The new Taiga Remains/RV Paintings split LP on UK label Blackest Rainbow is one of the finest drone-related records I have heard in some time. Both artists deliver dense side-long pieces that are full of tension. It's refreshing to hear a drone-based record that is miles away from the current wave of synth-obsessed borderline-New Age projects that seem to be popping up weekly (although I like some of that stuff as well...). Both of these sides present a darker and more organic approach, which is more in line with classic scrape-and-creak recordings by Organum and Andrew Chalk. The RV Paintings CD on Root Strata was excellent, and the piece featured here, "Emission Spectrum", of similar high quality. The four person group (including Brian Pyle of Starving Weirdos, whose new CD Into An Energy on Bo'Weavil is also excellent) uses all manner of acoustic instruments (cello, harmonium, percussion, etc) to create a thick, shifting, ominous cloud of drone activity. The Taiga Remains side, "Mengku From Mensa" is a gorgeous piece involving sole member Alex Cobb (who runs the excellent Students Of Decay label) playing guitars, electronics and objects. I'm not always the biggest fan of the Split LP format (where do you file them?), but when the sides are this well matched and as solid as both these projects, the format is irrelevant.