That’s a wrap (sort of…)
Well friends, we did it. We made it through 113 Kevin Drumm releases. You may be asking “why?” or “how did we get here?” or “we did what now?” Let’s discuss.
As a reminder, this all started because I bought the entire Kevin Drumm catalogue on Bandcamp a few years ago. And I’ll be honest with you, I originally thought it might be a long-playing and annoying joke, amusing perhaps only me. See, I knew of a few Kevin Drumm releases and they were all of the loud noise variety, so I thought I might be getting a bunch of harsh sounds that I would ultimately end up saying the same things about over and over. Hilarious, right? Well, if you’ve followed along with all these diary entries, you’ve read about the wide variety of sounds and compositions, so the joke’s on me, I guess. But that’s OK as it is ultimately a win for my music collection.
What have I learned, aside from the fact that Kevin Drumm does not just do harsh noise? I learned it’s not the Kevin Drumm, it’s the friends we made along the way. No, that’s not it. What I learned is that the Kevin Drumm was inside of us the whole time. Wait. Actually, I learned there’s lots of great and interesting music that KD has produced, and even if you might disagree with my “m” ratings (patent pending) on any particular release, you’ll ultimately be rewarded by exploring widely into his canon.
And, hey, I also learned three mysteries of Bandcamp while exploring this catalogue:
- Sometimes your phone may reveal extra tracks for an album that don’t appear when you look at it on your computer. (#74)
- Sometimes an album will appear in your Collection but there won’t be any way to play it. (#90)
- Sometimes the music you buy is only available to hear through your phone, not your computer. (#107 below)
If you’ve taken this journey along with me, I’d like to say “thank you.” Where do we go from here? Well, I’m leaving, completely voluntarily, to pursue other opportunities and spend more time with my family. But you know what? That Kevin Drumm is nothing if not prolific; he’s probably released 113 more records while I was doing this, so I guess I’ll have to continue to dip back in to his catalogue now and then. Stay tuned…
#113
“090613NY”
This is another piece that, like so many, took me on a little imaginary trip. It starts off inside, where I’m hearing some low-level bass sounds through the wall. Eventually step outside to explore and I’m drawn to the cicadas singing in the trees. Slowly an alien presence materializes as I’m ultimately lifted into the sky and, eventually, beyond gravity. My peaceful amazement is harshly interrupted as I’m back on the forest floor, shocked by the machines grinding down the trees. What an adventure; was it all a dream?
Rating: Kevin Drummmmm
#112
“Accelerate”
One of the shorter releases in the discography, “Accelerate” flies by in under 10 minutes. The majority sounds like bacon frying, or rain or, now that I think about it, maybe bacon frying in the rain. There are some vague ghost and wind sounds on occasion, and the track runs out with some minimalist sparks and clicks. One of the items used to create all this is a “wonky piezo” which, in this case, I’m guessing is some sort of pickup for the “ugliest guitar in the world” (also used here and likely pictured on the cover).
Rating: Kevin Drummm
#111
“Freedom From Tape”
This was originally released on the Freedom From label on cassette; thus, the title. What you have here are two tracks with Swedish names that ultimately boil down to the master in his workspace. It’s a comfortably paced walk through a huge forest of noise elements, from subtle, barely there hum up through moments of loud harsh rules. Even though the notes indicate it was “recorded direct to cassette” (so, presumably, one live take) at times it has the feel of an edited sound collage. One of the tracks translates to “Just a Collection of Sounds;” I’d say that word “just” undersells it a bit.
Rating: Kevin Drummmmm
#110
“Live at the Rhiz, Vienna May 2007”
The story goes that Kevin’s “flight case disappeared” so he had to borrow a couple pedals from Christian Fennesz for this live performance. As the old saying goes, “when life give you lemons, make noise using equipment belonging to Christian Fennesz;” I may be off a word or two, but I think that’s the gist. In any case, lots of fast sounding bass static that has a real energy about it.
Rating: Kevin Drummmm
#109
“Live at the Skate Bowl. Hyde Park 2000”
It took a few minutes and a quick internet search for me to get oriented on this one. But once I understood what was going on, the awesomeness was revealed. That picture on the cover art is an art installation by the duo SIMPARCH called Free Basin. Think of it as the underside of an empty wooden swimming pool where, up above, it’s being used by skaters. Kevin must have performed his piece “underneath” because throughout you can hear the somewhat muted sound of skateboards; it’s almost like the wood is acting as an independent sound modification tool.
For his part, Kevin created higher toned drone sounds that were mostly present in some form throughout. He also added lots of other sporadic sounds you’d probably expect – static, bangs, feedback, scraping, etc. – that reacted to or meshed with the skaters. Add to that the sounds from the room, like voices reacting to the music or what was transpiring above (or sometimes just chatting), and it makes a fascinating mix. It’s an exciting interactive performance and really struck a chord.
Rating: Kevin Drummmmm
#108
“Syzygial”
That harsh noise we love so well. Here’s a half hour visiting a violent ocean of electricity and static. It eases up occasionally, but always comes back to the noise. And a few times down in the mix – what’s that? – could be voices, music, or the groaning hull of a ship. This one hit me just right. Sublime.
Rating: Kevin Drummmmm
#107
“Live in Portland, Yale Union -daniel mench…”
OK, a few oddities on this one. First, this is my third “inexplicable laws of Bandcamp” discovery. This track (and the remaining releases I’ll be reviewing through #113 in this series) is not available in my collection through my computer, but only through my phone. (The other two incidents of Bandcamp weirdness you can find in entries #074 and #090 on this page.) Next oddity is the title, but this seems to be a collaboration between KD and Daniel Menche, who I know little about other than he seems to be musical fellow traveler with Drumm. There’s really no detail provided on the release page, other than this is a remix.
So, how does it sound, you ask? In a word, reallygood. It’s a relatively short track in Kevin’s catalogue at under 17 minutes, but it slowly moves the entire time. Starting with a single drone and adding sounds along the way, ending on some higher pitched notes. Mostly I’d call it machine drone, but that may be underselling it. However, it came together, it’s well done.
Rating: Kevin Drummmm
#106
“More (Sunday Stuff)”
This is like spending time in church, especially if the organist was playing the coolest hymns ever. This is another long track, but it is broken down into several sections. Each section has a slightly different feel, but all feature (in some capacity) low hum, drones, and, importantly, what could be a pipe organ playing slow notes. It was even released on a Sunday. Amen, brother.
Rating: Kevin Drummmm
#105
“Another Odyssey of Waiting”
Despite the “scary” cover art and the possible stress Kevin was feeling when this was recorded (at “Academic Bureacracy Is Keeping Me From Sleeping studio” – so stressed he left out a “u”), this is mostly a pleasant, relatively mellow drone piece. The drones constantly shift and wash over each other. There is one slight change after about half an hour, where the drones fade out and come right back with a bit more intensity; it changes the ambiance a bit but it’s by a matter of degrees.
Rating: Kevin Drummmm
#104
“Shut In-etc”
Two lovely tracks of mostly bass drones, with a few extras down in the mix. Sometimes we can have nice things.
Rating: Kevin Drummmm
#103
“Irradiate”
Coincidentally, this reminds me a lot of the last piece I listened to (see #102 below). And it must be coincidence since this was released about two years earlier than “Blocking.” This is a long track of airplane engine drone, of which Kevin suggests “Lights off. Try to Relax. Sleep if you can.” I didn’t try to sleep to this because I’m way too hyped up on sweet tea right now, but if you are the type of person who can sleep on a plane, I say go for it. As for me, I’m wondering if all this is a sign that there’s travel in my future.
Rating: Kevin Drummm
#102
“Blocking”
The “Blocking” title may refer to trying to block out the heavy turbulence on the flight where this was recorded. Knowing that background, it may not be unexpected that this long piece features airplane engine hum for the duration. It blends in some drones (sometimes way down in the mix, sometime on an equal footing with the engines) and an occasional, really drawn our single bass note. It all seems like a good distraction, and I may queue it up to give another listen next time I’m on a bumpy flight.
Rating: Kevin Drummmmm
#101
“Crooked Abode”
I think what we have here is a drone symphony in four movements. It’s posted as one thirty-minute track but it has distinct sections. The first part features those alien/metallic drones, followed by a section with more acoustic/wind sounding waves, and then a third section where it’s a more machine generated sound. It’s all quite intense. The final five minutes or so seem like all the prior base sounds are being used in some form and offers an uplifting release to the whole piece. Please hold your applause to the end.
Rating: Kevin Drummmm
#100
“Live Last Week”
This long piece starts somewhat serenely, with some slightly higher pitched and short metallic drones rolling in slowly like waves at some alien seashore. After a bit, you hear an occasional unexpected noise that suggest all will not stay calm. And, indeed, as we get to the latter sections there is a consistent heavy bass buzz, although you can vaguely make out some other sounds underneath. Overall, though, the second half is pretty relentless noise.
Rating: Kevin Drummm
#099
“Final Protracted Spillings (Vol?)”
Somnambulant to hopeful is the short journey here. Both tracks feature quiet-ish overlapping, mostly lower-register hums and drones. The first is slow and slightly unemotional. What sounds like pipe organ enters during the second song, and while the music is still taking its time, it elevates some positive feelings.
Rating: Kevin Drummmm
#098
“Horror of Birth”
I was distracted at times by headphone issues, and was knee deep into an oud bruin, so that’s where my head was at while listening to this one. Two tracks of fuzzy static based noise, and they were both fine. A slow burn.
Rating: Kevin Drummm
#097
“Land of Lurches”
This one gave me feeling a slight discomfort throughout its run time. Track “1” starts with an ominous approaching machine, mixes with radio tuning signals, and eventually all gets thrown into the furnace and is consumed by the fire. Throw in a little spacey vibe over that at the end for good measure. “2” starts with (maybe) sewer sounds and would be almost humorous except for the reoccurring screaming in the noisy background. It eventually “calms” down to the sound of monsters or animals – take your pick. The last track is the sound of a spaceship in the jungle, although the ever-present machines assert themselves again at the end. Uneasy listening.
Rating: Kevin Drummm