're in another world, even just for 45 minutes.

This is surly not a masterpiece and it follows a lot of similar albums I have listened to lately (both "Back To Mine" by Morcheeba and Everything But The Girl are taking the same point of view), but it's a nice collection of tracks and it's a different style for Kid Loco ("A Little Bit Of Soul" remind me of Bob Dylan and "Here Come The Munchies" remind me of the Doors!.... In a Kid Loco CD! Can you believe it? I think it's amazing!)

And it's winter now (at least in Israel) and if fits the weather here big time...
A nice winter album for your collection.

~G.

This is poppier and more interestng than you might think.