Search - Kinski :: Airs Above Your Station

Kinski - 'Airs Above Your Station' (Sub Pop)

Mike Reed | USA | 11/07/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"'Airs Above...' is the band's third CD release,and nearly as brain damaging as that split CD they'd done with Acid Mothers Temple(see my review).I'm nearly amazed that a good American space rock ensemble like this even exists in this day and age.We need more bands like this,I'm proud to say.Tracks I found myself playing repeatedly were the ten-minute dream-like opener "Steve's Basement","Rhode Island Freakout","Waves Of Second Guessing" and the Brian Eno inspired "I Think I Blew it Again".Line-up:Chris Martin&Mathew Reid Schwartz-guitars,Lucy Atkins-bass and Dave Weeks-drums.Might appeal to fans of Gong,Abunai,Hawkwind,Monster Magnet(first three albums)and the previously mentioned Acid Mothers Temple.Record store clerk,be sure to file this one under '21st Century Space Rock'.Recommended."

ENO Meets Sonic Youth

Richard E. Barnes | 04/04/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Kinski is a relatively new band that has been opening up for the Acid Mothers in NY , I would describe their sound like this imagine Brian Eno joining Velvet Underground or Sonic Youth? Airs Above Your Station is pure Space Rock-experimental using sound as much as anyting creating backdrops of colour. "Schedule for Using Pillows & Beanbags" features tasteful guitar line that weaves into a back and fourth riff that repeats over and over. Very cool, sort of like Syd era Floyd circa late 1967. "Think I Blew It" and "Blew It Again" are the most ENO influence tracks again with washes of sound."

Brilliantly ominous '70s instrumental rock

David P. Massie | Seattle, WA | 04/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With a heavy '70s sound mostly free of lyrics, Kinski cranks out dark, sonic tracks that start slow and calm then build to a fever climax, allowing for visceral emotion unclouded by specific message. But images do come, and they come on strong.



The first song on the disc, "Steve's Basement", begins as a nearly subsonic reverberation that builds slowly and inevitably to a crashing, driving slow-motion implosion halfway through. It captures the raw feeling of riding a wave of heroin, awakening to slowly building panic as you realize your friend beside you has overdosed...



"Semaphore" is akin to being chased through the woods at dusk by an ominous shadowy creature that suddenly bursts out before you with an impossible size just as darkness closes in. And yet you refuse to relent and so you flee for your survival...



Like a rumble between two rival gangs, "Rhode Island Freakout" can be described in two words: F@*K YEAH!



"Schedule For Using Pillows & Beanbags" is melodic and restrained for the first half of the track, then tears into an aural assault that tosses you about, ending just at the moment you think, "Enough!"



You fumble the line and lose your grip, drifting away from the space station into the lonely vastness of the universe. "I Think I Blew It," is all you can think. The beauty of the stars and planets opens before you. You're going to die, but it is glorious.



You are home again, alone and very drunk, punishing yourself over why your girlfriend left you. It churns sickeningly inside you for a long lonely time before exploding out in a violent rage that leaves you finally spent and bleeding. This is "Your Lights Are (Out Or) Burning Badly".



A slow ethereal dream. Am I flying? Am I passing into the afterworld? I float on a cushion of peace. It is gentle. It is warm, almost...too warm. You slowly wake. What's that smell? Oh my god! THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE! You tear down the curtains, stomp the flames! Grab the extinguisher, spray the walls! Throw blankets on the burning table, dump water on the couch! Spinning around you see tons of smoke, but the flames are all put out. Oh my god, I did it! "Waves of Second Guessing" is both the dream and the ensuing fire fight.



And finally, after it all, "Think I Blew It (Again)" is the long trembling sigh at the end.



Kinski is the undisputed champion of this sound and you will want to collect their entire catalogue. But "Airs" is the rare recording that is good start to end, one you can listen to over and over. Buy this disc and blow your friends away with sound."