Sunn O))) - Pictures from the Knitting Factory, NYC 10-15-08

The crowds at the local Sunn O))) shows seem to get bigger each tour. I got to the Knitting Factory around 10PM last night and the club was full to capacity.

The show was exactly as described - Greg and Stephen donned their robes just at 11PM and played The GrimmRobe Demos in its entirety. There were no breaks, no conversations - just 90 minutes of raw, uninhibited sounds.

The somewhat humerous exception to this was, toward the end of the set, somebody from the audience kept trying to climb onto the stage. SOMA pushed him back a few times and finally security came out. It was pretty amusing watching the security guard trying to glare at the guy who was at the front of the stage while Greg played on right beside him.

The last night of this brief mini-tour was tonight in Philadelphia but I've heard that there will be a new album and tour next year. In terms of tour merchandise (which might go up on the Southern Lord site), the band was selling:
- The Grimmrobe Demos 3x Picture LP for $40 (it may have been $45)
- Dømkirke for $20 (didn't look close enough to see if they were selling color vinyl copies)
- The Grimmrobe Demos - 2x CD on Inoxia for $25









Links:
Southern Lord

KTL (Stephen O'Malley + Peter Rehberg) Play the Knitting Factory on May 21st

KTL, which is a fairly new project from Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O))), Khanate, Burning Witch, etc.) and Peter Rehberg (Pita), is finally playing some US dates. I don't think SOMA has played many live dates in NYC since the demise of Khanate so it is great to see this show scheduled.

According to Wikipedia, KTL was "formed to create the music for a theatre production entitled Kindertotenlieder by Gisele Vienne & Dennis Cooper. The production was premiered in Brest, France in March 2007. " Aquarius Records describes the band's sound as "minimalist ambient music, electronic glitchology and Earthy guitar sludge [that] make a fine sipping brew."

KTL maintains a live archive where past shows can be downloaded. A good starting point for anyone wanting to check out KTL is either the 9-25-07 show in Japan or the 4-30-07 show in Austria.

Don't miss this rare appearance at the Knitting Factory...

Links:
Stephen O'Malley's Website

Boris Releases Damaged (Ltd. Edition 10") and Plays Music Hall of Williamsburg

Japanese doom-metalers Boris return to the US for an East Coast tour and release an ultra-limited edition 10" EP.

Boris is back in town for a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg (the old NorthSix) on October 3rd. The band is playing with Damon and Naomi and Michio Kurihara and tickets are only $15.

The band has also just released a limited edition (1500 copies according to Wikipedia) 10" EP entitled Damaged. This is a split EP with Stupid Babies Go Mad where the bands cover each others songs. This is a picture disc and it comes with a bonus DVD which features live footage of both bands. The EP was released on Diwphalanx Records and is available from Conspiracy Records for 22.75 Euro (currently $31.39 US dollars).

Links:
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Boris' Website
Damon and Naomi's Website

New Music Releases This Week...

This week, there really aren't any interesting CDs advertised at the "big box" stores but there are a few indie releases that might be worth hunting down.

Prince - Planet Earth
With 2.9MM copies of the CD distributed free this past Sunday with the UK paper The Mail, copies will be turning up on eBay dirt-cheap. Wait a week or so and watch the price drop.

Meat Puppets - Rise To Your Knees
The Kirkwood brothers reunite after 11 years and the early reviews are great. This is on the indie label Anodyne Records

Sunn O))) - Oracle
The band had the eBayers going crazy by selling a tour-only CD of Oracle on their recent West Coast tour. Now on the Southern Lord site, the band is selling a limited edition (nach) LP of Oracle (see below).

The initially pressing of "Oracle" is 7,777 copies (2,000 on clear).

First 1000 orders of clear vinyl will also receive a Oracle poster with their album. Both versions are available via mailorder. As stated above all mailorder customers will receive a free "Oracle" cd (with rare misprinted cover!) with each order. Limit of 1 order of each color per customer. $17.77

(MAILORDER CUSTOMERS WILL RECEIVE A FREE SINGLE CD VERSION OF THE ALBUM!)

KTL (Stephen O'Malley & Peter "Pita" Rehberg) - Legal Music Download

Here is the Wikipedia entry for KTL:

KTL is a group consisting of Stephen O'Malley (SunnO)))) & Peter Rehberg (Pita), formed to create the music for a theatre production entitled Kindertotenlieder by Gisele Vienne & Dennis Cooper. The production was premiered in Brest, France in March 2007. The duo have also played other shows not associated with the Kindertotenlieder production.

The band played a small handful of shows earlier this year in Europe and seven shows (I would assume this is all the shows that KTL played) are avilable for download from the KTL Live Archive (link) and iTunes. Thus far I have listened to the May 31st show from Bristol and really enjoyed it. The music is similar to the output from bands like Throbbing Gristle and it is a bit less dark and "evil" than recent Sunn releases.

It seems that almost every band is filmed and clips are added to YouTube. Why should KTL be any exception?


Looking for the following upcoming releases from KTL:
THRILL 188 KTL 2 double gatefold vinyl (on Thrill Jockey)
RATHER 16 KTL 3 12" (on Or)

Links:
Stephen O'Malley's Home Page (link)
KTL's MySpace Page (link)