Brian Chase – Drums & Drones

Brian-Chase_Drums-&-Drones

Pogus, CD+DVD, ASIN: B00BCNWPIY, 2013

Brian Chase, the drummer for the Yeah-Yeah-Yeahs band has accurately titled this release, which explores the type of drones produced by drums tuned to specific pitches, before processing them with computer and loudspeakers. He explores the so-called “just intonation” tuning theory based on overtones, initially inspired by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela’s “Dream House” installation in New York. The vibrating surfaces become a whole territory ready to be explored using the composer’s own intriguing systems, in which the proximity of microphones plays an important role. The sounds are recurring and departing, entering very different acoustic realms. The whole album can be enjoyed both as audio, or audio-video: Ursula Scherrer and Erik Z have realized minimal and abstract videos that can be enjoyed on the attached DVD. Two of those videos are in color (“A cymbal drone” and “Drum state of mind, v.2”) and have a color palette, some “material textures” and a constant blur that give them a visual aspect that dates back a few decades. The other videos are in black and white and are populated by fairly primary forms, moving in unison and filling the screen as if following an invisible grid. All the videos share an oneiric feeling, visually relating to something in between abstraction and reality. What emerges then is the contemplative characteristics of the sounds, reinforced by their respective animations, creating a perfect symbiosis and reflecting the compositional qualities connected with visual and emotional consequences.

Brian Chase – Drums & Drones