ATAVIST/NADJA "12012291920/1414101" CD

Maybe it's the tense, nervous weird moods i've been in lately, but this ambient styled heartbreak shit is really sitting well with me right now. And Nadja is so fucking good at it that i can't really give this album anything less than a "jesus christ go buy it right now" sort of assessment. That being said i was actually pretty taken aback by this record's direction. Being that this was a collaboration between Atavist and Nadja, i was expecting some pretty heavy, in fact damn heavy, guitar sludge. Certainly not the misanthropic hate gobs that Atavist toss out on their own record but something veering more towards the doom side of things, with Nadja's fluttering melodicisms and ultra heavy ambience sprinkled on top. Instead we get a very very tranquil, peaceful, quietly gorgeous album packed with little flourishes of sound and whispers that caress your ears and lull you off to some sort of mournful place-but it's not sad, no, it's rather that sort of triumphant melancholy practiced by the likes of Mogwai, Jesu, Final, etc-stuff that makes you feel happy for every experience, be it good or bad. It's the musical personifiication of the cliche "it's better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all.." And even further indicative of the weird moods i've been having is the fact that i attach feelings of love or romance or whatever sort of heart fucked-upedness to this record. I have no idea if that was the mood they wanted to convey with this one, it's just what i get out of it. although Nadja tends to take me to that place every time anyways. Weirdest thing about this record-no drums. Everyone is playing guitars or basses or synths and the whole record is a thick marsh of warm, sweet pillowy drone hum. tons of things going on all around your ears. A record for the headphones, absolutely. It's hard to keep up with Aidan Baker and Nadja-i have to be really selective about which of seemingly endless records i'll shell out for-but i'm glad i picked up this one, even though it was a little pricier (plus Atavist and Nadja together??? it's gotta be pretty damn cool.) So yeah-highest recommendation.