The electric guitar is no stranger to the worlds of ambient and drone. Often we hear guitars drenched in layers of reverb and echo, serving as a melodic fixture within a bold ambient landscape. The guitar also frequently functions as the motor behind drone music and is probably too often mistaken as being analog synthesizers. Andrew Weathers makes music that certainly has ambient tendencies, but it stars the acoustic guitar in a drone-like setting. While modern drone music can often be witnessed mingling with shades of folk and Americana styles, Weathers makes modern Americana music while mingling with drone characters.
The sepia-toned-out video for “Taking Names Blues” does a very fine job of depicting the auditory happenings within the lead-off track of Andrew Weathers’ split cassette with Ancient Ocean — out on Rubber City Noise. The video features four separate quadrants of film. The first and fourth quadrants show visions of driving past leafless trees, icy bodies of water, and telephone wires; while the second and third quadrants feature spinning footage of these winter trees. The changing landscape follows Weathers’ aimless yet steady finger-plucking journey on his acoustic guitar through classic American raga themes, while the constant yet dizzying images imitate the rotating undertone of drone that sticks with the recording throughout. Ancient Ocean’s side of the tape also features mesmerizing guitar motifs, but they play a bit more of a supporting role.
• Rubber City Noise: http://rubbercitynoise.bandcamp.com
• Andrew Weathers: http://www.andrewweathers.com
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