Posts Tagged ‘sunn o)))’

Album of the day: Sunn O))) Meets Nurse With Wound – The Iron Soul Of Nothing (LP)

Posted on Monday, December 5th, 2011

Praise for Sunn O))) meets Nurse With Wound‘s The Iron Soul Of Nothing from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Back in 2007, Stephen O’Malley approached Nurse With Wound about reworking Sunn O)))’s 00Void, urging that Steven Stapleton push the sound of Sunn O))) towards the classic NWW sound of Soliloquy For Lilith.

The resulting ‘remix’ found its way onto the Daymare 2xCD version of that same record and stands as a fantastic disc of haunting drones and abstract soundscaping, constructed using the glacial doom of Sunn O))) as the building blocks, which is surprising considering how shimmery and serene much of this is. While we had a handful of that Japanese release it’s hardly surprisingly that it went out print rather quickly.

Fortunately, O’Malley found another outlet for these recordings through his Ideologic Organ imprint of Editions Mego. Side A here features ‘Dysnystaxis’ – one long slow billow of sound, gentle clouds of muted metallic reverberations, deep resonant chiming tones, soft smeared bass notes, all blurred into a creeping drift, that is more Chalk or Coleclough than SUNNO))).

Side C’s ‘Ash On The Trees’ is even more abstract, isolating vocals which had been previously obscured from the original recordings, peppering the dreamy drone with strange metallic clang, moaning horn like bleats, sprays of hiss and buzz, all over a warbly wandering bassline; the bass getting thicker and thicker, coated in grit and grime and hiss, breaking glass, weird industrial clatter, and lots and lots of hisssssssss.

Pete Stahl (Scream, Wool, Goatsnake) was responsible for those vocals which occasionally drive the piece at points as a nasally croon entangled in the track’s gauzy gurgle then dipping into an effected, almost demonic howl. Side two of both lps split the 25 minute track ‘Ra At Dawn’ into two parts, with additional material thrown in for good measure.

Expect more of that gorgeously minimal drone, the sound of Sunn O))) smeared and blurred and muted into a hushed thrum, soft subtle layers shifting and blending, warm and rich and textured but simple and spare, near the end, voices and radio static surface, but still barely audible, another whispered layer beneath a sea of tranquil hushed whir.

Pretty dang cool, even if it’s fairly far removed from the sound of the original; but then again, that’s sort of the mark of a good remix as far as we’re concerned.

At 40 years old, Aquarius is the oldest independent record store in San Francisco. We try to only carry music we love, and we’re always searching for more new, cool, weird and wonderful music. All of which we then share with you, our loyal customers.

Tags: Album of the day, Aquarius Records, greg anderson, Ideologic Organ, nurse with wound, Stephen O'Malley, Steven Stapleton, sunn o))), Sunn O))) Meets Nurse With Wound, The Iron Soul Of Nothing
Posted in 2011, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended | No Comments »

Sunn O))) To Headline Denovali Swingfest (Rock-A-Rolla)

Posted on Friday, July 22nd, 2011

Drone behemoths SunnO))) have been added to this year’s Rock-A-Rolla sponsored Denovali Swingfest, and are now set to close off proceedings as Sunday headliners. The three-day festival, organized by Germany’s Denovali Records, takes place at Weststadthalle in Essen, Germany from Friday September 30th to Sunday October 2nd and will feature ...read more

Album of the day: Phurpa – Trowo Phurnag Ceremony (2LP)

Posted on Saturday, July 9th, 2011

Praise for Phurpa‘s Trowo Phurnag Ceremony from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Ever wonder what a SUNNO))) record might sound like if instead of guitars and amps, it was just vocals? Well wonder no more. This new record on Ideologic Organ, a new label run by SUNNO)))’s Stephen O’Malley, offers up ...read more

The Bone Reader – Post-Monolithic: An Interview With Greg Anderson of Sunn O)))

Posted on Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

The Bone Reader recently conducted an interview with Greg Anderson of Sunn O))) and Goatsnake-fame, and it features in-depth questions focusing on side projects, skeletons in the closet, the inspiration of jazz music, the influence of Earth and Dylan Carlson, Southern Lord, Sunn O))) and much more. TBR: Are you ...read more

TONE AUDIO Covers The Roadburn Festival (by Louise Brown)

Posted on Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

Beyond Sight and Sound: The 2011 Roadburn Festival melted minds and seared eardrums. While it’s now in the books, the event set new standards for how intimate, cutting-edge music gatherings should look, feel, operate, and sound. We invite you to read TONE’s 20-page cover story on the festival by downloading ...read more

Metal Blog – NME.COM: The Twenty Heaviest (Metal) Records Of All Time by John Doran

Posted on Thursday, May 19th, 2011

This blog has been written to upset you. “OMFG! He’s compiled a list of the world’s heaviest albums and not included ‘Necrotic Wolf Enslavement’ by Crepuscular Molestation Cauldron!”, “No ‘Massive Fucking Apocalypse’ by Cataclysmic Death Flange – no credibility!” Don’t worry that the concept of heaviness in any kind of ...read more

Roadburn 2011, Tilburg, The Netherlands – Day 2 (By The Sleeping Shaman)

Posted on Monday, May 2nd, 2011

Second day of Roadburn and I was DEFINITELY feeling the vibe today, after a shaky start yesterday. I’ll put that down to my being tired and nowhere NEAR drunk enough to get my buzz on. Situation remedied and first on my hitlist today was Keiji Haino. I’ve seen Haino on ...read more

Blogging from Roadburn 2011: Still in Orbit by Walter Roadburn (A Massive Thanks!!!)

Posted on Thursday, April 21st, 2011

I’m spent and I’m numb! My brain is going nowhere. I’m no longer on Planet Roadburn but I’m not entirely here, either. I’m still in orbit. I can’t seem to adjust to daily life. What just happened during the last few days? Was there magic in the air? Did someone ...read more

VPRO 3VOOR12 Tilburg reporting live from Roadburn 2011; Hashtag #roadburn

Posted on Thursday, April 14th, 2011

The Tilburg chapter of VPRO’s 3voor12 network will be covering Roadburn 2011. A special site is up and running at http://roadburn2011.vpro.nl/ to provide coverage (in Dutch) and share the Roadburn twitter stream (the hashtag for Roadburn 2011 is #roadburn). Using the site’s Luisterpaal feature, you can check out the Roadburn ...read more

VPRO 3voor12 Luisterpaal: Warm Up for Roadburn 2011!

Posted on Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

Now available to blast online: the good folks at the VPRO’s 3voor12 site have posted an excellent Roadburn 2011 sampler featuring Shrinebuilder, White Hills, Sabbath Assembly, Sunn O))), Alcest, Ghost, Black Math Horseman, Menace Ruine, Scorn, Wardruna and Stone Axe. This is a compelling reminder of why everyone is so ...read more