KWA®

Like the brave Dadaists of yesteryear, KWA sculpts and experiments with modern media to express his artistic and political philosophies. In fact, KWA’s commonality with Dada is art as a kind of anti-art. In more words, a defiant affirmation of originality often posed as a question, in so being that the artistic tools used for creation are traditional, but the context in which the work is placed gives the idea of the art in question a new and sometimes unique meaning. In this way, the art of KWA resembles the visual work of Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol.

In the case of Duchamp, works were created with found objects like a urinal or bicycle wheel. Likewise, KWA employs the mediums of modern media to communicate his critiques of certain media and philosophies. Both in his samples of orations by speakers and the ambient soundscapes that were created with everyday vehicles of transmission i.e. frequencies used in satellite, radio, and television communications.

In the case of Warhol, the means and idea of the artwork are the art, not the work itself. In the way that Warhol evoked the commodification of art by commodifying his art, KWA communicates his work through the same vessels that the mass propagandists he opposes communicate through i.e. the internet, CDs, MP3s, speakers, stereos. All this, of course, lends itself to be simultaneously analyzed, experienced, and judged by the listener.

Album opener “Neurillogikal” serves as a general introduction to what the next 55 minutes will sonically contain. Droning low frequencies mixed with higher band sounds that swirl and oscillate within the stereo spectrum. The combined effect is like that of a Rothko painting, where shapes and colors blend and fade into a cohesive and unified whole. Here, the blurry drone rotates, while crisp higher pitched sounds move in outer revolutions about a listener’s center. This track is a sound collage that has a sinister yet meditative effect that perhaps alludes to the passivity needed on the part of the television viewer to effectively be communicated with. As a title, “Neurillogikal” is a curious portmanteau that implies divergent meanings within itself; neuro, as in relation to the brain, logic, illogic, illness, and a protrusive “k” used in the same hard line Germanic way that Kafka applied it.

As “Neurillogikal” tempers the listener’s senses, “AldouHux” rides within the same auditory channels as its predecessor, albeit with some added samples of humans speaking. In fact, the two pieces work in the same fashion that the latter’s namesake wrote of in Brave New World. Recall that Aldous Huxley portrayed a utopian society that existed in passive happiness. The hypnopaedically conditioned population sought the dumbed-down passivity required to live, because life without passivity was no life to live. This, and Walter Lippmann’s phrase, “the manufacture of consent” come to mind when listening to this piece.

On “The 300,” KWA expounds on the notions of world government and generalized paranoia. This track is also an example of the way in which KWA evokes his message. Judiciously, as a cooperation between himself and the sampled speakers (Dr. John Coleman in this case) featured on the CD. KWA provides the backdrop and mood, and the speakers provide the content. He nobly credits all of them in the liner notes with additional sources cited for more information. The intended cumulative effect is to better communicate the topics in the sampled oratories with the aid of audio scores, in the same fashion that movie soundtracks enhance emotional responses from an audience.

By the time the listener finds their way to the beginning of the last track, “Venetian Casino,” they will have a general idea as to what they’ll experience. The track is essentially a continuation of the previous two. A sampled speaker (Lyndon LaRouche) talks of discontenting situations that are interposed and supported with musical renderings. “Venetian Casino” is the point in which the art either sells itself, or fails completely. If the audience is open minded to the kind of artistic expression KWA practices, then the polarizing nature of the work will either inspire or annoy or both. This is the bottom line when any kind of experimental art is put forth to be experienced.

KWA makes music in a world that will not recognize it as such. However, the discerning audience member and possible fan will understand that such an indictment of music is ridiculous, and hitherto realize the constrained notions of what music is. With all the sounds available to humanity, only a few specialized timbres are used to make, and in turn, experience musical expression. It’s a shame for certain that artists like KWA will always exist beyond the outskirts of obscurity, offering a welcome alternative to the accepted paradigms of thought and expression. This is music that will have to be doggedly pursued by avid connoisseurs of experimentation and will only succeed if the listener wants it to.

Stafford Davis, Curator I/O\I (eyeoneye.com)
- Stafford Davis, Curator I/O\I (eyeoeye.com)

KWA’s self titled full length debut release is an experiment in noise. The goal is to both communicate and awaken, not just in an artistic and musical sense, but also in a very hard line, scientific sense. The artist’s use of low tones and stereo separation is reminiscent of a technique pioneered by the late Robert Monroe in a system called Hemi-Sync®.

Hemi-Sync® audio is designed to create a balance between the left and right halves (hemispheres) of the listeners brain, and is used to aid meditation. Monroe used it as a catalyst to trigger out of body experiences, and The Monroe Institute claims Hemi-Sync® audio helps insomnia and attention deficit disorder. KWA's use of stereo panning effects seems to produce a somewhat similar result anesthetizing and focusing the listener while highly contrarian oratory source material runs in the midst of the tones. The result keeps the oratory hidden within the walls of sound and it is barely discernible without headphones. The oratory exposes a myriad of tactics used by tyrannical governments to subliminally transmit propaganda to their citizens.

From a musical standpoint, KWA certainly has more in common with the current crop of electronic drone music than he does with anything else. The album opens with a 5 minute drone opus, clear of any oratory, called “Neurillogikal”, which is designed to cleanse the listeners brain, so to speak. The low tones offer the “ooooommmmmmm” muttered by the monks while they meditate, while blurps and bleeps travel across the stereo panning to provide a more “natural” landscape for a listener stuck inside an electronic world. The high pitched sounds feel derived from an Optical Theremin, while the low tones that make up the waves in the midst of the sound are similar to beefed up Sleep Drones, or another Hex Schmitt Trigger like circuit. This introductory work is similar to mid period work of Man is the Bastard/Bastard Noise, when the power violence band dropped instrumentation altogether in search of the electronic frontier.

“Neurillogikal” is the shortest track on the disc, and also the only track that contains no oratory. The second track, “AldouHux”, is just shy of fifteen minutes long, and contains oratory material from five separate sources. The first source of oratory is a speech recorded at UC Berkeley in 1962, and introduces itself as: “This is Aldous Huxley, a man haunted by a vision of Hell on Earth.” The speech continues while other oratory sources flash in and out of the audible field. The way the source material is layered over a base of noise is reminiscent of Eyehategod’s track “Disturbance” on the classic Take as Needed for Pain LP and the intro to Tragedy’s “The Intolerable Weight” (which consists of similar subject matter), but there is no blast back to a more musical reference point in KWA’s work.

The content in the source material is consistent with a very Orwellian view of the current state of America and other world Superpowers. The politics of KWA displayed in this release are not obscured or up for grabs. They are very apparent and specific. The source materials discuss the political structure as an overbearing force and discuss independence as a revolution in the mind rather than something a government hands you. The theme is continues on “The 300”, which states “There is a committee of three hundred men that rule the world.”

KWA’s self titled release is not for everyone. KWA’s self titled release is not a driving record, a party record, or a bid for mainstream success. KWA’s self titled release in an experiment in sound; a drony, dark work of art.

Review by Ian Wise
**The freelance writings of Ian Wise have been featured in American Music Press, Hails and Horns, Going Through the Motions, Razorcake... - Ian Wise Freelance Music Writer and Jounalist

While examining the vast landscape of electronic music, one may point towards the endless plethora of dance sub-genres that exist.  However, constant attention on sounds driven by a central groove ignores the fact that syncopated rhythms sometimes act as a restriction to artistic expression. In order to create something that may be more subversive in nature, it might be necessary to sacrifice the rhythm. KWA is an artist that rails against the conventional elements used in music, be it electronic or otherwise. There are no notes and scales, no verse-chorus-bridge structure to follow. Instead, his works float freely through time and space on his self-titled album, resting on a bed of white noise and indecipherable squelches in an attempt to lift you out of your own reality and forcing you to deal with an alternate one.

KWA deals in what he calls “Ultrasonic Illuminations”, using a blend of sounds that the human ear can pick up in order to experience something beyond what is audible. “Neurillogikal” opens the door to this separate reality, one in which static remains a constant. It’s as if several radios are trying to pull in different stations, but none of them hit the right signal. Such a sonic environment pulls the rug from under the listener, leaving them aurally off-balance and perhaps more open to unusual stimuli than they normally would be.

“AldouHux” (named after English author Aldous Huxley) takes things a step further as various studies and discourses infiltrate the wall of noise. Upon hearing the statement that “President Barack Obama is using a covert form of hypnosis called Neurolinguistic Programming (aka NLP) within his speeches, it’s clear that there are motives behind this music.

“The 300” is undoubtedly the most intriguing and perhaps shocking of all of KWA’s works on this album. As the sonic transmissions continue to crackle and hum under the dialogue, we are introduced to Dr. John Coleman, an orator and writer of subjects that most would consider conspiratorial in nature. “There is a committee of 300 men that rule the world,” Coleman states. “They are known only to each other and nothing happens without their consent.” From there, the next 20 minutes are spent discussing secret societies, the destruction of the middle class, and the global reach of influence that The Committee of 300 have over everything. Depending upon your politics, you’ll either toss the CD out the window or remain riveted to your seat. For those who remain, KWA has accomplished his goal of getting them to question what they know to be true.

Even those who want to dismiss “The 300” entirely may have their ears on alert during “Venetian Casino,” which includes a March 2009 web-cast featuring Lyndon LaRouche. LaRouche explains his vision of what caused the collapse of the American financial system, something that has affected the majority of Americans in some way, shape, or form. Tying together the fiscal mistakes of those from previous ages to present-day practices (and mentioning Alan Greenspan by name), the noise underneath starts to sound more like a doomsday chord progression, one that has only grown in its effect and intensity since the oratory sources first began back on “AldouHux.”

KWA’s work certainly isn’t for everyone. Incorporating waves of tonal discord and contrarian oratory where harmonies and melodies would normally go, most will probably choose to tune out entirely. Sonically adventurous listeners may find points of interest throughout this album, one that certainly speaks to experimental music aficionados, conspiracy theorists, and those looking for a wholly different audio experience. Considering how white noise tends to lull some people to sleep, who knows what subliminal universes KWA’s work will uncover behind heavy-lidded eyes.

Review by Jason Randall Smith

**Jason Randall Smith is a contributing writer for Impose Magazine and the creator of “Both Sides of the Surface” (Radio BSOTS Podcast and bsots.com)
- Jason Randall Smith Contributing Writer for Impose Magazine

KWA is a U.S.-based multimedia wizard that explores and pushes the boundaries of the human listening experience. The reliance on melodic musical structures are non-existent, as KWA bombards the listener with electronic washes of ambient noise amidst a foreground of higher consciousness created with historic and present-day rhetoric on the poison of mass media-controlled propaganda.

“Neurillogikal” is an abstract dissonance of electronic noises. The nearly five-minute track is unlike any familiar sound known to mankind. The conglomeration of noises maintains a steady tone throughout the track with only minor fluctuations in cadences. Faint blurbs and higher pitched sounds reverberate with metallic sound waves or pings from high-powered machinery. The absence of vocals allows the absorbency of sound to enter eardrums with little interference from worldly or otherworldly sources. The overall sound may not be melodic, but the sheer enormity of noise is almost the opposite of the deep space sounds of the most reflective work to date by electronic musicians, Robert Rich and Steve Roach.

“AldouHux” was named after the English-born and U.S.-based writer, humanist, pacifist, parapsychologist, and philosopher Aldous Leonard Huxley (1894-1963). A noted controversial theoretician of perception and thought, Huxley also experimented with LSD and contributed to Veda-Centric Hinduism causes in southern California. The track features part of a speech given at UC-Berkeley on March 20, 1962. The track also contains snippets on hypnosis, technological chips, and globalization by Patrick Dixon and Aaron Russo. Throughout the track, the presence of ambient noise and intermittent radio and television bleeps provide a simmering cauldron of eerie sounds. The nearly fifteen-minute track is extensive, but not too varied. The spoken dialogue is sometimes drowned out by the electronic sounds.

“The 300” is an eye-opening dialogue and history of the three-hundred men claimed to rule the world through a collective called The Committee of 300. The oratory is presented by English author and world affairs analyst, Dr. John Coleman. Coleman criticizes various New World Order organizations including the Club of Rome and its Global 2000 Report, The Giorgio Cini Foundation, The Tavistock Institute, and The Interreligious Peace Colloquium. This is probably the most dialogue-focused track. The electronic drone of blurbs, gurgles, and tones are symbolic of something stirring, in this case, the immediacy of the global dictatorship of mass consumerism. The twenty-minute track is littered with electronic noises and the politically, financially, and globally unpopular views of Dr. John Coleman. The dialogue ends minutes before the electronic noise fades out.

The final track, “Venetian Casino”, contains excerpts from Lyndon LaRouche’s March 21, 2009 web-cast on the collapse of the global financial system. LaRouche wrote extensively on politics, history, psychoanalysis, and philosophy. On this track, the same electronic background sounds on other tracks continue in the same vein. The experimental nature of the steady, yet quirky sounds, signal the ultimate abstraction of human perception through noise. The oratory is thought provoking with challenging ideas and ideals. The downsides of the track do not necessarily relate to the content, but rather the electronic propagation of sounds. For instance, the duality of oratory and relatively indifferent musical noise does not create an especially captivating response, except for noise purists.

KWA is a mysterious journey into the higher consciousness of sound, and political, financial, and philosophical rhetoric. The low number of tracks is sufficient, because the tracks total over fifty-minutes of running length. The electronic noise of static, frequencies, radio and TV blips, and sounds forms the basis of KWA’s musical mission. The reliance of sound for the oratory provides a relatively delicate balance between sonic and ultrasonic perceptions that touch on greater subjects as phenomenology, technology and futurism, and human and artificial intelligence. It seems KWA is a critical release for anyone with an interest in electronic noise and alternative ways of viewing the world.

Review by Matthew Forss
*Matthew Forss is a Music Journalist for Inside World Music (insideworldmusic.blogspot.com)

- Matthew Forss Music Journalist for Inside World Music

"... a groove uniquely (its) own...sound matrices...you can see every single star ...the whole universe ... but in less than a second you remember to forget. Time and space locks you in ... ...the NWO material has never been more timely... ...our society/culture constantly whispers in our ears, keeping us terrified, just terrified enough to keep denying that there could be such a thing, hiding in plain sight. "Come to Daddy", our media (etc.) reassures us constantly... whispering "or else"..."

Paul Martin Kane
Master of Fine Arts
Yale University - Paul Martin Kane