Gary K - "Hawkin' The Chalk"
(Best Kept Secret 1999, LIE 012, Cassette)

From Aural Innovations #11 (July 2000)

Gary K's music consists of simple, dark, and despondent solo instrumentals played on either guitar, keyboards, or both. Some of the music has a playful quality that reminds me of the cool demented soundtracks Mark Mothersbaugh does for the Rugrats and Pee-Wee's Playhouse television shows. Some of the best stuff combines acoustic and electric guitar, producing a nice melodic, but darkly atmospheric mood to the music.

I like Gary's style, but unfortunately there's very little variety across the 28 tracks on this cassette. Side two does feature some more lively guitar, but overall I think he needs to expand on his ideas a little. I'd be interested to hear the result of his collaboration with other musicians.

Gary K's cassette is distributed by Best Kept Secret, a cassette-only label in Italy that focuses on homemade musicians. For more information you can visit the Best Kept Secret web site.
Contact via snail mail c/o Alessandro Crestani, Via Biron di Sotto, 101 36100 Vincenza, Italy

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz