Disquiet

The Noisejihad netlabel is back in action, returning with uncharacteristic quietude. Its most recent release, a beautiful trio of live performances by soundscape guitarist Aidan Baker, is arguably the label’s most peaceful offering yet. Noisejihad’s stock in trade has long been, true to its name, destructive recordings along the lines of a sonic equivalent of Sherman’s March — pure scorched audio. Recorded on April 24 of this year, this live Baker concert, quite the contrary, ekes out a splendid haze, from slow-build dawn-break stateliness (MP3), to spacey trance effects with echoes of early sci-fi movie scores (MP3), to, at its best, a gently percussive sway of pizzicato latticework and deeply undulating motion (MP3). The latter is a prime example of a fine instrumentalist making music from elements (notably casually brushed strings) that other musicians might ignore or even consider mistakes. More details on Baker at his web page, aidanbaker.org. The netlabel’s base of operations is noisejihad.dk/netlabel.

By Marc Weidenbaum