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 โThere/Not Thereโ (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 Jรคrmyr. It was recorded in the Christuskirche Bochum, as part of 2019โs 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..
๐กโ๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐ผ ๐๐๐โ๐ก ๐๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ , ๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐กโ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐๐๐โ๐ก ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐, ๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐.
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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