Tag: drone

658. Boris

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(June 2025) Episode 658 is BORIS. There isn’t a single term that aptly describes the music of this Japanese trio, although “noise” might be the closest. It’s sludge/stoner metal, drone, noise rock, dream pop metal, or experimental, depending on their phase or the album. They can do long drone noise like their debut, Absolutego, or pick it up into thrash mode, like Akuma No Uta. They also go pop, like on New Album or Attention Please. Vocals are selectively employed, and I’m not a fan of the men’s vocal style used on non-thrash tracks, which I label “dream pop metal.” Their output is voluminous, with an abundance of collaborations, notably Merzbow, so there are plenty of options to choose from.

Favorite album: Pink

Favorite song: Blackout

Favorite album-length song: Absolutego

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Best albums for heavy doom and thrash are Akuma No Uta, Pink and NO, as well as the Heavy Rocks trilogy. For drone/sludge try Absolutego, Amplifier Worship and Feedbacker.

480. Gong Gong Gong 工工工

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(MArh 2023) Episode 480 is GONG GONG GONG 工工工. This is a Beijing-based duo (one from Hong Kong, one from Canada) who turn amplified busking into a surprisingly mesmerizing distorted groove.  Inversely, the guitar keeps the rhythm while the bass does the melodic work, with occasional vocals that give a regional flavor, done in Chinese (I can’t tell if it’s Mandarin or Cantonese) in the pentatonic style. It’s primitive but it captures you  – that’s the essence of rock n’ roll, right?

Favorite album: Phantom Rhythm 幽靈節奏

Favorite song: Notes Underground

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: try it. It’s great motivational music for household chores and other activities

454. Sleep

~ ernopepper ~ 2 Comments

(December 2022) Episode 454 is SLEEP.  This project can often be tedious labor of love, but my reward is finding music that speaks to my soul, like coming upon the Holy Grail after a long quest. And here is Sleep. Pure Iommic doom metal goodness, perhaps the ultimate stoner metal experience. A constant low, loud drone of dark matter. Beautiful noise. My joy is only tempered by discovering them decades too late, and for not reviewing them before spinoff OM (episode 437).

Favorite album: The Sciences

Favorite song: Dopesmoker

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: I’m all in. Not for everyone, but if you get it, you’ll be all in too.

446. Earth

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(October 2022) Episode 446 is EARTH.  They are considered a pioneer in drone metal (called ‘ambient metal’ by its constant member Dylan Carlson). The first album (Earth 2) achieves precisely that, with a glacial flow of distorted guitar buzz.  Love it!  But their reinvented sound in the early 2000s is more like slowed down rock music (is this slowcore?), which bores me. Granted, there is a fine line between hypnotic drone and slow boring, but I know what I like. 

Favorite album: Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version

Favorite song: Like Gold and Faceted

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: just the first album

437. Om

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(September 2022) Episode 437 is OM.  Call it stoner metal meditation music. It’s like an equal blend of Pink Floyd’s “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun,” Buddhist monk chanting, and Metallica’s “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth.”  Try it.

Favorite album: Pilgrimage

Favorite song: Flight of the Eagle

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: good for both background and foreground listening experiences

330. Sunn O)))

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(April 2021) Episode 330 is SUNN O))). If you prefer melody and beat in your music, avoid this band.  But if you like beautiful noise like I do, I strongly recommend Sunn O))).  It’s drone metal: slow, loud, deep, distorted guitars repeatedly being slow, loud, deep and distorted.  They sometimes add experimental elements, like monk-like chants, percussion, electronics, and are big on collaborations.

Favorite album: Flight of the Behemoth

Favorite song: Black Wedding

Compared to expectations: ↑

329. Hildur Guðnadóttir

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(April 2021) Episode 329 is HILDUR GUÐNADÓTTIR, a contemporary cellist and composer from Iceland.  Her neo-minimalist solo works are my favorite, but she is a frequent collaborator with a wide range of artists from electro-pop to drone metal. Guðnadóttir has focused on soundtracks recently, such as the Chernobyl miniseries and Joker (for which she won an Oscar).  One constant is that most everything in her music seems to resonate off the sober deep tone of a cello.

Favorite solo piece: Leyfðu Ljósinu 

Favorite collaborative album: In Transmediale  (with Angel)

Favorite soundtrack: Chernobyl

Compared to expectations: same

313. La Monte Young

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Episode 313 is LA MONTE YOUNG.  Inspired by Cage, he set out to question the definition and nature of music: one work is just pushing a piano against a wall. He deeply explored sustained tones — what was later dubbed drone music — which made him a pioneer in minimalism. Young also composed in just intonation, collaborated with Indian classical musicians, and did all sorts of avant-garde stuff with his Theater of Eternal Music and elsewhere.  

Favorite piece: Just Charles & Cello in The Romantic Chord

Compared to expectations: same

310. Éliane Radigue

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(January 2021) Episode 310 is ÉLIANE RADIGUE, a French composer of drone music featuring long sustained notes and harmonics. She was an experimental pioneer in tape, feedback and early synthesizers in the 1960s. She converted to Tibetan Buddhism in the 1970s, which influenced the tone and topic of her works. In the 21st Century she switched to composing for acoustic instruments exploring a variety of harmonic resonances.

Favorite piece: Kailasha

Favorite series: Adnos I-II-III

Compared to expectations: same

306. rhBand and Bloggs

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(December 2020) Episode 306 is RHBAND and BLOGGS, two projects of the California-based mysterious genius Ralph Haxton. These recordings, some exceedingly rare, are improvisational collages of acoustic sound textures using a variety of instruments and things.  I enjoyed this more than the last time I listened, which was years ago.

Favorite album: First Tone

Favorite song: Eagle Rock 28/12/1997

Compared to expectations: ↑