Trinity

Nadja's Trinity release is a bit of an interesting idea that I'd like to see some more traditional, bigger bands use. Each member gets to write a song each, and then the band as a whole writes one- I think it's quite terrific and I'd love to see bands of various genres (and sizes) give this a shot.

Unfortunately, the most interesting thing about this release is that idea; this release isn't horrible but it's not that great. Aidan's solo song is quite good, Leah's is pretty solid, but there's not much going for the main attraction. The songs are fairly different on this one; I normally try to avoid these things but I think a track-by-track is justified here.

Over the past few years Aidan Baker has developed a fairly signature sound; one guitar and heaps and heaps of loops- everything sounding appealingly murky, kind of like he recorded it in a bathroom. This track is no exception and overall it's certainly not bad; all these guitar drones hover around the place while various processed bits shimmer above the mix. Granted, it's nowhere near as good as "The Sea Swells a Bit" or "Field of Drones" but it's still a pretty nice tune- albeit a bit too murky and overlong.

Leah Buckareff's tune has plenty of interesting concepts but it wasn't without it's bad parts. It starts off with a series of loops; some sort of glitch thing, a minimalist but interesting bass line repeating. Leah seems to be a bit less fund of repetition then Aidan, with plenty of distorted shimmer slowly introducing itself into the mix until the whole thing is a good deal bassier, fuzzier and more malevolent. It's a cool track but it does seem kind of unfocused; certain parts could've been moved around to better effect and a bit more in terms of melody would've been nice.

The Nadja track is pure arse, unfortunately. For one, the guitar tone (even for Nadja) is WAYYYY too distorted, a good deal closer to white noise then anything else. Things start off on a rather doomy note that really fails to achieve anything that's all that satisfying; things get a bit more chaotic as the track progresses but that just sounds really awkward, the riff near the end of the song, for one, is absolutely horrible- consisting of these really awkward tempo changes and just way too much fuzz. It's a bit of a nothing song, really. It goes nowhere, is poorly structured and sounds like crap, and it is probably the worst thing Nadja have ever done. Yep, it's even worse then Absorbed in You. Sorry, Nadja!

Not really worth getting, then. The Nadja song is truly, truly dire, and while Aidan's and leah's solo tracks are commendable they're not all that good. Download (like me) if you're a completist, otherwise don't bother with this album.