Album artwork for This Is What Happens
First things first, all of you should probably watch this. You may have seen this video several years back when it gained quite a bit of circulation around YouTube. This is the music of The Reign of Kindo, a jazz-rock group hailing from Buffalo, New York. In April of 2010 they released their second studio album, and third release in total, called This Is What Happens on CandyRat Records. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the label, CandyRat is one of my most trusted sources for beautifully written modern acoustic music. Musicians like Jon Gomm and Andy McKee, two of the most notable percussive fingerstyle guitarists, are represented by the label. In short, its catalog is stocked to the brim with remarkable music quality. So then, back to This Is What Happens. What exactly is it that happens? Press on, dear reader…
If you think about it, the world’s population of music enthusiasts can essentially be divided into two categories. There are those who value originality and advanced musicianship above all else, sometimes to the point of pretentiousness and condescension towards “lesser” artists. Then there are those who don’t care about any of that; they just want to dance around and sing catchy melodies. Both groups have their limitations, but luckily that’s where The Reign of Kindo comes in. Their music combines elements from both of these viewpoints into a single cohesive style, and the result is an extraordinarily melodic collection of tunes, rich in originality and soulfulness.
Audio Intimacy 