The droned and the saved

john eden

male pale and stale
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bruno

est malade
thank you droid for the list and the mathieu embed.

the ian william craig record (almost the only thing i recognise on that list) i is beautiful, craig's vocals put through who knows what processes, a very unique record (unfortunately sold out).

an old recommendation: the early jliat cds ca. 1997 (the nature of nature, etc.), very deep synth-based drones that take up the 76-79 minutes of the cd.

other drone favourites are the recordings of abandoned telegraph wires by alan lamb on dorobo ca. 1995, and the vlf recordings on irdial (that i'm not sure count as drones, but are fascinating).

very old: artemiev's work on stalker

finally, a recent find is the ariel kalma retrospective on rvng, some pieces on the second side (i'm not sure old or new) are very hypnotic vocal/looping type stuff that would not be out of place here.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
This reminded me of Ben Watson's amusing and surprising position on drones from his excellent Derek Bailey biography:

"A drone has a very different emotional resonance to either the urgent chord sequences of jazz or the electricity dependent feedback of rock: it tends towards folkish melancholy, regret and nostalgia for everything modernity has destroyed. In trained musicians (who are really, after all, superannuated craftspersons from a previous mode of musical reproduction), it brings out a latent conservatism. Moreover the large space necessary for so many musicians recording together at a single place and time results in 'classical' blurring of player individuality, an acoustic blend whose symphonic aura is the very opposite of the in-your-face immediacy of jazz and rock records..."

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...&q="ben watson" drones "derek bailey"&f=false
 

droid

Well-known member
Helm's favourite drone records
http://www.self-titledmag.com/2012/06/01/youtube-playlist-helms-favorite-drone-records/

Oh you posted that already.

I've seen Helm live a couple of times and it's only ever really worked for me once. He seems like a nice young man though.

That list looks good, the Faraway Press stuff I keep meaning to check out (as well as later Jackman/Organum).

This David Keenan UK drone feature is good too:
http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2015/02/uk-drone-feature

I dont know anything at all about Helm, but he sounds like he knows his stuff.

Two fascinating things about drone for me: 1) The wide scope of the genre, ranging back to 50's and 60's electronic experimentalism, the peripheries of Jazz and 'world' music, and then on through noise, ambient, post punk weirdness and new electronica & post-rock from the 90's on, and 2) The experience of listening and the textural sensitivity evoked... it's like reducing a palette down to one colour and exploring tiny variations in shade and tone, or being stuck in the pitch black out in the country somewhere and your vision gradually adjusting until you can almost make out faint shapes in the darkness.

Drone is a feeling.

This guy is always near the top of any list:


Big fan of this guys stuff as 'mirror'. Solo work is immense:


Speaking of post punk weirdness - this always reminds me of Organum:

 
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droid

Well-known member
thank you droid for the list and the mathieu embed.

the ian william craig record (almost the only thing i recognise on that list) i is beautiful, craig's vocals put through who knows what processes, a very unique record (unfortunately sold out).

an old recommendation: the early jliat cds ca. 1997 (the nature of nature, etc.), very deep synth-based drones that take up the 76-79 minutes of the cd.

other drone favourites are the recordings of abandoned telegraph wires by alan lamb on dorobo ca. 1995, and the vlf recordings on irdial (that i'm not sure count as drones, but are fascinating).

very old: artemiev's work on stalker

finally, a recent find is the ariel kalma retrospective on rvng, some pieces on the second side (i'm not sure old or new) are very hypnotic vocal/looping type stuff that would not be out of place here.

Yeah, Im a big fan of that Ian William Craig record.

Loads of crossover with soundtracks... Under the Skin probably the most recent great white hope for weirdo OST's.
 

droid

Well-known member
This reminded me of Ben Watson's amusing and surprising position on drones from his excellent Derek Bailey biography:

"A drone has a very different emotional resonance to either the urgent chord sequences of jazz or the electricity dependent feedback of rock: it tends towards folkish melancholy, regret and nostalgia for everything modernity has destroyed. In trained musicians (who are really, after all, superannuated craftspersons from a previous mode of musical reproduction), it brings out a latent conservatism. Moreover the large space necessary for so many musicians recording together at a single place and time results in 'classical' blurring of player individuality, an acoustic blend whose symphonic aura is the very opposite of the in-your-face immediacy of jazz and rock records..."

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...&q="ben watson" drones "derek bailey"&f=false

Nice. Must give that a read. Melancholy, regret and nostalgia... not great selling points, but completely accurate.
 

nomos

Administrator
Thanks, Droid :cool:

Thomas Köner's Nunatak/Teimo/Permafrost triptych is a favourite of mine. Weighty polar scapes derived from contact mic recordings of gongs...


Also, very keen on Eleh's "intuitive synthesis" and waveform "homages"...
https://boomkat.com/cds/445878-eleh-floating-frequencies-intuitive-synthesis
https://boomkat.com/downloads/1230164-eleh-homage

Along those lines, here's this again:

infrares.gif


Vibration Sympathique

Demdike Stare 'Suspicious Drone' (Modern Love)
Bass Communion 'Ghosts on Magnetic Tape III' Original/Reconstruction (Headphone Dust)
The Ghost Orchid: An Introduction to EVP (Parapsychic Acoustic Research Cooperative)
Thomas Köner 'Permafrost' and 'Nieve Penitentes 2' (Barooni/Type)
Ruth White 'Mists and Rains'
Eleh 'Together We Are One' (Taiga)
Nate Young 'Under the Skin' (iDeal Recordings)
Sunn o))) 'Sin Nanna' (Southern Lord)
Christian Fennesz plays Charles Matthews 'Amoroso' (Touch)
BJNilsen 'La Petite Chapelle - Rue Basses' (Touch)

Blog and DL: http://www.deeptime.net/blog/?p=716
Streaming:
 

droid

Well-known member
Love Basinski obviously. He's in a nebulous area between ambient and drone for me though, more serialist than sustained tone minimalist.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
Love Basinski obviously. He's in a nebulous area between ambient and drone for me though, more serialist than sustained tone minimalist.

Saw him with Helm in a church doing the disintegration loops. Didn't really get on with it.

Maybe I was just in a funny mood that night.
 

droid

Well-known member
Possibly the greatest, and certainly the most affecting piece of experimental/ambient IMHO.

 
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