Suss "feels a movie soundtrack that got bored ... and left the theater"
October 16, 2018 12:10 PM   Subscribe

What would it sound like if Brian Eno had produced the Western film scores of Ennio Morricone? We don't know, but it might sound like Suss, who make ambient country, "the new folk music." "There is no chair! It's a new thing every time" (Facebook video; also on YouTube). Those and more musings are from member the musicians behind Suss, who released their album Ghost Box (YouTube playlist) last February, and they're putting out an expanded version via Bandcamp. More audio/visual chaos from Bob Holmes (on mandolin, guitar, and harmonica): Canyonlands (Return to Wichita) live; Rain, live @ Secret Theatre, NYC 2/4/18; Rain (studio audio/ mixed media video); and Late Night Call (clip).
posted by filthy light thief (25 comments total) 43 users marked this as a favorite
 
The title is from a reviewer on Bandcamp, who wrote "Feels like a movie soundtrack that got bored with the movie and left the theater."
posted by filthy light thief at 12:12 PM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


I really dig this project. It reminds me a lot of Organ Trail, a Vancouver-based ambient folk band circa 2007-ish (not to be confused with the Pennsylvania Death Grind band of the same name) that included some electronic techniques and elements, who themselves seemed to owe a lot to Damon Albarn and Michael Nyman's soundtrack for Ravenous. They only released one EP before disbanding and have no Internet presence at all, but the similarities are striking to me.
posted by Fish Sauce at 12:37 PM on October 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


Cool sounds; I like this sort of thing. It reminded me of :zoviet*france:'s 2000 album The Decriminalization of Country Music (especially "Something Spooked the Horses") which is a bit more on the noisey/abstract side.
posted by demonic winged headgear at 12:39 PM on October 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


Ambient Western/Desert Ambient/Electronic Western/whatever genre we're calling it is my fucking jam. This in particular sounds great. Thanks for posting!

In addition to the (excellent) aforementioned Zoviet France album, there's way more of this kind of thing (to varying levels of country/ambient-ness) out there:

A Small, Good Thing, most notably the "Slim Westerns" releases
Dead Hollywood Stars
Dead Melodies, especially the Cryo Chamber releases
Rodeo
The KLF's Chill Out
Steve Roach & Roger King's Dust To Dust, probably more Roach stuff

There's way more but I'm at work and I can't think of it all...
posted by 40 Watt at 1:24 PM on October 16, 2018 [10 favorites]


What it would sound like if Brian Eno had produced the Western film scores of Ennio Morricone

Who is Daniel Lanois
posted by Beardman at 1:37 PM on October 16, 2018 [7 favorites]


Who is Daniel Lanois

Er... yeah. That's the only part of this that rang a little odd. It's like, surely they'd at least listened to Apollo...

Unrelated, more stuff I just thought of:
Rotwood by April Larson and Daniel Bowden (noisy, dark, weird)
The Long Dust by Caul
Also, multi-instrumentalist/genre-bending electronic godfather Eraldo Bernocchi has released a few western-tinged albums:
Arc (as Parched)
Invisible Strings with Indian slide guitarist Prakash Sontakke; more Indian than"country" but feels not out of place.
posted by 40 Watt at 1:58 PM on October 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


Hey not bad! Here's my additions:

Rainywood (now in expanded form as Brightblack Morning Light)
World Standard

I was also going to suggest Bohren & der Club of Gore, but they're jazz/lounge.
posted by rhizome at 2:07 PM on October 16, 2018 [4 favorites]


Venetian Snares x Daniel Lanois - Night GHP133

Yes, I like this very much.

Thanks to everyone for the additional names and bands!
posted by filthy light thief at 2:07 PM on October 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


This is awesome. I love this so much. FLT comes through again!
posted by sleeping bear at 2:12 PM on October 16, 2018


Culturally different but feels like it would work on the mix tape: Ry Cooder 'A Meeting by the River'.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 2:12 PM on October 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


On the Ry Cooder tip, you'll definitely want to check out his soundtrack to the movie Paris, Texas
posted by rhizome at 2:23 PM on October 16, 2018


Oh, that Organ Trail stuff is up on YT after all.
posted by Fish Sauce at 3:32 PM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


Some of this reminded me of Friends of Dean Martinez, a band I very much like. A few of their tracks.
posted by pipeski at 3:34 PM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


What would it sound like if Brian Eno had produced the Western film scores of Ennio Morricone?

Eno did have that Ring of Fire cover. Granted, it sounds like more of a half-hearted goof, but does resemble the Suss work a tad.
posted by p3t3 at 4:00 PM on October 16, 2018


Reminds me of the KLF's Chill Out, albeit on more of a thematic level.
posted by Going To Maine at 4:04 PM on October 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


Love it.

Related to the band name, "suss" is a Youtube meme. People cut up and make very abstract and choppy mosaics of all media content and create a "YouTube Poop." One of the easier sounds to cut together from other audio is the beginning of an "S" word, repeated backwards immediately after.
I didn't see if they had a different origin. I have heard Suss used like a verb, to investigate, or discover.
so, Suss!
posted by shenkerism at 4:57 PM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


I would have assumed the name was derived from "suss out"...
posted by Going To Maine at 6:00 PM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


That later John Fahey "Red Cross" album is a particularly good touchpoint too.

I can also recommend Bill Frisell - the arrangements are similar, but more rootsy and open. I'm thinking of "Blues Dream" in particular. His work on Earth's "And the Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull" carry the same fragrance with drone electric guitar substituting some of the noise supplied by keyboard/studio trickery.
posted by SoundInhabitant at 6:07 PM on October 16, 2018 [3 favorites]


Neil Young's soundtrack for Dead Man might be apropos here
posted by juv3nal at 9:34 PM on October 16, 2018 [5 favorites]


What would it sound like if Brian Eno had produced the Western film scores of Ennio Morricone?

Don't get me wrong, I'm an admirer of Eno's ambient from that period ... but what Morricone did for Buono Cattivo Bruto ... He created a musical character that was *pitch perfect* for the film. Tender when it needed to be, brutal when needed. Eno *isn't even close* to Morricone's league as a composer ... and he himself knows that.
posted by Twang at 11:42 PM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


Reminded me of Labradford, although I liked this more.
posted by Mocata at 1:58 AM on October 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


I was also going to suggest Bohren & der Club of Gore, but they're jazz/lounge.

Man, I love Bohren & der Club of Gore, especially Black Earth. That album does to lounge/jazz music what these groups do to country/western music.
posted by 40 Watt at 6:57 AM on October 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


Yup! I just thought that for stylistic purposes a passing mention would be enough :)
posted by rhizome at 10:46 AM on October 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


This is fucking amazing music, and I swear I will fight all of you.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 7:15 PM on October 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


So... I went and bought this Suss album and yeah, it's fucking great. I then went and [SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION] made this week's radio show all ambient-ish guitar/country/weirdness, based on some of the ideas thrown around in this thread:

https://www.mixcloud.com/strangeattractor/strange-attractor_0149/

Enjoy!
posted by 40 Watt at 1:24 PM on November 12, 2018 [2 favorites]


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