Nadja

Aidan Baker is a prolific producer of ambient and experimental music with several dozen CD-R and mp3 releases scattered in the darker corners of the internet. While elements of foreboding were not uncommon in his work previous, in Nadja the retaining walls have crumbled. Begun as a solo project in 2003 releasing five full-length CD-Rs, bassist Leah Buckareff joined Baker in 2004 and the duo released Truth Becomes Death with Alien8 records in 2005. Bodycage, themed after a disease that causes excess ossification and fuses joints, is an earlier CD-R work by the duo given wider release. Baker uses the guitar as the main sound source but with layering and effects its sound builds into a monolithic, trudging juggernaut. The plodding/pummelling drum machine and buried vocals on 20-minute-plus opener "Clinodactyl” are reminiscent of Pure-era Godflesh, though the gradual shifts in melody and density owe more to Isis or Neurosis with hints of Angelo Badalamenti’s melancholy darkness. The next two epic tracks take on journeys to similar wall of sound terminals but use different paths. "Autosomal” abruptly riffs into life with stops and starts like a busted-clutch dump truck. "Ossification” builds out of slowly shifting drones, simmering electric cycle hums and a möebius drum loop with a busted program that starts its climb in earnest around the 12-minute mark. Fans of Earth and Sunn O))) may not automatically groove to the lo-fi, distortion drenched version of Nadja’s doom, but given a chance metal and ambient fans could come together on this one.