Drums and Drones: Decade
Brian Chase
Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, NYC experimental music scene) presents Drums and Drones: Decade, a 144 page book and triple album. This collection covers the first ten years of Drums and Drones, Brian's solo project which expands upon classic Minimalist and Sound Art practices. The project takes initial inspiration from La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela's legendary Dream House installation in NYC and applies many of its concepts to drums and electronics. Presentations of Drums and Drones have occurred nationally and internationally including those at such notable venues and events as Fridman Gallery's New Ear Festival (SoHo), Museum of Contemporary Art (Melbourne), X Avant Festival (Toronto), Constellation (Chicago), and 24 Hour Drone Festival at Basilica (Hudson, NY).
Included in this package:
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three CDs with the albums Drums and Drones I (2013), Drums and Drones II: Ataraxia (2015), and Drums Drones III: Acoustic (2017)
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a download card for all of the music
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extensive liner notes detailing creative process, compositional methods and personal reflections with attention towards a notion of meditative listening
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many images of the project's collaboration with two leading NYC video artists
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an essay on Just Intonation, the tuning system that is the basis for this music
"ever-so-quietly groundbreaking" - mxdwn.com
a sampler ten of thirty tracks
digital downloads of all three albums available at
Selected book excerpts:
On Drums and Drones: Decade -
"Drums and Drones: Decade has it all: the meditational qualities of the drones, the textures of the drums, the details of what's behind-the-scenes. . . that this project fluidly morphs into something educational, something inspired, something ever-so-quitely groundbreaking." - Vanessa Phan, mxdwn.com
"Spread across the three CDs are luscious laboratory experiments in listening to stretched skins, wooden vessels and metallic surfaces. . . . Continually, he is immersed in his methods, gauging subtle inflections in frequency, density and transmission. The accompanying hardback book contains a wealth of procedural information[,] personal thoughts and video stills, making Drums & Drones an indispensable statement on how drummers hear sound."
- Phillip Brophy, The Wire
On the debut Drums and Drones album included as Drums and Drones I in this collection -
"This stuff will put your brain into another space, and frankly, recordings that can reliably do that don't come down the pike every day." - Bruce Russell, The Wire
Drums and Drones is the solo project of Brian Chase, drummer for rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs and NYC’s experimental music scene. Inspired initially by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela’s legendary Dream House installation, the Drums and Drones project aims to evoke meditative qualities through the use of resonant tones and sonic subtleties derived from drums and percussion.
Culminating a ten year period, the 2018 release of Drums and Drones: Decade is a triple album/book that captures the essence of the project in sound/image/text. The three albums, dating from 2013, 2015, and 2017, reflect the project’s development and the evolution of its core themes: attention to sound as a purely physical element (as distinct from metaphor) and its impact on the listening process. The images are culled from collaborations with two leading NYC video artists who have been an integral part of Drums and Drones performance. The text is largely based on extensive liner notes to the three albums which describe the personal, conceptual, and technical story of Drums and Drones; an essay on Just Intonation, the tuning theory which is the basis for all compositions here, is included as well.
Drums and Drones began in 2007 for a concert at John Zorn’s venue The Stone and had its debut album release in 2013 (which is reissued in this collection). Since then, there have been numerous performances including those at X Avant Festival (Toronto), the 24 Hour Drone Festival at Basilica (Hudson, NY), and the New Ear Festival (Fridman Gallery, NYC). This triple album/book - 3 CDs with download code included within a 5”x7” 144 page book - is the first release on Brian’s label Chaikin Records.
Other Drums and Drones releases:
- The debut Drums and Drones album, a CD/DVD, on Al Margolis's Pogus Productions, which features videos to all ten tracks by video artists Ursula Scherrer and Erik Zajaceskowski. 2013.
- A two track 7" on Angus Tarnawsky's In Context Music. 2013
- Beautiful LP of Drums and Drones II recorded in 2015 at Headlands Center for the Arts and features artwork by Desirée Holman. Available from In Context Music. 2018.
