Snow storms are a frequent occurrence in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Although they may only be the metaphorical kind, these snow storms are as impacting as the real thing. Nadja are back with another re-recorded version of a record of yesteryear and once again, have provided audiences with another action packed, fun filled year in 2007. The machine that is Nadja drives on with a work ethic anyone would be proud of. To say that Nadja work hard is an understatement. Considering the amount of records and various other material the Canadians have unleashed upon the human race, one would have thought that the tank would be running on empty and that this machine would be grinding to a halt, but no. This time, Nadja have deemed it necessary to cover the dismally rated, ‘Touched’ in an attempt to perhaps better the overall opinion of this piece of work. In terms of my own personal view, I am a fan of the original version of this record. To me, as the title of my review for it suggests, it was music to dream to. Instead of creating a vast array of soundscapes, Nadja created a blizzard like dreamscape, which was filled to the brim with epic visions and excellent hallucinations. I’d imagine, if I took drugs, that listening to Nadja whilst on a high would be an amazing experience. Despite the fact that I don’t take drugs, it’s a worthwhile experience nevertheless. I very much enjoy this record without the help of outside factors, but it’s interesting to consider what could be.
I think it would be wise of me to view this record as it’s own embodiment of what Nadja saw fit to recreate at the time. Although it may be a re-recorded version of a previously already seen work, I would like to look upon this effort as an individualistic piece and in doing so, judge in on the basis of the material that is presented for us here, as opposed to working by a compare and contrast writing scheme. ‘Touched’ is much like the majority of Nadja works. It’s heavily reliant on guitars, persist in it’s quest to bring the most vivid visions to the listener and incredibly intense. The way in which Nadja’s soundscapes build to a crescendo can be compared to the way in which an orgasm builds. It starts off slowly, eventually building to superior sensations before metaphorically exploding all over the place in a blissful semblance of distorted guitars, heavy percussion and awesome ambience. This Nadja record, unlike most, even includes some sparse vocals sung in a clean voice that evokes emotion in the listener (provided on ‘Stays Demons‘ which is seemingly rated very highly by the majority of Nadja fans). Although I don’t consider the vocals necessary to the soundscapes that Nadja provides here, I can understand their involvement in proceedings. The bass is often inaudible and leads the listener to question it’s involvement, if it’s involved at all, but this negative can be swept under the carpet as Nadja’s music has never meant we’re going to be provided with streaming bass lines that tap into the inner consciousness of the human mind. One was never expecting a huge improvement in the bass department, instead, one was looking for more of the same. That blissful ambience that sweeps over us like the night time sky, or that percussion that hangs over us like the smell of shells being dropped on a battle field. The reflective music is, I find, the best to work to. Nadja have long since been my ‘night time’ music, or my ‘working’ music. I find records like this to be so relaxing, despite the heavy influence of distortion.
Nadja like to work within specific realms of music, dealing with ambience mostly to portray the connotations of their sound. From despair to loneliness, Nadja deal with aspects of human emotion and even more complex notions with a certain class that makes them my favourite drone act. I consider the impacting nature of Nadja‘s music to be even more inspired that than of the much loved The Angelic Process. This drone act enjoy exploring the experimental side of music, but in a simplistic way. Although the way in which the music is created might be simplistic, the emotional depth is certainly complex and inspires thought. Delve as deep as you can to find the meaning of the works presented for us here, but you will find more questions than answers. To me, like the best material does, the music allows the listener to decide what the motive was and why it was created that way. The ambience, in particular, supports my theory on this matter in my opinion. There is a mystical quality to Nadja, and ‘Touched’, that doesn’t allow for a straight forward plan, or a formulated outcome. Although I have previously said that Nadja works can work in similar ways, the moods are always different and the records always draw out different conclusions from me. I enjoy deciphering the ambiguities of the Canadian bands music. I wouldn’t recommend this type of music to anyone who isn’t prepared to take a spiritual journey into the unknown because this record, with it’s other worldly ambience, distorted riffs and astral atmospherics, will need to be thought about for a long time. Although the music may fuse together into one ball of blizzard like distortion, the songs are memorable. Songs like the fantastic ‘Incubation/Metamorphosis’ are fine examples of this. The power behind this record, in terms of the brilliant song writing which allows the guitars to take control of the listener like a puppet master makes this one of Nadja’s finest.
Perhaps it's the idea behind Nadja that is the reason I like it so much. For those new to Nadja, imagine getting a Jesu song, making it twice as long, adding heaps of synths and then filtering it through a fuzz pedal. So beautiful, so blissed out, still heavy and overwhelming, but also compassionate, joyful and seriously epic. It's exactly the kind of music I want, which probably explains why I love it so much.
Anyway, this is Nadja's first release, and while it would be interesting to hear the original version of Touched, I've got the re-worked version, and well, it's an absolute beast of an album. It's definitely Nadja's noisiest, heaviest, most riff orientated work, so this would be a good album to start on.
People who've heard the slightly newer Nadja may be a bit surprised by just how riff driven this is. Don't get me wrong, it's not very different from later releases, but it's still a surprising beast. Stays Demons combines the usual Nadja deal- crazy amount of synths, that blissful cacophony, with a pretty big riff, and some real nice vocals. It sounds a huge amount like stuff off Jesu's first album, but it's a lot better then that. It's truely a triumphant song, quite major key and uplifting. It's probably Nadja's shining moment, and a definite warning to every other drone band out there- pick your game up, or these guys are going to own you.
The rest of the album is somewhat similar to this song, but a lot more murky and noisy. Incubation is a long, draining epic with a big guitar riff. Flowers of Flesh is a bit darker, more epic and really noisy, while Muttagen is a bit of a slow(er) building track, setting you up for the other songs. I'm not quite sure how different the re-worked version is from the original version, but these songs seem more stripped down then the usual Nadja tune. There's still heaps of layers, just slightly less synths and more focus on the guitar and vocals.
Hmm, I'm realizing that I've rambled a bit with this review. But I have got Nadja on at a very loud volume, which is making it very hard to think. Let me just finish by saying that this is some seriously glorious, beautiful noise. Imagine the soundtrack for falling into the sun, as your body gets disintegrated and all there is is light and heat. Imagine standing at the top of a mountain late at night, cold as hell, winds howling at you, millions of stars above you, beauty and danger everywhere.
Alternatively, you could stop reading my clumsy attempts at metaphors and buy this album now.