By: Owen Coggins
Happy Canadian National Drone Day!
May 9th has been designated (by Wyrd Arts Initiative/Weird Canada) as Drone Day, in which to celebrate the monotonous and the meditative, the downtuned and dirgelike, whether overwhelmingly loud or at the unnerving edge of hearing, the endless hums at the foundation of music. As they claim,
‘For too long the drone has been overshadowed by the tyrants of melody and rhythm. We call upon all drones to come together as one massive drone. Spend this day listening to or making drone music’.
If you’re in Canada, their site has links to all manner of droney events all across the country from Yellowknife to Iqaluit to St John’s to Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. And if you’re not, there’s still a variety of streaming goodness to be had there instead.
And on that (long, unchanging) note, here’s some of the best of Canada’s dronemerchants:
Gates is a Toronto-based project using field recordings and minimal, spacious arrangements to explore the intricacies of the unhurried unfurling of low tones.
Described in these pages as ‘drone filth spewed from a bewitched demon hurdy-gurdy,’ Montreal’s Menace Ruine mix black metal, folk and experimental drones to create a completely unique sound that can be simultaneously terrifying and intimate.
Fellow Quebecers Aun blend an occultish mix of razor-edged drone riffs and more shimmering psychedelic patterns on recent album VII.
The endlessly prolific duo Nadja, based between Toronto and Berlin, are amongst the best-known Canadian drone. Their 2007 hour-long track Thaumogenesis remains a highpoint.
Last year’s album Bring Down the Sky by Northumbria received a lot of deserved critical acclaim for its expansive, resonant shifts between clouds and sunshine
Also from Ontario, the screeches and groans emitted from Knurl’s homemade scrap metal instruments might veer more towards harsh noise than drone, but a similar immersion in texture and tone can be achieved through these long brain-flossing pieces.
Drone on!
