Released
1995
Label
Drone Records
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Contact
Stefan Knappe
Drone Records
Gneisenaustrasse 56
28201 Bremen
Germany
Last Edit/Update
02 september, 1998
Beequeen
SUMMER RAIN 7"EP
(second edition: 300 copies)
Track Listing
Side A
Singularity
Side B
Thunder Rain
Thunder Storm
Originally, Beequeen's Summer Rain 7"EP was the third
installment in the Drone Records series, but has since been issued in a
second edition. In this version the single is pressed on white vinyl, and comes in a
printed sleeve depicting a foggy forest scene. The three tracks on the single are truly
atmospheric, droning compositions, and as such Summer Rain is a good introduction
for anyone as yet unfamiliar with Drone Records' wonderful catalogue of
releases.
"Singularity," on Side A,
was recorded during an improvisation using a single piece of metal, the liner notes state,
and from this single source a world of sound has been extracted. The entire piece resounds
with a constant ringing beat that only at the very end falters, and lapses into a sequence
of tinkling and seemingly random impacts of varying intensity. Prior to this the metal has
been attacked with a drill -- or some such tool -- producing a grinding blanket of sound
that builds, and momentarily reaches a deafening level, before suddenly dying away
altogether. Considering its metallic origins, the piece is surprisingly soothing, and with
its sustained humming and rhythmic cadence has a certain hypnotic effect -- especially
when listened to repeatedly.
The two tracks on Side B have these
same qualities, although the sounds used in both cases are quite different. "Thunder
Rain" is a very subdued composition, featuring various clicking and rattling sounds
concealed within more dominant layers of tonal presence, which slowly drift and overlap
throughout the piece. "Thunder Storm," on the other hand, turns the potentially
disquieting grating and pulsing workings of heavy machinery into an equally harmonic
soundscape of rhythmic vibrations.
