Kaki King

When name-checking guitar gods, technical show-offs like Michael Hedges, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Preston Reed, and Joe Satriani come to mind. But one would be hard-pressed to find a young lady among their ranks, someone who spent her formative years noodling away in string-based obsession. Until Kaki King came along, that is. This twenty-five-year-old is that kind of guitarist, a majestic talent whose mind moves as quickly as her hands, and whose style is already stunningly distinctive and brazenly experimental. On this, her third album, the producer John McEntire (who’s worked with the likes of Stereolab and Tortoise) injects a faintly indie air into King’s atmospheric playing.