I know it’s eating them up inside, but being professionals above all else, drone gods SunnO))) very kindly don’t mention the fact that I didn’t see them on this most recent tour with Pelican and Eagle Twin and how disappointed they must have been when I didn’t make it to the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia in time. Carry on, guys. That’s all you can do. And yes, I got your flowers.

Instead, Greg Anderson, speaking on behalf of himself and Stephen O’Malley, focuses on the positive, writing through his tears that this was their best tour yet. But read between the lines and what he’s really saying is, “It would have been the best tour yet, if only H.P. Taskmaster had come to the Philly show.” I know, Greg. And I’m sorry. We’ll get ‘em next time, right?

Here’s the tour wrap and some nifty vinyl news courtesy of the PR wire:

“Last week SunnO))) triumphantly completed its first ever comprehensive US tour by demolishing the Mercy Lounge in Nashville, Tennessee. Of particular note was the show?at the Masonic Temple in Brooklyn where we played with our brothers in Eagle Twin, Pelican and Earth. This show was sold out (1200 folks) making it the biggest SunnO))) show ever in the USA!?Fortunately the majority of these shows were properly documented and written about by several publications both physical and online. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts for your support.”

SunnO))) are also proud to announce that the mega-deluxe, 180-gram?vinyl version of the latest?album, Monoliths & Dimensions is now available!?SunnO))), Stephen O’Malley and Southern Lord have all gone to great lengths to make sure that the vinyl version of the album is of the utmost quality in both audio and packaging presentation. This is truly how we wish this album to be heard, seen and felt. The album?s jacket is a heavy-weight cardboard “tip-on” style that contains two printed inner-sleeves and a fold out “poster” with the lyrics and album credits. This jacket is then encased by a printed velum dust jacket that resembles a dust jacket you would find on a hardcover book. Order at: http://www.southernlord.com/store.php.

Because it?s gorgeous out, and because it?s Friday, and because I?ve got an interview in 15 minutes (you?ll find out with whom on Monday), and then after that I need to make my way down to Red Bank in summer Friday evening Parkway traffic, I?m thinking throwing up the review I?d been hoping to might not be in the cards immediately. Maybe later on. In the meantime, here?s a video of drone lords Earth playing a new song in Germany. It?s pretty pastoral sounding, which is a good thing for them.

Normally I don’t buy into the whole vinyl-sounds-better thing. I agree there’s something to the experience of purchasing a record and certainly the artwork is bigger, but in terms of the actual sound, while I’ll grant that analog and digital sound different, since most turntables run through a digital amplifier before they reach the speakers anyway and even if not, the disparity is negligible, usually I chalk it up to marketing bullshit or a reactionary hipster trend flying in the face of the rise of digital media. Take that, Apple.

That said, there’s a feeling of self-infliction you get when putting the needle to any of the four sides of the 2LP version of SunnO)))‘s Monoliths and Dimensions (as ever, on Southern Lord) that I genuinely don’t believe would carry over with a CD, mp3 or whatever other format you choose. Aside from each of the four tracks demanding you to make sure you’re on the right speed (it goes 33, 45, 45, 33rpm) — if nothing else a clever way to make sure the listener is paying attention to what they’re hearing — the ritualistic feeling of quietly changing sides after each song makes you feel more of a part of it, like you’re in your very own grimmrobe, or at very least in a room filled with smoke-machine fog.

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It’s well past two in the morning. This afternoon I had three false starts for reviews that I just couldn’t get moving no matter how many times I wrote a crappy opening paragraph. It happens. Sometimes you have to put it away and go have a glass of orange juice. When I got around to checking out Aun‘s Motorsleep (Alien8 Recordings), it became clear it was music for the quiet hours.

So here I am, enveloped in it again. My eyes are doing that fast blinking thing that you never think looks like you’re falling asleep until you see it happening to someone else, but the drone this one-man band emits is encompassing and chilling and hearing it is like chewing gum to keep yourself awake while you drive. I don’t even know what that means.

Aun is the solo project of Martin Dumais, who is from Montr?al, Quebec. For phonetics’ sake, pronounce that “kay-beck.” It sounds better.

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When I pulled up to the driveway of the house way back up on the top of the hill, none of the lights were on. I got out of my car and before I could press the button on the remote to lock it, I was hit with the chloroform and out in a matter of seconds. The last thing I remember before waking up was the feeling of the February air coming through that cloth as I sucked in the chilled chemicals.

It was a punch to the back of my already aching head that brought consciousness with it, though I might as well have still been out, for all the light there was to see. None, in other words. The room was pitch black and I could feel the zip line tight around my wrists and ankles before I even tried to move them. Ball gag in my mouth. I tried to scoot my chair in one direction or another, forward, wherever that was, and met with another fist, this one from the side, at my jaw. No one spoke. I started to cry.

Then I heard it.

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It’s 1:52 in the morning as I start this. I thought after listening to it this afternoon the best time to review Gnaw‘s This Face (Conspiracy) would be late at night, when everyone else had long since gone to bed and the light coming out of? the three windows in this room was the only light in the whole valley as far as I could see. The headphones were on, but I took them off because this album is too horrifying to listen to with your back to the door.

They’ve done a good job of letting their potential audience know about their pedigree, and with vocalist Alan Dubin a veteran of minimalist doom oracles Khanate and Jamie Sykes boasting time drumming for Burning Witch (the two bands having in common guitarist Stephen O’Malley, also of SunnO)))) they have something decent to brag about. Dubin‘s rasp takes center stage here — I like to imagine him hiding around a corner on Washington St. in Hoboken, biting fingers off yuppies as they walk by — and the ugliness behind is busy enough to catch fans of his former (maybe? Who the hell knows what’s up with Khanate.) band off guard. For the first 10 seconds, I had to make sure I didn’t slip in the new Napalm Death record by mistake.

Gnaw should have called themselves Gnash, because where I think of gnawing as a gradually painful process, as in a wolf gnawing its leg off to get out of a trap, a gnash happens quickly, and Gnaw waste no time in inflicting themselves upon the ear. They slice and rip and dig out a hole in the psyche, offering malevolent electronica sweeps and bleeps and soundscapes of dim growing dimmer light. I’m starting to fall asleep and all my dreams are red.

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Looks like it’s time to get the robes out. The following came in on the wire just a bit ago and is some killer news for drone heads out there:

SunnO))) is proud to present their seventh studio album, after 10 years of existence, Monoliths and Dimensions. The album showcases the core guitar duo — Stephen O?Malley and Greg Anderson –? incorporating influences from a plethora of guest musicians, bringing the SunnO))) sound to epic new levels. The band also collaborated with composer Eyvind Kang (notable for his work with John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell, etc.) on various acoustic ensembles, in addition to the Helios-fueled electric guitars and basses. Key players on the album include Australian guitar genius Oren Ambarchi, enigmatic Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar (Mayhem, Tormentor, etc.) and slow music godfather Dylan Carlson (Earth), as well as Julian Priester (worked with Sun Ra in the 50s, John? Coltrane?s African Brass, and Herbie Hancock?s Sextet) and new-music horn player Stuart Dempster. There?s also an upright bass trio, French & English horns, harp & flute duo, piano, brass,? reed & strings ensembles, and a Viennese woman?s choir led by Persian vocal savant Jessika Kenney.

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Toronto‘s most righteously stoned doomers Sons of Otis are back with six more droned-out, smoke-filled anthems of echoplexed dissatisfaction. Exiled is the band’s fifth album — second for Small Stone after both Man’s Ruin and The Music Cartel collapsed following Otis releases (they’re just that heavy) — and after reading Arzgarth‘s review on Stonerrock.com the other day, I figured I’d chime in with one of my own. You know, just to make the world complete.

By way of preface, I have a great respect for Arz and his status in the stoner scene is unquestionable. He does very, very good work with unwavering dedication. Exiled he categorized as starting off strong but ultimately losing his interest as the band drifted “off into their own realm (or even further into it).” All well and good — and nine-minute dronefest “Tales of Otis” certainly is a mountain to climb — but I think there’s more at hand here than just the album getting boring as it plods onward. Read more »

One assumes Portland?s Tecumseh were thinking of their sound when they titled the record Avalanche and Inundation. Taken on that level, it?s about as fair an assessment as you?re going to get of what happens when you put the damn thing on; riff after churning riff gurgling up from the slowly boiling minimalist morass, igniting torturous drones and ringed out notes held so long the feedback literally screams.

SunnO))) is a lazy man?s comparison point, so we?ll go with that. Read more »