Harvest

Holy shit, Fedora Corpse strikes gold again. Plante is the drone project of Andrew Plante, guitarist and effects mastermind from the metal group Shroud of Winter (on A-file Feb/March '12 too!). It's based around his guitar playing, and it's one that draws on deep musical talent and incorporates many deliberate structures within it; you won't get any calls about the transmitter being off from this one. Heavily influenced by nature, this is a beautiful, haunting release that you are obligated not to miss. If you've never played a drone record before, put this in after a post-rock song or two and go from there.

RIYL: drone, KFJC, Comoros, Sonic Meditations label
Play em all

A1 (4:02) Striking guitar chimes open, providing a heavily effected musical pattern. Big Western-tinged lonely, spacey notes carry the track; there's an air of darkness but it's never too foreboding, and doesn't sound like the same old post-apocalyptic drone. Very cool.

A2 (6:43) Fast opening, must be the drone equivalent of shredding. Big, crunching waves of guitar wash into the foreground. It's not exactly the same but I think fans of Carlton Melton will appreciate this one– I keep expecting to hear pounding drums join in. They don't, but that allows Plante's guitar to shine even more, with hints of a melody at times. A metallic, spacy riff shows up near the end.

B1 (4:39) Searching guitars weave in and out of a growing and fading hum; searing and hopeful. You might be hard-pressed to guess this is a full guitar track with the amount of synth qualities that the effects lend. A few really haunting moments are expertly, sparsely placed; sit back and see where this one takes you.

B2 (8:09) Pretty guitar opening that sounds like piano, which is quickly joined by more big electric waves. This guy could probably be the best post-rock band in the world all by himself if he wanted to, but he doesn't. More metal-influenced patterns constantly build as the hushed pianoesque tones gently guide things along until they're obscured– this is unreal, an early frontrunner for track of 2012, and a must-play on your show.