Recording: Nadja

Artist: Nadja

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Yonge-Dundas Square (Intersection Day 2), September 1, 2018.

Nadja - unknown

Another interesting day in Yonge-Dundas Square for Intersection, once again excellently curated by Burn Down the Capital's Tad Michalak. Mixing in some abrasive sounds with lots of accessible experimentation, there was a pleasing range of mostly-local talent spread out through the square, animated between sets by the whispersounds of Tina Pearson's installation piece. Berlin-based local expats Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff managed to fit in several gigs over a summer sojourn back to T.O., capped off by swathing the square in some warm, heavy drones. Pressing down like the afternoon sun that had just been eclipsed behind the surrounding tall buildings, this felt like a perfectly-reasonable soundtrack for the city's concrete heart.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Whisper Room

Artist: Whisper Room

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Handlebar (THE AMBiENT PiNG's 19TH ANNiVERSARY), August 15, 2018.

Whisper Room - unknown

Congratulations to the Ping, which celebrated its 19th Anniversary with some out-of-town guests. While back in town from Berlin for a couple weeks, Aidan Baker got a chance to perform with several of his projects, including an outing for this minimalist kosmische trio with Neil Wiernik (a.k.a. NAW) on bass and Rich Baker sitting in on drums. Finding some joy in repetition, the set basically settled into a couple long grooves and explored the effects of small variations within each of them.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Aidan Baker

Artist: Aidan Baker

Song: [excerpt from an improvisation]

Recorded at Ratio, December 11, 2014.

Aidan Baker - [excerpt from an improvisation]

The holiday season is a good time to catch musical expats making a return trip home, including Berlin-based Aidan Baker. This solo set saw him exchange Nadja's doom-drone for a less noisy approach, more dependant on slow-ascension glide dynamics. [Baker's bandcamp page has an intoxicating variety of solo flavours to explore.]

^* I'm not sure if this is an improvisation or a titled piece. Please leave a comment if you know!

Recording: Nadja

Artist: Nadja

Song: [excerpt]^*

Recorded at Polyhaus (Feast in the East 24), April 13, 2013.

Nadja - [first track, part 2]

Full review to follow. The Berlin expats might have been returning to their old hometown, but for the crowd it felt like a trip to Jupiter as the duo generated their heavy, heavy ambient drones.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment! The set was played as a continuous piece, and I think there were two "songs" — this is the second half of the first one, which was about twenty-five minutes long in its entirety.