Kinski formed in 1998 in Seattle as the trio of
guitarist Chris Martin, bassist Lucy Atkinson and drummer Dave Weeks.
Spacelaunch for Frenchie (Kinski, 1999 - Strange Attractors, 2005) established them as worthy
heirs to the great tradition of Bardo Pond's
psychedelic, ambient, space-rock. Their jams build up repetition and texture
but often unleash brutal maelstroms of distortions. The technique is a
mad compromise between British shoegazing and Japanese noise, which ultimately
lands them in the netherland inhabited by
Acid Mothers Temple.
Armed with a second guitarist, Matthew Schwartz, Kinski recorded
Be Gentle With the Warm Turtle (Pacifico, 2001 -
Strange Attractors, 2005), that features more
experiments with droning counterpoint (Daydream Intonation, New
India, Spacelaunch for French) and betrays the influence of
Roy Montgomery.
Chris Martin is also active as Ampbuzz. His
This Is My Ampbuzz (Strange Attractors, 2002) is a bit immature and
indulgent, but pays homage to the masters of modern instrumental music
in an almost devotional manner. The album alternates
cosmic soundpainting in the vein of Klaus Schulze's Irrlicht (Bubbles),
ecstatic oscillations of the kind introduced by
Brian Eno's Music For Airports (Center for Clouds, Diving
Instructions),
electronic sound collage (Soft Currency)
and sheer psychedelic folly
(Welcome To The Ocean Floor).
Kinski's Airs Above Your Station (Subpop, 2003) explores the idea of
fusing stoner-rock and ambient psychedelia.
After five minutes the ethereal nebula of Steve's Basement explodes in
a super-heavy riff. The minimalist concerto for guitar turbulence of
Schedule for Using Pillows takes off in even more vivid and pounding
fashion.
The problem with these lengthy jams is that they rehearse the same pattern,
which is anchored to
the suspense of waiting for the rubber band to snap as it is being stretched.
Escaping the cliche` if not the process,
the understated tinkling of Your Lights Are creates an atmosphere
of Eastern-style meditational concentration,
before being accelerated into a swirling dervish dance, and
the pulsing cartilage of Waves of Second Guessing unleashes perhaps the
most intense two minutes of the album.
Amid such predictable tracks,
the refined (and purposeless) celestial drones of I Think I Blew It
come as a welcome diversion.
Kinski, Paik and Surface Of Eceyon share
Crickets And Fireflies (Music Fellowship, 2003). Its highlights are
Kinski's 20-minute jam Keep Clear Of Me I Am Maneuvering With Difficulty
and Surface of Eceon's 30-minute droning concerto.
The highlights of the collaboration between Acid Mothers Temple and
Kinski (Sub Pop, 2003) are
Kinski's 10-minute Fell Asleep On Your Lawn
and AMT's Virginal Plane 5:23.
Kinski's Don't Climb On And Take The Holy Water (Strange Attractors, 2004)
is an album built around the
29-minute monolith The Misprint in the Gutenberg Print Shop.
Its space bleeps simply extends for an eternity the Syd Barrett's cosmic riffs
of the first Pink Floyd album. After soaring in a raga-like crescendo, the
music implodes (13 minutes from the end). It takes eight minutes for the
decline to stop, and then it's only to launch into a chaos of distortions
a` la Astronomy Domine. The concept of expanding the spacetime
dimension of Pink Floyd's early work is intriguing, but this suite is
too derivative.
The other songs are mostly filler. The subliminal noises of
Crepes the Cheap,
the armored nightmare of Bulky Knit Cheerleader Sweater,
There's Nothing Sexy about Time
are (instrumental) songs built out of sound effects.
While no less redundant, Alpine Static (Sub Pop, 2005) was at least
played with a modicum of brainy finesse.
Hot Stenographer, Hiding Drugs in the Temple and
The Snowy Parts of Scandinavia recycle old cliches of semi-stoner music.
Thankfully, amid all the formulaic riffage Kinski also indulges in a few
moments of uncontrolled creativity, the
eight-minute The Party Which You Know Will Be Heavy
and Passed Out on Your Lawn.
Each, though, is twice longer than its contents would have granted.
Down Below It's Chaos (Sub Pop, 2007) completed the mutation of
Kinski into conventional hard-rock.
The EP
I Didn't Mean To Interrupt Your Beautiful Moment (2006) contains a
39-minute meditation.
