Head Like A Kite – No Ordinary Caveman EP

I was recently introduced to the fantastic Head Like A Kite, who are able to create a modern-industrial- pop sound to their music, that is overwhelming to both the body and ears. Head Like A Kite is comprised of just two men, Dave Einmo (on guitar, synthesizer, sampler, and vocals), and Trent Moorman (drums, keys, sampler, and vocals). This two-man band calls upon musical friends every now and again to join them in the studio to assist them with the creation or the remixing of their music.

The band’s first major album was Random Portraits of the Home Movie which was released February of 2006. The album was influenced and inspired by the 1970s’ Super-8 home movies, which they applied an experimental-electronic sound that could be compared to that of The Faint. In response to this album, Head Like A Kite was joined by fellow musicians from The Long Winters, Radio 4, Crooked Fingers, Smoosh, Animals at Night among others and, once again, ventured into the studio to produce yet another album. This second record, titled There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere, was released in June of this year. With such hypnotizing songs as “No Ordinary Caveman,” “Six Bags of Confetti,” and “Daydream Vacation,” this album was a musical success.

But they were not finished yet. On August 19th, they released a six-track EP of remixed tracks from this recently released album. The sound for the remixed tracks took the music to a whole new level. These songs where remixed by several known DJs such as Nobody who took a swing at “No Ordinary Caveman,” and knocked it right out of the park. Boom Bip put a whole new spin on the song “Daydream Vacation” with the help of Asya from Smoosh, and Antimc worked the sound of Head Like A Kite’s “Six Bags of Confetti.” All the while, Daedelus Plucks That Broken Arrow got together with Head Like A Kite to transform “We Were So Entangled” into something new and shiny.

Every single one of these DJ’s injected their own special steroid into their song, creating a whole new feel to the song.

Tracklisting:
01. No Ordinary Caveman (download)
02. No Ordinary Caveman (Nobody’s Totally Spaced Remix)
03. Daydream Vacation (Boom Bip’s Homecoming Remix)
04. Six Bags of Confetti (Antimc’s Skinny Gold Chain Remix)
05. We Were So Entangled (Daedelus Plucks That Broken Arrow Remix)
06. No Ordinary Caveman (Her Space Holiday cover)

Tour Dates:
Aug 30 – Rickshaw Stop / San Francisco
Aug 31 – Old Ironsides / Sacramento
Oct 03 – John in the Morning at Night (KEXP) / Seattle

Head Like A Kite: website | myspace | download, watch “No Ordinary Caveman”
Mush Records: website | myspace

Written by: Kyle Thurin

Head Like A Kite Sophomore Album

Breaking down beats seems as natural to Head Like a Kite‘s Dave Einmo as breaking down genre barriers. HLAK’s second full-length album, There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere, takes listeners on an aural road trip, mixing propelling hip hop drum beats with electronic Krautrock and indie pop peppered with field recordings captured while HLAK toured the United States. The result is a lush, party soundtrack with guests from Smoosh, The Long Winters, Radio 4, Crooked Fingers, Trent Moorman and other Northwest friends joining the ride on Head Like a Kite’s stunning and infectious sophomore release.

Where HLAK’s debut, Random Portraits of the Home Movie, was inspired by sampled sounds from Super 8 movies that Einmo’s parents shot in the late 70s, There Is Loud Laugher Everywhere fast forwards to the future, taking us on a memorable sonic trip around the country. It seamlessly ties epic pop overtones to sunny bliptronic beats, sounding like a marriage of electronic indie rock remixed by DJ Shadow and DFA.

And remix is the exclamation point. “I wanted to create a record that sounded like big beat remixes of songs that didn’t yet exist,” says Einmo. “I recorded the melodies, and then constructed and deconstructed the melodies into loops, taking the approach of a DJ cutting up and looping my own tracks.” There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere draws from Einmo’s fascination with the subtractive arrangements of trip hop and Krautrock, but is executed using a far brighter, more organic palette of mellotron, koto, cello, and bombastic drums with warm Moog synths, sinister guitars, Theremin and an arsenal of old, analog effects.

“It’s an optimistic, playful record,” Einmo says. “The kind of record you put on when you invite your best friends over for a party.”

Head Like A Kite: website | myspace
Mush Records: website | myspace