Altered Zones

"A drone isn't a sound you create," a friend once told me; "it's a force you tap into." It's the ringing in your ears after the house has fallen silent, the flutter of a fan or a walkway lined with trees. You can take it or leave it, hear it or ignore it, lure it out of its hiding place with a keyboard or a bow. "Taos Hum" by Louisville, KY's Meridian Signals may feel like an entreaty to tune in, drop out, and do a few downward dogs. But cast it as the soundtrack to the most infuriating part of your day and you'll tap into the fellow feeling in a sea of blaring car horns, the calm within the information flow. Rise above, ride the plateau.

MP3: Meridian Signals: "Taos Hum"

Mercator Songs tape is available for download on Meridian Signals' bandcamp