Natural Snow Buildings - Laurie Bird (2008)

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"Sometimes, usually after a string of particularly braindead drone records, I start to wonder exactly why I even bother with the genre. Then I come across something like Laure Bird, and it all makes sense. While Natural Snow Buildings are sometimes guilty of releasing records that come dangerously close to pointless, Laurie Bird is absolutely not one of those records. It's a gem of a record, and an example of how drone should be done. You don't have to try very hard to like it; all the ideas are interesting, they just happen to be stretched as thin as they possibly can without becoming monotonous. And unlike so many other drone records, you never wonder if you're just not paying enough attention. The music here is just too pretty to ignore. And finally, with a little time, a little luck, and a decent pair of headphones, it's not very hard to become completely immersed in Laurie Bird. And I don't mean your typical, garden-variety immersion; I mean that special kind, that you only get with songs with longer runtimes than some albums. The music blends so seamlessly with your thoughts that you almost forget you're even listening to music. If you've never experienced that, then I've probably completely lost you by now; if you have, then you know exactly what I'm referring to, no matter how ineloquently I may be doing so. In short, Laure Bird should be required listening for anyone even remotely interested in the drone. You're not just getting a record that validates a genre that can be easy to dismiss; you're also getting a record that's nearly impossible not to love." - Panda08