3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
this endless moment of life, Dec 5 2005
By Russell E. Scott "futurestar" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Handwriting (Audio CD)
Face it, Khonnor is cool in a Fennesz and/or Boduf Songs meets The Postal Service and/or Dntel kind of way with the murmer of electronic noise overlaid with acoustic guitar. You must set aside or disregard that most great aspiring artists never start out having a clue. They are aware they have some home bred intangibles fighting and fussing inside just hankering to bust out. The lucky ones find a medium of expression to channel that creative spontaneity and hone a craft that nurtures their raw talent until some confidence builds and experience teaches. At this juncture, one can plot true courses, navigate the improbable, and figure how best to address their audience. The trick is to stay hungry, edgy, intuitive, and a few steps out of kilter.
Take our youthful lad Khonnor (Connor Kirby - Long) and his Handwriting CD, a remarkable achievement by any account for one of any age. You can easily find numerous faults and quibble the small points but none could doubt the talent. His knack for composition, diversity, and simplicity outshine any weakness due to naivety or lack of experience. He just flat out doesn't know better, but is willing to lay his guts on the line. Forget that some of the songs ride light on substance or content as he more than makes up for it in trail, risk, and experimentation. The fragmentation, electronic chatter, and background buzz are artist liberties. Lest we all be too old and forget, it's always the young ones who create the new sounds that structure the new underground scenes, ultimately affecting what we end up listening to as the `new cool'. Some of the more electronic material starts a tad grandiose in a cathedral sythn sort of way reminiscent of an early New Order when their song titles had nothing to do with the lyrics and we idolized them.
Locked in his bedroom with a funky mike, old computer, guitar, and Casio, this kid pulls off the equivalent of a modern day musical McGuiver meets Mozart. I find this music inventive, original, refreshing, eloquent, and flat out beautiful. Stuff that in what ever you smoke and toke it. These are some righteous sounds.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nobody puts Khonnor in a corner!, Sep 11 2005
By Lotten "brainylicious" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Handwriting (Audio CD)
Geeze Louise, how can this chunk of gold have escaped all attention by the american music consumers? Handwriting is full of super pretty sad electronical music. Imagine a melancolic 17-year old kid in a cemetary town making sad songs about screen love and space and stuff on the computer in his parents basement, and you pretty much get the picture. It's more heartfelt than pretentious and it speaks to your guts, but it's still skillful and intelligent as hell. Go buy it!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
HEART BREAKING ELECTRONICS COME GOOD., Jun 5 2007
By Steven Ben Read - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Handwriting (Audio CD)
Don't buy this album, and expect an easy listen the first time you hear this, but give it time, because this truly is amazing stuff.
First track 'man from the anthill' starts off with a pulsating static throb, as khonnor's 'lost boy' vocals scitter in time with the ever growing number of electronic sounds. The track ends in a sky scrapping feedback, that sounds like your cd is broken... but in a good way.
From there 'daylight and delight' erupts with the simple acoustic strumming, and is soon joined by a huge swelling horn section. Have no doubts this album is loud and very swoony.
Every track on this album is fragile, and tortured. As the Observer newspaper remarked... 'it is the sound of undiluted heartache.'
Imagine my bloody valentine (yes them again..) jamming with kid A era radiohead, and you're sort of there.
Uncomfortable, beautiful and heart felt. This is a lost classic.
And if track 6 'kill2' doesn't make your heart shatter, then you don't have one.