Ki! - The Boy from Haeundae Beach (2022) [Hi-Res]

Ki! was born in South Korea, living in an orphanage in the Haeundae District of Busan. He was adopted and grew up in Denmark. The Boy From Haeundae Beach, Ki!’s debut, double LP album of 20 tracks, was born as the tunes were written and recorded, track by track, over the course of a couple of years, many as homages to some of his favourite artists such as Fela Kuti, Sharon Jones, George Harrison, J Dilla, Link Wray etc. From the first single ‘Mây Trôi’s groovy mix of Vietnamese Vong Co-style guitar and soul music (sounding like a poppy-red sunset on a faded postcard) to the motown magic of ‘Happy’ (retro in line with Amy Winehouse’s re-imagining of the genre), the variety of genres, styles and sounds on the album is all over the map, drawing inspirations from different periods and from all over the world. The album’s 20 highly diverse tracks feel like a mixtape equivalent to a travelogue. The audio version of notes scribbled on the back of weathered photographs, pencil drawings and pressed flowers collected in a banged up notebook. Some are instrumental, some feature guest vocalists. Some tracks are glimpses, short stops on the trip: the fly-on-the-wall tribute to Elizabeth Cotten, the horizon-spanning scale of the scene-setting opener ‘Haeundae Beach Boy’. Others feel like week- or month-long stays: From the French melancholic soul and Ethiopian jazz of ‘Je Suis Toujours Là (feat. Al Agami & Trine Jørck)’ to the Fela Kuti-homage ‘Abeokuta’ - the latter with guitar playing so nimble it could pick your pockets. You can enjoy each step on the way separately, but if you listen to the 20-track double album in full, you’ll see that, rather than cataloguing a series of destinations, it’s a carefully curated, lovingly put together sonic journey. The unifying aspects of Ki!’s sound – the touches and timbres that make Ki! Ki! – unfold underway. There is a holistic aspect to his eclecticism that gives the album the breadth and depth that ultimately is the real attraction.



Tracklist:
1.01 - Ki! - Haeundae Beach Boy (1:35)
1.02 - Ki! - Abeokuta (4:13)
1.03 - Ki! - Happy (3:53)
1.04 - Ki! - Cotten Hymn (1:40)
1.05 - Ki! - Je Suis Toujours Là (5:24)
1.06 - Ki! - Mây Trôi (2:36)
1.07 - Ki! - Nibi Nibi (3:06)
1.08 - Ki! - Karma Flow (4:33)
1.09 - Ki! - Nắng ấm (2:28)
1.10 - Ki! - Mood Indigo (2:08)
1.11 - Ki! - End Credits (2:46)
1.12 - Ki! - Out of the Dark, Into Our Hearts (5:41)
1.13 - Ki! - Music is the Language of Angels (2:53)
1.14 - Ki! - Viggo (2:42)
1.15 - Ki! - High Life (4:40)
1.16 - Ki! - Romantique (2:59)
1.17 - Ki! - Wrays of the Sun (2:57)
1.18 - Ki! - Vinden der hvisker (4:07)
1.19 - Ki! - Joel Goes to Get Help (5:58)
1.20 - Ki! - October 12 (3:16)