Kaki King: Dreaming Of Revenge

After being introduced to the world as an

instrumental guitar virtuoso and being fawned over by people who are into that

kind of stuff, Kaki King hooked up with John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea And

Cake) and found her music suddenly embraced by the indie-rock set. And it

wasn't just because of the post-rock name suddenly attached to her: …Until

We Felt Red really

was a hipper album (though not in a painfully self-conscious way), and with

more prominent vocals, it was also more accessible. King has continued down that

path with Dreaming Of Revenge, and has come up with a similarly engaging record

that shows off her dexterity while letting the melodies get as dreamy and

beautiful as they like. The hip factor may be turned down just a smidge

(McEntire was replaced by Malcolm Burn), but the songs are just as strong,

whether they're hitting a rocked-up groove or getting the cinematic treatment

with strings. King's vocals (on four of the 11 tracks) are more of a

distraction than they were on Red, though they add just the right amount of spice

to make Revenge

enjoyable from beginning to end.