Tera Melos has a new song/video from their upcoming album 'Patagonian Rats'.
26.7.10
KINIT HER
Sorry for being even less active than D-Hags' been on here but, things have been "busy." By "busy," I mean that hurried sort of existence where you have lots of time which ends up being spent preparing for other tasks. Watering the gardens, feeding dogs at 3am, doing laundry. The actual act does not take very long, but there is a lot of time before and after that somehow gets gobbled up.
This sense of losing time is partly why B.E.A.R.D is highlighting Kinit Her today.
I first found Kinit Her in 2007, via their myspace page. Since then, they've improved upon their sound, as well as gone from a trio to a duo. For the sake of brevity, here's a write-up from the 2009 Equinox Festival catalog.
Divine Names (2010, Brave Mysteries)
Their mixture of folk music, electronics, and metal works for the surrealist nightmare that Kinit Her very often portrays (think Comte de Lautréamont's Maldoror). The only problem that comes up, initially, is the vocal delivery.
Most of the vocals are delivered in a trembling, falsetto sort of caretaker speech. The only sort of simile I can come up with to pitch this to you in a positive light is CocoRosie, and that only works if you can tolerate their nonsense*. Having said that, their new album, Divine Names, showcases a far broader presentation of vocals. The falsetto mewling is widely absent, replaced instead by moans, chants, snarls, and generally badass vocals. Instead of visiting the hermit at the top of the mountain, you're being initiated as a neophyte in a dark ritual in a room with high, granite walls.
The first track off Divine Names, "Gratitudes," is also the longest track at 14:32, taking up the entire "A" side of the cassette. In the world of cassettes, this is not an unheard of practice. There's something intimate and divisive about tapes, where everything is contained but partitioned, that lets these divisions work. Opening a CD with a fifteen minute track is a ballsy and, I would wager, foolish move for 98% of everyone making music in the world.
"Gratitudes" opens with a pulsing beam of (down-tuned electric guitar? electronics? synth?), suspended over a churning, grinding blackness. Out of the black, horns emerge, followed by processional percussion. Then low voices begin to intone. Granted, I have nary a clue as to what is being intoned here, which might be why I find this track to be derivative (though awesome). Pussygutt's Gathering Strengths album, pieces like "Maldoror est Mort" by Current 93, "Big Church [Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért]" by Sunn O))), and "Skymningen" by Ättestupa all present themselves in similar forms**. What I find perhaps the most stunning about "Gratitudes," is how close to Attila Csihar's vocals Kinit Her comes. In other words, totally badass.
The track continues until finally the intoning, the tape loops, the percussion all collapses in a torrent of (what I can only call) black metal guitars. The reverb'd distortion fades into a somber phrase for brass and electric guitar (no distortion). I'm reminded of the procession of flagellants in Bergman's Det sjunde inseglet. The violins enter, mournful cries heaven-bound, until a snarling, mangled voice speaks of topics indecipherable. The entire piece is ushered back into the distance by insect chirps and the screeches of owls.
If these guys aren't Bergman fans, I'll eat my shoe.
Side "B" brings the heavy back, though in a more song-oriented form. I would like to avoid going too much into the "B" side because of both the nature of the music, and the format. Kinit Her is not the band you put on because you're driving to the grocery store. Kinit Her is not music you put on because you have to type a ten page paper on campaign donation reform. This is music that requires time to digest, time to understand and appreciate. Additionally, the cassette form, like vinyl, does not suffer the impatient listener. If you want to skip around, go buy an iPod. Even if you try to fast-forward through a cassette, there's a very real chance you'll go too far (or stop short).
All of that being said, Kinit Her is much like the esoterica that influences their music. There's a lot of time and effort that goes into understanding their message, but if you're willing to give them your time, you'll be rewarded.
----------------------------------------------------------
Kinit Her performing "Colour Ride" at Cafe OTO, London, ENG (16JUN09)
DISCOGRAPHY
Divine Names c30 (2010, Brave Mysteries' Cassette Cabal)
Glyms Or Beame Of Radicall Truthes CD (2009, Hinterzimmer Records)
Glyms Or Beame Of Radicall Truthes cass (2009, Living Tapes)
As Magi c28 (2008, Living Tapes)
Menial As Archivists & Bone Marrow Artifacts c47 (2007, Blossom Rust Tapes)
Bone Marrow Artifacts CDr (2007, Self-Released)
Menial As Archivists CDr (2006, Self-Released)
*not that I "hate" CocoRosie so much as I think their albums have too much filler and, Kinit Her is better.
**Arguably, Crowley and LaVey did more for music than the Beatles.
This sense of losing time is partly why B.E.A.R.D is highlighting Kinit Her today.
I first found Kinit Her in 2007, via their myspace page. Since then, they've improved upon their sound, as well as gone from a trio to a duo. For the sake of brevity, here's a write-up from the 2009 Equinox Festival catalog.
"The members of this trio from Wisconsin draw heavily on the symbols of a vast array of mythical and mystical ideologies. Similarly their music finds its currents in a number of interweaving forms including folk, improvised music, psychedelic, metal. [...] With backgrounds in esoteric, anthropological, and religious studies each member brings to the table a unique voice, both metaphoric and literal." (sic.)This is all very, very true. Perhaps it is the neofolk element that almost instantly made me think of their music as ceremonial. Of course, with titles like "Lycaon of Arcadia," "The Fifth Refract," "Topaz of The Dead Giant," and "Hierophant Pentadrome," there's an implication of something older, historical, magickal.
Divine Names (2010, Brave Mysteries)
Their mixture of folk music, electronics, and metal works for the surrealist nightmare that Kinit Her very often portrays (think Comte de Lautréamont's Maldoror). The only problem that comes up, initially, is the vocal delivery.
Most of the vocals are delivered in a trembling, falsetto sort of caretaker speech. The only sort of simile I can come up with to pitch this to you in a positive light is CocoRosie, and that only works if you can tolerate their nonsense*. Having said that, their new album, Divine Names, showcases a far broader presentation of vocals. The falsetto mewling is widely absent, replaced instead by moans, chants, snarls, and generally badass vocals. Instead of visiting the hermit at the top of the mountain, you're being initiated as a neophyte in a dark ritual in a room with high, granite walls.
The first track off Divine Names, "Gratitudes," is also the longest track at 14:32, taking up the entire "A" side of the cassette. In the world of cassettes, this is not an unheard of practice. There's something intimate and divisive about tapes, where everything is contained but partitioned, that lets these divisions work. Opening a CD with a fifteen minute track is a ballsy and, I would wager, foolish move for 98% of everyone making music in the world.
"Gratitudes" opens with a pulsing beam of (down-tuned electric guitar? electronics? synth?), suspended over a churning, grinding blackness. Out of the black, horns emerge, followed by processional percussion. Then low voices begin to intone. Granted, I have nary a clue as to what is being intoned here, which might be why I find this track to be derivative (though awesome). Pussygutt's Gathering Strengths album, pieces like "Maldoror est Mort" by Current 93, "Big Church [Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért]" by Sunn O))), and "Skymningen" by Ättestupa all present themselves in similar forms**. What I find perhaps the most stunning about "Gratitudes," is how close to Attila Csihar's vocals Kinit Her comes. In other words, totally badass.
The track continues until finally the intoning, the tape loops, the percussion all collapses in a torrent of (what I can only call) black metal guitars. The reverb'd distortion fades into a somber phrase for brass and electric guitar (no distortion). I'm reminded of the procession of flagellants in Bergman's Det sjunde inseglet. The violins enter, mournful cries heaven-bound, until a snarling, mangled voice speaks of topics indecipherable. The entire piece is ushered back into the distance by insect chirps and the screeches of owls.
If these guys aren't Bergman fans, I'll eat my shoe.
Side "B" brings the heavy back, though in a more song-oriented form. I would like to avoid going too much into the "B" side because of both the nature of the music, and the format. Kinit Her is not the band you put on because you're driving to the grocery store. Kinit Her is not music you put on because you have to type a ten page paper on campaign donation reform. This is music that requires time to digest, time to understand and appreciate. Additionally, the cassette form, like vinyl, does not suffer the impatient listener. If you want to skip around, go buy an iPod. Even if you try to fast-forward through a cassette, there's a very real chance you'll go too far (or stop short).
All of that being said, Kinit Her is much like the esoterica that influences their music. There's a lot of time and effort that goes into understanding their message, but if you're willing to give them your time, you'll be rewarded.
----------------------------------------------------------
Kinit Her performing "Colour Ride" at Cafe OTO, London, ENG (16JUN09)
DISCOGRAPHY
Divine Names c30 (2010, Brave Mysteries' Cassette Cabal)
Glyms Or Beame Of Radicall Truthes CD (2009, Hinterzimmer Records)
Glyms Or Beame Of Radicall Truthes cass (2009, Living Tapes)
As Magi c28 (2008, Living Tapes)
Menial As Archivists & Bone Marrow Artifacts c47 (2007, Blossom Rust Tapes)
Bone Marrow Artifacts CDr (2007, Self-Released)
Menial As Archivists CDr (2006, Self-Released)
----------------------------------------------------------
RESOURCES:
LAST.FM
DISCOGS
MYSPACE
FACEBOOK
BRAVE MYSTERIES
ARCHIVE.ORG (free download of Bone Marrow Artifacts)
LAST.FM
DISCOGS
MYSPACE
BRAVE MYSTERIES
ARCHIVE.ORG (free download of Bone Marrow Artifacts)
----------------------------------------------------------
*not that I "hate" CocoRosie so much as I think their albums have too much filler and, Kinit Her is better.
**Arguably, Crowley and LaVey did more for music than the Beatles.
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