Having played together in Æthenor for the last couple of years, Steve Noble & Stephen O'Malley came together to play as a duo at Cafe Oto in 2011. These recordings are the results of these two hot and sticky nights in East London. Noble is a regular at Bo' Weavil Recordings, having appeared on over nine recordings for the label, and a linch pin in London's improvising community. Steve Noble studied with Nigeria master drummer Elkan Ogunde and in the early 1980s and over the last 20 years has played with most of the great players from 4 corners of the globe. Stephen O'Malley predominantly a guitarist, producer and composer from Seattle who has been at the centre of avant-garde/drone metal, best known for his group Sunn0))), and also a prolific collaborator with many of the finest improvisers. So it was bound to be a memorable night of music to see these two to meet. Noble sets the recording off with a full tribal charge, while Stephen instead of firing off a shard of ecstatic notes and chords, coaxed his guitar into singing a slow ever growing roar. But soon the two are of into some wildest creative rampages - exciting drum and guitar territory, sounding at times not too dissimilar to Haino's Fushitsusha, brutally beautiful shredded riffs from O’Malley met with Noble's exuberant rhythmic force . Over 2 slabs of vinyl and CD the memory of these 2 nights can be heard in full violent sonic attack.
Live recordings of two nights at Cafe OTO, London.
Side A+B recorded 18 August 2010.
Side C+D recorded 19 August 2010.