KPE consists of Californian composer, musician & performer DNA Hoover. He plays percussion instruments and found objects, but his main instrument is a multitrack studio where he assembles what will form his albums: musical pieces that explore thematic film music.
The actual (original) principle of KPE was developed in 1919 by the Italian composer Giuseppe Becce, who published “Kinobibliothek”, a catalogue of film scores from which directors could select suitable pieces to accompany their films (which at the time had no soundtrack). “Kinobibliothek” was the most successful of similar publications and soon became an industry standard; later it was simply called “Kinothek”.
DNA Hoover not only adopted the name ‘Kinothek’, but works similarly to Becce – instead of written compositions, he publishes recordings containing music for films, real ones or for ‘cinema in the head’.
On ‘Industrie !’ Hoover has expanded his musical ‘library’ with many ‘found’ sounds of mechanical origin. These sounds from a system of interactive ‘templates’ create a moving tide of polyrhythms based on 55,110,165 and 220 beats per minute. It sounds like a walk through a factory. No brutal noise, but unobtrusive, repetitive and dense soundscapes of mechanical repairs, more related to ambient sounds than to the clumsiness of the so-called industrial scene.
One man show. Kinothek Percussion Ensemble is the project of a California-based percussionist, sound experimenter and sculptor named Dna Hoover. He has made only 3 albums, besides Adventure, Suspense (1989) and Industry! Volume 3 (1992). Neither has been reissued yet. Don’t expect any drum and percussion solos. Through the masterful use of electronics, noise, various hard-to-specify sounds, voices and pre-recorded tapes, he achieves a highly dramatic score that might be appropriate for a horror or sci-fi film. Experimental, noise, industrial. In fact, he uses the word “kinothek” to refer to the Italian film music composer Giuseppe Becce (1877-1973), who in 1919-1933 invented the “cinema library”, a kind of musical archive from which filmmakers would select ready-made incidental music for their films. I highly recommend the Kinothek Percussion Ensemble, my friends. (Jiří Kalemba)
Very interesting sound variations, at times a little disturbing.
This, and subsequent KPE albums are explorations of the kinothek concept – a collection of visually provocative music, catalogued by dramatic mood.
Personnel:
Dna Hoover (all instruments)
Tracklist:
01. Near Miss 3.48
02. Premonition 0.32
03. Unseen Perils 2.55
04. Confrontation 3.01
05. Maelstrom / Coaxed By Wile 6.19
06. In Wait 2.07
07. In Search Of 4.06
08. Discovery 1.53
09. A Change En Route 4.20
10. Passage 1.38
11. Determination 1.59
12. Out Of Control 3.15
13. Incident 0.42
Music: Dna Hoover
Born in Timberville, Virginia in 1956, Dna Hoover studied sculpture at Virginia Commonwealth University before attending SFAI in 1978. In 1979, he cofounded the nonprofit art space ARE in downtown SF. In 1980, Dna cofounded the performance art group For Further Information, performing in the bay area and on a cross country trip that culminated in a three channel video installation at the Berkeley Art Museum. Over the next couple of decades, Dna collected and built musical instruments and released several albums under the pseudonym Kinothek Percussion Ensemble.
Currently, Dna lives with his wife, artist Joan E Jusell in Vacaville, California and runs Dna Hoover/Housewright, a small design/build company
Dna Hoover on facebook: