Clavius Productions presents a very special evening of experimental psych and noise-rock, all on the loud-and-in-your-face tip. Whoever saw the Kinski show at the Warehouse in 2005 witnessed one of the most electrifiying sets this city has seen in the past few years. Clockcleaner has been making a name for themselves with their smart-ass punk snarl as one of the most entertaining live bands around. And this will be the official long-time-coming CD release party for Kohoutek's Expansive Headache on Music Fellowship.
Wednesday, November 28
Velvet Lounge
915 U St NW WDC
http://www.velvetloungedc.com 202-462-3213
$10, doors at 9pm, 18+!
Kinski (Sub Pop, Seattle psych-rock)
Clockcleaner (Load, Philly scum-punk influenced by Don Rickles)
Kohoutek (Music Fellowship, DC improv psych)
Clipd Beaks (Tigerbeat6, Oakland's noise-rock answer to P.M Dawn)
Kinski http://www.kinski.net/ Kinski is a four-piece rock band from Seattle, WA. Their unique evocation of avant-rock is deconstructionist and heady, but also emotive and visceral. NME described Kinski as: "Like Sabbath in a washing machine during a power surge." Comprised of guitarists Chris Martin and Matthew Reid-Schwartz (Matthew also plays keyboards and flute), bassist Lucy Atkinson, and drummer Barrett Wilke, Kinski have toured with Mission of Burma, Comets on Fire, Oneida, Mono, Acid Mothers Temple, Black Mountain, and most recently opened a month of dates for Tool on their spring '07 tour.
Produced and recorded by Randall Dunn (Earth, Sunn O))), Boris) at his Aleph Studio in Seattle, Down Below Itâ??s Chaos is Kinskiâ??s 3rd full-length for Sub Pop. With the notable inclusion of 3 songs with subdued yet urgent vocals courtesy of Chris Martin, the new record is a kaleidoscopic mix of Kinskiâ??s expansive, over-driven power and intricate beauty. With majestically fuzzed-out guitar tones, spare and pounding rhythms, and swirling sonic textures, Down Below Itâ??s Chaos sums up Kinskiâ??s past and propels them into the ozone. Whatâ??s left of it, that is.
God bless Jonathan Poneman. Now, I know that statement might sound somewhat hollow coming from an atheist, but I reiterate, many blessings upon the Poneman household. After his label had its second golden age with fey indie pop bands such as The Postal Service and the Shins, Sub Pop could have easily just rode that horse into the ground, becoming the sole provider of the soundtracks to several shows on the new CW. Instead, the biggest little indie label out there expanded its portfolio by riding the wave of the Renaissance of comedy, letting Sam Beam experiment with other bands and sounds, and finally, holding onto Kinski, quite probably their best local signing. (Take that, grunge worshippers!) With Down Below It's Chaos, Kinski meet my one and only criteria for greatness, the ability to, if not consistently put out good work, to get better with every release. I could respectively count on both hands the number of authors (i.e., Philip Roth, Michael Chabon), directors (Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson) and musicians (Sigur Rós, Sufjan Stevens) who fall into this realm of greatness, and now Kinski can be counted among them.
On the surface, it seems as though there's not much different between 2005's Alpine Static and Down Below It's Chaos, other than the obvious difference in height references. The albums share the same musclebound guitar riffs, affinity for fuzzed out effects and a '70s Krautrock/metal explosions meets apocalyptic future vibe to the whole thing. But with Kinski, there's always much more than what lies on the surface. You see, you merely have to follow the direction of the title to figure that one out. Actually, there is one obvious difference between this album and everything else by Kinski. This time around...it's personal. What I meant to say was, guitarist Chris Martin sings! (And no, not that Coldplay dude, aka Mr. Paltrow, aka "I've guested on every top 40 rap album coming out this summer and fall.") There's something on Down Below It's Chaos for everyone. Do you like the gauzy, yet thrilling detachment of post-rock? Then you'll love Kinski! Do you like melody with your metal and accessibility with your avant-garde? Then you'll really love Kinski! Would you want all of that, plus even more similarity to Sonic Youth thanks to Martin's strong yet not overpowering vocals? Then you...will...fucking...love Kinski!
A guitar riff that would make Mastodon jealous fills the room space as "Crybaby Blowout" opens the record. By the time the second guitar kicks in, it's as if Martin and Matthew Reid-Schwartz are scoring their own version of a Kinski-only Guitar Hero. It's the perfect soundtrack for a high-energy car chase/heist/gun battle scene in the "Spider-Man vs. KISS and the Phantom of the Park" movie. The first vocal moment comes in the second track, "Passwords and Alcohol." Kinski have said before in interviews that lyrics would just seem tacked on to most of their songs and are somewhat unnecessary. The few vocal songs on Down Below It's Chaos have found Kinski surmounting that problem by keeping words simple, at a minimum, and never overpowering the melody, progression or organic nature of each track. In a way, it reminds me of Jesu, and how Justin Broadrick's vocals remain unobtrusively secondary to the driving nature of the undulating wall of noise. However, nothing quite prepares you for the absolute exquisiteness of "Boy, Was I Mad!" If there's a Hollywood music coordinator out there looking to score the next monster track (pun intended) to their next zombie flick, this is it!
"Argentina Turner" and "Child Had to Catch a Train" provide some '60s psychedelic pop metal, maybe just to prove that the influences on Kinski lie not just in the Germany of the '70s or the present day post-rock rebirth. "Plan, Steal, Drive" is a spectacular standout track, like Zeppelin covering a Who song with moments of Floyd and ending with the grandiosity of Metallica. It's a textbook example of the beauty of timing. "Punching Goodbye Out Front" then aggressively brings back the rock and not a moment too soon. The buildup of "Plan, Steal, Drive" into sonic mastery leaves you wobbling for that `goodbye punch' to knock you on your ass. "Silent Biker Type," besides being one of the best titles I've heard, closes out the album with another quiet intro leads into a downward spiral into madness, which brings us full circle into the album's title. Yes, down below it is chaos, but if Kinski is the house band down there, I'll gladly drop through those Dantean seven levels to get there with them.
Similar Albums:
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Jesu - Conqueror
Mono - You Are There
- Terrance Terich (Treblezine)
Clockcleaner http://www.clockcleaner.net/ http://www.myspace.com/clockcleaner from the Siltbreeze Records blog: This Ain't No Homo Picnic...Clockcleaner's "Missing Dick/By The Door" 7"
According to the history books adorning the shelves in my Kung Fu library, the Hardcore movement (proper) went up its own ass real quick. It was a coast to coast bacterial breeding ground for doofs 'n loads alike. Once, that was a good thing, but when the preachin started & commandments were written, it was time to check out. I mean, when a label like Revelation becomes IT w/ their patented brand of suburbacore, you gotta come to the sad realization it ain't about the "freshness" of the music anymore. But I was gone long before then. Personally, I always went for the bands that were less concerned about speed &/or point of view & more into wreckin 'n rebuildin their sound. Some scribes called it Artcore & there was bands that were outstanding provocateurs of this idiom, deliverin bucketloads of bodacious sonic sputter. The (early) Butthole Surfers was one. Pilgrim State, Kor-Phu, Chemotherapy, Mecht Mensch, Spike In Vain...they're all at the top of the list too. They blurred a lotta lines, used delays, feedback & all sorts of gadgets to fuck w/heads 'n sounds, creatin great walls of skree & glee that were championed by the phantom few. The intention might've been Hardcore, but what got delivered was greater & more complicated than that. Clockcleaner are a contemporary (& local) band that subscribe to that same all-but-lost damagery. The science is a little more advanced in their attack but if I stand far enough away from the speakers, it sounds like it could be, ya know, almost 1982 ('83 at the latest). This new 7" by 'em is a good place to start. The sustained tension that the rhythm section builds is superb 'n stuccoed over that is mounds of lush psychosis whipped up by stinging guitar, vocal scrunch & extraneous add on fuckery that gives it a singular edge.It ain't no New Weird America, ain't no Noise Underground, ain't no none of that. They ain't got no name yet for what Clockcleaner's up to. No good name anyway. Dimmer bulbs & flatter feet have opined about 'em being nothin more than an extension of 90's noise rock bands. Wow. Hey, I only got two cents invested so all's I'm gonna say is that this record woulda sounded perfect on the Special Forces label, sandwiched in between L-7 & Blight. And not (just) because of the Crucifucks cover either. If you can't unscramble the code, that's okay. You weren't meant to.
Check out this great interview in Terminal Boredom:
http://www.terminal-boredom.com/clockcleaner.html Kohoutek http://claviusproductions.alkem.org/kohoutek/ The Washington, DC-based experimental collective Kohoutek plays improvised psychedelia, ranging from unsettling, discordant noise to delicate melodies, inspired by the likes of Can/Amon Duul 2/Agitation Free/Ash Ra Tempel/Krautrock, Trad Gras Och Stenar/Parson Sound, Dead C, Skullflower, Sun City Girls, Sonic Youth, Bardo Pond, Ghost/White Heaven/Japanese psych, Sun Ra/Art Ensemble/free jazz, early Pink Floyd, MBV/shoegaze, drone, doom/sludge metal, etc.
Though quite musically adept, the band -- always an ever-evolving lineup featuring different instrumentation -- favors a textural and visceral approach and a reliance on environment, rather than technical proficiency and predictability. However, there are core members and a common thread that connects all of the lineups and improvisations; for instance, drummer/percussionist Scott Verrastro has been the only member to play in every single permutation, and the band was built around his tight interaction with longtime bassist Craig Garrett. A year into its existence, Scott Allison joined with his perplexing array of homemade electronics and computer software.
In October, Kohoutek performed with legendary Can vocalist Damo Suzuki, and in March 2005, backed George Kinney of late '60s Texas psych band The Golden Dawn. They have participated in numerous festivals throughout the Northeast and Midwest, including Chicago's Four Million Tongues, Amherst's Gladtree, NYC's Diamond Days, Richmond's 804Noise, Fredericksburg's Wallofsoundfest, and DC's Sonic Circuits and Free Folk Phantasmagory. Their discography includes two self-released recordings ("Kohoutek" and "The Trails of Kohoutek"), a DVD/CD on Sockets-CDR ("Hair on the Sidewalk"), and a collab CD-R with Soil Sing Through Me (members of Sunburned Hand of the Man/Feathers/Witch) on Wabana.
Some notable bands Kohoutek have played with are Bardo Pond, Acid Mothers Temple, Lightning Bolt, Kinski, Green Milk From the Planet Orange, Suishou No Fune, Miminokoto, Unearthly Trance, Grey Daturas, Noxagt, Teeth of the Hydra, Titan, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Landing, Charalambides, Volcano the Bear, P.G. Six, Tono-Bungay, Jack Rose, Fursaxa, Mouthus, Double Leopards, Richard Bishop, Steve Mackay (of the Stooges), Avarus, Wooden Wand, Mike Tamburo, Mammatus, Zoroaster, Costes, and Z'EV. Kohoutek has also toured with Alasehir and Little Howlin' Wolf, and were supposed to tour with Up-Tight in November 2007.
Besides the current core of Verrastro, Garrett, Allison, Vic Salazar, Damian Languell, Jeff Barsky, and Damien Taylor, Kohoutek has been joined by Paul Flaherty, C. Spencer Yeh (Burning Star Core), Little Howlin' Wolf, Jason Simon (Dead Meadow), Chris Grier (To Live and Shave in L.A.), and Vinnie van Go-Go (Rake/From Quagmire/Fern Knight), as well as an assortment of some of the best improvisers in the region.
Clipd Beaks http://www.myspace.com/clipdbeaks Clipd Beaks is the P.M. Dawn of noise-rock. So concludes singer Nic Barbelin, who adds, "We'll never really fit in...we've always done our own thing." The band brings innate pop sensibilities and intense personal charisma to a genre typically known for alienating listeners. Where others abuse, Clipd Beaks soothe. Their static is far from monochromatic.
The band began in 2003 in Minneapolis, Minnesota when five friends playing in two bands dropped their guitars and joined forces. They established a thick sound defined by analog synth drones, propulsive beats, and layered vocals delivered in the ecstatic tones of street preachers. The addition of ambient and orchestral loops and experiments with lo-fi sampling carried their creations to even higher transcendent planes. Times were good. They moved into a Victorian mansion, recorded their first record, Gang Caves, and partied with the cream of the indie-noise scene. Before long, local pressures brought the party to an end. Vilified by their snooty neighbors as "low-born jagoffs" and derided by the Minnesota rock mainstream, the band upped and migrated to Oakland, California.
Recorded in late 2004, Preyers documents the anxiety of five boys growing into men in the last strange days of the American Empire. Each of the six songs offers a kaleidoscopic view into their collective mind, a sonic galaxy of claustrophobic psychedelia encompassing Krautrock, Factory Records, This Heat, and acid-damaged raps about Abu Ghraib.
Letting go of their fear, with eyes open wide, Clipd Beaks embrace the true freedom found in creative expression and community. Preyers is a split release between Tigerbeat6 and Deleted Art Records and is the band's first for both labels.
Upcoming shows: Friday 11/30 @ Velvet Lounge: Food For Animals (CD release)/Gowanus Bay Funeral Marching Band/Long Legged Woman/Snack Truck $8, doors at 9pm
Sunday 12/2 @ Velvet Lounge: Dan Higgs (of Lungfish, Thrill Jockey/Holy Mountain/Dischord)/The Scarcity of Tanks/Wealth (drone dub from mem. of Navies/Go To Sleep) $7, doors at 9pm
Wednesday 12/5 @ Velvet Lounge: Pink Reason (Siltbreeze)/Psychedelic Horseshit (Siltbreeze)/The Fake Accents $7, doors at 9pm
Thursday 12/6 @ 611 Florida: Insect Factory/KILT/Acre/Dark Sea Dream 8pm, $5 suggested donation
Saturday 12/15 @ The Lighthouse (1421 Buchanan St NW WDC): Little Women (mem. of Zs)/Eric Carbonara (Locust)/Anup Pradhan/Barkitecture/Layne Garrett 8pm, $5 suggested donation
Monday 12/17 @ Velvet Lounge: Bernhard Gal (German laptop sound artist) $7, doors at 9pm
Saturday 12/22 @ 611 Florida: Escalade (psych/post-rock from Japan) 9pm, $5 suggested donation
