‘StreetNOISE’ by L.$.D FUNDRAISER – solo project of Dunedin’s Dene Barnes – takes the listener places – by charm or by force.

The EP’s manifold sonic layers are skilfully superimposed and its sonic progressions are equally subtly crafted.

The two 18-minute-and-a-bit tracks sound like a 36-minute-and-a-bit dialogue, softly, yet rudely, interrupted midway by somebody’s necessity to answer a telephone call from their demanding sister.

It is ambient noise with enough grit to rattle the dewy-eared listener when all they expected was a repetitive soundscape. 

There is something self-explanatory about drone music and attempts to analyse it can fall flat.

Countless musicians have been exploring progressions and layers of sound over the decades e.g. ‘Musique par correspondance 1, 2, 3, 4, 5‘ by Pascal Comelade / David Cunningham.

Technical possibilities – now being boundless and accessible – have marched every single aural aficionado on to the next level.

Despite obvious musical dissimilarities, one can see a lineage between L.$.D Fundraiser and sadly missed drone-fanatic-fantastic fellow Dunedinite Peter Gutteridge, who described his band Snapper‘s sound as ‘halfway between a sheet metal factory and a sauna’.

‘How long was the drone?’ Pat Kraus once asked. Endless Endless.