LATEST NEWS (updated 25/1/99)

 

"Re-Generations" Progress Report

The release of Kinetik's awaited double CD "Re-Generations" has had to unfortunately be postponed by about two months. It is now expected that "Re-Generations" will be released towards the end of February 1999. Work on the album has been delayed chiefly because of illness. Andrew was originally due to attend recording sessions for the album at KINETIK STUDIOS in Wales during November / December 1998 but was ultimately unable to make it down. However, he was able attend a session in the early part of January 1999 which all concerned are able to describe as "extremely productive". Andrew is due to attend another recording session in Wales at the end of January 1999. It is expected that work on the album will be either completed during this session or failing that, at one more recording session sometime in February.

"Re-Generations" will be the first Kinetik recording to feature the SuperNova, the instrument that the band has played a major role in developing with UK synth manufacturer Novation.

Disc 1 of the two CD release is to contain a selection of remixes from the Kinetik album "Refined" plus some live recordings taken from Kinetik's appearance at the EMMA Festival at Derby in May 1997. Also on Disc 1 will be some extracts from Kinetik's BBC Radio Derby interview (held in March 1998) and some new 'Kinetikesque' sound snippets between some of the audio tracks.

The provisional listing for Disc 1 is as follows (the precise running order has yet to be fixed) :

GENERATION (Re-Generation extended remix)

DANCE MACHINE (Rave Machine remix)

INDUSTRY OF SOUND (Micro Tour mix)

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY (Serious Technology mix)

KINETIK ENERGY (Late Shift remix)

HAVEN'S LAMENT (Live at EMMA)

TRANS-CONTINENTAL (Live at EMMA)

I.S.D.N. (Live at EMMA)

….plus various sound snippets and interview extracts.

The GENERATION mix is basically the same as that which appeared on the rare 'Sequences' cover CD, but has now been extended by nearly four minutes. The KINETIK ENERGY mix has previously appeared only on the "Kinetik Energy" cassette release and the extremely rare (only 7 copies made for promotion !) CD version of this release.

Disc 2 of the "Re-Generations" package will be a CD single consisting of brand new material which has up till now not been performed by Kinetik live. Each member of Kinetik has composed one of the three new tracks. It is also possible that at least one of these new tracks will also be available on the CD as an extra extended mix (studio time permitting !).

The provisional listing for Disc 2 is as follows (again, the precise running order has yet to be fixed) :

HYDRO-ELECTRIC (composed by Andrew)

GO ELEMENTS, GO (composed by Shirleyann)

IN-NOVATION (composed by Colin)

At the time of writing (14/1/99), all the material for Disc 1 has been recorded (with the exception of some sound snippets), with only a few of the tracks waiting to be mastered. No material for Disc 2 has yet been recorded or mastered, but most of this music material has been composed and structured.

Inlay design is being handled by long time member of the 'Kinetik family', David England. The packaging of "Re-Generations" will be quite different to anything released before by Kinetik and is being described by those 'in-the-know' as "something very special"….

1999 Live Dates

Due to the above mentioned delays in producing "Re-Generations", Kinetik's proposed live dates with Raw Power Promotions have now been put back a month – obviously it would be nice to have a new Kinetik Produkt to sell at these gigs ! Kinetik are now aiming to play their first live date of 1999 during the last week of March. More details will appear on the Kinetik site as they are finalised.

Pembroke Power Station To Be Demolished

Well known Kinetik landmark, Pembroke Power Station now looks likely to be demolished some time around the summer of 1999. This imposing building is instantly recognisable to anyone who bought the "The Burning Issue" CD (it features on the cover) and has been featured in many Kinetik publicity images, also featuring heavily in the back-projected video footage used for SOUNDS OF INDUSTRY during live performance.

Ironically, it was the success of The Burning Issue campaign which has brought about the station's destruction ! After local public protest at Orimulsion burning forced National Power to re-think their plans for the plant in 1996, it was decided that if Orimulsion could not be burned at the station, it would be closed – a decision seen by many as a cynical attempt to blackmail the public into accepting 'precious local jobs' at any environmental cost !

Of course, the Sea Empress oil tanker disaster which occurred during February 1996 put 'the tin hat on it' as far as public opinion was concerned – if it could happen with crude oil, the results of a similar spill of Orimulsion would have been far, far worse !

Pembroke Power Station eventually closed in the middle of 1997, the labour force for the most part being relocated to other power plants elsewhere in the country. During 1998, most of the generating plant was removed, and the building has been an empty shell ever since. It looks unlikely that a new use will be found for the building. A shame really, since although some people see the station as an eyesore in the middle of the Pembrokeshire National Park, Kinetik have become fondly attached to the building (at one point even contemplating performing a concert there !), which of course was a major inspiration for the themes explored on the "Refined" album.

Of the three oil refineries and the power station in Milford Haven which so inspired the thinking behind "Refined" in 1995, now only two oil refineries today remain. Maybe it is only a matter of time before the current worldwide glut of oil production forces these remaining refineries to close as well, and then all traces of Milford Haven's Sounds Of Industry will be gone forever.

Supernova Wins Future Music Reader's Poll

Novation's SuperNova synthesizer has been voted best synthesizer in 1998's Future Music 'Gear of the year' awards. Readers of Future Music (a magazine specialising in electronic music production) were invited to vote for the best synthesizer of 1998. The SuperNova won, beating runners-up Roland's JP-8080 and Yamaha's EX5. Kinetik have been heavily involved in the design of the SuperNova since 1996, with Colin Jordan helping to write the machine's operating system and Kinetik providing many of the preset sounds on the machine (one preset is even called 'Transcontinental' !). Colin Jordan was invited to attend the awards ceremony held in London at the end of November 1998. Kinetik are to be presented with a duplicate of the award in recognition of the band's involvement of the ongoing SuperNova project.

The February 1999 issue of Future Music (on sale in January) describes the SuperNova's triumph as follows :

" We were kept in suspense for months about its whereabouts, but once the elusive blue rackmount machine arrived we were all over it like a cheap suit on an estate agent. They're not kidding when they say 'super' nova…

With a name like that, Novation's Supernova was always bound to outshine the competition. The most eagerly awaited synth of the year finally arrived at FM Towers in August and was indeed the start of the show. We gave it a Platinum Award and a 90% rating in FM 72 and now you've voted it Best Synth of 1998. "It's ace, it's completely great !" proclaimed Matt Thomas way back in the summer, and that was before he'd even turned it on. A sure sign of what was to come.

The Supernova is a 16-voice polyphonic, eight part multitimbral analogue-modelling synthesizer , which means that, unlike its predecessors it isn't a genuine analogue machine, more virtual analogue. Using complex computer models to simulate the various components of original analogue synths, it can create some amazing sounds and has its own unique character. Unlike many others it has that elusive analogue warmth which is one of the reasons we all fell in love with it. This is not another "me too" machine.

Blue Christmas

It looks great and has a natty blue finish. The display is bright and clear and there are a plethora of knobs and buttons. In fact it looked so sexy, Matt's girlfriend chucked him and shacked up with one of them.

However, beauty, as Matt rather jiltedly said "isn't simply in the eye of the beholder, it is in the ear as well". The Supernova is a very fat and warm sounding synth that can produce some breathtaking sounds. The presets of the synth are a joy to listen to and, to be honest, it blows the rest out of the water. With three oscillators it is a much more versatile synth than most of its competitors, and the waveforms lack that tell-tale digital edge.

The ring modulators have the required metallic edge, the oscillator sync is correctly abrasive and the filter ranges from a gentle tone control to a howling monster. Plus, spend some time tweaking and you'll be able to create your own voices. "During the couple of days I had with the Supernova," says Matt, "I conjured up wide range of analogue sounds, from the savagely aggressive to the oozingly warm".

And there's more

Not content with producing the Synth of the Year, Novation has already put in place the tools for making the Supernova even better (and that will be no mean feat), in the shape of OS3 (as mentioned in this month's news). The two 'Special' filter and oscillator buttons are yet to be filled, providing the space for future ideas. So, it would seem that the best is just about to get better.

So, it's hats off and congratulations to the Novation Supernova, Future Music's Synth Of The Year 1998. Simply the best. Get your order in. "