Kada Manja to Kashmir

"Kada Manja"  The Very Best  Warm Heart of Africa
"Kalakuta Show"  Gift of Gab/Lateef/Mix Master Mike  Red Hot + Riot: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti
"Kaleid"  Boxcutter  Glyphic
"Kamera"  Wilco  Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
"Kamikaze"  PJ Harvey  Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
"Kamphopo"  The Very Best  Warm Heart of Africa
"Kansas City Man Blues"  Clarence Williams' Blue Five  Rhapsodies In Black: Music and Words From the Harlem Renaissance [6.10.11 - link is to a later version by a different lineup - Sidney Bichet is the constant]
"Karma"  Outsized  Buddha-Bar, Vol IV
"Karma Chameleon"  Culture Club  Like Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box
"Kashmir"  Led Zeppelin  Physical Graffiti

  The 80s Pop Culture Box is an artifact of a 1980s that was not mine.  As near as I can tell, it is put together with a kitschy, self-aware eye of nostalgia for folks looking back fondly on the foolhardiness of leg warmers and tiny paisleys.  So at its worst, it is a reminder of the hell that was my high school life.  At its best, it is a collection of guilty pleasures.  Culture Club is really neither.  My feelings about Boy George generally amount to, "Huh.  So there was that."  I don't resent this song for existing ("Heartbeat" by Don Johnson, which I have promised myself not to skip when it comes around in this list).  I also don't have to justify my fondness for it to my peers ("Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and The Waves - its great, and you are wrong).  Like many artists, it was Boy George's world for a moment, and then he was gone.  Well, not gone.  Just not allowed on reality tv.  He does guest on the Antony & The Johnsons song, "You Are My Sister."

  When I listen to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, there are only two conclusions that can be reached.  First, that the whole decision to drop Wilco because of this album was contrived and simply done to generate publicity (the album was eventually released by Nonesuch, which is distributed by the same Warner Bros. who dropped it from Reprise).  Second, that Warner is populated by deaf people.  There is really no other reasonable explanation.

  This Boxcutter track is more upbeat, and less droning and drug-induced, but it is still not exactly danceable, and prone to the odd conversation-destroying blurt.

  I can find almost nothing about Outsized anywhere on the internet.  I know that the bigger name is David Visan as the DJ putting the Buddha Bar set together, but you would think something about the actual artist would exist somewhere.  One 2008 album on essential media, Blindfolded.  No reviews.  Essential Media barely has a web presence.  It is more of a mystery than a compelling song at this point - who is this band?

  "When it comes to making out, whenever possible, put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV."  It probably makes me of a particular age, but that line from Fast Times At Ridgemont High, and the ensuing debate - was this a goof, or meant as a blunder by the character - whenever I hear "Kashmir."  Sad but true.