Sunn O)))

[zzmoore]

OK, pardon my ignorance... Does this band actually play live with an audience in attendance? I imagine there must be some kind of following for this genre of music.
Thank You

[Scott K]

I think so, but IMO, this is worst piece of garbage "band" out there.

[Tone_Terrific]

Somebody will jump in here to defend the artistic merit, I hope.
Should be good:munch

[Platypus]

The goal of their live shows is to make people feel ill. I wouldnt listen to them all the time but every now and again the drone stuff is fun to listen to in headphones. It's good for spacing out and writing code or something for example. I think their whole shtick is a bit silly but to each their own.

[screamingdaisy]

Sunn O))) gigs live on a regular basis.

Their tone is almost all bottom end. It's a bit of an experience, as the sound density is retarded. You'll feel like your entire body is being compressed, yet you can hear someone cough clearly beside you since they're not competing for the same sonic space. Due to the droning nature of their music there's alot of interaction between the guitars and amplifiers, and the spend almost as much time 'playing the amp' as they do the guitar.

Note: Screamingdaisy does not play or really listen to drone metal. Just not his bag. However, he'd still go a Sunn O))) concert just for the experence.


Somebody will jump in here to defend the artistic merit, I hope.
Should be good:munch

They invented their own sub-genre... and believe it or not, people actually copy their sound. What have you contributed to the rock guitar lexicon recently?

[JazzHessian]

It sounds different, it must be bad!

[Scott K]

It sounds different, it must be bad!


There's plenty of stuff that's different, but still good.

This doesn't fall into that category.

[FlyingDutchman]

Its interesting to say the least. I just checked out some Youtube stuff and I actually like some of their ideas. Reminds me of the stuff I used to do with my Whammy pedal because I didnt know how to use it in a song.

[JazzHessian]

There's plenty of stuff that's different, but still good.

This doesn't fall into that category.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge Sunn O))) fan. But I would argue they serve their own specific purpose. Their role is on the far outer edges of music, and that much I can respect. Especially in a genre that has been as stagnant as metal has been, I appreciate that there are guys out there whose goal is to make the heaviest music possible.

[screamingdaisy]

There's plenty of stuff that's different, but still good.

This doesn't fall into that category.

It's performance art. That you don't understand it musically is perfectly acceptable.

[Tone Ball]

It IS performance art. And I would argue that their live shows are more interesting than their records. I've gone to two of their concerts... can't say I've listened to any of their recordings twice, though.

These guys can sell out to huge audiences at both music venues and art galleries... and they sell a ton of merch (all limited edition, of course). It's really an "event" more than a concert. I've also heard that the band at any one show (it's always changing, just the two leaders and a bunch of guys in robes) can really vary and that more than a few well-known musicians have joined Sun 0))) anonymously for some shows.

[jgyn]

I have their Boris collaboration.

[Tuco]

What? They couldn't come up with an original name? They had to usurp an established name?

[brooksrocco]

They had me at Black One.

It was the first time I'd been introduced to hardcore drone music, and I must say that it blew me away as much as the first time I'd ever heard Burzum's Hvis Tar Lysott Oss.

Purely mesmerizing, repetitive, challenging music to listen to, it's difficult to remove your well-nurtured musical blinders, but if you do, there is some seriously satisfying music inside that black veiled buzz.

Turn off your distractions once in a while when you're listening to new music. When it's just you and that sonic maelstrom, sometimes you have no choice but to get sucked in.

[Audioholic]

Listening to thier music at x10 times the normal speed, actually sounds like something resembling music

:-)

[screamingdaisy]

What? They couldn't come up with an original name? They had to usurp an established name?

They started off as an Earth cover band. Earth released an album called Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars back in the mid 90s.

Sunn O))) used to be called Mars, but they renamed themselves Sunn O))) as a tribute to Earth (the Sun revolves around the Earth), and as a tribute to their amplifiers (Sunn, obviously).

[Tuco]

Thanks for the background. Makes more sense now.

[ivers]

I like what I've heard by them, but I doubt that I'd be very tempted to attend a live show, as I'm not very into listening to music at really high volume.

[jazzandmetal?]

Never heard of them until now. I also checked out Earth. Like that a little better. A little more upbeat.:D

Seems like meditation music for metalheads. I like it.

[MichaelThomas]

What a lot of people don't know is that this band is one of the many major inflences for a lot of today's post rock/ sludge/ stoner metal bands. Like Pelican, Isis, Torche, Jesu, Old Man Gloom, Red Sparowes etc. A lot of this stuff isn't that big of a deal in the states, but it's HUGE in Europe...so my answer is yes they do have quite a following.

[screamingdaisy]

Never heard of them until now. I also checked out Earth. Like that a little better. A little more upbeat.:D


Earth 2 is a good album, if you can find it.

Seems like meditation music for metalheads. I like it.

Or the background music in hell.




On a side note... does anyone find it funny that TGP is actually having a serious thread on Drone Doom?

[Johnnythunders]

Being an old Black Sabbath, Hawkwind, Tangerine Dream, Eno, etc fan in addition to punk and rock I've had a minor interested in Doom, mostly stoner doom, since back when I saw St. Vitus when they toured with Black Flag back in the early 80's. I like the slower stoner stuff for a change of pace like Kyuss, Acid Kings, Sleep, Heavy Lord, Electric Wizard and my favorite is Boris. Sunn 0)) and Earth are nteresting. Saw Sunn 0)) and Boris at the last Emissions of the Monolith in 2006 in Youngstown Ohio. Sunn O)) was so loud you could feel the pressure in your chest at the back of the small room. Boris blew them off the stage and I'm not talking volume, much more variety, can't wait to see them Nov 16 in Cleveland, Ohio.

[notpetrucci]

Call me old fashioned but...

I call it Shoegazer...

-Jon

[TwoTubMan]

I've heard them a couple of times, reminded me of the late DJ Screw.

[sosomething]

This thread is awesome purely by virtue of it's existence.

[Brooks]

i like a small handful of the "stoner" bands
(kyuss, obsessed, clutch).

this, not so much. but that's ok.

ps- hey johnny thunders!

[TimBascom]

I think they can do what they want,of course,but I do find it boring after a few minutes.

Call me a traditionalist and I will plead guilty.

[sosomething]

Sunn O))) are a different kind of listening experience, to be sure, but not without artistic merit. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a bunch of their stuff on my iPod. Still, I can't help but feel like there's a big element I've yet to "get" without ever having seen them live in person.

I typically like my stoner/doom/metal/post rock more along the lines of Crowbar, Electric Wizard, High on Fire, Red Sparrowes, Neurosis, Mouth of the Architect, Isis, The Atlas Moth, Raise the Red Lantern, etc.

[brooksrocco]

After a bit of an Amoeba binge yesterday, I wound up with a copy of the new DGM reissue of Fripp & Eno's No p00syfooting. I'd never heard the album (though I was familiar with Evening Star), and it was a bit of a revelatory experience hearing it.

I'll be the first to admit my knowledge of the history of this kind of music is a bit limited, but I understand this specific record to be a bit of a landmark: two formerly rock/pop (at the time) artists, Fripp with KC, Eno with RM, releasing an ambiguously titled, visually unsettling, and musically change gaming record, which, to my ears, sounds like it could have ended up as a brand new, limited release at Aquarius.

Looking at sunn0))), and their 'modern' cohorts in dronecrime, I think that Fripp & Eno record can't be overlooked as one of the straws that broke pop music's back, and allowed this music to seep out of the gutters and into your brain.


As a footnote: as a bonus, the NP reissue contains the first track on the album, The Heavenly Music Corporation, mastered at half-speed, allowing it to be listened to right along side of Black Boned Angel, The Gravetemple Trio, or whatever modern doom band that thinks they're on the cutting edge. F&E were living in our time.

[Chrome Dinette]

I like this band. They are quite entertaining live, though I agree with poster Johnnythinders above about Boris(I was at that show).

Also, their releases are more varied than you think. For example, White 1, Black 1, Domkirke and the Boris collaboration don't really sound like each other. All of those would be good introductions to the band if you haven't heard them.

[soulohio]

right on! Sunn O))) would only be better with an Ampeg VT40 but they can't have mine.

What a lot of people don't know is that this band is one of the many major inflences for a lot of today's post rock/ sludge/ stoner metal bands. Like Pelican, Isis, Torche, Jesu, Old Man Gloom, Red Sparowes etc. A lot of this stuff isn't that big of a deal in the states, but it's HUGE in Europe...so my answer is yes they do have quite a following.

[hazmat33]

I saw them when they played the Emissions from the Monolith festival here in beautiful Youngstown, Ohio.

It was a nice come-down since they followed Boris, which no band should ever have to play after.

I would go see them again before I see another boring bowling shirt blues band!!!

[soulohio]

there is a picture of Boris at the Nyabingy and the little lady is standing beside her Orange amp just jamming her tits off...what a guitar player. makes me wanna move to Japan. I like sushi and japanese womens and stoner rock.

Saw Sunn 0)) and Boris at the last Emissions of the Monolith in 2006 in Youngstown Ohio. Sunn O)) was so loud you could feel the pressure in your chest at the back of the small room. Boris blew them off the stage and I'm not talking volume, much more variety, can't wait to see them Nov 16 in Cleveland, Ohio.

[soulohio]

anybody in Pensacola are reading this please contact me...we are brothers from another mother and need to be reunited over an Ampeg VT40 and the PA of choice..

I saw them when they played the Emissions from the Monolith festival here in beautiful Youngstown, Ohio.

It was a nice come-down since they followed Boris, which no band should ever have to play after.

I would go see them again before I see another boring bowling shirt blues band!!!

[Johnnythunders]

Hey Brooks!

Boris Sunday November 16, Cleveland Ohio, Grog shop, small place you can get right up to the stage, come on down and get pounded. They play more of the fast stuff live than the long slow stuff. Wata used a Matamp GT120 and an Orange Or80 thru a Space Echo and a ton of pedlas including 3 volume/wah pedals last time they played the Grog. Can't wait.

[hazmat33]

That last Boris show at the Grog was dynamite!!!

[soulohio]

you guys are making me miss cleveland...i was just there last weekend.

That last Boris show at the Grog was dynamite!!!

[Johnnythunders]

Matamps and Oranges are the most popular.

[screamingdaisy]

What kind of gear do these guys typically use?

I've seen them with a bunch of Hiwatts

Sunn O)))?

They typically use Sunn Model Ts.