The Onion A.V. Club
There’s a fine line between challenging an audience and bashing in its skull, a line Denver’s Thorin Klosowski played jump-rope with in his former band, the experimental noise duo My Calculus Beats Your Algebra. But with his new project — which bears the tongue-in-cheek name Republic of Thoronia, of which he, King Thor, is the only member–Klosowski has taken a turn for the sublime. My Calculus had a certain majesty to its mischief, but Republic’s debut, Episode 1, goes above and beyond the call of duty: The disc opens aptly with “Introduction to Thoronia (Narration),” a 10-minute dribble of textured pulses, geysers of static, and the occasional speech from its maker educating the listener about the creation of the universe (and King Thor’s not-so-humble role in it). At times the abstraction even coheres into something resembling disjointed electro–that is, before it dissolves into another pool of luminous fizz. From there, robotic chants paddle through digitized ambience nearly worthy of Tangerine Dream or M83, although there are elements of The Residents and Negativland to be found in the album’s prankish, meta-mythic euphoria. Thankfully, though, Episode 1 seems content to mildly distort the brain instead of breaking it. -Jason Heller Grade: B+
Westword
Of Gods and Men
Published on September 04, 2008
It’s not every day that I can talk to a god — even a made-up one. But the Republic of Thoronia is a strange and ironic place. Here’s what I’m sure I know: King Thor chills in a scarf, old sneakers and boxers. He carries around a tote bag filled with important stuff that fell out of his head. Beyond that, I’m at a loss.
Tonight at 7 p.m. at the Skinny Squirrel, 3047 Larimer Street, The Republic of Thoronia Artifact Exhibit is a chance to learn all there is to know about this, er, alternate (read: fictional) history. “Everything is going to be explained better than it has been,” says Thoronian deity King Thor. “There’s going to be a history chart graphing histories — the present histories that we know and this alternative history that could have been.” Other “artifacts” include a suit of armor, paintings, dolls and a mustache chart.
Admission is free. For more information, e-mail republicofthoronia@gmail.com or go to http://blog.mcbya.net. -Mark Dragotta
Westword
While we were waiting for Republic Of Thoronia to set up and wait out his warm-up music, some random drunk guy walked in off the street and loudly declared he was “looking for the pisser.” After much, um, anticipation ROT frontman (only man), King Thor donned his makeshift crown, and began to mash buttons. Out of nowhere, the wannabe pisser actually stumbled to the center of the Hi-Dive floor and put on show that was a disparate mix of ballet, skank, and dizziness. His antics actually worked quite well with Republic Of Thoronia’s disparate mix of influences (Say, Mega Man 4, World of Warcraft, Richard Simmons exercise tapes). Sadly, wannabe pisser left three songs into the set, sapping all power away from King Thor’s mythic boasts. -Jeremy Brashaw