Artists are reckoning with the darkness of current events in varied ways, as they have since time immemorial. Protest songs such as Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Minneapolis” and U2’s “American Obituary” both dropped recently. Bad Bunny’s “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” and Macklemore’s “Hinds Hall” are standout political tracks from recent years. Vermont artists haven’t been idle on this front either; James Kolchalka Superstar, Jason Baker, and Ray Fork and His Knives have all tackled the headlines in their music.
East Montpelier experimental musician Glenn Weyant has entered the fray in his own perfectly idiosyncratic fashion. A true sonic wizard, Weyant is responsible for some of the most memorable pieces of experimental music in the Green Mountain scene, such as recording the sounds of air on both sides of the United States/Mexico border wall. And who could forget his lawnmower symphony in 2021?
His latest project is an ominous track that captures the creep of militarization within an otherwise tranquil scene. Titled “helicopters over east montpelier vermont rag:a blues,” the 14-minute soundscape opens with birds chirping and wind blowing through the trees. This rural idyll is shattered quickly by the oscillating hum of military helicopters overhead. As the aircraft take over the aural feed, Weyant layers in swaths of electric guitar and sound effects from his Kestrel 920, a sound transmogrifer of his own design created to produce microtonal sound sculptures.
In an email to Seven Days announcing the new piece, Weyant explained why he was so inspired by the black helicopters he saw flying overhead. “As you know, I work with the Vermont sound environment,” he wrote. “In this most recent work, it was the militarization of the soundscape that lead me in a different creative direction.” The “obliteration” of the winter soundscape, as Weyant described it, moved him to craft a piece that grows increasingly anxious: Dogs bark in the distance, and the distorted flailing of the guitar morphs into something like a klaxon.
Give it a listen at sonicanta.bandcamp.com.
Two Burlington expat musicians who collaborated on a new EP are making a homecoming trip to debut the project. Mexico City singer-songwriter Hannah Hausman, formerly of local band Honey & Soul, and Brooklyn singer and producer Guthrie Galileo are set to release Move From Love on April 10. A collection of slow-burn, synth-heavy R&B bangers that vacillates between Hausman’s indie-folk tendencies and Guthrie’s electro-bop landscapes, the EP inspires good vibes for days.
The duo plans to drop advance single “Marry the Night” on Friday, March 13, followed by a show at Light Club Lamp Shop in Burlington on Saturday, March 14. It’s always lovely when our alumni come back to show us what they’ve been up to.
Seems like it’s been a decade since Brattleboro headbangers Barishi called it quits and bandleader and guitarist Graham Brooks announced his new project, Ordh. (Actually, the band called it quits in 2023, but in my defense, the last several years have felt like a decade.)
Still, anyone hoping Ordh would rush in to fill the black void left by Barishi — easily one of the best metal bands Vermont has ever produced — has had to wait. Now, that wait is over: The band has announced that its debut album, Blind in Abyssal Realms, will drop April 17 on Pulverized Records. To celebrate their emergence from creative hibernation, Ordh last week released the record’s first single, the truly epic “Apis Bull,” a cross between punishing death metal, ’70s prog textures and illicit sorcery. OK, I can’t prove the last part, but don’t be surprised if playing “Apis Bull” accidentally opens a portal to an underrealm. You’ve been warned!
The track is streaming now at ordh.bandcamp.com.
This article appears in March 4 • 2026.
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