Kites

by D. Carr Kites is the moniker behind one-man harsh noise artist Christopher Forgues, an early adopter of the New England circuit-bending phenomenon and part of the second-generation Providence, RI, noise scene. Forgues has tailored instruments and tracks for each of his performances, so a definitive description is impossible, but his shows have often included a suit of wires, cables, and transistors that reacts to his movements and is directed toward a large amp as Forgues screams, gesticulates, or smiles madly. With such an array, he looks not unlike a scarecrow caught in his own inner tornado. Kites began in 2000 and the first full-length, Royal Paint with the Metallic Gardner from the United States Helped into an Open Field by Women and Children, appeared in 2003. The album combined tracks of live and makeshift studio recordings featuring blistering, elongated noise with beautiful, childlike bedroom recordings of handclaps and banjo. In early 2004 he toured with Prurient and Hair Police. Later that year, Kites released a split 12" with local noise artist Prurient, also on Load Records. Forgues' chaotic sophomore CD, Peace Trials, was released in 2005, followed by the continually experimental Hallucination Guillotine in 2007.