Its lineup is constantly changing, but has consisted of Toby Driver, Ron Varod, Mia Matsumiya, Keith Abrams, Tim Byrnes, David Bodie, Dan Means and Terran Olson.
The music of Kayo Dot can not be accurately described by the limiting contemporary genre nomenclatures. Their songs involve complex instrumentation (composed by singer and frontman Driver), generally without refrain. They are substantially longer than typical rock songs, often ranging from 8 to 15 minutes in length.
Kayo Dot's second album Dowsing Anemone with Copper Tongue was released in January of 2006.
On May 6 2008, they released their third full-length, Blue Lambency Downward, on Hydra Head Records.
Their fourth album, recorded in June 2009, named Coyote, was released on 20 April 2010 on Hydra Head Records. It was later brought out on vinyl by Taiga Records in November 2010.
Their first EP, Stained Glass, was released in January 2011 by Hydra Head, with very little fanfare. It was later issued on vinyl by Antithetic Records in August 2011, with a "de-mix" of the song on the second side.
Their second EP, Gamma Knife, was self-released digitally via http://kayodot.bandcamp.com in January 2012. Antithetic Records produced a vinyl release in June 2012.
Their fifth album, Hubardo, was released digitally on August 2013, with a vinyl release to follow.
Their sixth album, Coffins on Io, was released on October 15, 2014 through experimental metal label The Flenser. It is a concept album, and the first full-length album from Kayo Dot not to be self-released since 2010's Coyote.
Side projects include Tartar Lamb, Tartar Lamb II, and maudlin of the Well (to which Kayo Dot can be considered a spiritual successor, though the two projects now co-exist). Toby Driver's solo album In the L..L..Library Loft is also a Kayo Dot album in all but name, mainly being released under his name due to the record label's preference.
A Pitcher ofSummer
Kayo Dot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I caught a piece of summer and poured it into a pitcher;
This I placed in the cellar on a shelf collecting dust .
Autumn, then winter, rose up from the sea, and my
Garden was a garden filled with unbroken snow.
No flower strained its face to the ice giants' whisper,
My cellar-water dripping into a pail
And I lifted my piece of summer
Like a piece of memory or a dream
Like these, caught on film
And carried it to the garden floes,
The wind turning drifting stars to madness.
Poured forth gracefully, this theric tincture
Lifts winter's coat-of-arms with coaxing aromas and electricity.
Used with vigilance, a Pitcher of Summer stirs a memory into swooning,
And bravely, the flowers of the past will stretch their limbs into the sky
While snow falls quietly all around.
The lyrics of Kayo Dot's song A Pitcher of Summer revolve around the theme of capturing and preserving memories. The singer reminisces about how they captured a piece of summer, poured it into a pitcher, and stored it in their cellar, only to find their garden covered in snow with no hint of life or color when winter arrived. The cellar-water dripped into a pail as a symbol of time passing by. However, they still held on to that piece of summer, like a piece of memory or dream. They took it out to the garden floes, where the wind turned the drifting stars to madness. It was a bittersweet moment where the singer stirred up memories through the tincture of summer captured in the pitcher, bringing forth the flowers of the past.
The lyrics are quite metaphorical and figurative, but they depict the idea of how memories and emotions can be captured, preserved and used to rekindle the past. It talks about how the pitcher of summer has the power to lift winter's coat-of-arms with coaxing aromas and electricity, and how it can stir a memory into swooning. The flowers of the past represent those memories, which, if used with vigilance, can help them stretch their limbs into the sky while snow falls quietly all around. The imagery is quite powerful and evocative, and the song is a beautiful representation of how we can capture and cherish memories.
Line by Line Meaning
One morning, before the leaves began changing
On a particular morning, happened just before the fall season when trees started shedding their leaves.
I caught a piece of summer and poured it into a pitcher;
The singer collected and bottled a feeling of warmth and joy associated with summertime.
This I placed in the cellar on a shelf collecting dust .
The singer kept the pitcher containing the essence of summer in a storage room gathering cobwebs and neglect.
Autumn, then winter, rose up from the sea, and my
Garden was a garden filled with unbroken snow.
The passing of time brought about changes in seasons, from fall to winter, and the garden that was once lively with plants was now buried under uninterrupted snow.
No flower strained its face to the ice giants' whisper,
No life coloured the vision of a newborn Spring babe.
The freezing climate prevented flowers from blooming and even the idea of the new life sprouting in Spring seems unlikely.
My cellar-water dripping into a pail
The water from the cellar where the pitcher was kept was dripping into a bucket.
And I lifted my piece of summer
Like a piece of memory or a dream
The singer took out the pitcher and handled it carefully as if it were a precious memory or a surreal dream.
Like these, caught on film
And carried it to the garden floes,
The wind turning drifting stars to madness.
Similar to photographs or moving images captured on film, the bottled essence of summer was taken to the snow-covered garden where the wind was making the falling snowflakes swirl like crazy stars.
Poured forth gracefully, this theric tincture
Lifts winter's coat-of-arms with coaxing aromas and electricity.
As the pitcher's contents are gently poured out, its ethereal essence seeps into the surroundings, filling the winter season with comforting scents and a stimulating energy.
Used with vigilance, a Pitcher of Summer stirs a memory into swooning,
And bravely, the flowers of the past will stretch their limbs into the sky
While snow falls quietly all around.
If used carefully and thoughtfully, the pitcher's essence can awaken memories and emotions associated with summer, and the flowers that once thrived in the garden will courageously strive to bloom, even when surrounded by snow.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
vetec4
Great stuff KAYO DOT and MOTW RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Austin Jennings
It would be pretty hard to play this kinda music while going nuts, to be fair.
Dudley Powell
awesome awesome awesome. il never get to see these guys :/
Molly Ringmod
Toby <3
Ambiguous Dust
@MikeoWar The performance sounds good to me, I think your confusing the quality of their live performance with the quality of the video.
I can't believe it's not Communism!
is that Mia behind the laptop?
Fernando Guarneros
Oh guys, you shall come to mexico :(
MikeoWar
I don't mean to diss on this band, but I love the album soooo much and this doesn't even come close.... The performance is what you'd expect from a cover band and not the actual band. So I guess that if anyone comes across this live video that doesn't know the album, DON'T judge the music from this performance.
uberdeathmetal
I thought it was pleasant to hear this song blurry
Liszard Queen
>Taxi Driver muh sides