Aidan Baker

After the tentative Touched (2002), the minimal glitch soundscapes of I Fall Into You (Public Eyesore, 2002 - Basses Frequences, 2008) and the degraded lullabies of Letters (2002 - Basses Frequences, 2008), Nadja released collections of colossal drone-intense jams: Slow Loss, off Skin Turns to Glass (2003), the 21-minute EP I Have Tasted the Fire Inside Your Mouth (2004), Bug Golem and Memory Leak, off Truth Becomes Death (Alien8, 2005 - Conspiracy, 2008), the three-movement suite Bliss Torn from Emptiness (2005), Clinodactyl and Ossification, off Bodycage (Profound Lore, 2005), the live Trembled (Utech, 2006 - Utech, 2008), the three monoliths of Radiance Of Shadows (Alien8, 2007 - Conspiracy, 2008), an exemplary take on doom-shoegaze fusion, Thaumogenesis (aRCHIVE, 2007), that contains just one 62-minute monster lungubrious piece for bass, guitar and drum-machine a` la SUNNO))), its companion Thaumoradiance (aRCHIVE, 2008), that contains (bad) reworking of two previous pieces (one being Thaumogenesis), the EP Guilted By The Sun (Elevation, 2007), which is also one of the best, Touched (Alien8, 2007), a compilation of old material. In these works the logic of heavy metal (the heavy riffs) is wed to the logic of electronic soundsculpting (haunting background soundscapes). 12012291920/ 1414101 (Invada, 2007) and II - Points At Infinity (Profound Lore, 2008) were collaborations with British doom-metal band Atavist. We Have Departed The Circle Blissfully (Conspiracy, 2006) is a collaboration with Fear Falls Burning. Unfortunately, Nadja released dozens of recordings of very mediocre material instead of releasing just one good album.

Among his droning/ambient recordings are: Letters (2002 - Basses Frequences, 2011), an ethereal psalm for guitars, cymbals and vocals, Songs Of Flowers And Skin (2005 - Beta-Lactam Ring, 2010), a collection of slocore litanies, the double-CD Oneiromancer (Die Stadt, 2006), possibly his artistic peak, Pendulum (Gears Of Sand, 2006), an abstract dronescape that ranks as one of his best, The Sea Swells A Bit (A Silent Place, 2006), Thoughtspan (Tosom, 2007 - Blackest Rainbow, 2009), Exoskeleton Heart (Crucial Bliss, 2007), Broken & Remade (Volubilis, 2007), Figures (Volubilis, 2007), Green & Gold (Gears Of Sand, 2007 - Beta-Lactum Ring, 2008), a detour into slocore ballads (with actual singing), I Will Always And Forever Hold You In My Heart And Mind (Small Doses, 2007), marred by post-rock infections, Orange (Thisquietarmy, 2007), a collaboration with Thisquietarmy, i.e. Eric Quach, An Open Letter To Franz Kafka (Laughing Bride Media, 2007) with Beta Cloud, i.e. Carl Pace (Baker on flute, Beta Cloud on trumpet, synth and guitar), Nagual (aRCHIVE, 2007) with Todd Merrell or Patrick Jordan, Noise Of Silence (Hyperblasted, 2007 - Essence Music, 2011), a 50-minute symphony that swings from droning quiet to cacophony to slow decay (one of the best), Skin Turns To Glass (The End, 2008), a rather monotonous experience. etc. Again, being prolific is not a good recipe for being great.

ARC features Aidan Baker as the guitarist of a trio with two percussionists, as documented on The Circle Is Not Round (A Silent Place, 2006).

The 20-minute solo guitar improvisation Fragile Moments In Slow Motion (Universal Tongue, 2008) and the Live From The Rotunda (Philadelphia, PA, February 2007) (Gears Of Sand, 2008) continued Aidan Baker's drone-oriented program, while Scalpel (The Kora, 2008) seemed to open a new direction with its gentle folkish approach (the guitar sounding like a guitar and not like an alien moan).

Magma To Ice (Fario, 2008), split with Netherworld, contains a 19-minute Nadja piece, one of the heaviest ever.

I Wish Too, To Be Absorbed (Important, 2008) is a double-disc anthology of rarities from 2000-07.

Fantasma Parastasie (Alien8 Recordings, 2008) was a collaboration between Aidan Baker and Tim Hecker.

Leah Buckareff and Aidan Baker split the next two Nadja albums. Trinity (Die Stadt, 2008) and Trinitarian (Important, 2008) contain two sides, one per composer.

Baker's Book of Nods (Beta-lactam Ring, 2008) sounded like a somnolent loop of syncopated jazzy patterns.

Nadja's Desire In Uneasiness (Crucial Blast, 2008) added a real drummer and a Helios Creed-like space guitar. The highlights of Nadja's The Bungled And The Botched (Consouling Sounds, 2008) were, respectively, the flute and the piano used in each of its two sprawling compositions.

The amount of released clearly took a (heavy) toll on their quality and originality (both rapidly tending to zero). Reviewers of new Nadja or Baker releases started simply photocopying old reviews.

Nadja's When I See The Sun Always Shines On TV (The End, 2009) is a very minor album of covers.

The split album Primitive North (Robotic Empire, 2009) contains Nadja's side-long post-rock suite I Make From Your Eyes The Sun.

Aidan Baker also leads the power-trio Arc, devoted to languid, abstract free-jazz jams a` la Necks (sometimes with chamber instruments) on Arc (Arcolepsy, 2000), Two (Arcolepsy, 2002), Repercussion (2002), The Circle Is Not Round (2005), Glassine 1 (A Silent Place, 2008), Arkhangelsk (Epidemie, 2008).

The EP Live 2008-14-11 (Universal Tongue, 2009) documents a collaboration with drummer Brandon Valdivia. A Picture of A Picture (Killer Pimp, 2009) was a second collaboration with Thisquietarmy, i.e. Eric Quach. Colorful Disturbances (Divorce, 2009) was a collaboration with guitarist Noveller (Sarah Lipstate).

Gathering Blue (Equation, 2009) is a confused collection that runs the gamut from glitchy ambience to dance music.

The collaboration Nadja/ Black Boned Angel (20 Buck Spin, 2009) indulged in extremely violent sounds.

Belles Betes (Beta-Lactam Ring, 2009) contains the celestial Green And Cold.

The double-disc Under The Jaguar Sun (Beta-Lactam Ring, 2009) offered a yin/yang good/evil vision of Nadja's work, with one disc ripping through the entrails of hell and the other disc exploring abstract ethereal soundscape.

When I See The Sun Always Shines On TV (The End, 2009) is a collection of covers.

Baker's Liminoid / Lifeforms (Alien8 Recordings, 2010) was unusually scored for eight musicians, adding the aesthetic of chamber music and post-rock to his ambient music, notably in the 30-minute Lifeform.

Nadja's Autopergamene (Essence Music, 2010) contains three lengthy jams, notably the 25-minute Your write your Name in my Skin. The 40-minute piece of their Ruins Of Morning (Substantia Innominata, 2010) was basically the shoegaze version of a melodic fantasia. White Nights/ Drone Fields (Beta-Lactam Ring, 2010) documents six hours of live Nadja performances.

Dominium Visurgis (Transgredient, 2010) documents an improvised collaboration between Nadja and German ensemble Troum, whereas The Life And Death Of A Wasp (Bar La Muerte, 2010) was a collaboration with Italian duo OvO, one of Nadja's most demented and dadaistic recordings.

Marking another change in direction, Baker's Lost In A Rat Maze (Consouling Sounds, 2011) is a collection of slow-motion lieder, whereas Only Stories (The Kora Records, 2011) is a solo acoustic record for guitar and vocals.

Baker's Pure Drone (Beta-Lactam Ring, 2011) documents a live performance.

Baker's Still Life (Primary-Numbers, 2011) contains four lengthy abstract pieces for piano, bass and drums that evoke the ambient jazz of the Necks.

Nadja's Sky Burial (Latitudes, 2011) contains two 19-minute suites, Jaguar and Sky Burial, that continue the progression towards a more ethereal and less magniloquent sound.

Transmit Acoustique Abstraction (Beta-Lactam Ring, 2011) was a split album with Armchair Migraine Journey to which Nadja contributed a convoluted sidelong composition.

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