droning
I don't know when the drone became a part of music. I have held up my end of the bargain and looked at Wikipedia for answers but didn't bother to really read it all that much. My familiarity with sustained tones and tone clusters stems from a place it probably did for many: John Cale and the Velvet Underground. While there are hints of this in the singing traditions of Old Regular Baptists and probably a countless number of other indigenous musics, perhaps the most famous and brilliant example in the modern age of rock and pop music is the song “Heroin”.
If you haven't heard the song I suggest you take a listen. I do feel obligated before you embark to warn you that the song may be as addictive as its namesake. The two volleying chords played on guitar, fighting for supremacy while a single, sustained viola tone acts as a binding agent (in combination with a heartbeat like drum pattern and alternating tempo) is a fine example of the conscious effort to recreate a physical and psychological experience. You feel as euphoric and intense as if you've shot up, yourself (I'm guessing). It is a wonderful piece made all that much more euphoric and unsettling by the constant battering of the singular note. The perfection of his drone technique makes me question how Cale was able to continue along the same musical school of thought so long after the records were pressed. When I drifted away from the Velvet Underground, the drone stayed behind to the point where I had pretty much forgotten about it. We all know what happens when you forget about things.
While I have been a big fan of Spencer Krug since first hearing the Wolf Parade EP, I must admit that I wasn't sure about his influences. Some groups are easy to peg, but Krug has meandered around genres, dabbled in abstract lyrics and made himself difficult to call a replication. I am convinced that while I can't prove Wolf Parade was influenced by Percy Grainger (a half thought out hypothesis), I suspect full well that there is some John Cale in Spencer Krug.
The song, performed by Sunset Rubdown is called "Us Ones in Between". Like in “Heroin”, there is a balancing act between a limited chord structure (played on a piano) and a set of tones sustained for pretty much the duration of the song. There is a little more flexibility in both respects: Krug employs some actual progressions and the drone follows those progressions to avoid any unbearable dissonance. This may technically exclude this song from having true droning qualities (I’d have to re-read the Wikipedia article to be sure), but the idea cannot be overlooked. Unlike the sweet but violent sound of the viola, the drone is played out on a guitar distorted to sound like the ghosts that are referenced so frequently in the first Wolf Parade LP. In many ways, the sustain has a more up-front role with "Us Ones In Between". It slips in almost unnoticed like its predecessor, but it gets pumped up to volumes that make it completely overbearing before fading back away to nothing.
I've thought a lot about what "Us Ones in Between" means musically. For me, it shows a nod to a process. While the process of playing one note uninterrupted for four minutes alone is rather unartistic in itself, it can clearly have artistic applications. There is something exciting that happens when you extend, when you push something to the limits of listenability. Musicians and composers have been aware of these implications for a long time. I don't want to say that Krug's implementation of the drone is in as pure a form as Cale's, but that's where musical exploration gets exciting again. You have to find the limits in order to reign it in and manipulate it to the desired effect. That constant darting out in front and then falling back in with the crowd while exhausting, leads sometimes to some of the most beloved contributions to the collective conscious.
If you haven't heard the song I suggest you take a listen. I do feel obligated before you embark to warn you that the song may be as addictive as its namesake. The two volleying chords played on guitar, fighting for supremacy while a single, sustained viola tone acts as a binding agent (in combination with a heartbeat like drum pattern and alternating tempo) is a fine example of the conscious effort to recreate a physical and psychological experience. You feel as euphoric and intense as if you've shot up, yourself (I'm guessing). It is a wonderful piece made all that much more euphoric and unsettling by the constant battering of the singular note. The perfection of his drone technique makes me question how Cale was able to continue along the same musical school of thought so long after the records were pressed. When I drifted away from the Velvet Underground, the drone stayed behind to the point where I had pretty much forgotten about it. We all know what happens when you forget about things.
While I have been a big fan of Spencer Krug since first hearing the Wolf Parade EP, I must admit that I wasn't sure about his influences. Some groups are easy to peg, but Krug has meandered around genres, dabbled in abstract lyrics and made himself difficult to call a replication. I am convinced that while I can't prove Wolf Parade was influenced by Percy Grainger (a half thought out hypothesis), I suspect full well that there is some John Cale in Spencer Krug.
The song, performed by Sunset Rubdown is called "Us Ones in Between". Like in “Heroin”, there is a balancing act between a limited chord structure (played on a piano) and a set of tones sustained for pretty much the duration of the song. There is a little more flexibility in both respects: Krug employs some actual progressions and the drone follows those progressions to avoid any unbearable dissonance. This may technically exclude this song from having true droning qualities (I’d have to re-read the Wikipedia article to be sure), but the idea cannot be overlooked. Unlike the sweet but violent sound of the viola, the drone is played out on a guitar distorted to sound like the ghosts that are referenced so frequently in the first Wolf Parade LP. In many ways, the sustain has a more up-front role with "Us Ones In Between". It slips in almost unnoticed like its predecessor, but it gets pumped up to volumes that make it completely overbearing before fading back away to nothing.
I've thought a lot about what "Us Ones in Between" means musically. For me, it shows a nod to a process. While the process of playing one note uninterrupted for four minutes alone is rather unartistic in itself, it can clearly have artistic applications. There is something exciting that happens when you extend, when you push something to the limits of listenability. Musicians and composers have been aware of these implications for a long time. I don't want to say that Krug's implementation of the drone is in as pure a form as Cale's, but that's where musical exploration gets exciting again. You have to find the limits in order to reign it in and manipulate it to the desired effect. That constant darting out in front and then falling back in with the crowd while exhausting, leads sometimes to some of the most beloved contributions to the collective conscious.
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