Earth

[ElHI]

EARTH was the favourite band of Kurt Kobain. I think they are from Seattle as well...

[The Silent One]

Quote Originally Posted by ElHI";p=&quot

EARTH was the favourite band of Kurt Kobain. I think they are from Seattle as well...

Hmm...

[Dr. Zirk]

Kurt Cobain actually does vocals on a couple of the early Earth recordings, although I must say those are among my least favorite Earth tunes - they're really an instrumental band at heart, and vocals just don't fit.

Speaking of Cobain, am I the only one who thinks that Nirvana was one of the most overrated bands in history? Whenever I make this argument in bars I never seem to recruit anyone to my way of thinking, but I won't back down - everything I've heard by Nirvana was flat out boring...

[G. S. Carnivals]

Dr. Zirk, you've nailed it. The reason I never bought a Nirvana recording was that it didn't seem essential. Money for music spreads thinly; one prioritizes. My favorite Seattle band will always be Soundgarden. They were much more interesting and imaginative. A similar argument is the one for the importance/influence of Pearl Jam. Overblown. I've always preferred the poor man's version, Stone Temple Pilots. But that's me. What's in that Pacific coast rain anyhow?

[Dr. Zirk]

Quote Originally Posted by G. S. Carnivals";p=&quot

My favorite Seattle band will always be Soundgarden.

I couldn't agree more, G. S. For the most part, the whole grunge thing did very little for me, but Soundgarden has some material that is very worthwhile.

Quote Originally Posted by G. S. Carnivals";p=&quot

A similar argument is the one for the importance/influence of Pearl Jam. Overblown.

Couldn't agree more. I've always thought of Pearl Jam as the tedious soundtrack for a really bad date. You don't think much of her, she doesn't think much of you, but you feel a social obligation to put the time in and suffer through it. That basically seems to describe Pearl Jam's music.

Quote Originally Posted by G. S. Carnivals";p=&quot

What's in that Pacific coast rain anyhow?

Not quite sure, but I'm bottling and saving plenty of it for the Endtimes!

[ElHI]

Related to Sunn o))), hence to Earth is another project from Stephen O'Malley called Khanate.

It's perhaps more 'metal' than Sunn o)), but also more Ligottian in a twisted way. Their music is painfully slow (really... you seem to wait each note with more tension than the former, again and again). With vocals (shrieks?) by Alan Dubin with cryptic lyrics, mostly about unpleasant things (when you can make out what is said). Effect is based on repetition and duration.

Here are the lyrics from their first self-titled album :

PIECES OF QUIET (13:22)
Under a bed, a leg and a saw, red teeth gnaw
No more whine, no more whine, quiet time
No more whine
Metal teeth red, red teeth gnaw, leg and saw
Under a bed, a leg and a saw, red teeth gnaw
Silence, while I strip – bones (gnaw, so quiet)
Dark – and quiet, we go…into quiet time
No more whine
…your bones…


SKIN COAT (09:36)
Silent tear, pinned, screamless . Like a dead pile, time, seamless
Silent tear . Human shield
Say it, say – you’ll give me your skin…skin…skin
Fold back, crawl inside, your pinned
Like…wet…pile… Peel…now…feel
I wear, a human shield . Through the elements, stay warm
I put you on, crawl inside . Human shield, skin fold back, crawl inside


TORCHING KOROVIEV (03:38)
[instrumental]


UNDER ROTTING SKY (18:18)
[pseudo latin ramblings]
Now I’m under rotten sky… Now I’m under rotten sky…
Choke, choke, want you choked . Change, face to blue
Sky empty, blanket of you – blanket of nothing
No…stars…out
Choke, choke, want you choked
Blanket of nothing covers your face change – it’s blue
We’re choked, me and you
Sky empty, blanket of me – blanket of nothing
Our face change, it’s blue
We’re choked, me and you…


NO JOY (11:32)
…and there it went
please please no face no breathe no breathe please don’t breathe no no joy no joy no joy no joy please
eat that smile right off a face your face no joy only only eat stuff that grin down down your neck no more eat no more breathe breathe don’t breathe please don’t breathe
no joy precious joy no joy
eat that smile right off a face your face no joy only only eat stuff that grin down down your neck no more eat no more breathe breathe don’t breathe please don’t breathe
…and so it goes



Khanate is Stephen O'Malley, James Plotkin, Tim Wyskida and Alan Dubin, and it's really good if you want your neighbours to think you are a lunatic. As with Sunn o))), 'Maximum Volume Yields Maximum Result'.

[The Silent One]

Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Zirk";p=&quot

Quote Originally Posted by G. S. Carnivals";p=&quot What's in that Pacific coast rain anyhow? Not quite sure, but I'm bottling and saving plenty of it for the Endtimes!

The San Francisco Bay came out of nowhere in the late 1500's. Cthulhu's anger management?

[The Silent One]

Khanate is perhaps the only band whose vocals literally make me ill. So horribly pained, really gruesome.

Recently acquired Earth 2. I really like what I've heard. Hypnotic. I also got Dissolution III / Living in the Gleam of an Unsheathed Sword a while ago, but failed to mention it. Another slab of excellent drone-rock.

Next step, Sunn 0))). Which one should I get? I've heard snippets of the Grimmrobe Demos and, well... It reminds me of Coil's Time Machines project with guitars. Heavy, but ambient. Very cool but pretty difficult (less so for me, though).

[Dr. Zirk]

I haven't checked out Khanate yet, but have definitely been meaning to. As for Earth themselves, it looks like they may be getting ready to be more active after a lull of several months. They've got a new CD out from Southern Lord Records ( http://www.southernlord.com/index2.php ) and have a couple of shows scheduled in Portland and Seattle, so hopefully their profile is on the rise over the next few months.

[The Silent One]

Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Zirk";p=&quot

As for Earth themselves, it looks like they may be getting ready to be more active after a lull of several months. They've got a new CD out from Southern Lord Records ( http://www.southernlord.com/index2.php ) and have a couple of shows scheduled in Portland and Seattle, so hopefully their profile is on the rise over the next few months.

Hmm. Very interesting. The CD/DVD sounds rather promising, as does the tour, if Dissolution... is any indication.

Earlier it was mentioned that Carlson's cut the bass from the equation for nearly all of their more recent albums. While I can see why, the second instrument really helped fortify the monstrous subwoofer-melting rumble/hum of "songs" like "Seven Angels".