Malkauns^[1] was a three-piece ambient-drone-electronic music-psychedelic rock band based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are composed of multi-instrumentalists Calvin Laporte, Dylan Simon and Evan Smith. Malkauns are characterized by their unusual instrumentation and eclectic pop arrangements.

They make extensive use of reel-to-reel audio tape recording, and incorporate techniques of Musique concrète composers, which is not limited to tape splicing and re-sequencing, tape reverse, pitch/speed alteration etc. Their performances have more in common with avant garde happenings from the late 1950s and early 1960s than traditional rock concerts.^[2] Their music is heavily influenced by Minimalist music, such as La Monte Young and Terry Riley, and electronic composers, such as Hugh Le Caine and Karlheinz Stockhausen.