That's Amore: AI ASO
Japanese chanteuse Ai Aso recently put out her album Lone on Sunn O))) co-founder Stephen O'Malley's Ideologic Organ label, making her label-mates with heavy lifters like Sir Richard Bishop (who will be at the Bottle on September 2nd with Tashi Dorji; tickets here) from Sun City Girls and the monstrous Nazoranai (who played the Bottle earlier this year).Lone is a recorded live set that features seven gorgeous tracks from a 2012 performance, when Ai Aso opened for Boris, Sunn O))) and Chelsea Wolfe. Don't worry if doom metal and drone aren't your jam -- Ai Aso provides an ethereal, quiet counterpoint to many of O'Malley's other musical endeavors. She's a multi-talented wonder woman, deftly playing both keyboards and guitar while providing whispery, delicate vocals.
FACT magazine calls Ai Aso's music "
," which are pretty accurate words to ascribe to Ai Aso's sparse but beautiful arrangements.
, which distributes Ideologic Organ's catalog, says that her live performances evoke "l
ost memories, small flavors of COIL and serial playing on the verge of evaporation." Ai Aso has previously collaborated with Boris guitarist Wata on the 2007 split
She's So Heavy
, where she provided a cover of King Crimson's "Islands." She also
the track "
" on Boris' 2008 album
Smile
. Oh, AND she provided the vocals for "Sometimes," a track off the recent 2014 collaboration between O'Malley, Oren Ambarchi, and Randall Dunn called Shade Themes from Kairos. Girl power!!!