The Dead Refrain - "The Red Remains" (2011)

Fellow Pittsburgh musician/artist, Joe Mruk, has followed up his killer EP, The Wallpaper Voyage, with another homey yet quality EP, The Red Remains. Hailing from Arizona, Mruk brings a distinct vintage western feel to the table of the saloon. Lyrics are real as whiskey on a fire: "Well she don't believe in God, but she still needs someone to answer to the folks put in their caskets, to the carnage and the cancer." Mruk has a knack for keeping songs non-trite by utilizing unexpected chord changes. From spur-stompin' rhythms to sentimental finger picking selections, the instrumentation is broad, the song-writing: personal and aspiring. Beware Bon Iver, The Dead Refrain is on his way.

The Red Remains

Black Eagle Child / Thoughts On Air - "Split" (2010)

Black Eagle Child and Thoughts On Air celebrate all that is D R O N E music with unpolished production, acoustic guitars, and sparse tribal percussion. The sounds found here have ritualistic leanings and are at times, pure bliss with Black Eagle Child's side resounding beautifully and proudly. And Thoughts On Air plays true to his moniker creating breathtaking, meandering vibrations of silky psychedelic fuzz. Do not miss out on this one.

Split

Raksha Mancham - "Phyidar" (1992)

Released in 1992, Phyidar is a compilation of Raksha Mancham's first three vinyls, plus extra songs. Rooted in Buddhist influences, this could be considered tribal drone - widely experimenting in ethnic sounds and styles. Poetry is recited over more modern guitar. Chants, moans, shouts, breaths, repetitive primal beats, and other ancient bellows and lyres transcend the listener to a proverbial time of solemn myth.

OMMMMMM

Earth - "The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull" (2008)

Earth writes some of the heaviest, back-breaking drone/doom around but if you haven't been paying attention for awhile, their last few albums have opted for a less-distorted, mellower approach. That isn't to say that their latest releases haven't been heavy; quite the contrary... The Bees Made Honey is one of the heaviest albums I've ever heard. Earth combines desert drone with the desolate atmosphere of some kind of post-rock, and creates one of the loneliest instrumental masterpieces of all time. Images of dusty highways bordered by long-forsaken boomtowns vividly come to mind when listening to this release, that only more solidifies Earth's key place in music history.

The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull

Grouper - "Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill" (2008)

Grouper's Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill is one of my favorite albums ever. Its beautiful, haunting melodies will sweep you away in a buzzing wave of bleak vibrations and reverb. Perfect for any emotion, any weather or season.

Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill