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Kicksville

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Websites:

• http://myspace.com/kicksvilleband
• http://kicksville.com/

Bio: Kicksville. Population at last count: 58 and growing fast. It's a political movement, a virtual community and a musical collective. And it's the capital ... (more) of an altered state of mind, as anyone who's listened to Kicksville's music or seen one of their compelling, highly theatrical shows knows.

The sounds of Kicksville range from the Malian blues of "Mili" to the trip-hop of "Synesthesia" to the Ministry-like techno of "Southbound," and incorporate improvisation, painstaking programming, melodic sensibility, bizarre sound effects, and award-winning poetry.

Kicksville's music contains no pre-recorded samples (besides the voice of legendary poet and activist John Beecher), purchased loops, or preserved beats. Everything is created from scratch by Kicksville's citizens, a team of musicians, artists, and technology wizards who commute to Kicksville from twelve different cities on three continents and who've worked with a dizzying range of other artists ranging from Laurie Anderson to Van Halen and dozens of others, including Queen, BB King, King Crimson and members of the Grateful Dead.

Down at the bandshell, citizens and visitors enjoy the live show: an extraordinary, continuous multimedia experience that Jambase described as "truly experimental.... This wild group...was one of the weirdest, most visually stunning performances of the [All Good Festival]. It stretched listeners' ears to the edge, then roped them back in with flowing, friendly jams," including crowd favorite "Evil Demon Weed," from Kicksville's previous Ropeadope release, Enter the Flavor Hut.

Take the first step on the road to Kicksville: the City Council meets Fridays at 4:20.

--Nancie S. Martin, Director of Propaganda (less)