Kevin Drumm — Wrong Intersection

Handmade Birds imprint presents Wrong Intersection by Kevin Drumm. Kevin Drumm is a long-running experimental musician, hailing from the windy city. He’s been releasing solo and collaborative output since the late 90’s, working with such artists as: Jim O’Rourke, Prurient, and Aaron Dilloway. This full-length CD, released in 2014, is my first foray into the artist’s work. It is to my surprise that I’ve managed to make it this far into my avant garde, musical vocabulary without having crossed paths with Mr. Drumm yet, but Wrong Intersection is as good a place as any to start.

Wrong Intersection is one, long massive track. Over 47 minutes, Mr. Drumm manages to weave dense atmospherics, meditative drone, static noise, and other sonic detritus, into one bubbling cauldron. It’s a slow, evocative ride that lulls me into a peaceful trance at times and shocks me into consciousness at others. Being able to play on those tensions is no small feat, but Drumm manages to pull it off quite swimmingly. The track begins with several minutes of dense ambience; the sounds of wind hauntingly flowing through empty space. Granular static and a repetitive glitch breaks up my train of thought. What sounds like an assortment of manipulated sounds animals and scissors clipping, mingle in the background. The static takes on the character of torrential rain and melds with other sonic oddities. Several minutes later we hear explosive sounds repeatedly going off and some squelchy, power starvation thrown in for good measure.

Large swaths of the track’s mid-section are dedicated to contemplative drone (courtesy of sounds akin to tibetan music bowls resonating in dreamlike ambience). Next we hear what sounds like air conditioner hum, followed by layers of synth buzzing. All the sounds presented in this section ebb and flow, weave and disperse. It mostly remains a rather mellow affair between minutes 11 and 37.

The track’s final act presents some dense, speaking rattling rumble. It sounds like Drumm uses some thick sub harmonic frequencies, as I could “feel” the track inside the enclosed space of my car. The piece ends on a furious storm of static noise with some chirping synth sounds worming underneath.

From start to finish, Wrong Intersection, is a challenging, lengthy ride. However, it’s a mind-expanding journey that was well worth the price of admission.