Sun 9 October
by Mark Burden
In your opinion, how many records need to be released by a band/artist for them to be considered prolific? One a year? One a year and a couple of eps? One a year seems about right.
Since 2000, Aidan Baker has been part of over 120 releases and written 6 books. That works out at pretty much one a month for 11 years. In a Pitchfork article from 2007, rock n’ roll’s very own rich tea biscuit Ryan Adams was described as prolific. At the time he was on the fabled “one a year”. Aidan Baker not only laughs in the face of Ryan Adams, but spits in it.
His music is Drone/Noise based, predominantly using guitar with multiple effects and loops. He lives between Canada and Berlin and is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist. It’s this classical training that gives Baker’s music a strong compositional element and sets him apart from a lot of other similar musicians. This style of music is very easy to make, there’s no denying that. Record a bag of spanners in a cement mixer and you’ve got yourself a Noise album. It is however, difficult to make well. With a more considered approach Baker is able to create solid harsh walls along with more ambient drones. It can at times be quite harmonious and melodic. In terms of influences I’d say SWANS, Caspar Brötzmann Massake, Sonic Youth, Sunno))) and Godflesh.
I know this sort of music isn’t for everyone, infact most people see it as pretentious nonsense, but I urge you to give it a go. It’ll be a rare chance to see something truly different. Allow yourself to decent into the murky depths.
