Long time No Speak

To be perfectly, genuinely honest, 2010 has kinda sucked so far. Sucked most of the ambition, motivation and energy out of me. I think these sorts of episodes are called 'learning experiences' -- I've been hit hard with arse-kicking learning experience after arse-kicking learning experience over the last four or five months.

It all culminated about two months ago when I unexpectedly lost my full-time job. One minute I was securely employed, the next I was flat broke with no source of income in sight. It was by far the shittiest situation I've ever been in. The last two months have been spent scrambling together enough money to cover expenses (the c*nt of an employer I worked for didn't even pay wages for the last three weeks my coworkers and I worked, let alone severance pay), joining the dole queue and job hunting. It's disappointing to be thrown into such chaos -- I've spent eight years forging some kind of career as a writer and editor, including undergraduate and postgraduate study, awful entry level positions and slowly climbing the so-called ladder to a position of slight autonomy. To lose control of that was anxiety-inducing, confusing, heartbreaking.

Through all of it I was thinking about this space. Part of me thought of it as the perfect opportunity to throw myself back into it. The other part couldn't even fathom the idea of listening to music -- writing about it was completely out of the question. I feel guilty for letting Drone fade into online obscurity, and I am hoping to pour more energy into the site now that things have calmed down (I have a job! An income! A career!). To be perfectly, genuinely honest though, I have a few other commitments pulling at the corners of my life right now: In a few weeks I'm going back to study, as well as working full-time. Drone will likely change a little bit -- to reflect the time constraints and my new academic pursuits. I see a strong connection between what I will be studying (history and philosophy) and the focus of this blog.

We'll talk soon -- I promise.

Beth

NEW AUTOLUX ALBUM

The long-awaited sophomore album from Autolux finally has a set in stone release date! Transit Transit will be launched August 2nd on ATP Recordings. The band have been collecting fans since the release of their faultless debut, Future Perfect, in 2004 -- many itching to hear new material.

Autolux has me completely hooked. Their crisp, bipolar, futurist ambience never gets tired. Future Perfect has had more spins on the player than I could begin to admit to. The leaked track from the new release, 'Audience No. 2,' is constantly rotating in my head. Check out the press release from ATP Recordings here for more information. I'll be marking the release date in my diary.

IOWA 7" LAUNCH; THE BLACK RYDER MELBOURNE SHOW; MISC

Hey there. It's been a while, hasn't it? During my self-imposed sabbatical I've been laying pretty low. Haven't been listening to much music actually; a little bit of Neil Young, more Iggy Pop, a dash of The Velvet Underground. I've been getting some affairs in order -- namely my impending trip to New York in August/September. Flights are booked, accommodation almost organised. Only a few months and I'll be seeing Iggy in the flesh.

This Friday I will most likely be attending this:


Local act Iowa are launching their rad-looking Green 7" at the Workers Club with some equally cool supports, Skull Squadron and Quiet The Few.

Iowa's music reminds me of late-80s proto-grunge; there's a thick seedy air permeating through each track. Take a listen for yourself here.


Saturday night, The Black Ryder are returning to Melbourne, playing a show at the Ding Dong Lounge with Three Month Sunset and Dreaming of Ghosts. Three of my favourite Australian acts -- what a lineup!

REVIEW: AUSTIN PSYCH FEST 3

by Bret Zausmer.

My ears have finally stopped ringing from Austin Psych Fest 3 this past weekend, and I wanted to share a little bit about it with y'all. Quick background - I am a 25 year old kid from Austin and have attended all three APFs. I have seen The Black Angels play down here for five years running and I've been a 13th Floor Elevators fan much longer than that. Lastly, I am not a writer nor was I sober for the festival, so please lower your expectations for this article immediately.

I was absolutely blown away by the turnout this year. Each day hundreds of people packed into Mohawk's two stages and upstairs patio to hear the tunes and drink some Lonestar. The crowd was really young too - further proof that psych rock is making a big comeback without the help of our nation's burnt out hippies.

Friday
The Black Angels' Christian Bland kicked off the festival with his side project, Christian Bland & The Revelators. Paranoid vocals and guitar riffs combined with fuzzy, droning reverb to create music that could've easily headlined a 1967 show at the Vulcan Gas Company. Their debut album will tentatively be released this summer - it cant come soon enough.

Afterwards, we immediately went outside to see the show stealers of the weekend, Warpaint. These beautiful women hypnotized the entire crowd and jammed out for a LONG time. I heard people talking about them for the rest of the weekend. I can't wait to see them again and ask one out to a nice dinner.

The Raveonettes were the last act on the main stage, and they can't seem to catch a break in Austin. They missed the Austin City Limits Festival last year cause of some visa problems, and then showed up minus two members for APF3. The goddamn unpronounceable European volcano was to blame. They still sounded pretty good, but I definitely felt we were missing out on the entire experience. I hope they'll come back soon.


Saturday
My day started off a little late with Telepathik Friend at 4:30pm. This group has a lot of potential and I look forward to following their progress. They are pretty raw right now, but their style is similar to The Psychic Ills.

Smoke & Feathers, and Headdress rocked the outside stage after Telepathik. I proceeded to blackout/time travel and find myself front and centre for Spindrift at 10pm. They amped up the massive crowd with their western showdown-style ballads and served as the perfect segue to The Black Angels.

That night we got to hear all ten songs from The Angels' new album Phosphene Dream, expected in July. I am an obviously biased Austinite, but I can't seem to find a better live music experience than The Black Angels. The new tracks sound amazing and seem to follow their unique formula - a nice mix of tribal, euphoric tunes like 'Entrance Song' and 'Yellow Elevator,' as well as the dark and dreary 'Haunting at 1300' and 'River of Blood.'

After the ten songs were done, we heard an encore which included 'You On The Run,' 'Black Grease,' and 'Science Killer.' Lead singer Alex Maas ended the show by mentioning the festival was a "dream come true." The crowd stuck around begging for another encore as I ran over to catch some of The Vandelles. They were great as always and my posse and I were off to 6th Street.

Sunday
Nursed the hangover with more beer while others took part in a crawfish boil. The Black Angels played a drone session for their second set at 7pm. We were treated to extended, droned out versions of 'Empire' and 'Surf City,' among others. For this set I brought my Nikon along and you can see some snaps I got here.


The Warlocks were up next and played a very solid set. 'Red Camera,' 'So Paranoid,' and 'Song for Nico' are absolute classics and we were lucky enough to hear all three. They mentioned how much fun they have coming to Austin, and I hope it stays that way. Immediately after The Warlocks, my liver failed and I was legally deaf; it was time to call the weekend to a close. I wish I could have heard every single band kind enough to travel down to Austin, but I'm sure they will all come back soon.

Psych Fest has grown exponentially these past three years and I can't wait to see what our hosts, The Reverberation Appreciation Society and The Black Angels, have in store next year. To everyone who wanted to come down but couldn't, I hope I offered a taste of how much fun everyone had. We'd love to have you in Austin for APF4 - if not before.

Thank you to Bret for generously sharing his images and insight on the weekend's events.

UNTITLED

Things are changing in my life. Maybe it's the mid-twenties crisis hitting home. It feels more like emancipation though.

I rid myself of practically all of my online presence apart from this space; I think it's called simplifying.

All I can listen to are Iggy Pop and Neil Young. Today I threw on some live Doors compilations for good measure. I've been writing about Abbie Hoffman and the '60s counterculture - so far I'm about 6000 words in - about 4500 of them unusable. I've had three epiphanies whilst putting my thoughts together.

So, what's next for this space?

Something is brewing... I'm just waiting for it to emanate. Stay tuned.

BK

STILL KICKING... (JUST PAUSING)

It's been a little quiet on the Drone page this week. I've been hibernating, really; formulating ideas for mammoth written pieces and drowning myself in literature (Brion Gysin's The Process has reappeared).

This weekend I'm going to get my arse into gear and finally sort out the next issue of the magazine.

Meanwhile, I'm on the diversification bandwagon - if any of you out there have some awesome writing projects you want a meek and moderately talented wordsmith to contribute to somehow, hook me up!

Cheerio,
BK

LIVE: AUSTIN PSYCH FEST, APRIL 23-25

By Beth Keating.

The reason I haven't written anything about the Austin Psych Fest line-up announcements, is because I really didn't think it was neccessary. Really, it's just relaying information I'm sure you're all already aware of.

Still. I just found out the tickets to this event are only $45. For three days. And for the opportunity to see bands like The Raveonettes, The Black Angels, Spindrift, The Meek, Golden Animals, The Vandelles and The Night Beats.

Visit the (incredible) website for more information.

VIVID LIVE: EVENTS

BORIS

Beautiful drone-makers, Boris are heading out to Australia as part of the Lou Reed-Laurie Anderson curated Vivid Live festival.

Taking place at The Studio, at The Sydney Opera House on May 28, tickets are only $35.

Last year's soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's film, The Limits of Control was a stand out release for the year, and amongst their prolifically released catalogue, Pink stands as an absolute melodic-drone opus. These guys will be incredible to see perform live.

LOU REED AND METAL MACHINE TRIO

Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music was famously labelled the one of the most unlistenable records ever made by Rolling Stone, and the greatest album ever recorded by Lester Bangs. Its release in 1975 alienated fans who'd latched onto his swaggering rock and roll persona on albums such as Transformer and Berlin. Basically a double album of sped up and slowed down feedback, the record was reviled by most, and passed off as a joke by others. Some thirty years later, the record has proved itself to be a seminal proto-noise piece, paving the way for genres such as industrial, metal and punk rock.

As part of his curation of the Vivid Live festival, Lou Reed will be performing as part of the Metal Machine Trio for one night only at the Opera Theatre in the Opera House, on May 30. Rather than a straight rendition of the controversial, if not seminal, album, Reed and company will be performing an inspired-by set, which takes influence from the thirty year old album. There will be no vocals, and no songs. Reed will take on the duties of guitar and electronics, while cohort Ulrich Kreiger (avant-garde composer) will perform tenor saxophone and live electronics. Completing the trio is Berlin-based electronic artist, Sarah Calhoun, processing and looping and experimenting with a continuum fingerboard.

More information, including tickets, is available at the Vivid Live website.

WIN! A COPY OF APTEKA 'TRAITORS' 7"

By Beth Keating.

NOTE: This competition has now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry.

Chicago-based band Apteka are doing pretty well for themselves. They're joining Serena Maneesh tomorrow night at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago (that's March 31 - hemispherean [real word?] time differences confuse me). And their song, Traitors, recently graced an episode of world-wide TV hit, CSI Miami. Good work, guys!

They recently released a divine-looking 7" of the track, and were generous enough to share a copy with Drone Magazine, which we're passing onto you! Want to win a copy (I'll even fork for postage and everything - regardless of where you're positioned in the world. That's how much I like you and Apteka)? Send an email to editor[at]dronemagazine.com, with APTEKA 7" COMP in the subject line, or something thereabouts.

Meanwhile, if you haven't already, seriously check these guys out.

NEW: THE PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDS OF SONIC CATHEDRAL

Have you heard about the Roky Erickson tribute album, being released by Sonic Cathedral yet? There are some pretty super contributors lending their talents and takes on the seminal psychedelic stalwart.

The tracklist goes something like this:


1. Roller Coaster - Roky Erickson & The Black Angels
2. Reverberation (Doubt) - The Strange Attractors
3. Don't Fall Down - All The Saints
4. Tried To Hide - A Place To Bury Strangers
5. Kingdom Of Heaven - Dead Meadow
6. She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own) - Darker My Love
7. Splash 1 (Now I'm Home) - Sarabeth Tucek
8. Fire Engine - Lower Heaven
9. Dr Doom - Hush Arbors
10. You Don't Love Me Yet - Cheval Sombre
11. I Love The Living You - Le Volume Courbe
12. Unforced Peace - Black Acid
13. Goodbye Sweet Dreams - I Break Horses

And track 10 features very special guest, Sonic Boom. And track 11, again, features very special guest, Kevin Shields.

The Psychedelic Sounds of Sonic Cathedral is set to be released on June 7.