STM 267 - Drew McDowall

Drew McDowall is a New York-based Scottish musician operating in the field of modular electronics. Best known as a former member of Coil, he was instrumental in introducing complex, ritualistic layers to the London outfit’s sound, culminating in such seminal albums as Time Machines and Musick To Play in the Dark. However, Drew’s musical roots stretch back to guitar-based sounds. In the late 1970s, together with his then-wife Rose McDowall (a prominent figure in industrial circles), he formed the avant-punk project The Poems.

Drew’s successful re-emergence as a solo artist was marked by the release of his Collapse LP on Dais Records. The album immersed listeners in a hypnotic experience of pulsating loops and otherworldly passages of drone-laden ambience. The following release, Unnatural Channel, continued this trajectory with an even denser sound palette. His later works, such as The Third Helix, saw Drew taking a detour into more lush and ethereal territories, offering a hallucinatory session of ambient brilliance. Meanwhile, The Ghost of Georges Bataille—his collaboration with Hiro Kone on BANK Records—presented a more rhythmic affair, combining Drew’s hypnotism with Hiro’s monolithic emotionalism.

Secret Thirteen Mix 267 consists of the artist’s selections from the experimental music world. Many of the featured artists share a direct connection with Drew, whether through collaboration (such as James K or Hiro Kone) or shared label affiliations (Ligature, Shredded Nerve). The mix maintains versatile dynamics but largely retains a hypnotic, drone-focused tone. It walks a fine line between the vast sonic domes of Caterina Barbieri and Christina Vantzou, the electroacoustic physicality of Leila Bordreuil and Zach Rowden, and the experimental chamber constructions of Cecilia. Here, a variety of approaches and techniques are woven into a continuous pattern, with different textures constantly resurfacing or overlaying one another. While the narrative is often tense and electrified, there are frequent glimpses of light breaking through the darkness.