A journey of 10,000 beats begins... There has always been and will always be Kung Folk. It's as predictable and sure as blossoms in the springtime, a wobble from a strong rice wine and a kick in the face from a pretty girl. This is an honest album of organically handcrafted songs. But it is also dope and stylie, and it sounds great. Good technique is important; repetitious study of fundamentals and mentorship from masterful masters and guides helps. But good Kung Folk depends just as much on making its own way and finding its own level - like Water. The Killing Bite reveals itself out into the fresh air from the pocket of a groovy multi-colored corduroy cloak, almost as if to say: "Sometimes when you kiss a pretty girl she kisses you back." Ben Taylor's third album on Iris Records, The Legend of Kung Folk Part 1 (The Killing Bite), finds him comfortably ornate in the somewhat difficult simplicity of his arc and style. He is surrounded, aided, and abetted by close friends in kind rooms and it is evident in the flow of his Kung Folk. Linear time is a purely physical phenomenon. To the spirit, eternity is immediate. In order to cultivate strong Kung Folk, one sets all associations aside and focuses on the day as it arrives. The Killing Bite, likewise, comes with this abandonment of expectation and perceived outcome while still being deep and mortal. Training, influences, and genetics are all evident, but there will only be a tendency to compare until the basic delusion of separateness falls away and reveals the music and the world around it for what it truly is: Pure Life Force. A disciple of Kung Folk says - "I am absolutely that which came before me and I am absolutely not that - again and again, forever." Profound awareness and revelatory catharsis is just as likely to occur in a "Gentleman's Club" as it is beside a clear mountain stream. The Earth smiles when its creatures smile at each other. She blooms as a result of our enjoying peaceful and sexy Kung Folk together.