Sun Araw | ||
| Allmusic Biography : The working title of a project helmed by former Austinite and Magic Lantern member Cameron Stallones, Sun Araw has drawn compelling comparisons to such varied sources as Afro-beat, Neil Young, and Spacemen 3. As part of the communal label Not Not Fun, Sun Araw has released a number of well-received and continually groundbreaking full-lengths and singles, the first two of which -- 2008s The Phynx and Beach Head -- were psychedelic interpretations of myriad source materials, and led to the breakthrough of 2009s Heavy Deeds, which was considered by many to be Sun Araws best at the time. The project would continue in 2010, first with a single commemorating the opening of the Sun Ark studio begun by Stallones and his compatriots. That year would also see the release of the next Sun Araw LP, On Patrol, as well as the EP Off Duty, both on New York label Woodsist. In addition to his work with Sun Araw and Magic Lantern, Stallones was a contributor to a number of different projects, including Pocahaunteds Passage full-length. Sun Araw kicked off 2011 with the Houston Abstros EP released by Monofonus Press in April, followed by a full-length collaboration with Eternal Tapestry entitled Night Gallery (on Thrill Jockey) in July and his next long-player, Ancient Romans, in August, on his Drag City-distributed Sun Ark label. In 2012, he joined with the like-minded M. Geddes Gengras along with the legendary reggae group the Congos on Icon Give Thank, an entry in the Rvng Intl. labels collaboration series FRKWYS. Also in 2012, he issued the first two volumes in his limited-edition cassette-only series Sun Ark Prayer Tapes, and in September released the full-length Inner Treaty. Stallones participated in an experimental electronic outfit called Celebrate Music Synthesizer Group, whose self-titled double LP was released in 2013. In 2014, Sun Araw returned with Belomancie, an experimental double album, followed in 2015 by another double album, The Gazebo Effect, credited to S. Araw "Trio" XI. In 2016, Professional Sunflow, a live double-LP collaboration between Sun Araw and new age pioneer Laraaji, was released by W.25TH, an imprint of reissue label Superior Viaduct. Sun Araw released the Western-influenced The Saddle of the Increate, another lengthy effort, in 2017. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 16 Title: The Phynx Released: 2007 Tracks: 4 Duration: 43:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Fog Wheels (15:46) 2 Harken Sawshine (04:29) 3 Hive Burner (07:16) 4 The Phynx (16:06) |
 | Album: 2 of 16 Title: Beach Head Released: 2008-07-21 Tracks: 4 Duration: 42:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Thoughts Are Bells (09:25) 2 Horse Steppin’ (10:00) 3 Beams (10:35) 4 Bridal Filly (12:12) |
| Beach Head : Allmusic album Review : The four tracks of Beach Head, like much of Sun Araws work, capture Cameron Stallones at a certain place and time; its re-release some years after its first limited run in 2008 almost makes it more of a flashback than something new. But his ear for constructing open-ended explorations in drone and texture in the context of the thriving early 21st century L.A. underground noise scene was already notable then. "Thoughts Are Bells" begins the album on a calmer and slightly shorter note, with wafts of feedback sounding very much indeed like shaken bells or hand cymbals over empty space before a simple but still attractive rhythmic pattern of sitar notes -- as well as some actual bells! -- emerges to shape an arrangement that feels somewhere between a murky processional field recording in Southeast Asia and some utterly unknown place. "Horse Steppin," in distinct contrast, is a straightforward lyric song on the face of it, except the heavy echo on the vocals and soft, distanced swathing around the whole arrangement turn a sort of country-rock song into something stranger, more like a lost broadcast where the levels are all over the place. (The keyboard part that recurs at points in its own three-note pattern is usually the most clearly heard thing.) "Beams" finds a bit of a middle ground where a slightly similar song in the first half becomes a gentle jam in the second, and a bassline provides the anchor for all kinds of murky noise, feedback and otherwise. Its almost Pink Floyd 1970 without much in the way of drumming, but also a few rooms over in classic New Zealand meets FSA style. "Bridal Filly" ends with more flowing rise-and-fall tones, as well as calling, invocatory vocals that suggest a ritual most clearly on the record, a sense of progressing somewhere, somehow -- into a massive ocean sunset, the depths of the desert, a vast void. It all seems right, in the end. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 16 Title: Heavy Deeds Released: 2009-06-22 Tracks: 5 Duration: 41:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Heavy Deeds (09:49) 2 Hustle and Bustle (06:43) 3 The Message (04:50) 4 Get Low (07:58) 5 All Night Long (11:51) |
 | Album: 4 of 16 Title: On Patrol Released: 2010-05-11 Tracks: 9 Duration: 1:14:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Ma Holo (08:35) 2 Beat Cop (08:24) 3 The Stakeout (05:28) 4 Conga Mind (08:42) 5 Deep Cover (08:03) 6 High Slide (05:49) 7 The Stakeout: (reprise) (06:33) 8 Dimension Alley (06:08) 9 Holodeck Blues (16:40) |
 | Album: 5 of 16 Title: Off Duty Released: 2010-10-05 Tracks: 5 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Last Chants (?) 2 Midnight Locker (?) 3 Deep Temple (?) 4 In the Trees (?) 5 Canopy (?) |
 | Album: 6 of 16 Title: Night Gallery Released: 2011-04-19 Tracks: 4 Duration: 38:33 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Night Gallery I (08:54) 2 Night Gallery II (09:50) 3 Night Gallery III (05:45) 4 Night Gallery IV (14:04) |
| Night Gallery : Allmusic album Review : This made-in-hallucinogenic-heaven collaboration between nocturnal psych giants Eternal Tapestry and drone master Sun Araw (aka Cameron Stallones) is not a studied exercise in studio pedantry -- but a recorded in-the-moment live performance that took place in the studio of KVRX in Austin during 2010s South by Southwest. The two acts have a history that goes back to 2007, when Eternal Tapestry shared a stage with Magic Lantern (Stallones old band) at the Neon Commune Fest in Los Angeles. They played together each time ET made it to Los Angeles, by which time Stallones left ML and began his one-man Sun Araw project. Night Gallery is one self-titled track divided into four segments, totaling almost 38 and a half minutes. The lineup is comprised of Dewey Mahood and Nick Bindeman on guitars, Jed Bindeman on drums, Ryan Carlile on tenor sax, Yoni Kifle on bass, and Stallones on keyboard and flute. Things kick off with a drone -- of course -- on "Night Gallery I," with organ and guitars entering gradually, without rhythm, establishing a mood. Stallones adds his flute treated with enough echo and dimensional distortion to make it seem as if its in the far distance and slowly approaching. The guitars begin to play off one another in repetitive patterns, creating a trance-like effect, all the while building in dynamic intensity. Organ, synth, and other keys float through, breathing in and out of the mix. The drums dont become apparent before the middle of the nearly nine-minute track, and when they do, the entire thing is off in another direction, with the organ taking an ominous hypnotic lead, bringing things down to a whisper before "II" commences with an actual chord progression and the saxophone makes itself heard. "III" is the shortest part of the jam (nearly six minutes), and the one that rocks the hardest; its guitars sting in short percussive bursts, reverberating off one another, the single incessant organ note, and the throbbing bass drone. The 14-plus-minute "IV" closes things; it begins quietly and eerily slowly, with Stallones organ wafting through the minimal, subtly melodic guitars continuously in a lone note drone; it takes nearly eight minutes to plant roots, but when it does, a hallucinatory groove takes over before a final crescendo squalls to a transcendent finish. Though it is one long cut, Night Gallery is free of noodling or self indulgence; it proves that acid jam is alive and well in the hands of the right musicians. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 16 Title: Ancient Romans Released: 2011-08-23 Tracks: 8 Duration: 1:19:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Lucretius (09:07) 2 Crown Shell (09:54) 3 Crete (09:30) 4 Lute and Lyre (07:02) 5 At Delphi (11:08) 6 Fit for Caesar (10:36) 7 Trireme (06:40) 8 Impluvium (15:35) |
| Ancient Romans : Allmusic album Review : Theres something amusing in the way Sun Araw starts his latest album with spooky yet also slightly goofy keyboard noodling rather than droning blasts or contemplative zone. Then again, if the records titular theme is being followed, the former rulers of a good chunk of Europe, Asia, and Africa did like to party, and when the bass suddenly cuts in on "Lucretius" and begins to throb in a rhythm, its like the underscoring of an "eat, drink and be merry" sentiment with the "for tomorrow you die" counterpoint. One of Sun Araws longest efforts, the double-album equivalent Ancient Romans has tracks mostly hitting the ten-or-so-minute mark, Cameron Stallone out for extensive mind expansiveness in his own particular way. Throughout the album the sense is of rough experimentation, a kind of direct curiosity in the collision of sampled loops, echoed vocals, bursting bass, and random moments. Stallones echoed vocals, however much a stylistic commonality in some corners, act as further random hooks, a slightly stupefied but never incoherent series of reactions. "At Delphi" brings in that sense of exaltation familiar from past Sun Araw releases, keyboards and open-ended guitar parts combining in a majestic but still murky collage, more pulsing bass and other sounds sliding in. "Implivium" transfers that exaltation to techno, an unexpected but not untoward turn; if its definitely still Sun Araw in feel and approach, the use of steady beats and tighter arrangements gives a new context for those familiar sounds to thrive in. "Lute and Lyre," perhaps named for that reason, brings in a slow, silvery electric guitar twang over the slow-growing stew of noise, while calmer pieces like "Fit for Caesar" still embrace the sense of mystic wonder and curiosity, bass drumming and vocals slowly coalescing into a slow, easy groove along with the woozy swirl. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 16 Title: Icon Give Thank Released: 2012-04-10 Tracks: 7 Duration: 43:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 New Binghi (02:26) 2 Happy Song (06:50) 3 Food Clothing and Shelter (06:52) 4 Sunshine (05:19) 5 Jungle (07:05) 6 Invocation (06:03) 7 Thanks and Praise (08:23) |
 | Album: 9 of 16 Title: The Inner Treaty Released: 2012-09-18 Tracks: 6 Duration: 41:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Out of Town (07:20) 2 Grip (05:59) 3 Like Wine (06:54) 4 Treaty (07:40) 5 The Summum (06:54) 6 And I (06:25) |
 | Album: 10 of 16 Title: Icon Give Life Released: 2012-12-12 Tracks: 5 Duration: 27:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Ark of the Covenant (05:35) 2 Sunshine (05:37) 3 Open Up the Gate (03:53) 4 Thanks and Praise (07:01) 5 Fisherman (05:34) |
 | Album: 11 of 16 Title: Two From the Desert: Yucca Valley 2012 Released: 2013-06-17 Tracks: 7 Duration: 1:04:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Intro / Ma Holo (20:36) 2 Heavy Deeds (08:52) 3 Untitled (02:28) 4 Canopy (09:08) 5 Untitled (07:05) 6 The Summum (05:40) 7 Born Under Punches (10:43) |
 | Album: 12 of 16 Title: Belomancie Released: 2014-02-18 Tracks: 9 Duration: 1:19:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Scrim (08:45) 2 Curtis (02:23) 3 Huff (08:51) 4 Belomancie (08:46) 5 One After One (09:29) 6 Solo Wallet Shuffle (05:30) 7 Remedial Ventilation (14:56) 8 Flote (10:03) 9 Seven Lampstans (10:25) |
| Belomancie : Allmusic album Review : An experiment in active listening, Cameron Stallone returns with Belomancie, a series of drifting sound experiments recorded under his Sun Araw moniker. Not so much a collection of songs as it is a collection of sonic spaces; the album finds Stallone creating a series of lo-fi soundscapes for the listener to get lost in. Rather than work within a specific style throughout the entire album, Stallone creates a series of unique headspaces, making for a more eclectic offering than some of his past work. What really stands out on the album is its off-kilter, improvisatory feel. With layers of off-time beats, slapdash guitars, and messy, fuzzed-out vocals, the album demands the listeners attention, making for a more active experience as theyre left to dig in and puzzle out whats happening in any given song. This is helped along by the albums minimalism, with each enigmatic track feeling intentionally sparse so as to better keep the listeners attention. Its as if Stallone figured that if he was going to make songs that were messy, they might as well be manageable messes so as not to overwhelm the listener with their inscrutability. While this means that Belomancie is somewhat less musical than other Sun Araw discs, its just as engaging a listen as anything the project has put out, and its an album that holds plenty of rewards for those willing to take the time to explore its odd twists and turns with an open mind. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 16 Title: Livephreaxxx!!!! Released: 2015-11-02 Tracks: 5 Duration: 30:35 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 [untitled] (04:47) 2 [untitled] (01:19) 3 [untitled] (07:37) 4 [untitled] (04:06) 5 [untitled] (12:46) |
 | Album: 14 of 16 Title: Professional Sunflow Released: 2016-06-17 Tracks: 4 Duration: 1:02:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Leipzig (Part 1) (17:23) 2 Leipzig (Part 2) (18:46) 3 Lausanne (Part 1) (13:17) 4 Lausanne (Part 2) (13:25) |
 | Album: 15 of 16 Title: "The Saddle of the Increate" Released: 2017-03-24 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:16:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 A Golden Boot (06:35) 2 Lassie (03:49) 3 A Chute (07:16) 4 Orthrus (08:03) 5 Spurs (05:39) 6 Campfires (06:05) 1 Hop Along (04:47) 2 Slope of Geryon (06:26) 3 Blue Gene (02:38) 4 Amplitude (02:54) 5 40 Hooves (06:35) 6 Two Creeks (03:40) 7 Release (05:54) 8 On Plateau (05:54) |
| "The Saddle of the Increate" : Allmusic album Review : Following a few improvisation-heavy collaborative ventures, including a live double LP with new age pioneer Laraaji and a few recordings by various configurations of the S. Araw "Trio," Sun Araw returned to being primarily a solo venture of Cameron Stallones with the 2017 studio album The Saddle of the Increate. Yet another sprawling double LP, the album plays like a warped cosmic Western, self-described by the author as both "a jackfruit rodeo" and "a metaphysical comedy of self about the roping and directing of cattle." Instead of dub or new age being the albums main inspirations, the album liberally draws from country, with pedal steel guitar and harmonica joining Stallones loopy electronics and wobbly vocal interjections. Theres even a shout-out to Johnny Paycheck during the relatively upbeat "A Chute." On many tracks, the drum machines and hand percussion seem to imitate the clip-clop rhythms of horses hooves. A lot of the rhythms seem to stumble around, following only their own logic, and the beats continually accelerate during the queasy "40 Hooves." While theres certainly a pastoral, high lonesome feel to these pieces, theyre far from being campfire ditties. More often, they seem like strange tales of the West at its wildest, set to sun-baked minimalist art pop. "Hop Along" appears to be a weird story about a speaking mule and a flaming sword. On opener "A Golden Boot," Stallones sporadically calls out the names of objects, and it sounds like cryptic instructions for some sort of bizarre game or quest. Near the end of the album, theres a surprisingly straightforward cover of Bob Dylans "I Shall Be Released," which surrounds Stallones echo-covered crooning with sparse yet jittery percussion. Finale "On Plateau" is easily the albums calmest moment; Stallones seems to have come down from his trip and seems content with basking in the sun out in the peaceful desert. The Saddle of the Increate seems both like a new chapter in the Sun Araw saga as well as a return to Stallones Texas roots, and its one of his most down-to-earth works, even if it still seems beamed in from another dimension. | ||
 | Album: 16 of 16 Title: Guarda in Alto Released: 2018-07-13 Tracks: 12 Duration: 1:01:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Pommel Top (05:12) 2 Whippet (04:28) 3 Volano (08:50) 4 La Luna (Ending) (04:57) 5 Rattan (06:28) 6 Guarda in alto (Opening) (06:49) 7 Porto alchemico (03:55) 8 Teco & Stella (03:31) 9 Triplet (06:19) 10 Gabbiano (02:47) 11 Muto (05:55) 12 In Ostia (02:45) |