Ambarchi / O'Malley / Dunn
Shade Themes from Kairos
Drag City

In 2009, guitar virtuosos Oren Ambarchi and Stephen O'Malley collaborated to compose a score for Belgian filmmaker Alexis Destoop's short film, Kairos - a meditation on the meaning of time as an opportune moment. The couple teamed up with studio maestro Randall Dunn to experiment, to expand and to capture the soundtrack. The result was drones in space and time. Back and forth - and beyond.

Stephen O'Malley (AKA SOMA, of Sunn O))) and lots of other bands and projects) is an American musician, producer, composer, curatot, art director, and graphic designer from Seattle, WA, who has participated in numerous drone/doom/gloom/metal and experimental music groups, the most notable of which is Sunn O)))), plus Burning Witch, Ginnungagap, Khanate, KTL, Lotus Eaters, Grave Temple, Rule the Divine, Thorr's Hammer. O'Malley has also been collaborating with Norwegian acts, and have visited Oslo several times, such as at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (Contemporary Art Center) Oren Ambarchi is an Australian musician/multi-instrumentalist who plays mainly electric guitar and percussion. Ambarchi has been performing live since 1986. In the late 80s he played free jazz, as a drummer. In an interview, Ambarchi described how he started playing guitar: "There happened to be one laying around in our rehearsal room. I picked it up and starting hitting it with drumsticks and using it in whatever way I wanted to use it in, and one thing led to another. I'm glad I wasn't trained. I grew up listening to pop and rock, so that was in my mind, but I've also been interested in electronics. I never wanted to learn to play it properly, it was an object as much as an instrument." He's a former member of noise band Phlegm, and has collaborated with Sunn O))), Boris, and many more. Randall Dunn is an American producer, engineer, and musician. He is a founding member of Master Musicians of Bukkake, and as a producer has worked with musical acts such as Sunn O))), Wolves in the Throne Room, Boris, Kinski, Akron/Family, Oren Ambarchi, The Cave Singers, Earth, and others.

So, Shade Themes from Kairos, is a long-stretched, one hour (plus) long journey through noise and pain, but also: This is a meditative vibe. It's about catharsis, this is purification and purgation of your emotions. This is about testing your patience, and checking and calibration of your mind and your soul. A full, total check and improvement of all your mind and innerspace functions. The soundtrack to your inner self. Yoga. But, is it working? I'm not sure. And, I haven't seen the film, so I can't tell if the music works well as a score. Well, it's got some contemplative aspect. But I'm not all dragged in and along to the pulse of it.

Copyright © 2014 Håvard Oppøyen