Good Drone or Ambient music sets itself apart by having a sense of texture. The almost tactile sensation of tape hiss, or the soft occasional pop of a needle running around a groove add a warm interconnected feeling. Even at a low volume you can sense the vibration of a bow across strings or a finger sliding down frets; the sound itself weaving together the objects in the space it is played in. The texture of the sounds add a texture to the world; a heft to the here and now. Talk about music’s ability to detach you from time all you want (I often do) but the real magic is when it clarifies the present; breeding an awareness of where and when you are. The good stuff can make dust motes playing around a light bulb seem like a weighty portent, or the centimeter of cheap beer at the bottom of the glass take on a hue of melancholy. Yes there are actually sound waves moving between the source and your body but we are usually unaware of them and it takes that texture to connect the stranger that recorded the music and the stranger listening to it on their stereo.
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