5 albums to get you into drone

Explore the sound that stretches time itself ...

It’s been more than half a decade, but I’ve finally managed to published a new video in my ‘5 Albums’ series.

While drone has become a recognisable term, it’s less a standalone category and more a foundational element: present in everything from ambient to metal, minimalism to shoegaze, krautrock to experimental noise. It shows up in Velvet Underground’s feedback-laced experiments, in the crushing amplifier worship of Boris, and in the hypnotic repetition of NEU! and Cluster.

There’s the tectonic rumble of Glenn Branca’s guitar symphonies and the weed-worshipping devotion of Sleep’s Dopesmoker. William Basinski stretched time itself with The Disintegration Loops, while Autechre infused their sprawling NTS Sessions with vast drones.

What binds these artists and works together is a simple idea: stretching tones, notes or chords until they feel like they might never end.

So without further ado, here are five records to hypnotise and immerse you, perhaps take you to as-of-yet-unexplored plains of your own psyche.

If you want to check out the playlists and listen along to my recommendations, here are the Spotify and Apple Music links.