Named for a UFO that allegedly surfaced on the Japanese coast in the 19th Century, Utsuro Bune is the Providence, Rhode Island-based drone project of Matt Kattman (ex-Kingpin), who shines through on his debut album with a self-awareness that comes out as immediately as in the title, The Drone Remains the Same (Heavy Lifting). Not only is it true of drone and a clever play on Led Zeppelin, but it displays a sense of humor rarely seen in the generally-joyless realm of repetitive of experimental riffing. Utsuro Bune is strictly guitar, effects and loops from Kattman, who also recorded the album himself live on a two-track and did the art for the limited-to-100 physical CDR release. The skull front (it’s either white on black or black on white, depending which way you face the liner in the sleeve) is a little incongruous with the joke in the title, but Kattman pulls everything together musically, so not to worry.

The Drone Remains the Same is comprised of five tracks, two of which are over 10 minutes long. Opener “Massive Atmospheres” (more of that self-awareness) is 10:08 and has a touch of SunnO)))’s hyper-distortion to it, and “Raking the Cosmic Leaves” (more of that humor and just one of the many chores no one considers when owning a piece of the interstellar dream) is 12:10 and more orchestral, brighter-sounding like something off of Earth’s Earth 2. Between the two relative behemoths is the 2:35 “Kinetics,” and following “Raking the Cosmic Leaves” is “Whispers in the Abyss” (5:07) and “Disappear Slowly” (3:13). I wouldn’t go as far to call “Kinetics” or any of the three shorter tracks interludes — in part because it’s drone and it’s not like they’re leading two or from songs with catchy choruses — but they manage well in terms of affecting the overall feel Kattman is going for. Part of his obvious familiarity with the drone scene comes out in the surprising amount of diversity from track to track. In terms of hearing it elsewhere this year, I’d point to fellow New Englander Darryl Shepard’s Blackwolfgoat project, which was similarly able to keep a measure of sonic consistency (essential for drone) while also “changing it up” as much as possible when you’re one dude with a guitar and a pedal board.

Drone is never going to be everyone’s thing, and by extension, neither is Utsuro Bune. What’s exciting about The Drone Remains the Same is the live aspect of it, the thought that Kattman sat down in a chair, hit record and this (following a mastering job by James Plotkin) is what came out. Also working in the records favor is its relative brevity. At a little over 33 minutes, it’s long enough to be an album in terms of sounding full and offering a complete idea of what Kattman is trying to accomplish with Utsuro Bune at this point (or at least on that day), but still brief enough so that those who don’t immerse themselves wholesale into full-on drone records can still keep a handle on it. I consider that balance to be even more a signifier of Kattman’s familiarity with the genre than the titles or sonic turns. It seems elementary, but knowing when to end a track in this kind of music is one of the biggest differences between success and failure. For what it’s worth, The Drone Remains the Same is successful in this regard.

But still, there are plenty of people on whom the eerie minimalist volume swells of “Whispers in the Abyss” is simply going to be lost, and for those who’ve always found drone intolerable for its lack of movement, its redundancy or its self-indulgent nature, Utsuro Bune is not going to change any minds. As someone who enjoys ambient music, however, and the atmospheres that can be created by said dude with said guitar and pedal board, I very much enjoyed riding along with The Drone Remains the Same into the abyss of six-string wave forms. Don’t let the limited appeal of something keep you from digging on it, and particularly for a release like The Drone Remains the Same, which Kattman has made available digitally for free listening on Bandcamp, there’s nothing to be lost for checking it out.

Utsuro Bune on Bandcamp

Utsuro Bune on MySpace

Tags: Heavy Lifting, Providence, Rhode Island, Utsuro Bune

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 5th, 2010 at 4:14 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.