Sun Dial (occasionally spelled Sundial) is a British space rock band formed in 1990 by Gary Ramon.
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The precursor to Sun Dial was Ramon's the Modern Art, formed in the mid-1980s with a loose lineup that never played gigs but did see the release of two studio albums. Ramon disbanded the group out of a desire "to make a more live-sounding group that could go out and play".[1]
The band gained prominence after the release of their first album, Other Way Out, which quickly sold out its initial run through word of mouth alone. The album was near-universally praised in the independent music press, winning several awards and accolades. However, the album saw little popularity among mainstream critics and radio stations as their authentic 1960s psychedelic sound was out of fashion at the time. Other Way Out remains popular to this day in the psychedelic and progressive rock communities, and has gone through eight reissues since its original release.
Subsequent albums have explored many branches of psychedelia, including space rock, acid rock, stoner rock, neo-psychedelia, and psych pop. Their music has been compared to, influenced, or praised by prominent artists such as Monster Magnet, Nirvana, Spiritualized, and Spacemen 3. Sun Dial in turn were influenced by the 1960s and 1970s psychedelia and hard rock of Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, the Stooges , Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin, as well as the drug-influenced "Madchester" sound of the Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets, and Happy Mondays.
After the 1996 live album Live Drug, Ramon took Sun Dial on an extended hiatus and devoted his time to producing records by other bands, including Chemical, and Fantasyy Factoryy. Many of these records were released on Ramon's own Acme label. During this time Ramon also worked with Coil and Current93 and released Quad, a solo project exploring ambient electronica and kraut rock. Sun Dial reconvened for a live performance in December 2002 and released their next album, Zen For Sale, a few months thereafter.
In 2010, they released a 20th anniversary 2-CD anthology, Processed For DNA, via Shrunken Head, their own imprint with Cherry Red, before returning with a new eponymous studio album, musically much heavier than before, and more influenced by early 1990s Seattle than late 1960s psychedelia. It was released alongside a major Sun Dial reissue campaign.
As with fellow psych rocker Nick Saloman's The Bevis Frond, Sun Dial has always been an instrument of its frontman Gary Ramon; the band's lineup tends to change from album to album. The most stable lineups include the following:
Sun Dial are noted for releasing limited-edition albums and singles on independent labels. The discs (often printed on vinyl only) become highly sought-after by collectors.