Aidan Baker & Stefan Christoff: Januar

By now, it’s all about expecting the unexpected when Aidan Baker’s plethora of creative alliances are concerned.

On the back of last year’s wonderful five-part Trio Not Trio exploit which saw Baker orchestrate the best collaboration series of 2023, the Nadja leader’s aim to break boundaries is as extreme as it’s ever been.

And in the month of a new year, Baker is back at it, teaming up with fellow Canadian, Stefan Christoff – the multi-instrumentalist who is also no stranger to collaboration, previously featuring alongside the likes Sam Shalabi, Nick Schofield, and Jordan Christoff as Anarchist Mountains.

Baker and Christoff combine for Januar – arguably the outlier release either have ever been a part of and, not only that, perhaps the most earnest, too.

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Recorded in January 2023, Christoff’s performance in particular is stirring and spirited in equal measure. These compositions, even in the long form, unveil a naked intimacy which underlines a certain reality.

Commanding half of the album’s running time, Januar Pt. 1 and Januar Pt. 2 (perhaps considered by some as one singular piece) possess a stunning ebb and flow of neo-doom grandeur. Baker’s subtle, sci-fi inspired noisescapes nestling under Christoff’s tender work across the ivories in something that harnesses the same emotional force of Ex-Easter Island Head’s epic 2020 single, Lodge.

The pathos continues on Januar Pt. 3. A shorter piece that is rich in sound with a thrumming undercurrent of bass that creates a tremor of uncertainty. So too with Januar Pt. 4. – a ghoulish, improvised number with the kind of haunting noodling one would associate with Chris Abrahams’ more off-kilter moments.

Which is a blinding contrast to the closing piece, Januar Pt. 5. A gorgeous slow movement that feels like a soundtrack to one’s darkest moments lived. Even so early in the year, there’s a nagging feeling that few others across the new music landscape will light up the darkest parts of the soul quite like this.

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Christoff’s work from behind the piano is both fractured and melodic, creating an emotional power that, at times, is almost too much to bear. This is where he and Baker find a common ground on Januar. Over the years, whilst Baker has dragged us to the darkest corners of the earth, his creations have always been held together by a similar emotive thread. The difference here alongside Christoff is that he hasn’t been so exposed, for these are compositions that simply wet the corners of the eye.

There have been few artists around the world to shift so seamlessly in style. From the cerebral disorder alongside Fawn Limbs to the neo-classical majesty showcased on Januar alongside Christoff, there is little doubt that Aidan Baker’s sound world is ocean sized. Nothing is off the table, and Januar is another wonderful example of that. A grainy, sepia-toned slice of minimalism that’s as beautiful as anything either artist has produced.

Januar is out now via Time Released Sound & Time Sensitive Materials. Purchase from Bandcamp.