Aether Obelisk

The music Daniel Vujanic releases under the moniker Baja belongs to a category all its own. There is nothing quite similar to it out there, and it's pretty subversive music. Plus, Aether Obelisk, his fourth release, marks the point where the clever approach breaks through to the side of endearing art. On a first, superficial listen, you would be forgiven to think this is electronica: lots of textures, grooves, beats, and breaks, plus the occasional dreamy vocal line. A second listen brings to the fore the jazzier touches (Heiner Stilz's sax, among other things) and the pop leanings (the writing and vocal delivery on "Floating Clocks, Floating Girls" are strongly reminiscent of David Sylvian). If you pay attention on the third one — and there will be a third one, you can't let go of an album this quirky and original — the bigger picture will appear: forget electronica, despite the tools, and forget pop, despite the hooks; this is progressive music. Yes, as in progressive rock. Without the flamboyant solos and symphonic arrangements. At its core, Aether Obelisk is a set of ambitious long-form compositions in seemingly unrelated but thematically linked sections — prog at its best, approached from the electronica side. Some passages are virtuosic in how they have been pieced together (creative sampling and all), other bits are uplifting in their yearning, playing on emotional contrasts. Some of the tracks are so busy (getting close to a Zappa-on-synclavier feel) you might get dizzy, then all of a sudden things break down and you are left with a lone clarinet note cuing in the next melody. Tracks like "Floating Clocks, Floating Girls" and "Be Quick, Be Quiet and Mean" are so complex and pregnant with ideas they feel like epics, though they clock in at under ten minutes. Yet, throughout, Vujanic never loses sight of a certain form of pop entertainment. Catchy melodies, complex arrangements, upscale composition: Aether Obelisk has it all, and wraps it up in a way you have never heard before. ~ François Couture, Rovi