Aidan Baker

"Revenge of the Smoke Ghost Pt1"

BY Alex HudsonPublished Dec 13, 2011

Canuck avant-garde experimenter Aidan Baker recently announced his epic 96-track double album The Spectrum of Distraction, which features appearances from members of Jesus Lizard, Swans and Slowdive, and is designed to be played on shuffle for a unique listening experience every time. Now, you can get a taste of what Baker's been working on in the form of "Revenge of the Smoke Ghost Pt1."

Just so we're clear, this track doesn't appear in this same form on Distraction. Rather, it comes from a digital bonus collection packaged with the record that features "extended session" segments -- that is, the longer jams that were chopped up to make the 96 pieces of the album proper.

"Revenge of the Smoke Ghost Pt1" is a dark and gloomy new wave groove that's almost six minutes in length, with a pulsing baseline blanketed in a dense wash of reverb-soaked keys. It's entirely instrumental and features drummer Jakob Thiesen from Whisper Room, Nadja, Students. Not much happens over the course of the track, and we're guessing that this is one of the "psychedelic grooves" that the album promises to offer.

The Spectrum of Distraction will be available as a double CD and digital download on January 17 via Robotic Empire.

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