Kinski / Clockcleaner / Kohoutek at Velvet Lounge

[plan...@gmail.com]

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 It's Chaos is Kinski'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 Kinski's expansive, over-driven power and
intricate beauty. With majestically fuzzed-out guitar tones, spare and
pounding rhythms, and swirling sonic textures, Down Below It's Chaos
sums up Kinski's past and propels them into the ozone. What'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.