Wyrm “Divination Bones / Adam Coils”
7″ vinyl, Drone Records, 2010
myspace.com/allanzane
The second-to-latest release on Drone Records (at least in the 7″ series) is by the project Wyrm, and instead of the colorful vinyl we’re just about accustomed to from this label, this time it’s an official picture disc. Wyrm is the current project of Allan Zane, whose previous project was one of the many Arcanum’s in the world of experimental music. He describes the sound as a construction of aural amalgamations of genres now often referred to as ‘dark ambient’ and experimental ‘electronica’, and listening to the uneasy sounds on this release, he is right. Both tracks are experiments in creepiness, layered upon subdued drones in a far distance. Where “Divination Bones” sounds a bit more organic, “Adam Coils” strengthens the ties to a surreal world by the heavy use of an ebow and repetitive structures. A couple extra notes on this release are that the picture disc actually contains demo versions, so a second edition has also been released, and Alan has released a deluxe box-set edition limited to seven copies and including many extras. [7/10]
Spiracle “Evestrum”
7″ vinyl, Drone Records, 2010
omnimemento.com/kojo/
Number 100 in the series of Drone 7″ releases is by the Japanese artist Hitoshi Kojo under the project name Spiracle. An unknown artist to me, but that has always been one of the great aspects of Drone Records: giving new and relatively unknown artists a platform for their sound art. On clear vinyl Hitoshi presents minimal drones built from dissonant sounds, but with his capability he manages to keep them ultra fragile and transparent. Because of this transparency and fragile touch, the packaging in gauze and wool turns out to be very properly imagined. Upcoming this month is a split collaboration with none other than toy.bizarre, so we’ve got something to look forward to. And if you can’t wait, the releases on Mystery Sea (2006) and taâlem (2007) might still be relatively easy to find. [7,5/10]
Now up towards the new series under the Drone flag! Whatever they may turn out to be…
— Bauke van der Wal