Embrace the haze

Harmony of the Spheres (Drunken Fish 1996)
This three-LP box set from 1996 (later reissued on CD) summed up the current moment in a drone / rock / experimental / folk scene that seems to have only kept growing in exposure and activity in the 10 years since. "Fantasia on a Theme by Sandy Bull," by New Zealand guitarist Roy Montgomery, is warm and inviting, while parts of Flying Saucer Attack's "Since When" have the feel of a cold and airless moon. Each artist contributed one track that lasted a full LP side; the other four are Bardo Pond (collaborators with Montgomery in Hash Jar Tempo), Jessamine, Loren Mazzacane Connors and Charalambides.

Roy Montgomery - "Fantasia on a Theme by Sandy Bull"

Flying Saucer Attack - "Since When"



Six Organs of Admittance, School of the Flower (Drag City 2005)
Gary Higgins, Red Hash (1973; Drag City 2005)
Ben Chasny's cover of Gary Higgins' "Thicker Than a Smokey" on School of the Flower was one of the events that led to the reissue of Higgins' Red Hash, a rare 1973 folk record, on Drag City last year. These songs teach you how to live through the gray days.

Six Organs of Admittance - "Thicker Than a Smokey"

Gary Higgins - "It Didn't Take Too Long"