sunn 0))) at islington mill

Sunn 0))) were great - and extremely loud - yesterday. Rather like how I imagine standing in a jet engine might feel.

Even queueing outside Islington Mill during some last minute sound checks you could feel the walls and pavement shaking. I was glad I took along my own good quality earplugs - although foam earplugs were available. Even so I'm still experiencing what I guess is a kind of low-level tinnitus of throbbing bass that also affects some external bass frequencies. When Sunn 0))) were playing you could feel your clothes, your throat, the floor shaking.

B J Nilsen opening didn't play from the stage but from close to the bar. He produced sounds of a storm which for me didn't really do enough to maintain attention for long. They rumbled on and there were occasional outbursts of noise, but on the whole I didn't find it very varied. That may be because I wasn't really paying much attention. I'd definitely like to hear more on record, or live in another context. Personally I woud have thought having a captive audience was a great opportunity to throw in a lot of really weird sounds and disorient people.

Not having seen Sunn 0))) before my expectations were probably more Anglo-centric than they should have been. The wearing of hoods and heavy use of dry ice misled me into expecting a European or more precisely British hauteur and cool. And of course when they came on they were hooded and you couldn't see the stage for dry ice from two metres away. But there was no stiff British attempt at remaining distant and cool. This is music well aware of how absurd it is while at the same time being absolutely sincere. It's a tricky but necessary balance to pull off.

Along with Steven O'Malley and Greg Anderson were Attila Csihar on vocals - with what sounded like ring modulator and delay pedal applied separately at different times, and Stebmo (Steve Moore) back after his visit earlier in the year with Earth - on trombone and miscellaneous electronics.

The sound throbbed and roared, there were jazz/improv touches, scratchy and abstract clusters of notes, reversed vocals, moments when voice merged with electronics and a constant pressure of sound - which seemed to help with my sciatica. Attila changed partway through from his hooded coak to an affair that was part tree. Utterly preposterous in a good way.

Clearly this is a wholly different experience from listening at home - unless you have stacks of fucking huge speakers about the place and really tolerant neighbours. It's truly immersive. And on the subject of volume I'm looking forward to Lightning Bolt tonight. Having already seen Earth this year the performer I'd really love to see now is Keiji Haino.

Comments

Ric 0))) said…
This is a good review...Was a good performance last night, they completely shook that building !
Anonymous said…
Nice,

I had a similar experience seeing Sunn O))) for the first time last august in Salt Lake City, Utah. I spent the better part of two frustrating months working on a review that would properly describe the experience but it turned out like trying to describe a rainstorm; you can say it was wet, and made things smell pretty but reading about it will never put you squarely back in the experience. I should have just dashed off a few paragraphs while the residue of smoke machine ethers still clung to my sinuses.

Nice report!

I've read other reports from Bristol wherein B.J. Nilsen was attended much more favorably.

Thanks

Pat

pussycatrodeo@earthlink.net

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