New video from The Singles - Season 3: Radiation Emanates From the Box
The Singles - Season 3
According to City Council member Beaker, The Singles - Season 3 is the coolest collection of songs we've put together yet (and the rest of us think y'all will agree). We've got all sorts of weirdness waiting for its turn, including the introduction of two very important characters in the Kicksville mythology, Luna and Piggy. And yes, it's the usual schizophonic collection of musical styles - we wouldn't have it any other way!
Following in the footsteps of Andy Ewen and Tone Deaf, who provided the covers for Seasons 1 and 2, the art for Season 3 has been provided by the renowned Russian artist/illustrator, Skinny Gaviar. His work is uniquely twisted, disturbing, and quite beautiful - we're pretty sure you've never seen anything like it. If you'd like to find out more about Skinny, you can visit his web site HERE or his Myspace page HERE.
Over the last two release cycles, The Commissioner wrote all the liner notes. For Season 3, we've opened up the floor to the City Council members so they can get in on the fun. We also thought it would be a good idea to get some other voices in here talking about the music and recording process so you, our faithful audience, can see a little more of the many personalities involved with Kicksville. [Well....that, and The Commissioner is getting a little lazy....] FYI, when you get to the liner notes written by Tone Deaf, we suggest reading 'em aloud with a heavy British accent - they make a lot more sense that way (usually).
4/17 Save the Baby 4/26 Birmingham Blues 5/3 Luna 5/10 Hot Alien Orgy 5/17 Piggy 5/24 Radiation Emanates From the Box 5/31 [Memorial Day - a good excuse for our lazy asses to take a week off] 6/7 Lunatic Smile 6/14 The Brick/Whose America? 6/21 shhh....it's a secret! ;-) 6/28 I Dreamt the Train
St. Patty's Day craziness in Chicago!
Thanks to all of you who braved the St. Patty's Day weekend insanity to come see us at the Kinetic Playground a few weeks ago! The Zombie Army was out in force (thanks, Kitty!), and we were lucky enough to have had an amazing opening act: Citizens Biff Blumfumgagnge and Geoff Brady improvised a soundtrack to the classic film, Nosferatu. Biff broke out his alien electric mandolin technology, a theremin, and a violin, while Geoff whacked away on his aqua harp and a pile of percussion. If you haven't see them do this, you're missing out....friggin' incredible, if we may be so bold. The Kicksville portion of the night was a blast - we can't really put into words how much fun we have once the 10,000 pieces are assembled and we can just play. Really. We might have this really cool multimedia show with all sorts of bells and whistles, but after everything's said and done, it's all about the music. After all, it wouldn't matter how much flashy lighting and wacky video we had if the songs sucked and we hated playing with each other!
The Viaduct Theater show rocked, but don't take our word for it.... Next up: The Kinetic Playground 3/13/2010
So the first Chicago show at The Viaduct Theater is behind us, and we thought it went pretty damn well. But to give y'all an objective view,here's what Jeff Elbel (Chicago Sun Times and/or The BIg Takeover) had to say about it:
"Madison, WI-based Kicksville are determined to break into Chicago. If anyone can do it on word of mouth alone, they can - but hopefully it won't come to that. To say the band's stage show is ambitious for club touring is an understatement. What immediately struck neophytes like myself was the feast for the eyes. Got ADHD? No problem. I have found the band for you. The band's production level is much more in tune with a theater presentation - think Blue Man Group. The music, however, is not as streamlined. Fans of at least three entirely separate genres of music could have walked away from the Viaduct with a new favorite song. Progressive and edgy darkwave stylings appealed to fans of Tool and Porcupine Tree. A cover of Monkey Man was a spirited romp to thrill fans of second wave ska or devotees of the Specials. Anyone who has followed Blur frontman Damon Albarn down the rabbit hole into world music was clamoring for more of the band's Malian fare. And the playing was superb.... Kicksville has been semi-accurately compared to Frank Zappa's later period, but that really just means they're unclassifiable - and perfect for people ready to engage with intelligent, crafty, witty virtuosos. Don't miss them."
Pretty nice, eh? Thanks, Jeff! Anyway, we've posted a shiteload of photos on our Myspace & Facebook pages, and you can download free MP3s from the show HERE - including some newer stuff we've never played live before. And even better: we'll be at The Kinetic Playground in March to do it all over again!
Madison, WI-based Kicksville are determined to break into Chicago. If anyone can do it one word of mouth alone, they can - but hopefully it won't come to that. To say the band's stage show is ambitious for club touring is an understatement. What immediately struck neophytes like myself was the feast for the eyes. Got ADHD? No problem. I have found the band for you. The band's production level is much more in tune with a theater presentation; think Blue Man Group. The music, however, is not as streamlined. Fans of at least three entirely separate genres of music could have walked away from the Viaduct with a new favorite song. Progressive and edgy darkwave stylings appealed to fans of Tool and Porcupine Tree. A cover of "Monkey Man" was a spirited romp to thrill fans of second wave ska or devotees of the Specials. Anyone who has followed Blur frontman Damon Albarn down the rabbit hole into world music was clamoring for more of the band's Malian fare. And the playing was superb, from XXX XXXX's various fretted and fretless bass workouts to frontman YYY YYYY's enthusiastic vocals or psychedelic guitar leads, female vocalist WWW WWWW's flights of pitch perfect rapture, or the jaw-dropping polyrhtyhms of drummer UUU UUUU. Toward the back, resident artist MMM MMMM crafted his found-object sculptures and spouted leftist political non-sequitirs to kick-start even deeper mental engagement. Kicksville has been semi-accurately compared to Frank Zappa's later period, but that really just means they're unclassifiable - and perfect for people ready to engage with intelligent, crafty, witty virtuosos. Don't miss them.
Enter the Flavor Hut: LIVE in Chicago
We're invading Chicago! Starting in early 2010, Kicksville will be performing a special series of multimedia events in conjunction with Zombie Army Productions, the folks behind the Statesville Haunted Prison and The Fear Haunted House at Navy Pier. Enter the Flavor Hut: LIVE is the story of Johnny, a good kid led down the Path to Ruin by Bob (The Pusher) and Candy (The Evil Temptress). Along the way, Johnny meets a sordid cast of characters, including The Mayor, Luna (the Innocent), Piggy (the Not-So-Innocent), and a cranky armchair revolutionary called The Brick. With lots of black humor, flaming pinko political satire and a firm one-finger salute to the music industry, Enter the Flavor Hut: LIVE is definitely not your typical night at the theater ;-)
...just be careful around the zombies - we'll feed 'em beforehand, but you never know....
The Singles - Season 2 Collector's Edition
The Singles Season 2 Collector's Edition is available now exclusively through our web store HERE. That's right - you can still download MP3s for free, but you can't get these good old-fashioned CDs anywhere else! In addition to the full-resolution hot aural action, each disc comes with a beautifully printed 20-page booklet containing each episode's original cover art, track-by-track liner notes, and "Weirdo Recording Techniques." Even better, it includes three bonus tracks not available anywhere else!
Bestride the Narrow World: The Singles - Season 2 Finale!
Bestride the Narrow World, the Season 2 finale, is available now! Download it for FREE HERE!
We'd really like to thank all of you for playing along and making The Singles - Season 2
such a success. So, thank you, merci, danke, grazie, xie-xie, spasiba,
jerejef, meda se, dank je fel, usema, takk, dalu, moshakir, obrigados,
kabkoon krup, dankwa, ineche, gracias....
Don't forget that we'll be releasing the hard-copy Season 2 Collector's Edition on August 17 (complete with artwork, liner notes, and bonus tracks), and in a few months Season 3 will pick up right where we left off. We hope you've enjoyed the ride so far, because there's much more to come!
Special Announcement: Kicksville Stimulus Package Stiffens Economy
In light of the still-struggling economy and its effect on everybody, we've decided to implement our own musical stimulus package. Starting with The Singles - Season 2, we are instituting a "pay what you want" policy. You can download the tracks for free, but you do have the option of paying whatever you think they're worth through our secure Paypal link. We just want you all to hear the music, and since we're pretty much pinko commie bastards, this seems like the fairest way to go about it.
About The Singles - Season 2
According to Skope Magazine in their review of The Singles - Season 1, "...if you like experimentation, fun beats, electronics, and a mixture of every musical genre you can think of, Kicksville is for you. If you like the idea of a band 'whacking the shit out of a bass with a drum stick,' Kicksville is for you. And if you want to spend an hour in an entirely different dimension, Kicksville is for you."
Season 1 was just the warm-up: The Singles - Season 2 begins a radical new journey through Kicksville! The songs on Season 2 run the gamut of genres, from the Malian blues of Kalamaya to the surrealist funk of Save The Baby to the dark industrial throttle of Krankypants. Stay tuned for another single each week, fresh off the Kicksville presses. Also, just like we did for Season 1, The Commissioner will be posting a weekly blog, talking about each of the songs and the story behind them.
Each single will have a unique cover created by the infamous performance artist and City Council member, Tone Deaf. Using gaff tape. drum heads, popsicle sticks, doll parts, and anything else he can dig out of the trash, Tone's work is an amazing example of outsider art....and somehow seems particularly fitting!
Out Now: The Singles - Season 1 Collector's Edition
At the end of 2008, Kicksville began releasing weekly single "episodes" of sonic ambition into the digital ether. Thirteen singles later, this experiment has culminated in the full release of The Singles - Season 1, 13 soundscapes "built for artistic insurrection" (Wired.com).
The Singles - Season 1 is nothing short of a mind-melting, genre-defying journey of sound through samples, sequences and taut organic instrumentation that flirts with dub, metal, blues, pop; the proverbial sonic smorgasbord, served on a plate that's just returned from a hot-air balloon ride deep into the stratosphere.
The full 13-song Season 1, including covers of songs by Led Zeppelin, The Police, Willie Dixon and Talking Heads, is now available via Ropeadope Digital. The digital release is accompanied by a 17-page digital booklet featuring loopily endearing original cover art (by award-winning illustrator Andy Ewen, a.k.a. The Fireman) for every episode of Season 1, along with track-by-track anecdotes and "Weirdo Recording Techniques."
for more music, videos, and artistic weirdness, visit us at:
According to City Council member Beaker, The Singles - Season 3 is the coolest collection of songs we've put together yet (and the rest of us think y'all will agree). We've got all sorts of weirdness waiting for its turn, including the introduction of two very important characters in the Kicksville mythology, 
We're invading Chicago! Starting in early 2010, Kicksville will be performing a special series of multimedia events in conjunction with 
