Posted in Whathaveyou on June 3rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
I guess this is the part where I say it’s been 10 years since Om released Advaitic Songs (review here), and though rumors have persisted of an album being this or that in some stage of done or not, I’ve yet to see anything manifest in concrete, confirmed fashion since 2019’s excellent BBC Radio 1 (review here) live record. And at this point, maybe it’s unreasonable to expect another one to come, right? Maybe in your life you get to make one album like that if you’re lucky enough, and maybe that kind of scope and realization isn’t something that could happen twice. Lightning meet bottle, etc. I don’t know. If it’s a question of their having set a standard by releasing one of the best records of the 2010s — and one that, despite being issued so early in the decade, actually held up for the rest of it — I’d be happy just to hear Al Cisernos‘ Rickenbacker mellow out for 35 or so minutes on some songs. Anything past that is gravy, really.
Om have Fall tour dates announced with Zombi. They’ll be doing the Midwest and West Coast, some shows in Canada. I’d love to see this band again, as I’ve missed chance after chance and it’s been a while by now, but maybe next time. And of course if I hear/see/smell anything about a new full-length, I’ll probably post faster than I can even type, so apologies in advance when everything is spelled wrong.
Dates from socials:
OM Tour
All shows with Zombi
09.08 Oklahoma City OK 89th St. OKC 09.09 Lawrence KS The Bottleneck 09.10 Omaha NE Slowdown 09.12 Des Moines IA Wooly’s 09.15 Chicago IL Thalia Hall 09.16 Milwaukee WI Cactus Club 09.17 Minneapolis MN Fine Line 09.20 Winnipeg MB Canada Pyramid Cabaret 09.22 Saskatoon SK Canada Amigos Cantina 09.23 Edmonton AB Canada The Starlite Room 09.24 Calgary AB Canada Dickens 09.27 Vancouver BC Canada Rickshaw Theatre 09.28 Seattle WA The Crocodile 09.29 Bellingham WA Wild Buffalo 09.30 Tacoma WA Alma Mater 10.01 Portland OR Aladdin Theater 10.03 Berkeley CA The UC Theater 10.04 Felton CA The Felton Music Hall 10.05 Los Angeles CA Lodge Room 10.06 Los Angeles CA Lodge Room 10.07 Solana Beach CA Belly Up Tavern 10.10 Mesa AZ The Nile 10.11 Las Vegas NV Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas 10.12 Salt Lake City UT Metro Music Hall 10.13 Englewood CO The Gothic Theatre 10.15 Albuquerque NM Sister Bar
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 3rd, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Kind of painful to realize, but by the time Om hit the UK and Europe next Spring, they’ll be coming up on almost a full decade’s remove from their 2012 landmark fifth and most-recent long-player, Advaitic Songs (review here). Of course, founding bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros has hardly been idle in the intervening years — except perhaps for the enforced idleness of this past year-plus — having shifted his focus onto Sleep, but still, 10 years without an Om record is a long time. The band issued the vinyl-only BBC Radio 1 (review here) on Drag City in 2019, and if you didn’t get that, I don’t really have much better advice for you than to do so when/if possible. It’s one of those things you’ll be happy you brought into your domicile.
Om‘s last tour was happening as the COVID lockdowns hit in 2020. They were on the road with Wovenhand, which would’ve been a show to see and kudos to those lucky enough to have done so. Doesn’t seem unreasonable to think North American dates will be announced at some point either before or after this trip abroad, and there’ve been rumors of Om recordings in process for years at this point. I know if that if I was in a position of following-up Advaitic Songs, I’d want to take my time too. I have no doubt whenever their next offering comes, it will find welcome.
Here are dates:
Om 2022 UK & European Tour
05.13 Bergen Norway Landmark 05.14 Oslo Norway Kulturkirken Jakob 05.16 Gothenburg Sweden Pustervik 05.17 Copenhagen Denmark Pumphuset 05.19 Berlin Germany So36 05.20 Leipzig Germany Ut Connewitz 05.22 Athens Greece Gagarin 205 05.25 Brighton UK Chalk 05.26 Bristol UK The Fleece 05.27 Birmingham UK The Crossing 05.28 Glasgow UK SWG3 Galvanisers 05.30 Dublin Ireland Button Factory 05.31 Liverpool UK 24 Kitchen Street 06.01 Manchester UK Gorilla 06.02 Leeds UK Brudenell Social Club 06.03 London UK EartH 06.06 Brussels Belgium Botanique 06.07 Brussels Belgium Botanique 06.08 Essen Germany Zeche Carl 06.09 Hamburg Germany Knust 06.10 Utrecht Netherlands Tivoli 06.13 Munich Germany Feierwerk 06.15 Zurich Switzerland Mascotte 06.16 Bern Switzerland ISC Club 06.19 Lille France L’Aeronef
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 4th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Kind of astonishing how much Emil Amos‘ work remains his own. That is to say, he’s known for Grails and for playing drums in Om, but Holy Sons is his in a way that neither of those outfits could be, and his utter mastery of songwriting is on display throughout the forthcoming Raw and Disfigured — due Oct. 30 on Thrill Jockey. You can hear it in “Lady of the Hour,” streaming below. Sure, he gets adventurous with arrangements a but — it’s a double-album, you’d better hope he does — and he has a few friends helping out along the way, but it’s right there. It’s the song. The song is the primary factor in what’s happening. It’s a song by a songwriter who sat down to write a song. If you think that notion is either simple or not beautiful, you are mistaken.
The album details are copious, but at its heart, Raw and Disfigured is a collection of these songs, with both an intimacy and a breadth that is the mark of what Amos brings to this outlet.
From the PR wire:
Holy Sons announces panoramic new double album Raw and Disfigured Out on Oct. 30th, 2020
Holy Sons, the project of multi-instrumentalist and singer Emil Amos, has announced the ambitious, panoramic double album Raw and Disfigured, out Oct. 30th. Along with the announcement, Holy Sons has shared the album’s first single “Lady of the Hour”, a vista of sweeping pastoral layers and melodies that grasp towards hope rather than resignation.
Under the name Holy Sons, as well as with bands Om, Grails, and Lilacs and Champagne, Amos harnesses boundless sonic textures to embellish delicately crafted songs. His music balances cues from classic and indie rock traditions with a tenderness and sense of foreboding through unparalleled artistry. Raw and Disfigured showcases Amos’ mastery of songcraft through a seemingly impossible combination of subtle yet potent gestures, bold arrangements and resolute vulnerability resulting in songs as beautiful as they are crushing.
The recording of Raw and Disfigured took place largely at Sonic Youth’s studio Echo Canyon West. Amos, who plays the bulk of the instruments and sings the majority of the vocals throughout the album, is joined on a few pieces by drummer Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), as well as album and WFMU in-house engineer Ernie Indradat.
The album draws thematically from the archetypal tale of Quasimodo and classic ghost story imagery to illustrate the “hero’s journey” in the time of a coming apocalypse. From the opening swells, Amos creates a sense of mystery and tension. Melodic sections pierce through the thick fogs of unease with gliding choral harmonies and guitar lines. Rich vocals draw you into an exotic atmosphere of mystical musical sounds, while classic lilting guitar lines entice you further. Raw and Disfigured proves the enduring power of the rock ballad without dwelling on the nostalgic tropes. The ballads of Holy Sons are ballads for these dark times.
Raw & Disfigured tracklist: 1. The Loser that Always Wins 2. Lady of the Hour 3. Cast Bound King 4. Hand that Feeds 5. Permanent Things 6. Four Walls 7. Held the Hand 8. Lost in the Fire 9. Transformation 10. Slow to Run 11. Reach Out and Touch Something 12. Cóiste Bodhar 13. Nights Like This 14. Up on that Hill 15. Backslider’s Wine 16. Bloody Strings
The theme for this episode of The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio is pretty straightforward if you listen. It’s comfort songs. You would not necessarily believe that of a playlist that opens with Total Fucking Destruction doing the title-track of an album called To Be Alive at the End of the World, but again, once you listen, it’s actually kind of soothing. There’s a fair amount of instrumental material included, led off by Yawning Man, and I think the part with Vinnum Sabbathi and Forming the Void is probably as heavy as it gets, though that new Elephant Tree track certainly has some roll to it. God damn that’s a good song, not that that’s a huge surprise from those guys.
I haven’t cut the voice breaks for it yet but will do so sometime before this is posted, but I intend to talk a bit about the Om song and my association with their early work and seeing them at SXSW for what I think might’ve been the first time. It was a while ago and it’s hard to remember for a few reasons, but anyway, if I can remember it between typing this and speaking that, I hope to speak to it a bit, because I know that’s not their most soothing stuff by a long shot, but the memory I have of it puts it in that framework for me. Closing with YOB’s “Marrow” was, of course, a given.
Thanks for listening if you do. I hope you enjoy, and if you see this and don’t listen, then thanks for reading. If you’re not reading, well, you’ll never know you were being thanked.
The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmeradio.com
Full playlist:
The Obelisk Show – 04.03.20
Total Fucking Destruction
To be Alive at the End of the World
To be Alive at the End of the World*
Yawning Man
I Make Weird Choices
Macedonian Lines
Acid King
Center of Everywhere
Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere
Colour Haze
Peace, Brothers and Sisters!
Colour Haze
BREAK
Pretty Lightning
Boogie at the Shrine
Jangle Bowls*
Elephant Tree
Bird
Habits*
Charivari
Lotus Eater
Descent*
Tia Carrera
Layback
Tried and True*
Vinnum Sabbathi
Quantum Determinism
Of Dimensions & Theories*
Forming the Void
Manifest
Reverie*
BREAK
Om
Annapurna
Variations on a Theme
YOB
Marrow
Clearing the Path to Ascend
The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is April 17 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 14th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
I cannot stress enough how much you should own Om‘s BBC Radio 1 (review here). Yes, it’s a double 10-inch vinyl, and I’m perfectly willing to admit that that’s kind of a silly thing when it would’ve fit on a single 12-inch platter, but face it, you’re going to listen to the download anyway, so quitcherbitchin and get on board. I’m only trying to make your life better by telling you this.
Do I think it’s a coincidence that Om have announced tour dates the same week that bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros‘ other band — they’re called Sleep, you know — have announced a hiatus? I don’t know. Probably? They’ll have Wovenhand out with them though, as they did on a tour leading to Monolith on the Mesa earlier this year, so if you want to think of this as a fuller leg of that run, go for it. Om have toured pretty steadily over the time that Cisneros has been/was involved in Sleep again, so it’s not like it’s some sudden resurgence or anything.
Of course, the big question is when/if/whether there will be a new album out next year, and if this tour might preface or accompany or otherwise somehow relate to that possibility. I have no insight on the matter other than to say, “golly, that sure would be nice,” so yeah, no insight at all basically. Shrug.
Go see Om. And buy that goddamn live record.
Dates:
OM Live: 12/14/19 Pioneer Works Brooklyn NY 2/21/20 Mohawk Austin TX w/ Wovenhand 2/22/20 Gas Monkey Bar & Grill Dallas TX w/ Wovenhand 2/24/20 George’s Majestic Lounge Fayetteville AR w/ Wovenhand 2/25/20 Growlers Memphis TN w/ Wovenhand 2/26/20 Saturn Birmingham AL w/ Wovenhand 2/27/20 Terminal West Atlanta GA w/ Wovenhand 2/28/20 Grey Eagle Asheville NC w/ Wovenhand 2/29/20 Motorco Chapel Hill NC w/ Wovenhand 3/2/20 Black Cat Washington DC w/ Wovenhand 3/3/20 Underground Arts Philadelphia PA w/ Wovenhand 3/5/20 The Sinclair Cambridge MA w/ Wovenhand 3/6/20 Columbus Theatre Providence RI w/ Wovenhand 3/8/20 Spirit Hall w/ Wovenhand 3/9/20 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights OH w/ Wovenhand 3/11/20 Headliners Music Hall Louisville KY w/ Wovenhand 3/12/20 The Pyramid Scheme Grand Rapids MI w/ Wovenhand 3/13/20 Garfield Park Conservatory Chicago IL w/ Wovenhand 3/16/20 Fine Line Minneapolis MN w/ Wovenhand 3/17/20 Wooly’s Des Moines IA w/ Wovenhand 3/18/20 Slowdown Omaha NE w/ Wovenhand 3/19/20 The Bottleneck Lawrence ks w/ Wovenhand 3/20/20 89th Street Oklahoma City OK w/ Wovenhand 3/21/20 Sister Albuquerque NM w/ Wovenhand
Posted in Radio on November 8th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
It’s been forever since there was an episode of The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio, but I’m glad to say that there was never any chance of it not continuing eventually. At least not one that I was told about — ha. Gimme had a bunch of specials booked, and well, if it’s me or the dude from Enslaved, or really anybody, I can’t really put up much of a fight that I should be given preference. I’m the dude who plays heavy rock on a metal station, and I’ve got a pretty good timeslot to do it. Yeah, I’m gonna get picked off in favor of special episodes. No worries. I kind of needed a break anyway.
So maybe think of this as the start of Season 2 of The Obelisk Show. I know that all the The Next Generation-era Star Trek shows operated with 24-episode seasons, but I don’t think anyone will begrudge me one fewer. Enterprise might’ve had a 23-episode season somewhere in there. I’d have to check. Either way, Season 2 picks up pretty much where Season 1 left off: a butt-load of new music and me nerding out about Colour Haze.
I talk a bit about the Høstsabbat fest in Norway that I went to last month, give the Brume record a plug and am a total geek for Al Cisneros’ bass tone on that new Om live release, so yes, pretty much the show is getting caught up with what’s been going on around here while it was off the air. A bit of shaking off the rust, but the playlist rules and I tried not to screw it all up too badly on mic. I haven’t heard the finished product yet, so we’ll see if it was a success. In any case, I hope you dig it.
The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio airs at 1PM Eastern today.
The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio airs every other Friday at 1PM Eastern, with replays every Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next show is Nov. 22. Thanks for listening if you do.
Posted in Reviews on October 23rd, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Some seven years ago, in 2012, Om issued their fifth full-length, Advaitic Songs (review here), through Drag City and thereby secured a place high among the decade’s best releases. Though founding bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros has split time in the years since between Om and the ongoing reunion of landmark stoner metallers Sleep, the album has continued to hold its audience, and its influence continues to spread to other acts on multiple continents. It was the kind of offering upon which legacies are made, and the new live recording BBC Radio 1 (also Drag City) is a reminder of that, even if only half its inclusions are actually from Advaitic Songs itself. Those songs, “Gethsemane” and “State of Non-Return,” are enough to get the point across on the limited gatefold double-10″ vinyl outing, and paired with “Cremation Ghat I” and “Cremation Ghat II” from 2009’s God is Good (review here) it is stirring and hypnotic in kind, the kind of release that makes you wish it was longer than its all-too-brief 29-minute run.
Om‘s lineup has shifted since Advaitic Songs. While that record marked the introduction of Lichens‘ Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (who had also appeared on God is Good) as a full member handling keys, percussion, vocals, etc., earlier in 2019, Cisneros and longtime drummer Emil Amos (also Grails, Holy Sons, and so on) brought in Tyler Trotter as the third member, and it was this incarnation of the band that recorded BBC Radio 1 at the British Broadcasting Company‘s studio in London’s upscale Maida Vale neighborhood, with its quietly old-money residences, tree-lined city streets and small but welcoming coffee/tea shops. The tracking was done on May 3, which was just a couple weeks before Om toured the Southwest ahead of playing Monolith on the Mesa, and about two months ahead of their Summer 2019 European tour, which included stops at Lake on Fire in Austria and SonicBlast Moledo in Portugal, but if hitting the BBC studio was the only reason Om made the trip abroad, one can hardly fault their logic in doing so. The results are little short of immaculate.
That sounds like hyperbole, and maybe it is, but you have to believe me when I say that this recording of “State of Non-Return” features if not the best then certainly one of the top three bass tones I’ve ever heard. I’m a sucker for bass tone anyway, and Cisneros is a master of low-end warmth, but for the tidal surge kick-in of distortion on the second track here alone, BBC Radio 1 is worth whatever Drag City want to charge for it. I’m dead serious. This isn’t a live release like something captured on someone’s phone at a random show. This is a professionally-recorded, in-studio offering of a band performing their work. It is a true documentation of their sound with album-quality fidelity and live performance. And I’m not going to take away from the dream-state sway beginnings of “Gethsemane” or Amos‘ drumming on “Cremation Ghat I” or the texture Trotter seamlessly weaves into the songs via keyboard throughout, but even on Om‘s earlier albums, when it was just bass/drums/vocals and so each of those elements was all the more showcased, I don’t know if the bass ever sounded so rich. If they put it out as an isolated track on its own — a bonus download or “dubplate” or whatever — I’d buy it happily. I mean it.
Opening with “Gethsemane” leads the way down the path. Its beginning is like a guided breathing exercise to clear the mind, and what unfolds from there in the wash of crash cymbals, the ping of ride, the pop of snare, the softly flowing bassline and the chant-like keyboard ahead of the first verse is duly immersive. Cisneros‘ voice arrives like a pilgrim one might meet in the wilderness, some kind of spiritual seeker who knows the place, can show the way toward safe passage while telling you stories that happen in dimensions most people can’t perceive. So you set off. Amos‘ drums are the footsteps, Trotter‘s keys the ground, and “Gethsemane” is both journey and destination. At 11 minutes, it’s both opener and longest inclusion (immediate points) on BBC Radio 1, and its sense of grace isn’t to be understated, nor the fluidity with which it feeds into “State of Non-Return,” which at 8:22 is two minutes longer than on Advaitic Songs, but still unfurls the aforementioned distortion about 45 seconds into the proceedings. Not to put too fine a point on it, but if they wanted to make the song last another 10 minutes, that’d be welcome as well. If it’s two, okay. I’ll take that.
Though it’s shorter than “Gethsemane” and backed up by “Cremation Ghat I” and “Cremation Ghat II,” “State of Non-Return” is an obvious focal point on BBC Radio 1 for its shift in tone and relative rhythmic push. Even putting aside the glorious rumble of Cisneros‘ making, it radiates energy as delivered here and presents a subtle momentum leading out of the first 10″ and en route to the second, which houses the final two tracks, one per side. “Cremation Ghat I” holds some of the momentum forth in Amos‘ drumming and the winding bassline that accompanies, but its run is brief at 3:51 and mostly instrumental, so the vibe has shifted accordingly, as, one supposes, it would have to. This leads to the drone-backed “Cremation Ghat II,” longer at 5:37, which closes out in perhaps giving some sense of arrival at the place to which the beginning of “Gethsemane” was setting off. Maybe (definitely) that’s putting too simplistic a narrative to it, and maybe the journey and destination are the same thing. I wouldn’t know. Maybe the sense of “going somewhere” is wrong altogether and the point is to be still.
But take from it either way that especially for a live recording, BBC Radio 1 is evocative in a way that allows for these kinds of varying interpretations. Certainly one would expect that the BBC knows what it’s doing in capturing a band playing, but it’s worth emphasizing this isn’t just performance-to-tape. It’s museum-quality. It’s a document of Om in 2019 and, for anyone who may have needed it, an underscore to the effect the band have had on the course of heavy over this decade which, one assumes, will only continue to spread into the next. Advaitic Songs is long since due for a follow-up, but BBC Radio 1 earns its place in Om‘s pantheon through its methodical, patient and serene atmosphere, showcasing Om as a band of singular, unmatched resonance. Recommended.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 13th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
This week, Om embark on a Southwestern tour (it’s spicier) alongside Wovenhand that will pass through the Monolith on the Mesa festival in Taos, New Mexico, on Friday, May 17, where Om will headline. It’s been a busy year so far for them. They’re fresh off a quick trip to Europe for Desertfest in London and Berlin as well as two shows in Oslo and one in Stockholm, and in February, they toured the West Coast as well. Newly unveiled summer plans reveal they’ll be back in Europe throughout July and August — they’d been announced for SonicBlast Moledo and Lake on Fire, so yeah, a tour makes sense — and as posted by Odyssey Booking (which put together the European tour), they would seem to have a new lineup with Tyler Trotter taking the multi-instrumentalist role formerly occupied by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. I have no clue if that’s a permanent change or what, but it would seem to have been Trotter with Al Cisneros and Emil Amos at Desertfest, so there you go.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that autumn brings Om east, more specifically northeast, even more specifically to my house for a nice Sunday brunch, but of course, if they wanted to go ahead and spend that time finishing a new album, it would be hard to complain about that.
Dates follow, as seen on social media:
OM / Wovenhand Southwest 2019 tour 5/15/2019 Mesa, AZ The Nile 5/16/2019 Flagstaff, AZ Green Room 5/17/2019 Taos, NM Monolith at the Mesa 5/18/2019 Grand Junction, CO Mesa Theater 5/19/2019 Denver, CO Gothic Theater
OM European summer tour 2019 dates announced! Tickets now onsale for all shows
26-07 DE Karlsruhe @ Jubez 27-07 NL Utrecht @ Tivoli – Pandora 28-07 DE Dortmund @ FZW 30-07 DE Bremen @ Tower 31-07 DK Copenhagen @ Pumpehuset 01-08 DE Leipzig @ UT Connewitz 02-08 PL Katowice @ OFF festival 03-08 AT Waldhausen @ Lake On Fire fest 04-08 HU Budapest @ Durer Kert 06-08 CH Zurich @ Bogen F 07-08 IT Livorno @ Fortezza Vechia 08-08 IT Milan @ Magnolia 10-08 PT Moledo @ Sonic Blast 12-08 CH Valais @ Palp festival – Rocklette
OM – 2019 lineup: Al Cisneros Emil Amos Tyler Trotter
