Nadja

Discussion
1

It appears the band Nadja haven’t got much mention here apart from “what you’re listening to” which is somewhat surprising, seeing as several posters do like them. So their own thread in long overdue. While some are familiar with Nadja others won’t be so this thread might inform others interested in them through discussion by those who are familiar with them.

Nadja have taken over my ipod since last year and I can’t go a week without something by them. The first I heard of them was Numbness, a collection from 2009. I’ve read somewhere genre descriptions (think it was of another Nadja album) such as “glacial” metal, well as funny as that may sound, that’s what it did sound like to me when I heard Numbness. This big slab of cold metal. That cover of ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ was the best christmas song I’ve heard. Perfect music for walking home in the dark and cold, drunk… or maybe not. Anyways digging more into their catalogue I found Numbness to be one of their more accessible of their albums along with the cover album, When I See the Sun…

Nadja have over 40 albums since 2003 - LPs, EPs, split albums, 2 live albums, 1 collection, 1 cover album. Madly prolific (think Broadrick was bad) but while not all are essential it seems Nadja’s prolificacy doesn’t affect the substance of their work as much as it does with Broadrick for jesu. Their best split work is with Pyramids and Black Boned Angel.

Lead man, Aidan Baker, likes the term “dreamsludge” to describe Nadja. He wouldn’t be far wrong. Here’s my list of what I’d consider their essential albums (alphabetical) followed by other quality releases worth checking out:

Belles Betes

Re-released version with extra tracks ‘Machina’ and ‘Chainsaw.’ A terrific album and a solid indicator of what to expect from Nadja if you’re discovering them anew. ‘Beautiful Beast’ is the highlight and perfectly named.

The Bungled and the Botched

One of the hallmark epic albums. Two big slices of Nadja pizza with everything on it. I’ve seen a review where it says the songs go on for too long, maybe but it could equally be the case that the songs have to be this long. It’s not music you can turn on instantly and just get a 2 or 3 minute rush. It’s slow burning build ups (10+ minutes) and then some great crescendo which continues for another 10 minutes or so.

Nadja and Black Boned Angel + Christ Send Light splits with BBA

Cheating here with two albums but I believe they were supposed to be released as one but never were. The Christ Send Light EP is similar to what jesu did best, fucking heavy metal pop. The s/t album is a disturbed onslaught of unnerving noise. Christ Send Light was a limited edition mofo and is quite heard to get now, except on vinyl. I can hit anybody up with an mp3 if wanted.

Numbness

As already mentioned, this won me over. ‘Alien In My Own Skin’ and ‘Numb’ the highlights of a consistent, magnificent collection.

Primitive North split with A Storm of Light

While I much prefer Nadja to A Storm of Light, Nadja’s two songs here are some of their best; slow build ups, sudden heaviness, meandering around in noise.

Pyramids with Nadja

I’m also a fan of Pyramids fucked up drums on their songs, which is used more subtly on this split but breaks out beautifully on the last song, ‘An Angel Was Heard to Cry Over the City of Rome.’ Four excellent songs, might be the product of the best Nadja collaboration yet.

Skin Turns to Glass

One of their first albums, re recorded and re released in 2008. ‘Slow Loss’ might just be my favourite heaviest piece of sludge around. Again, an album that needs an hour plus of your attention but with sweet rewards.

Also with mentioning:

12012291920/1414101 spit w/ Atavist

Bliss Torn From Emptiness

Desire in Uneasiness*

Dominium Visurgis split w/ Troum

Radiance of Shadows

Sky Burial

Thaumogensis

Truth Becomes Death

Under the Jaguar Sun*

When I See the Sun… cover album, inclu. cover of Swans ‘No Cure for the Lonely’ & a crushing version of Slayer’s ‘Dead Skin Mask.’

  • these albums I find real interesting. They’re less concerned with long, drawn out epic structures and more about cruching, plodding guitars. They don’t seem to get much love from reviews but I think they’re great and some might favour to the more time consuming prog like nature of their other work.

Also, you can stream some of these albums in their entirety at Broken Spine, along with Baker’s solo stuff: http://brokenspineprods.bandcamp.com/

Prices are very reasonable and they get more money from it (bypassing itunes and other rip off merchants)

2

Great post Mick, with such an expansive discography I almost never see listeners of this band do much but discuss his oncoming releases. Prolific is the right word! I actually think Baker puts his newer followers at a disadvantage. I for example have been a casual fan for years now but am still daunted by the catalog this band has amassed in a relatively short timeframe. It’s not like John Zorn or Merzbow or even Frank Zappa who have decades worth of releases to sort through and whose fans have clear favorites. This is a band who in ten years have defied the typical doom/sludge release schedule by releasing albums as often as a magazine subscription.

I have the following albums you mentioned:
Radiance of Shadows, Skin Turns to Glass, Nadja and Black Boned Angel, Pyramids vs Nadja and When I See the Sun…. All offer a lot to my ears. Every one of these albums is full of the monolithic buzzsaw guitars that attracted me to Nadja’s sound with variations in the songwriting that keeps me wanting more. I have to play this sort of music loud. The simplicity of the music envelopes and entrances me in the way only the best shoegaze music can and “dreamsludge” is apt when the term is applied to Nadja’s sound. The best sludge hits from the gut and there’s an ethereal quality to the best of this stuff that when in full effect evokes the same feelings as listening to Loveless.

Where should I go next? Pick one at random?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuzkCXtN5hg

This is a song I keep coming back to and is the best synthesis of both bands’ sounds. Dig how the guitar keeps peeking out over the thump of those drums and when it arrives sounds like its imploded on itself rather than create the sweep picked maelstrom that would be expected of a song so black metal in its mood. The vocal work on this song also gives it a haunting feeling that I’d like to hear explored more in his work.

3

Thaumogenesis (63 min track!) + The Bungled & The Botched are both brilliant and my favorite Nadja’s to date.

Belle Betes is actually solo Aidan material re-done in ‘Nadja’ style, it’s good too!

Aidan Baker & Tim Hecker’s Fantasma Parastasie is my recommendation for a great collab. You can stream it , Along with Nadja’s Radiance of Shadows and Truth Becomes Death LPs at alien8’s website.

For Aidan’s solo work, there’s a new-ish comp (2008) called: I Wish Too, To Be Absorbed, which covers a lot of ground.

Yes he puts out a lot of material, but there’s a good range of variation. In the last 3-5 solo release there’s been an electronic release, a jazzy release and a solo ‘dry’ guitar album. That’s all beside the Nadja work.

Nice write up Mick.

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@ Nick: That song with Pyramids is indeed amazing. The album is so skillfully constructed, where you have subtle elements of both bands simmering through on the first three tracks and then they release that restraint and go all out on the last one. It’s a highlight of both bands’ work, and the best coming together of two bands on one track that I can think of. If you want to seek out another Nadja album to add to your collection basically because there are so many good ones you won’t go wrong with most of them.

If you don’t have it The Bungled and the Botched is one of their best, as elricj confirms. Also in the same vein but still distinguishable at the same rate is Bliss Torn From Emptiness (the album is in three parts, though I do prefer part 1 to parts 2 & 3). A recent album Under the Jaguar Sun is definitely worth a shot; it’s a double album - 5 songs on each disc which are timed identically corresponding to their track number so they can be played simultaneously (I’ve never tried this though so I can’t say whether it is novel idea or just nonsense), the first disc has a good range of sludge metal and ambient with some flair for the epic qualities seen in other songs. The transition from the second track to the third on disc one is sublime. The second disc is all electro ambient, nice background stuff but not as impactful as other guitar-laden tracks. Belles Betes is one of their finest albums, the reinterpretations of some of his solo stuff has much more life with Nadja playing them. There’s also Desire in Uneasiness which is a very “meaty” album, not as focused on epic build ups or slicing riffs, moreso raw, rumbling material. I like it, some don’t. It’s sort of like a Filth Pig to me, something not exactly what you might expect at first but you can come to really dig it. It’s so great finding more Nadja material as you have a choice as to whether you want to go for the more epic style or the raw works.

@ elricj: I’m very fond of that collab with T. Hecker. Another example of two great artists working in great harmony with each other to produce something distinguishable from their own material yet with recognisable elements. I haven’t explored Aidan’s solo stuff as much but I do love Gathering Blue

5

Careful mate, Grmpysmrf’s never heard of them - he’ll accuse you of being an “elitist” than listens to stupid “noise crap” that any idiot with a shovel and a mircophone can make.

For the record, I own Belles Betes, Primitive North and Desire In Uneasiness. I am not a huge fan of Aidan Baker - but he is ok on occasion.

I have a mate who is Nadja crazy.

6

Careful mate, Grmpysmrf’s never heard of them - he’ll accuse you of being an “elitist” than listens to stupid “noise crap” that any idiot with a shovel and a mircophone can make.

What are you talking about? I have nadia’s whole catalog!!
Late,
grmpysmrf

7

Own both Skin Turns to Glass and the record with Black Boned Angel. The latter is definitely top-five material. It’s my sleeping music. That and the Goddamn Pounder disc are on all the time at my house.

Expect a PM.

[;)]

8

Massive Nadja fan here. My favourites (out of the ones I own):

Autopergamene
Radiance Of Shadows
The Bungled & The Botched
Dominium Visurgis (w/ Troum)
Bliss Torn From Emptiness
Desire In Uneasiness
Nadja & Black Boned Angel
Thaumoradiance
12012291920… (w/ Atavist)
Corrasion

The Tim Hecker / Aidan Baker colab is well worth it too.

9

High marks for these guys, I continue to listen to them and hear something new each time.

10

I just got home from a rough weekend on the road. This is all I’m going to be listening to for the next few hours on youtube. Fucking great stuff.

11

Innit.

Christ Send Light is something wonderful. Not as epic as the album with Black Boned Angel, but dammit, that’s a tough act to follow.