Sustain on the brain

>> Nadja’s Aidan Baker
reports from the drone zone

LONE TONERS: Nadja

By JOHNSON CUMMINS

Although drone music, built on single, sustained tones, is common to most primitive cultures, minimalist composers like Terry Riley and La Monte Young, as well as pop artists like the Beatles and the Velvet Underground, revived it and explored its possibilities for Western culture in the 1960s. More recently, ambient metal band Sunn O))) once again popularized drones in the experimental rock context.

Toronto duo Nadja’s style of ambient drone hits you like a ton of bricks, but instead of collapsing under the weight of their own heaviosity, the pair—guitarist, singer and composer Aidan Baker and bassist/singer Leah Buckareff—are able to express emotions far beyond simple despair and angst. Prior to the duo’s appearance at the fourth Under the Snow fest, the Mirror asked Baker, who formed Nadja in 2003, to give us a primer on this drone thing so we can impress our friends at cocktail parties. Here’s his list of key recordings:

Brian Eno Ambient 1: Music for Airports (Polydor, 1978): “Eno intended for this music to be relegated to the background, encouraging the listener to become attuned to his or her surroundings.”

Glenn Branca Symphony No. 6 (Devil Choirs at the Gates of Heaven) (Atavist Records, 1989): “Along with fellow New Yorker Rhys Chatham, Branca explores the microtonal via massed amounts of guitars. Performers in his ‘guitar orchestras’ included youthful members of Sonic Youth, Helmet and the Swans.”

My Bloody Valentine Loveless (Sire, 1991): “The pinnacle of shoegazer music, this is an album of swirling, cascading, shimmering, droning guitar pop. Few people realize, though—unless they’ve seen them live—that My Bloody Valentine could also be extremely heavy.”

Earth Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version (Sub Pop, 1993): “Possibly the first ‘drone doom’ album and the model—so they’ve said themselves—for Sunn 0))). Without Earth 2, drone metal wouldn’t be what it is today.”

Coil Time Machines (Eskaton, 1998): “Formed by members of Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, this is full of heavy, throbbing synth tones designed, according to the liner notes, to facilitate time travel and/or hallucinogenic voyages.”

With Dog Bless You, Aidan Baker and
Thisquietarmy at Casa del Popolo tonight,
Thursday, March 6, 9 p.m., $10

>> Highlights at the the fourth
Under the Snow festival

By JOHNSON CUMMINS

Montreal’s annual Under the Snow festival proves to be well out of the teething stage, and the upcoming weekend of indie rock and beyond gets more eclectic, challenging and progressive with each passing year. Along with the doom drones of Toronto duo Nadja, UTS offers some of the most cutting-edge artists from the experimental noise, jazz, ambient and psychedelic scenes. There’s a lot to take in over the fest’s four days, but the Mirror’s got ya covered with a short list of must-sees.

Slow Six: String sections and gently strummed arpeggios from quiet guitars melt into each other while rich harmonics take over for a truant vocal. Fans of godspeed’s less bombastic moments, or the wide panorama Mono were able to weave on their epic You Are There, are sure to find some gold here. With Ensemble, O. at Casa del Popolo, Friday, March 7, 9 p.m., $10

Sharko: They’re probably the most traditional rockers amid this year’s line-up, but these Belgians hardly play it safe. Singer David Bartholomé’s shaky, wounded vocals, squeezing out lyrics from an open diary, will test any stiff upper lip. Warning: noiseniks, jazzbos, psych-heads and other pop-o-phobes may want to avoid. With Voilà, Adam Bentley at Divan Orange, Friday, March 7, 9 p.m., $10

Voilà: These Montrealers experiment with cabaret sounds and world music, letting their songs obscure their destinations in favour of just taking in the scenery along the way. With Sharko, Adam Bentley at Divan Orange, Friday, March 7, 9 p.m., $10

La Otracina: One of the biggest surprises of the festival, la Otracina share a lot of traits with their label-mates Mammatus and feature echo-laden, manipulated guitars set to a ’70s prog backdrop. Think Red-era King Crimson meets Pink Floyd’s Saucerful of Secrets, so don’t forget to pack the spliffs before you worship these riffs. With Mouthus, Axolotl, Panopticon Eyelids at la Sala Rossa on Saturday, March 8, 9 p.m., $12

Mouthus: Probably the most hyped act of the festival, this New York band let the blips and bleeps provoke and poke while playing tourguide to dementia. Fans of Sightings and other trance-state noiseniks, take notice. With La Otracina, Axolotl, Panopticon Eyelids at la Sala Rossa on Saturday, March 8, 9 p.m., $12