For a tiny segment of the world’s music lovers, drones are as
essential as oxygen. While many find this minimal, seemingly static
style somnolent, true drone-oisseurs exalt it as the ultimate
expression of sonic transcendence. Gregg Kowalsky proved his mettle
with 2006’s Through the Cardial Window, a nutritious aural
soup of guitar, violin, melodica, and field recordings. With this
year’s Tape Chants, Kowalsky feeds the sounds of shruti box,
gongs, and percussion through a cassette recorder, forging intimate,
whorling sine-wave symphonies. It’s pure bliss. (Josephine, 608
NW 65th St, www.myspace.com/thejosephine.
9 pm.)

Dave Segal is a journalist and DJ living in Seattle. He has been writing about music since 1983. His stuff has appeared in Gale Research’s literary criticism series of reference books, Creem (when...