Kevin Drumm, born in 1970 and raised near Chicago, is a guitarist and electronic musician who has moved from the quietest improvisation to some of the harshest noise on record. He began with prepared tabletop guitar, distorting the instrument with magnets, binder clips, chains, a violin bow and even toenail clippers, and his self-titled debut of 1997 is a landmark of that approach.
... probably don’t need to explain this one in too much detail ; it’s a kevin drumm tape (of scattered, alternatingly minimal & harsh guitar pieces recalling his earliest recorded/released work) ; the second “pressing” after the first (of something like 40 copies) disappeared within the opening of the “merch tables” at the no fun fest this past may ...that we got even this scant handful of copies is due mostly to the largesse of alku’s anna & roc ; i wouldn’t dawdle too long if you’re interested…
RESTOCKED! Truly an outstanding new album, Imperial Horizon examines sustained tone in greater depth than KEVIN DRUMM’s previous Hospital Productions benchmark album, Imperial Distortion, stretching out minimalism to unreached heights of serene ambience. Lulling electronic drones slowly transform over the course of the hour-plus piece in constant flux, echoing both an existential terror and Zen calm. Mutations grow so quietly, only the body opens to identify this change while the mind closes. Th…
With so damn many records pouring out, there are precious few artists who strain against sagging shelves and actually merit the “must hear” designation. One of them for me is Kevin Drumm. Widely known “guitarist” and relentless disassembler of technique, expression, and expectation, Drumm has recorded seminal solo records (first on Perdition Plastics, then the epochal Sheer Hellish Miasma), tussled in some notable duos (with, for example, RLW with Ralf Wehowsky), and even shown up to upend some …
Kevin drumm (guitar and noise) and Daniel Menche (organ and noise) recorded Fall of 2006 in Chicago at Uggae's Porta-toilet studio. Mixed and mastered at Stereophonic Mastering in Portland, Oregon. One organ, one guitar, several fuzz boxes and two highly regarded purveyors of american extreme sonics are the savuory ingredients that created Gauntlet. Building on Menche's aural low end physicality and drumm's exacting attention to high frequency detail - the aptly titled 'Gauntlet' is sizzling, sc…
Grainy flickering, strangulated buzzing, blurred sonic shadows and harsh stridulations. Chicagoan Drumm continues to rethink the electric guitar in terms that suggest the microscopic life of ponds, and he deploys electronics along similar lines. Canadian turntablist Tètreault scatters clicks and blips as he skates the meniscus. Tiny events, inconsequential in themselves, taken together form a viable acoustic ecosystem. (The Wire, Julian Cowley)3
Original 1st editon, Comedy is Drumm’s third album, recorded over two years ago. It floated around in a provisional version, entitled Organ, for quite a while and caused a genuine bidding war between labels, at least five of them, which caused our Kevin to retreat in his special endearing way, and ultimately decide not to do anything at all with it. During this hibernation, Organ underwent some changes, being dissected and bisected and now including three electronically generated magnifications,…
Land Of Lurches is the new release from Chicago’s Kevin Drumm. Two sidelong tracks of diarrheic hailstorms. Land Of Lurches is maximalist diarrhea created in the spirit of true Heavy Metal. That is... it’s ugly, loud, disturbing, courageous, triumphant, and totally fucking POWERFUL! What starts out as a thick relaxing drone quickly turns into a brutal and bloody animal fight. This is the sound of a seal ripping apart a human body while a crowd of 90,000 cheer it on. Kevin is a modern day barbari…