Psychedelic Drone
RIYL: A Silver Mt. Zion, Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor
There is something to be said for a musician who is capable of captivating an audience within the first four bars of a movement. Patkus and Magaziner prove to be two musicians who are swooners of the ear. While Patkus appears on all projects, this two-track aptly dubbed 10.29.17, is the third feature appearance of Magaziner.
Now, it is unclear who is who, what’s very ear-catching are the choices here. The first song is “Diamond Bop Kaballah,” which appears to be a debut song in Patkus’s catalog. There is terrific interplay here, as the guitar and viola swirl around one another. It’s as if their strings are lamenting as they ruminate around the movements. It’s been alleged they are wanting to include some more stringed instruments within their tracks, although they have stated they can’t play any other instruments all that well, so they were going to look into the likes of cello rentals to experiment with some other sounds and see how it turns out. It would be interesting to see what the outcome could be.
The song, as well as it’s follow up, “Alyosha pt. III” carry such intense emotion. Even the light, initial strums, help suspend the impending ebb and flow. As the music continues to build, it shifts and evolves before breaking out into a push-pull bombast.
There is an inherent chaos at work as each song grow and build. While others might mid-handle this marriage of sound, Patkus and Magaziner handle it with precision. Amongst the handful of releases, it seems as if the music made between the two has such deep emotion to it. It’s no wonder it translates so well to the recorded form.
Ultimately, if you are willing to explore a little deeper, sometimes drone bands can surprise you. While drone rock might be akin to post-rock, there are significant differences. Patkus and Magaziner, also seem to rewrite the definitions of drone music rather handily with this release. It should also be noted that this is the second group from Philly this week. While this is merely a coincidence, it’s rad too!
