Justin King has been one of my favorite artists for quite a while now. He gained notoriety on the web for his instrumental guitar music, particularly these vids:

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6NA9nd4Fgs]Knock On Wood[/url]

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOdcqUTju5k]Phunkdified[/url]

But while I enjoy the acoustic instrumental stuff, I like his band music much more:

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFajS4cncLE]Missing Something[/url]

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkZnZj6mGS4]On My Mind[/url]

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKnMvpbshbA]Bright and Dirty Lights Music Video[/url]

Marekenshin and I have pretty much all of his stuff, so contact one of us if you want some of his non-officially released music. You can buy Justin King and The Apologies and Fall/Rise at http://www.cdbaby.com. I think they also have his instrumental CD Le Bleu as well.

His music is too unmusical. Not once have I heard him incorporate a rest into his playing. It's too constant and there's always a ton of shit going on.

His sound also bores me because for that open style of playing, you're going to be stuck in the same key, especially when you're using those horizontal harmonics because they're only possible in a couple of places and can only relate the the key in a couple of different ways, so you're always getting the same "sound".

I hate to rag on his playing, but I don't think he's that great.

Just listening to tapping stuff does get old pretty fast, but fortunately his instrumental album only has that on three or four tracks. Most of it is fingerstyle stuff, and I like his band music more, anyway. I suspect he's getting bored with acoustic instrumental stuff since he hasn't done so much of that lately.

I like this version of Knock on Wood better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh_24DXNy8E

The doubleneck just doesn't have the same sound to it, I prefer a normal acoustic.

[quote="Stephen"]His music is too unmusical[/quote]
lol let's get sum elitism up in har yall.
Seriously though, all you've done is criticize the particular style of playing that he uses in some of his solo work, but that says nothing about his skills as a musician. You should check out some of his other stuff before jumping to a conclusion about the artist because you don't like a particular style they use at times.

Christ, this guy's amazing!

He may be a good musician, but his solo work really suffers from...I wouldn't call it "un-musicality", but...I dunno. What Steven said. He needs to incorporate more rests into his playing.

As it is now, it's just: Wow. I've practiced this unique style/skill on guitar and I'm pretty good at it. Now I will show you how fast I can play in hopes that I can boggle your mind with technical skill.

I mean, some of the melodies are nice...but...he just needs to tone the speed down a little.

It's like a good blues solo. There are breaks, pauses, mutes/scratches, slides, bends...it's not all just continuous playing in a blues scale.

I should point out that neither of those two solo acoustic songs are among my favorites; I just posted those because they're his best-known songs. Like I keep saying, most of his acoustic music isn't nonstop acoustic tapping. Get Mare to send you Le Bleu and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Actually my impression is that he's a pretty humble dude. I've never gotten a snob vibe from any interview I've read, and he's mostly lost interest in acoustic music. I should point out that I don't like his acoustic stuff for the technical element; I think he crafts a far better song than other acoustic guitarists who tap like crazy.

I just don't feel like I'm listening to any musical ideas. It's just sound all the time. There hasn't been a strong or memorable melody to any of his music that I've heard. He's just one of those gimmick players.

Have you listened to any of his band stuff? He wields a strong melody in that context, if nothing else. Most of the vids on Youtube are just the same two or three acoustic songs over and over again, and not a very good way to judge his music.

I should have just posted band stuff and ignored the acoustic instrumental music. That would have worked much better.

I tried listening to his band stuff. But it all sounds like stuff I've heard before. Bright and Dirty Lights in particular, sounds like a Matchbox Twenty song.

It seems like the only thing unique is the guitar work. And it's the kind of overdeveloped guitar work that doesnt sit well with me.