Music
Press
[Kite Operations] extracts a shimmering, eardrum-shattering ore of blissful indie pop… With blushing bravado, this New York City quartet produces sweet, gloomy noise pop that puts memorable melodies ahead of novelty, resulting in a remarkably sincere, beguiling debut. - Westword
...LOUD guitars, quiet vocals, and a drummer who sounds like he's banging on trashcan lids. It's beautiful noise, the likes of which I haven't heard since bands like Chavez and Seam regularly spun in my CD player... - Swizzle-Stick
...twelve beautiful pop tunes recorded with acute attention to detail in terms of composition and arrangements. ...intense music that always manages to focus--first and foremost--on spectacular vocal melodies. By combining abrasive tendencies with ethereal sounds, this album succeeds on many different levels. - babysue / LMNOP
"Tracing Paths" is possibly my favorite track of the album. The song is carried by light and intricate guitar work, reminiscent of LN or Kunek. The instrumentation and the lyrics both are beautiful. Joseph Kim sings of our human relationships as crossing paths "like cursive"; "throw them together and witness the splatter." Kim and David Yang literally splatter shrieking feedback in-between verses, reinforcing the subject matter, but not overpowering the mood. Kim closes with the ambiguous line "I take my food from the fed, clothes from the dressed, love from the loved" which prods at the way we attain our necessities. As the chorus comes around, the melody leaps up to striking heights. The attention to detail here is superb. - Somewhere Cold
This four piece combines beautifully composed emotive melodies comparative to Mineral with harsher, thrashing guitar-driven moments ala Sonic Youth. ...unique, unconventional and creative. ...this album is a breath of fresh air in a whirlwind of generic music. - IMPACT Press
The more we hear from these folks...the more impressed we are. If you're looking for easy, familiar music you would best be advised to steer clear of this album. But if you're in the mood for consciousness altering creativity...you will find a wealth of thought provoking material to digest here. - babysue / LMNOP
feedback is the lifeblood and accoutrements of Kite Operation's musical corporeality... a post-rock canopy of soaring guitar work. - Cokemachineglow
an intriguing and brainy exercise in post-modern indie rock... Kite Operations is seemingly unafraid of writing truly interesting songs and not just pop fodder. But don't you worry because there are plenty of noise pop choruses that will have you humming bars in no time. The drums sound loud and big as if legendary producer Steve Albini was at the helm. - Smother Magazine
...expands on what The Smiths started and outlandishly makes extraordinary improvements with a feel that borders somewhere between the pre-emo haze of Hum and the post-rock numbness of God Speed You Black Emperor!... Despondent chords and melancholy vocals pepper an album that could lay claim to lo-fi genius if it wasn't for the fact that it sounds just huge...
- Smother Magazine
Loud and strong... the style ranges from slow and mellow to a very strained energy that explodes in crazy guitar playing and feedback. Nice. - Giant Robot
Discography
Festival (Actually Records) Release date: November 3, 2009 [U.S. distribution by CTD, Ltd.]
Heart Attacks, Back to Back... (K.O.A.) 2007 [U.S. distribution by CTD, Ltd. Korean distribution by FarGo Music.] (CMJ #17 add, #131 top 200)
Dandelion Day (K.O.A.) 2005 [U.S. distribution by CTD, Ltd. and ToneVendor. Licensed in Korea to Pastel Music, Inc.] (CMJ #4 add, #52 top 200)
Shiny Beast EP (K.O.A.) 2003 [out of print]
Phase 1 EP (K.O.A.) 2003 [out of print]
Photos
Bio
New York based noise-rock/free-jazz band Kite Operations release their third studio album "Festival" in the US on November 3, 2009- their first for Actually Records.
If the volatile and hypnotic sound of Kite Operations’ ‘Festival’ surprises you, it's with good reason. Gone are the delicate melodies and devastating love songs of their first two albums. Filled with visceral noise spirituals, ‘Festival’ is less a collection of songs than a joyous exaltation for the no-wave set; an exhilarating testament to the band’s ability to infuse dissonant experimentation with the emotionally incisive.
Kite Operation’s yearning, passion and soul are evident in the lyrics and core of every song; manifested so openly and brilliantly in the shared vocals of Joseph Kim and David Yang. Still, it is as a collective whole where the band ignites so fiercely and Kite Operations becomes noise transformed. From the aching yet brazen titular opener to ‘Ave Maria’, a hypnotic noise crescendo, this is a band intent on finding salvation through unified sonic disintegration.
Reflect on the ‘Ded Morez’ and ‘Dasepo’, two electrifying supernovas which propel ‘Festival’s vision of a new musical genre of collective transcendence. These, along with the rest of ‘Festival’s songs, such as ‘Magellan’, ‘Seashell, and ‘Beyonce’, only assure Kite Operation’s triumph in creating a post-noise album so electrifying and distinctly
new.
Kite Operations' previous albums have been nationally distributed in the US and licensed in Korea. The band has received national college radio airplay, charting on CMJ, and has toured both nationally and in Korea.
For more info please contact: Chien Yuan – 773-251-6808 or
info@actuallyrecords.com
For more songs and videos please visit:
http://www.kiteoperations.com
Links
