Sunn O))) recently returned with their latest LP Kannon, but the band's Stephen O'Malley is already back with yet another project. The artist has just dropped a surprise solo album.
The record is called Fuck Fundamentalist Pigs, and in case that's not direct enough for you, O'Malley has laid it all out in a press release. The album was recorded mere days after the Charlie Hebdo attack, and the live record is a pointed criticism of those whose fundamentalism results in violence against others.
As a press release puts it, the album is a "personal and intensely emotive retort to the fascists and fundamentalists who undermine his and our sense of personal liberty and freedom, particularly in the wake of attacks suffered by Charlie Hebdo magazine and the residents of Paris during late 2015, and the countless poor souls who've suffered in the Middle East, Kenya and North Africa."
In a statement, O'Malley said, "The seemingly basic outrage of the title I chose for this album seemed more apt as a cry of liberty, a small, crude attempt at the spirit of Darkthrone's timeless statement 'With my art I am the fist. In the face of god. Like most of us I have also sometimes fallen for the constant baiting toward anger, outrage, paranoia and fear in the daily life, often but not always misdirected, but it is not debilitating by any means."
O'Malley continued:
It's clear that as an experimental guitar player I have absolutely no political power (or even ability to articulate in those forms) but it's important to take the opportunity to say "fuck you" in these situations. To the facist & fundamentalist movements. To the absurding of the worst sides of monotheistic belief systems. And not only the perpetrators behind these events but also on other sides including the reactive and opportunistic. Those with most to gain are the underlying authoritarians in our own societies who have opportunities to implement and increase their control even further for their gains. The "security" changes we face in fact may also result in yet further increase in the loss of liberty and freedom.
The reactions aimed toward increased separation of cultures, xenophobia, nationalism, and especially racism are highly regrettable. I hope these recordings offer a small sense of solace in the time, even for the few hundred who hear them. I know they (and this text) are ultimately useless but … I am moved and shaken. I sincerely hope my point of view evolves out of what I have written above.
The vinyl-only Fuck Fundamentalist Pigs is limited to 700 copies and available now through Boomkat, where you'll also be able to hear some brief audio samples. All profits from the album will be donated to the French Red Cross.
The release is part of a trilogy of live solo albums from O'Malley set to be released throughout 2016 by iDEAL.
The record is called Fuck Fundamentalist Pigs, and in case that's not direct enough for you, O'Malley has laid it all out in a press release. The album was recorded mere days after the Charlie Hebdo attack, and the live record is a pointed criticism of those whose fundamentalism results in violence against others.
As a press release puts it, the album is a "personal and intensely emotive retort to the fascists and fundamentalists who undermine his and our sense of personal liberty and freedom, particularly in the wake of attacks suffered by Charlie Hebdo magazine and the residents of Paris during late 2015, and the countless poor souls who've suffered in the Middle East, Kenya and North Africa."
In a statement, O'Malley said, "The seemingly basic outrage of the title I chose for this album seemed more apt as a cry of liberty, a small, crude attempt at the spirit of Darkthrone's timeless statement 'With my art I am the fist. In the face of god. Like most of us I have also sometimes fallen for the constant baiting toward anger, outrage, paranoia and fear in the daily life, often but not always misdirected, but it is not debilitating by any means."
O'Malley continued:
It's clear that as an experimental guitar player I have absolutely no political power (or even ability to articulate in those forms) but it's important to take the opportunity to say "fuck you" in these situations. To the facist & fundamentalist movements. To the absurding of the worst sides of monotheistic belief systems. And not only the perpetrators behind these events but also on other sides including the reactive and opportunistic. Those with most to gain are the underlying authoritarians in our own societies who have opportunities to implement and increase their control even further for their gains. The "security" changes we face in fact may also result in yet further increase in the loss of liberty and freedom.
The reactions aimed toward increased separation of cultures, xenophobia, nationalism, and especially racism are highly regrettable. I hope these recordings offer a small sense of solace in the time, even for the few hundred who hear them. I know they (and this text) are ultimately useless but … I am moved and shaken. I sincerely hope my point of view evolves out of what I have written above.
The vinyl-only Fuck Fundamentalist Pigs is limited to 700 copies and available now through Boomkat, where you'll also be able to hear some brief audio samples. All profits from the album will be donated to the French Red Cross.
The release is part of a trilogy of live solo albums from O'Malley set to be released throughout 2016 by iDEAL.
