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Artists are reckoning with the darkness of current events in varied ways, as they have since time immemorial. Protest songs such as Bruce Springsteen<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cStreets of Minneapolis<\/a>\u201d and U2<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cAmerican Obituary<\/a>\u201d both dropped recently. Bad Bunny<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cLO QUE LE PAS\u00d3 A HAWAii<\/a>\u201d and Macklemore<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cHinds Hall<\/a>\u201d are standout political tracks from recent years. Vermont artists haven\u2019t been idle on this front either; James Kolchalka Superstar<\/a><\/strong>, Jason Baker<\/a><\/strong>, and Ray Fork and His Knives<\/a><\/strong> have all tackled the headlines in their music.<\/p>\n East Montpelier experimental musician Glenn Weyant<\/a><\/strong> 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<\/a> on both sides of the United States\/Mexico border wall. And who could forget his lawnmower symphony<\/a> in 2021?<\/p>\n His latest project is an ominous track that captures the creep of militarization within an otherwise tranquil scene. Titled \u201chelicopters over east montpelier vermont rag:a blues,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n In an email to Seven Days<\/em> announcing the new piece, Weyant explained why he was so inspired by the black helicopters he saw flying overhead. \u201cAs you know, I work with the Vermont sound environment,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIn this most recent work, it was the militarization of the soundscape that lead me in a different creative direction.\u201d The \u201cobliteration\u201d 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.<\/p>\n Give it a listen at sonicanta.bandcamp.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n