Emptiness is the primary influence guiding the sounds of this record. A tangible calm pierces each moment, lifting the music from the physical world and placing it firmly in the unreal. Aidan Baker's subject is dreams and it's remote, dream-like music he's producing on these two discs.
Die Stadt
It is worth mentioning right away that the music composing the album proper is wholly different from the live set provided on the second CD. The list of instruments used in the making of the five studio recordings is enough to prove this true: electric guitars, tapes, piano, drum machines, percussion, and vocals all make up Oneiromancer. The live disc, from his Toronto performance in April of 2004, lists electric guitar as the sole instrument. Where the first disc is all hazy moans and windy gusts of synthetic beauty, the live disc sounds far more rich, busy with music and manipulation, but retaining the hazy qualities from the album.
"Wake Up" betrays its name entirely, sounding more like the beginning of a dream rather than the cloudy and often frustrating moments of an early morning. All manner of recorded noise clamor along in the background while Baker generates warm, synthetic tones to draw away from the perhaps frightening nature of those sample noises moving along below. Death makes an appearance on the second song, but its presence there is rather obscured. The sounds of what could be a hospital often resonate out from Baker's cloud of synth, but there's very little context to place any of this in.
The problem with the album eventually makes itself evident in the way Baker chooses to organize all of his material. The first disc is essentially one long song utilizing the same arrangement: sampled loops and tape sounds played beneath a wash of warm tones and fuzzy feelings. It is relaxing, but not always engaging. "Do You Remember Me (From Your Dreams)" succeeds the most in getting my attention and holding it, but then again it isn't anywhere near as light or wandering as the previous two pieces. There are some light percussive parts littered throughout the disc, but their presence seems more like an afterthought, placed there to provide some current. In reality it cheapens the music and almost gives it a world-beat feel, as if I were listening to samples from the rain forest mixed with exotic drumming. It isn't all bad, but it barely stands up against Baker's other work.
The second disc, on the other hand, makes up for that stereotypical, perhaps underdeveloped music. Baker sounds more lively when given a single instrument to work with and the compositions, in turn, are far more vibrant. Instead of keeping a thematic of dreams running steady, Baker focuses more on the texture and severity of his sounds, mixing them and crossing them expertly. Small synthetic sounds (evidently from guitar) waver and flap through each piece. Being present for this live performance must've been nearly surreal: for 18 minutes Baker weaves plentiful rolls of sound together and keeps his work from being either cluttered or overbearing. Each of the songs blend into each other flawlessly, giving me the impression that the live disc is an album just as much as the first disc is. Baker fans will definitely want to pick this up for the live set and perhaps newcomers will find something here to love. While it isn't his best work, it may be one of his least challenging and, with the inclusion of the live set, one of his most diverse works.
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