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CD Feature/ Aidan Baker: "Remixes"

  Tobias

I like remix albums, dig Aidan Baker and think most of the artists featured here are great, so it will not be a big surprise to reveal that I think this is a cool record. The more complicated (albeit more interesting) question for you as a reader will naturally be whether it might actually be an appealing item for yourself. Let’s put it like this: No, you don’t have to be an Aidan Baker fan to appreciate the sounds. But yes, you will need to have a very broad musical taste to enjoy more than just two or three tracks on their own.

For, as hermetically sealed to any obvious exterior influences as the cosmos of Baker may be,  the blend of musicians he has invited for these “Remixes” is too eclectic as to merely fit into the “Drone”, “Experimental” or even “Electroncs” drawer: Cooled-off techno grooves, enigmatically suspenseful drum n bass, drifting ambient, aggressive industrial and even some jazzy influences are all to be found here and on his contribution, Fear Falls Burning uses a stoically repeated chrunching guitar chord as a raw sonic pillar for sonambulant string structures to entwine around. Whatever you might think of the general concept of a remix album, it is taken ad absurdum on this occasion – thanks to Aidan’s humongous and rapirdly growing output (which defies all cries for a slowdown), it would be hard to believe that the average listener will have any prior knowledge of the originals save on one or two occasions. Which makes the perception process a fresh and unprejudiced one: This is not about comparing, but about creative guessing as to which part might have been culled from Baker and which was composed by the participating artist. Andrea Marutti seems to tend a respectful approach with a soundscape going from opaque blackness to rich harmonic bloom over the course of its twelve minutes’ duration, which could well have been performed by Aidan directly, while Millimetrik’s brushed drums and relaxed moods merely use the source material as a starting point. Broording, nebulous and out-of-the-ordinary pieces have been submitted by Wilt (who totally deconstruct the otherworldy dreamstate of the first few minutes into a brutal and dark finale) and Troum (totally spaced out vocals on top of an ominous pad and a sceletised, lifeless quasi-beat), for they manage to touch on both worlds.

All works have been edited together as to make each one flow into the next without any kind of transition. Strangely, this works brilliantly, not leaving any harsh breaks in texture or ambiance. Which indicates that even though some of the individual pieces are exciting, “Remixes” is really meant to be enjoyed in a continued, uninterupted session. If you do, you may find that you’ll regard this as a remarkable musical journey regardless of your usual tastes and possible dislike of remix albums in general.

By Tobias Fischer

Homepage: Aidan Baker