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Nadja > Ruins of Morning > Reviews
Nadja - Ruins of Morning

A serene deviation from usual noisy Nadja - 70%

NausikaDalazBlindaz, July 27th, 2012

For once, Nadja have deviated from their usual noisy ambient drone doom texture soundscapes and given us something a little like introspective country or folk music but still within their familiar musical haunts. In some respects "Ruins of Morning" reminds me of current Dylan Carlson / Earth: easy-going, slightly blues-flecked, Western-desert atmospheric rock with a minimal and repetitive melody or riff along with bare-bones percussion. There's a slight intrusion of distorted noise guitar at times which gives the first half of the track a slightly rough edge and warns you there's something behind the warm and restful rhythm, the hushed voice and long chiming harmonica / organ tones (hard to tell exactly what the tones are but they seem slightly organ-like). The repetition has an immersive and relaxing effect on the listener and the track builds up very slowly and almost imperceptively. Any variations within the track are in the minute details: the odd change of key, a missed drum-beat perhaps, an off-key note, a squeaky guitar lick.

As the track progresses in its first half, the mood gradually becomes ominous and dark as if presaging mysterious turmoil; the chiming tones twist and turn and shadows hover over them. The guitars begin a long wail and the noise begins to bleed into the dark spaces like ongoing acid showers.

About the halfway mark the familiar Nadja drone noise narrative kicks in and seems very much like fresh spring rain, washing away the darkness and shadows that had crept up on the serene country / folk soundscape. The vocals help to shape the droning feedback and give it rhythmic regularity so it soon begins a staccato stop-start routine. A clean lead guitar solo locks into a duet with the rest of the music which itself becomes less distorted though it still retains a rough edge.

There's not much of a climax and the track fades away slowly in the guise it had in its first twenty minutes.

A very pleasant and restful piece for much of its playing time, "Ruins of Morning" is a mellow sound painting of open spaces, mostly clear skies and hints of a fresh beginning, a renewal of life. There may have been a nostalgic longing for a past loved one in the quiet, wistful vocals but overall the track seems quite hopeful. Perhaps a new direction for Nadja is being heralded here? There's not a lot of imagination at work in the track and its first half is very long for what it does although I do appreciate it has to build up very slowly in atmosphere. The band still slips into the old Nadja groove so working towards a new if still minimalist musical path will take some time.

Sort of good, I think - 55%

caspian, June 15th, 2010

This is a nice but rather odd bit of vinyl (I wish people would stop doing exclusive vinyl records); one of the better Nadja releases of the year but also one of of the strangest. A quick and adequate description for the Nadja/Aidan fanboy would be that the first half sounds exactly like a bit of Aidan solo work, and the next half is effectively a cover of that done by Nadja circa '04.

The first twenty minutes or so is a nice, but very overlong bit of ambience; little in the way of Nadja's spikey tones and much more of the seething, goopy murk that's reminiscent of Aidan's many million solo releases. A quiet, uneasy, not-really-fitting-into-any-key chord progression that quietly crawls in and then proceeds to stare at you for ages. I can't honestly tell if I like it or not, to be honest; it is a nice soundscape but the progression throughout this section is truly glacial. You need dedication, that's for sure.

Things brighten up when around the half way mark a burst of Only Shallow-esque drums herald in a bit of noise-making. I assume it's just the vinyl but the warm, murky and not very layered production really makes this sound like it's one of the first Nadja releases, fitting somewhere between Skin Turns to Glass and Corrasion or something. It's not of the quality of those enigmatic, shimmering early releases but when it's all said and done it does sound rather good; the usual drones bordering on noise replaced by much more chilled guitar lines and big rhythm guitars chugging away. Er, for a few minutes anyway, as it's not long before a long, relaxed chords, reversed guitars and mellow synths/organs begin filling gaps and we're back to the ambient.

I'm rather torn on just how much I like this. The outro to the whole thing is sublime, and certainly this has some good moments. Forty minutes of this stuff is a lot to ask of anyone, though; this is definitely Nadja's mellowest and most reflective yet and it does get rather minimalist. Still, it's a nice change for the last million or so sound alike releases he's done. Worth having a look at it, definitely, if you're already a fan.

Drifting Pleasantly. - 60%

Perplexed_Sjel, June 13th, 2010

‘Ruins of Mourning’ is a 2010 EP release from Nadja. Split into two songs simply known as ‘Part 1’ and ‘Part 2’, ‘Ruins of Mourning’ is one of the few pieces of material issued from Nadja this year that they themselves constructed instead of collaborating with some other artist, which they’ve done consistently throughout the year. I’ve often been left disappointed by the collaborations, particularly from Nadja’s side as this Canadian duo have the ability to be the ambient drone masters if they just pulled their finger out and cut out all the collaboration works which really harm their career. ‘Ruins of Mourning’ isn’t what I had expected from Nadja, ‘Part 1’ begins with a clean guitar and sticks with that approach for a few minutes before a low-lying ambiance draws into the atmosphere alongside mournful clean vocals from Aidan. The vocals are despairing, not matter how much they seep into the background. The title of the EP becomes very important the more the song begins to unfold as this is obviously a very emotive release from the Canadian duo, something which has been missing from their discography for quite some time, especially with those god-awful collaborative works with bands like Ovo with their strange female vocalist literally sounding like a dying wasp - yes, that’s right, a dying wasp.

This EP is a little like the old Nadja, a little like the newer Nadja we encountered on albums like ‘Desire in Uneasiness’ and a few of the calmer EP’s. The atmosphere of this EP is just that - calming. A soothing guitar plays cleanly throughout the first few minutes of ‘Part 1’. A slow, agonising drum plays alongside it after a few minutes once the vocals hav disappeared, but they’re not like they used to be. They don’t constantly pound and pummel their way through the dense atmospherics, as they simply don’t exist. The atmosphere is so relaxing, I could even end up using it to go to sleep to. That isn’t a negative comment, it’s meant to be relaxing and mournful. It feels like a long, languid night of sleeplessness before a busy day. There’s a funerary aspect to the sound which is really affective and though there isn’t much variation to the song for its twenty minute duration, there is enough on offer to make the song interesting in an abstract sense. The material is like an intoxicant. It takes over the imagination and begins to draw out images and pictures within the grand skies of the soundscapes. The song may not be as dynamic, but it certainly is as dreamy without ever being all that imaginative.

‘Part 1’, towards the end at least, signals that this song is merely a build-up to the second half of the EP. ‘Part 2’ is exactly what we’ve come to expect of the newer side to Nadja. Lots of dense distortion, an incredibly dreamy atmosphere with the distant and dissonant vocals of Aidan and drums which hit home the bass underlay. The vocals, on this twisted occasion, don’t just come in the form they normally have done -- which was in a clean form -- there are some vaguely distorted vocals, though they play second fiddle to the cleanly sung vocals of Aidan. The atmosphere on this song is a little more concrete than on ‘Part 1’ because there is a lot more creativity going on, though the stylistic approach is still very similar to songs like ‘I Have Tasted The Fire Inside Your Mouth’ and the songs which feature vocals on ‘Christ Send Light’. Aidan doesn’t tend to incorporate vocals into the full-lengths, but these EP’s use them willingly and with adventurous roles. The vocals tend to melt into the scorching background, but they still have a purpose. This song is a lot like older Nadja, with songs like ‘Numb’ coming to mind, or ‘Base Fluid’ because of the blissful droning ambiance. This is a really tidy EP that could have done with a shorter opening song. A better addition to 2010 at least.