Just a couple of month after our recent interview with prolific artist Aidan Baker (also of drone / post metal duo NADJA), touching on his minimalist drone jazz meets experimental neo-classical project “The Bit” (Gizeh Records), and minimalist post-rock / slowcore / ambient album “There/Not There” (Consouling Sounds), we’re back with more of his sonic experiments worth looking into. The new offerings range from atmospheric drone-jazz to industrial dreamsludge to minimalistic krautrock, and are detailed below.
WERL – WERL3 (LP/DL – Midira Records) – WERL3 is a recording of a one-off improvised set with Gareth Davis joining the regular WERL duo of Aidan Baker and Tomas Järmyr. It was recorded in the Christuskirche Bochum, as part of 2019’s Moving Noises Festival, but the sonic quality of it is so spotless that it certainly has all the tonal qualities of a studio recording.
NADJA / DISROTTED – SPLIT (LP/CS/DL – Roman Numeral Records/Bad Moon Rising Records) – [O]pposite ends of the drone/doom spectrum clash in what is ultimately a really cool split. Nadja’s industrial dreamdoom makes a perfect foil for Disrotted’s minimal hellscapes.
WHISPER ROOM – LUNOKHOD (CD/DL – Midira Records – forthcoming 26.02.2021) – The Cruelest Month [WR’s previous full-length] delivers frequency rich atmospherics, punctuated by tight percussion with extremely high knack for attention to detail. The organic melodies flow into each other, sometimes running in parallel, other times intertwining and creating a sound that leaves your soul warm and the mind satisfied.
Hey Aidan, thanks for joining us again here on IDIOTEQ. How’s 2020 been for you?
2020 has not been easy for anyone, of course, but I guess I have been better off than a lot of musicians. While I had a lot of tours and concerts cancelled, I was able to play at least a few shows over the course of the year. And I was lucky to get some music-related work – soundtracking, mastering, mixing, etc – that I was able to do from my home studio and make up for income lost from cancelled concerts.
What keeps you so prolific, especially during the pandemic time?
I feel like I have been less prolific during the pandemic, actually – a lot of my recent and upcoming releases were recorded, or at least initiated, before the pandemic hit. It has been difficult to maintain a level of creativity or inspiration without the outlet of being able to perform. As a means of combatting this, I have been trying to do more collaborative things with other musicians, via online file-sharing for the most part, in an attempt to keep myself motivated to work on music. This is one of the reasons I seek out collaborations in the first place..
𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠, 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒, 𝑠𝑝𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔.
How’s 2021 looking for you and your projects?
While Germany handled the pandemic relatively well last year, since winter hit and the weather turned cold, things have definitely gotten worse. I do have concerts scheduled to happen in the spring, but it is impossible to say at this point whether they will be allowed to happen or not…hopefully they will, as I am certainly starting to miss live music, both as a performer and a listener. As for future releases, In addition to the forthcoming Whisper Room album on Midira Records, there will be a new Nadja full-length album, Luminous Rot, out in the next months, our first since 2018’s Sonnborner.
Inspirational wise, what keeps your creative juices flowing? Can you recommend some new releases and other artists worth a check in 2021?
Listening to new music, reading books, watching films…I often get inspired by consuming other media. Here are some recent records I have been enjoying recently:
The Bug ft Dis Fig – In Blue
Moor Mother – Brass
Johanna Hedva – Black Moon Lilith In Pisces In The 4th House
J. Nunz – Hibiscus
Pharaoh Overlord – 6
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