The Bottom Line: If you've been putting off buying a full-length album from K's Choice, 10 is the perfect solution. It is a concise and wonderful look at the band's decade-long career.
lambchops's Full Review: 10: 1993-2003 Ten Years Of * by K's Choice
Less a “greatest hits” or “best of” collection than a retrospective, the aptly titled 10 looks back at the last decade in music for band K’s Choice. Formed by the brother-sister team of Gert and Sarah Bettens in Belgium during 1991, the band has released five well received but oft ignored albums--including a live 2001 effort. Over the years, the lineup changed with the only constants being the aforementioned siblings and guitarist Jan Van Sichem Jr. (who has appeared on all releases apart from the band’s 1993 debut The Great Subconscious Club).
Whether or not you’ve actually heard K’s Choice depends on how progressive your favorite radio stations are. They are from Belgium and Sarah Bettens has a dusky, dark, strange way about her. But truth be told, K’s Choice could easily fill a place in most music collections. A keen, rich blend of pop and rock with a dramatic edge the band’s sound pleases me on many levels. On the surface, the eighteen songs contained on 10 just somehow sound and feel right. More importantly and less obviously, the thing that really makes K’s Choice and the music they make special is the honest emotion emitted by the songs, their words, and most importantly the vocals.
Regardless of how you look at K’s Choice, the band would be nothing if not for Sarah’s haunting voice. She possesses a “classic” rock voice tainted by hardship paired with cigarettes. It rests in delicate balance with the melody--dark and light, innovative and timeless, strange and appealing. The intricacies across the eighteen songs on 10 are highlights of a career all too often left in the shadows. Maybe if the stars are properly aligned and pigs have sprouted feathers 10 will help K’s Choice to reach the audience they’ve always deserved to have.
Maybe, just maybe we live on an alternate plane where the sky is lavender, rivers flow with chocolate, and everybody lives in ever-lasting peace and harmony. Errr…or not.
Anyway, as with all bands you can choose to experience K’s Choice in a variety of manners but may I suggest 10 as a starting point? It is true that the individual albums are a more complete vision, but it would be a shame if listeners missed out on some material because they chose (for example) to buy one album over another. There is excellent music to be had across ALL of K’s Choice’s discography. Their music is fortunately fairly well represented on 10.
By now, you may be curious as to the songs written and recorded by K’s Choice and whether or not you’ve actually heard any of them. To be honest, the answer is maybe not. In my part of the states, the only song I specifically remember getting any airplay was Not an Addict. Not at all surprisingly, it is the track that first peaked my interest about the band. The album which yielded that single, Paradise in Me (1995) also ranks as the band’s only modest hit stateside according to Billboard. Not to sound predictable, but Not an Addict is my favorite song from both that album and the new compilation. It is striking on its own and when considered in the whole picture--foreboding, weird, hypnotic and not at all like the rest of the music it sweeps the listener off to a world of desire.
Breathe it in and breathe it out
And pass it on, it's almost out
We're so creative, so much more
We're high above but on the floor
It's not a habit, it's cool, I feel alive
If you don't have it you're on the other side
The deeper you stick it in your vein
The deeper the thoughts, there's no more pain
I'm in heaven, I'm a god
I'm everywhere, I feel so hot
It's not a habit, it's cool, I feel alive
If you don't have it you're on the other side
I'm not an addict (maybe that's a lie)
Had it not been for the quality of the seventeen remaining songs, there would have been no use for a K’s Choice retrospective. The album is all too brief clocking in at just over an hour in length. It collects everything from hit singles to b-sides and unreleased tracks (not to mention everything in between). If you were on the fence about what K’s Choice album to buy, this is without question the one. From the opening notes of the newly unearthed Losing You I find myself lost in the majestic ebbs and flows of musical fantasy.
Aside from the opening two tracks, 10 is positively populated by great tracks. A few of my personal favorites include Believe, I Smoke A Lot (a big “no joke” to Miss Bettens on that most obvious statement), Little Man, Winners, Everything For Free, and album ender God In My Bed. The most surprising thing about 10 is that it is much more cohesive than any of the band’s individual albums. These songs embody the creative and melodic talents of the Bettens duo perfectly. They should be proud looking back at what they have done.
As much as I like the studio recordings I’ve mentioned and as partial as I am to Not An Addict, I must mention one incredible live song. My Heart is what really makes this release and why you should buy this album. Culled from the band’s 2001 live release, it is a brilliant piece of evocative acoustic pop. Sarah’s low and calm vocals are beautiful when set aside just an acoustic guitar. When brother Gert joins in the vocal harmony, the song is taken to new heights. My Heart proves once and for all that K’s Choice is so much more than a simple one trick pony.
10 is a fantastic compilation. It is inspiring at the same time it is ominous. It shines brilliantly with pop sensibility without selling out to goofy over-production. If you have any interest at all in female fronted pop-rock then K’s Choice is for you and buy 10 (1993>2003: Ten Years of) immediately.
Rating: 5/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Losing You [previously unreleased]
02. Not An Addict [Paradise in Me, 1995]
03. Believe [Cocoon Crash, 1998]
04. Almost Happy [Almost Happy, 2000]
05. My Heart [Live, 2001]
06. The Ballad of Lea and Paul [The Great Subconscious Club, 1993]
07. I Smoke A Lot [The Great Subconscious Club, 1993]
08. Little Man [Little Man EP, 1995]
09. Another Year [Almost Happy, 2000]
10. Mr. Freeze [Paradise in Me, 1995]
11. Dad [Paradise in Me, 1995]
12. Winners [Cocoon Crash, 1998]
13. If You’re Not Scared [Cocoon Crash, 1998]
14. Everything For Free [Cocoon Crash, 1998]
15. Busy [Almost Happy, 2000]
16. Virgin State of Mind [previously unreleased]
17. Until I’m Fine [previously unreleased]
18. God In My Bed [Cocoon Crash, 1998]
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