William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops (2002-2003)

During the summer of 2001, prolific ambient composer Basinski attempted to transfer recordings he had made in the 1980s from magnetic tape to digital; as they slowly crumbled in the machine, he recorded what came out, and it's bloody (albeit accidental) brilliance. Basinski claims to have finished the project on the morning of 9/11, and he sat listening to the material on the roof of his NY apartment building with friends as the Towers collapsed around him. Whether you believe this story or not is a moot point; just listen to four albums worth of absolute pleasure.


The Disintegration Loops I
The Disintegration Loops II
The Disintegration Loops III
The Disintegration Loops IV

Kyle Bobby Dunn - Rural Routes No. 2 (2010)

Combining elements of drone with neo-classical, New York-based Canadian composer Kyle Bobby Dunn manages to craft an extremely interesting little album. Clocking in at just over 20 minutes long, it always leaves you wanting more. Oh, and he's only two years older than me - fuck my life!

Kyle Bobby Dunn - Rural Routes No. 2 (2010)

Aix Em Klemm - Aix Em Klemm (2000)

Hey kids, I know the weekend's here, but are you ready for some fun musical maths? Good.

Q: ½ of Stars Of The Lid + ⅓ Labradford = what?

A: Droney goodness that you need in your life NOW.

Aix Em Klemm - Aix Em Klemm (2000)

Celer - Brittle (2009)

Drone comes in all shapes and disguises: you got your ambient drone, your metal drone, your folk drone, your jazz drone, your country and western drone, and your bog standard funk disco galactic drone. It's a word bandied round more often than the village strumpet. Cus Pip is trying to make me put up hip hop as it's hip hop week, I'm saying this track is hip hop drone. It's not, but sometimes if you lie, he doesn't notice.

This is one track, 75 minutes or so long, with 8 different 'pieces' melded together. Give it a few listens and you can sort of discern where one ends and another begins, but don't raise your expectations too high. I don't think Celer ever heard that variety is the spice of life... Also, if you squint your ears, you can also hear traditional hip hop beats and MCing *wink wink*

I'm not saying that this is 'good' or 'great', or that it's complex, unique, jaw-dropping or anything like that, because it's not. For a listen or two it's a bit like wading through hip-high mud, or trying to actually like Jane Austen, but you gotta stop fighting it. Accept it for what it is, and it actually becomes pretty sweet.

Celer - Brittle (2009)

Blizz