SUNN O)))

November 19, 2006 2:37 PM

SUNN O))).
posted by hama7 (108 comments total)

Thank you... I love this band. Even moreso if jonmc doesn't doesn't "get it".

I kid, I kid.
posted by basicchannel at 2:40 PM on November 19, 2006

Also, for more info on just what the hell is going on read this review by Julian Cope and this interview with the band.
posted by basicchannel at 2:44 PM on November 19, 2006

Even moreso if jonmc doesn't doesn't "get it".

So that double negative means he does indeed "get it!"
posted by ericb at 2:46 PM on November 19, 2006

Foiled again!!
posted by basicchannel at 2:50 PM on November 19, 2006

Well, no one can say they aren't talented!
posted by billysumday at 2:59 PM on November 19, 2006

i can only get into slow metal if it's punctuated with drums, like 'Jerusalem' by Sleep.
posted by dydecker at 3:02 PM on November 19, 2006

Sunn 0))) + Boris = YOUR ASS FLATTENED
posted by Razzle Bathbone at 3:05 PM on November 19, 2006

Reminds me of when I was a kid. I'd plug-in one of my dad's guitars or basses and just strum random notes, letting them resonate for as long as possible. I actually like the sound, just not listening to it for more than a few minutes anymore.

Cool post though.

/ iirc, this is something of a dupe too, but I can't be bothered to scour the archives... something to do with the "brown sound" or similar. I can't quite recall. Anyone else?
posted by C.Batt at 3:05 PM on November 19, 2006

S··U··N··N O··)··)··)··.

Because these single-character no-space links absolutely suck donkey balls. Please don't do that.
posted by Kickstart70 at 3:05 PM on November 19, 2006

This post deleted for the following reason: no one should be made to suffer through these videos
posted by Deathalicious at 3:05 PM on November 19, 2006

that is pretty cool. I was actually less confused before I read the Julian Cope "review":

Sound like a pair o’jam jars to me.
...
Its shamanic appeal is considerably enlivened by the sub-bass disfigurations caused to all bowels in the immediate proximity, whilst the lead guitar clings to your torso like a butter knife spreading Philly Lite first on a piece of toast, then on the bread board, then across the counter over the fridge and up the walls into adjacent rooms, You can imagine Damo Suzuki or Iggy swaggering around the stage to this backing, approaching the mike impossibly slowly and ghostlike, only to at-the-very-last-moment think "Forget about it" before swaying off to feel up the arses of the eyes-shut-tight purveyors of this mighty sound.

umm... yeah.
posted by drjimmy11 at 3:09 PM on November 19, 2006

That's nothing. My noise band is a foghorn and bagpipe quartet. Our music is so loud it's visible.
posted by kid ichorous at 3:09 PM on November 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

Kickstart70: considering that that messes with the band's name, no good.

I myself prefer:

For those of you who like SunnO))), have never heard of YouTube or hate using a fricken Search, I've saved you the effort of
finding them yourselves.

Seriously, for something way out there like Sunn O))) which I've never heard of, common courtesy in a FPP would suggest beefing up the relevance a bit...
posted by Deathalicious at 3:16 PM on November 19, 2006 [3 favorites]

Who is the guy on Youtube that sings cover songs in a parody "death metal" style? This reminds me of him.
posted by Mid at 3:20 PM on November 19, 2006

I saw SUNN 0))) play a few months ago, in a tiny club in the middle of nowhere in Connecticut. One of the best shows I've ever seen.

I seriously think that the band was tuning their instruments to hone in on the resonant frequencies of different internal organs. At various points in the evening, I could feel my femur, lungs, stomach, genitals, and brain vibrating. It was utterly blissful.

Those little YouTube clips don't do 'em justice. Go buy a pair of good earplugs and go see this band. They will rock your spleen.
posted by Dr. Wu at 3:21 PM on November 19, 2006

The emperor has no clothes on.
posted by Robot Rowboat at 3:22 PM on November 19, 2006

Oh, and Dead Meadow is playing for free tonight at BAR in New Haven. See you there!
posted by Dr. Wu at 3:23 PM on November 19, 2006

Wow, that sucked.
posted by oddman at 3:27 PM on November 19, 2006

not a band. not musicians. no thought required. no talent required. people who speak about it as if it were music are douchebags.
posted by quonsar at 3:27 PM on November 19, 2006

I presume this is where they took their name?
posted by tomierna at 3:30 PM on November 19, 2006

quonsar is a fucking idiot
posted by slimepuppy at 3:32 PM on November 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

quonsar is a fucking musician.
posted by quonsar at 3:33 PM on November 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

tomierna: yes.
posted by basicchannel at 3:35 PM on November 19, 2006

can't wait for the RunDMC crossover collaboration.
posted by facetious at 3:41 PM on November 19, 2006

so, it's kind of like slow motion Black Sabbath in monks outfits? I guess I get it.
posted by jonmc at 3:43 PM on November 19, 2006

quonsar loves Rick Wakeman on ice.
posted by anathema at 3:44 PM on November 19, 2006

jonmc: druid outfits, man. AWESOME DRUIDS.
posted by basicchannel at 3:46 PM on November 19, 2006

If there weren't a few folks here apparently sincere in their appreciation of this horseshite, I would have sworn this was a Christopher Guest/Eugene Levy collaboration. I thought it was hysterical until I read the comments.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 3:47 PM on November 19, 2006

You are correct tomierna.
I second or third the comments about the solidity of this as a FPP. I love SUNNO))), but linking to a bunch of clips of thier live performances says very little about them as a band. Especially since a big part of the SUNNO))) experience is actually being at the show. Please work harder to make a more interesting post next time, SUNNO))) deserve it.

Then again, I've only posted one FPP myself (and a one-link newsfilter at that *eek*).
posted by Demogorgon at 3:47 PM on November 19, 2006

so, it's kind of like slow motion Black Sabbath in monks outfits?

That's it! Man, they're great. Loud, kinda satanic (the robes!), pushing the boundaries and my parents hate them. This is what rock'n'roll sounds like in 2006.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 3:49 PM on November 19, 2006

quonsar is a gangster
posted by docpops at 3:49 PM on November 19, 2006

so, it's kind of like slow motion Black Sabbath in monks outfits?

That's it! Man, they're great. Loud, kinda satanic (the robes!), pushing the boundaries and my parents hate them. This is what rock'n'roll sounds like in 2006.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 3:49 PM PST on November 19 [+] [!]

Eponysterical!!
posted by basicchannel at 3:50 PM on November 19, 2006

quonsar, like me, is old enough to remember that the grateful dead were doing this shit in 1968 except that ...

1) they made a greater variety of sounds

2) they didn't do it all fucking night
posted by pyramid termite at 3:53 PM on November 19, 2006

Didn't Spinal Tap already do the Druid shtick back in the day along with 400 other prog bands?

Ach, bush league weirdness. For major league weird, check this shit, courtesy of the almight Office Naps.
posted by jonmc at 3:53 PM on November 19, 2006

These guys are no John Tesh.

*runs*
posted by Kickstart70 at 3:54 PM on November 19, 2006

basicchannel: Heh, yeah! Damn, every time I listen to Sunn0))) I wish I still lived the "Dazed & Confused in the nineties" existence. They would have made that whole experience so damn enjoyable. Not that Mudhoney, Screaming Trees and Nirvana weren't great, but still. :0)))
posted by soundofsuburbia at 3:55 PM on November 19, 2006

At various points in the evening, I could feel my femur, lungs, stomach, genitals, and brain vibrating.

do they ever make your ass shake? ... you know, like most rock and roll bands do?
posted by pyramid termite at 4:02 PM on November 19, 2006

I always thought that if Sunn 0))) ditched their black metal affiliation, namedropped LaMonte Young and Glenn Branca, performed in hipster tees and made themselves seen at Sonic Youth shows, the whole 'this ain't music' thing would only be posited by fans of Glenn Miller and classical music warhorses.

I mean, I'm old enough to hate what the kids are into these days, and I like it.
posted by ardgedee at 4:06 PM on November 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

...and yes, sure, you can trace their sound back to The Warlocks, Black Sabbath, LaMonte Young, Earth and what have you. But the rock'n'roll wheel needs to be reinvented every couple of years and since 2000, Sunn0))) is it.

You may hate them, you may love them, but the fact that they spark a discussion on MetaFilter is what it's all about.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 4:07 PM on November 19, 2006

ardgedee: if you read the interview I linked to, they don't much associate themselves with metal so much as the influences you cite. By and large their fans are mostly NOT metalheads... your intuition is pretty much bang-on.
posted by basicchannel at 4:09 PM on November 19, 2006

I prefer the Model T amplifier, myself.
posted by cheaily at 4:13 PM on November 19, 2006

Wasn't this band featured on the "stupidest band names" list that was on metafilter a while back?

That's all i got.
posted by bob sarabia at 4:16 PM on November 19, 2006

I'm laughing so hard, I've got snot running down my face. I kinda like it.

.....was that a trombone?
posted by toma at 4:19 PM on November 19, 2006

soundofsuburbia - they used to be booked as "the world's only Earth tribute band,"and yeah, their pedigree is pretty obvious, I think. Saw them play with Grief earlier this year, at one of the better shows I've been to this year. Of course, I don't judge shows by whether they "make my ass shake"...
posted by ubersturm at 4:21 PM on November 19, 2006

This is just screaming out for a "Flagged as 'noise'" comment.
posted by drstein at 4:49 PM on November 19, 2006

I'm so used to this sort of droning noise being used at shows to bridge actual songs that I keep waiting for the song to kick in. Then I remember this is the song.

I likes me some weird, grating noise as much as the next guy, but you really, really shouldn't spend your career rehashing Metal Machine Music.
posted by sparkletone at 4:52 PM on November 19, 2006

I'm so used to this sort of droning noise being used at shows to bridge actual songs that I keep waiting for the song to kick in. Then I remember this is the song.

I likes me some weird, grating noise as much as the next guy, but you really, really shouldn't spend your career rehashing Metal Machine Music.
posted by sparkletone at 4:52 PM on November 19, 2006

Your favorite quonsar comment sucks.
posted by ed at 5:05 PM on November 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

I like them too, but let's face it, once you've been featured in the New York Times Magazine, you're played out in terms of coolness.
posted by fungible at 5:16 PM on November 19, 2006

It's cool to see someone playing a Travis Bean. Don't see those too often any more. Wish I hadn't sold mine in '97 or so.
posted by al_fresco at 5:20 PM on November 19, 2006

i love me some sunn 0))) (both the band and the amps). but this fpp doesn't really amount to much.
posted by brevator at 5:21 PM on November 19, 2006

Oh yeah, they were #14.
posted by bob sarabia at 5:30 PM on November 19, 2006

Pretty cool, actually, though I can't help seeing Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music as the archetype of this sort of thing. And MMM (like most things which establish an entirely new genre) is so much more interesting, musically and conceptually (e.g., the guitars playing themselves via feedback).
posted by treepour at 5:39 PM on November 19, 2006

Well, it's got a good beat, and you can dance to it; I'll give it an 89.
posted by found missing at 5:49 PM on November 19, 2006

(Self link/minor derail)

I got into the idea of doing some electronic/ambient noise rock kinda stuff, even though I'm pretty much not a musician, after reading about Brian Eno, and some of his ideas about audio collage and relying on the serendipity of happy accidents... Anyway, here's my first track, to add to the noisy links!

Thanks, Brian!.mp3
posted by stenseng at 6:11 PM on November 19, 2006

They don't suck, that is for sure. On a first listen at least I think they have an interesting and at the same time boring sound. Quite a trick. I am not sure, however, that I could "listen" to them for long periods. Background? - check, short listen? - check, whole concert? - has God or man made heavy enough drugs? Perhaps a mixture of opium, acid and Valium could help. Very interesting though. Thanks hama7.
posted by caddis at 6:39 PM on November 19, 2006

STONE'ENGE!!!!!!!
posted by The Deej at 6:39 PM on November 19, 2006

OK, that first song is a real toe-tapper!



tap












tap
















tap
posted by The Deej at 6:42 PM on November 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

Thanks for posting this. I really get into these guys, although I prefer just the sound and not the druid costumes.

Noise & Drone
posted by melt away at 6:50 PM on November 19, 2006

After watching a few videos... I think I just undid a week's worth of Lexapro.
posted by The Deej at 6:52 PM on November 19, 2006

Play the loud one!
posted by bardic at 7:16 PM on November 19, 2006

wakeman is fucking hot in a tutu.
posted by quonsar at 7:25 PM on November 19, 2006

A video clip does not do SUNNO))) justice, they're not everyone's cup of tea, but the live perfornance is an interactive experience. The air moves and and the room becomes otherworldy. The sound covers the space like a cloud.
posted by Liquidwolf at 7:37 PM on November 19, 2006

The wikipedia article refers to their soundscapes: There is very little drumming and a lack of any discernible beat.

I thought opening several into tabs would alter the sound. I was wrong.
posted by robot at 7:54 PM on November 19, 2006

The sound covers the space like a cloud.

As does the cloud from the smoke machine, apparently.

They do look like fun live. Can't imagine buying one of their albums though.
posted by bardic at 7:58 PM on November 19, 2006

has God or man made heavy enough drugs?

the thing about noise & drone is you don't need drugs. the frequencies they hit actually alter brain chemistry.
posted by brevator at 8:26 PM on November 19, 2006

I love drone music but this is pretty dull. Give me Music on a Long, Thin Wire any day.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 8:40 PM on November 19, 2006

this has to be a joke.
posted by mcsweetie at 8:41 PM on November 19, 2006

ya think?
posted by jonmc at 8:52 PM on November 19, 2006

quonsar is a self-eating cheeseburger.
posted by schoolgirl report at 8:55 PM on November 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

Well, OK, since most people are just making snide remarks, I'll bite:

I think that Sunn 0))) is making some of the most interesting and challenging music today, period. They strip out nearly all melody and all harmony, and seriously compromise any normal sense of rhythm. The result is an odd (and, I think, very compelling) mix of the completely disconcerting and the utterly hypnotic. They make fantastic use of volume and drone - it's far more complex than it appears, honest. Check out a show sometime - it's really worthwhile, if you're interested in unusual musical experiences.
posted by Dr. Wu at 9:54 PM on November 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

There isn't much point trying to judge a band that depends so utterly on the sound itself based on a recording on a Sony HandyCam compressed by YouTube.
posted by MetaMonkey at 10:12 PM on November 19, 2006

Couple of higher quality, although realmedia, tracks from the BBC website, where you can at least hear some bass. Also a video interview, also in realmedia.
posted by MetaMonkey at 10:28 PM on November 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

I was hooked by part 2.
posted by sharksandwich at 11:08 PM on November 19, 2006

It's always awesome to drop into a thread in which armchair musicians (quonsar) shit on musicians with actual fans.

Much like when Sourwookie shit on the armless guitarist.

Your music sucks.
posted by vaportrail at 11:13 PM on November 19, 2006

1) I, also, think Sunn 0))) is great. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but I think they're very interesting in sort of the same way I find, say, Muslimgauze interesting. I have not seen them live but would very much like to do so.

2) The monk robe thing is clearly a joke. I mean come on, their first album was called "The Grimmrobe Demos".
posted by neckro23 at 11:16 PM on November 19, 2006

That left me speechless. Music or not, I can't believe people actually pay to have that shit inflicted on their senses?
posted by hangingbyathread at 1:06 AM on November 20, 2006

sunn 0))) is great, as is boris. but i think the best song from their collaboration album is the more atypical akuma no kuma.
posted by kolophon at 3:56 AM on November 20, 2006

It's always awesome to drop into a thread in which armchair musicians (quonsar) shit on musicians with actual fans.

it's always awesome to realize people will buy a bowl of soupy rectal ooze and then venerate the diarretic who produced it.

"ex-lax is producing some of the most challenging excrement around, having stripped it of form, seriously challenged its solids, leaving only a kind of liquid stench. by the way have you noticed how excrementally sophisticated i am?"
posted by quonsar at 4:29 AM on November 20, 2006

It's always awesome to drop into a thread in which armchair musicians (quonsar) shit on musicians with actual fans.

to be perfectly fair, those musicians also have more actual detractors than quonsar does ... and face it ... any one with the proper equipment and the proper robes could stand up there and do that ... the only real effort involved is that of endurance ...

Your music sucks.

your noise sucks ... 5 minutes of it might have a point ... a whole damn concert of it is taking one concept and driving it right into the ground

even chuck berry manages to have more than one concept going in a 3 minute song ...
posted by pyramid termite at 4:31 AM on November 20, 2006

Not sure why it's a bad thing for different people to have different tastes, but I suppose I'm spitting into the wind, here. *sigh* Y'all need to grow up.
posted by Dr. Wu at 7:08 AM on November 20, 2006

Stuff like Sunn O))) and Metal Machine Music are actually pretty pleasant and soothing to listen to for borderline autistics like me. I'm not surprised at all that most people can't stand it.
posted by sidereal at 7:17 AM on November 20, 2006

dr wu, it's not just a matter of taste ... it's a matter of concept, of difficulty of execution and of compositional and performance philosophy, too ... i find the concept lacking, it is absurdly easy to execute and i have problems with the philosophy

5 minutes of this leading into something altogether different could well be appropriate ... i wouldn't mind it ... but this is ALL they want to do

ask yourself one question ... will they be doing this in 5 years? ... 10 years? ... 20 years? ... will you be still listening to it?

(and things like this were done better by tangerine dream, amon duul ii, ash ra tempel, etc etc etc, 30-35 years ago, mostly because they were into more complex soundscapes)
posted by pyramid termite at 7:25 AM on November 20, 2006

I've never seen Sunn 0))) live, but on record they're really quite something (if very scary noise is your thing.) These you tube videos hardly do them justice...
posted by ob at 7:26 AM on November 20, 2006

and come to think of it, yes, lou reed's metal machine music is a better attempt at this kind of thing, too ...
posted by pyramid termite at 7:26 AM on November 20, 2006

Fucking amazing group, live and on record (if you have understanding neighbours).

As others have said, piddly little YouTube videos don't really work for this stuff - like much noise, it's a physical experience first and foremost.
posted by jack_mo at 7:44 AM on November 20, 2006

Waht quonsar and jonmc said, and I don't agree with them all that often (just ask jonmc about Ray Charles :) )

Drone is unmusic. It is exhibit A in why music needs to be taught in public schools.

Drone was better when it was done by Tangerine dream on any one of their first 3 albums. Drone was better when Led Zeppelin did it live an called it it the solo in Dazed and Confused. Drone was better when Pink Floyd did it before Syd Barrett left the band. Drone was better when it was the first eight bars of Metallica's Orion. Drone was better when Death Cube K did it and had the courtesy to include some sampling. Drone was better every time a 12 year old kid got his first keyboard and played the low notes with the square-wave tone present

In sum, minimalism in art only works when the artist understands the conventional theory and knows what to leave out and what to leave in to reduce the art to it's essence. Here's a hint: leave out the robes.

And lines like this:
Its shamanic appeal is considerably enlivened by the sub-bass disfigurations caused to all bowels in the immediate proximity

Yeah, sure, and if you play Stairway to Heaven backwards you'll hear a message to Satan. This is jackasses in robes playing so poorly that all you hear is the 60Hz hum from the electrical current.

I find it hilarious that despite this level of simplicity, the band in the videos can't even play in sync or in tune with each other.
posted by Pastabagel at 7:47 AM on November 20, 2006

For a real good time, find a copy of Neil Young's Arc CD. It was a companion piece to his Weld live CD; thirty minutes of feedback taken from song endings, mixed together and much more listenable than this , uh, stuff.
posted by landis at 7:55 AM on November 20, 2006

I have "Black One" and all I can say is - meh. Definitely not metal. It would make good backround noise at trick-or-treat (wish I would have thought of that a few weeks ago) or maybe if you're really high you could sit in dark room and listen until you fall asleep but other than that....
posted by MikeMc at 8:10 AM on November 20, 2006

Since you all hate it so much it must be good. I think I am buying a copy of "Black One" on the way home from work tonight.
posted by caddis at 8:39 AM on November 20, 2006

Since you all hate it so much it must be good.

it would have to be interesting for me to hate it ...
posted by pyramid termite at 9:54 AM on November 20, 2006

I just have one question. Are we going to do "Stonehenge"?
posted by scrump at 9:56 AM on November 20, 2006

Where can I download this for my ringtone?
posted by found missing at 10:07 AM on November 20, 2006

In sum, minimalism in art only works when the artist understands the conventional theory and knows what to leave out and what to leave in to reduce the art to it's essence. Here's a hint: leave out the robes.

Er, and that's precisely what Sunn O))) are doing with metal, and the robes are a minimal evocation of the pomp and ceremony used to present the kind of music they're riffing on. That said, I don't disagree with most of your 'was better's.
posted by jack_mo at 10:30 AM on November 20, 2006

...

so why is this on Metafilter and not Last.fm? Can I start making an FPP for every new band I find that I like?
posted by Riovanes at 10:40 AM on November 20, 2006

Oh, and while I've heard of Sunn 0))) I'm not watching your vids cause your post sucks.
posted by Riovanes at 10:42 AM on November 20, 2006

What Pastabagel, quonsar and pyramid termite have said in this thread have been used to slag off artist since time immemorial. Just take any artist (regardless of medium) you like and place it in their comments.
posted by slimepuppy at 12:14 PM on November 20, 2006

What Pastabagel, quonsar and pyramid termite have said in this thread have been used to slag off artist since time immemorial.

Not quite. SunnO (you get no paren's from me) is nothing without the window dressing - the robes, the image, the neo-satanic imagaery evoked by their album titles, etc. The music doesn't stand on it's own because it isn't anything on it's own - it requires the window dressing to define it.

Take a piece of music like John Cage's 4'33". The music is nothingness, silence, and he was revolutionary for doing it. But this wasn't his entire repertoire - he composed a lot of other abstract stuff. Now someone else can't come along and do 5'12" of silence, because it has been done.

The same is true here. We don't need album upon albums of drone, because all the acts that I and others have mentioned did it decades earlier. Bands like the Tangerine Dream in particular, that made the soundscape the focus of their music at least explored the concept.

The way SunnO is being described, bowel-shaking, etc. is actually very pedestrian heavy metal - it's just another form of aggression targeted at disaffected youth.

And the stuff about the robes is ridiculous, because the true groundbreaking metal bands - Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, etc never relied on that stuff. Did Metallica ever wear robes in concert? The robes is all about including SunnO in the modern, contemporary black metal trend, that is unabashedly religious in appearance and content (or atleast invokes the superficial symbols of religion).

If you want black metal or whatever you want to call it, and you want a minimalist take on it, listen to Opeth's Damnation.
posted by Pastabagel at 1:12 PM on November 20, 2006

Where can I download this for my ringtone?

It's called the 'vibrate' setting.
posted by Demogorgon at 1:23 PM on November 20, 2006

Did Metallica ever wear robes in concert?

The more interesting question might be, did Metallica ever make music in concert?
posted by caddis at 1:46 PM on November 20, 2006

I can't believe people are still hung up on Metal Machine Music and John Cage. Oh well...
posted by melt away at 3:06 PM on November 20, 2006

The 'it's been done before' argument doesn't really fly that well when it comes to art. There isn't much left in this world that hasn't been done before. To say that something needs to be 100% original to be enjoyable is ridiculous. Just because the Beatles did it 'better' 40 years ago is hardly a reason to stop recording pop music.

You might be right. Other people might have done it better 35 years ago. But are these bands still around to play at any venues near me any time soon? Saying all drone sounds the same is like saying all classical music sounds the same. I put forward the idea that Sunn O))) is creating some of the best contemporary drone.

The music doesn't stand on it's own because it isn't anything on it's own

This is interesting mainly because I was introduced to the band via unmarked CDs that lacked the 'window-dressing' you seem to think that the band relies completely on. I didn't even know about the robes until recently.

And that Opeth album you linked to? Uh, judging by the samples on the webpage, Santana have also been making minimalist metal for years.
posted by slimepuppy at 3:34 PM on November 20, 2006

What Pastabagel, quonsar and pyramid termite have said in this thread have been used to slag off artist since time immemorial.

for good reason.
posted by quonsar at 4:23 PM on November 20, 2006

Hi everyone, long time reader, first time poster.

Back in the eighties, we called this industrial music, because it sounded like machines. We didn't care how it got made, or by whom. "Industrial music" seems to refer to something else now.

I wouldn't call this music a drone. Maybe it's ambient metal. I enjoy this stuff and I find it very relaxing and reassuring, which in my experience is unusual for a noise band.

My listening experience does not depend on whether it's outsider art, or something made by trained professionals. I do not see a point in all the negative criticism in this thread and I found the vitriol disheartening.

Obviously, a lot of people aren't going to like this music. That's how you know it's worth a listen. Posting about it sucking is like singing about architecture. No matter what is said, there's going to be someone hipper who knows better. "Your favorite band sucks!"

Since it's a subjective experience, I'm going to try to take a positive approach. I would say that if you enjoy SunnO))), you might also enjoy Nurse With Wound, Einstürzende Neubauten, Zoviet France, Hafler Trio, Muslimgauze, SPK... I'm not so sure you'd like John Cage, try John Zorn instead. I recommend segueing straight into some Patsy Cline for maximum effect.

I come to Metafilter to be exposed to new ideas and perspectives, not to sh^t on the ones I find here. Y'all can't change my mind about music by typing stuff on a screen.
posted by Area Control at 4:25 PM on November 20, 2006 [1 favorite]

The more interesting question might be, did Metallica ever make music in concert?

Um, yeah, and it was much more inresting than this rather lame joke band.
posted by jonmc at 5:49 PM on November 20, 2006

Obviously, a lot of people aren't going to like this music. That's how you know it's worth a listen.

...

I come to Metafilter to be exposed to new ideas and perspectives, not to sh^t on the ones I find here.

Area Control, member since: November 20, 2006 - makes best comment of thread on first day of membership.
posted by caddis at 7:33 PM on November 20, 2006

the band in the videos can't even play in sync or in tune with each other.

I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other about Sunn O))))'s music, but "in sync" and "in tune" are qualifiers that are not absolute. Many people, upon hearing Harry Partch's music, for example, would deem it "out of tune", but it's not. It's microtonal. This is but one example out of many where the Western classical tradition of equal temperament tuning no longer applies. And "in sync", well, that gets even stickier. There are so many ways for players in an ensemble to be in or out of "sync"... What it really boils down to is whether you like the music or not, but deeming music like this "out of tune" or "out of sync" just don't make sense anymore, as the old agreed-upon musical absolutes are, well, not absolute anymore.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:03 AM on November 21, 2006

c'mon guys, this is like something straight out of Metalocalypse. death to hipster metal!
posted by mcsweetie at 5:45 AM on November 21, 2006