* * * * * Nadja * * * * *
Based in Toronto, this ambient doom/metal/electronic duo was the brainchild [ and originally the solo project ] of Aidan Baker. Already a prolific musician who had released a number of works with labels worldwide — including a vast catalog of CD-R only releases — Baker used Nadja to explore the darker aspects of his musical soul.
Taking on vocalist and bass player Leah Buckareff allowed the expansion of Nadja’s sound, as well as the ability to play live. Established in 2003, Nadja’s early releases followed the pattern already established by Baker, that is to say a lot of CD-R limited releases, but by 2005, the duo was ready for official release, and Alien8 released that year’s Truth Becomes Death. More releases followed, including EPs and collaborative efforts, and in 2007 Alien8 and Nadja released the well-received Touched. The band also built a following by opening shows for such post-metal [ luminaries as Ocean ] and [ Isis ].
An accomplished writer and musician, Aidan Baker has his artistic fingers in many pies. After graduating from Montreal’s McGill University with a degree in Literature and Religious Studies, Baker released a four-song acoustic cassette as “Aodhan” (the Gaelic spelling of his name). He also teamed up with two fellow Toronto musicians to create ARC, an ambient guitar-driven trio which garnered much praise for its innovation and integrity. The group released three albums, including Two in 2001. Having been published in major literary magazines nationally and internationally, Baker released his debut album Element in 2000. In 2001, he released his follow-up, Letters, a concept album based loosely around letters from both Jack the Ripper and the Marquis de Sade.
“When I See The Sun Always Shines On TV”
Aidan Baker on [ guitars ~ vocals ~ piano ~ woodwinds ~ drum programming ] and Leah Buckareff [ bass ~ vocals ] from Toronto, Canada creating what has been called ambient doom – music that combines elements of metal, shoegaze, ambient, post-rock, experimental, and neo-classical. The debate over whether Nadja is a metal or an ambient band has been long-standing, so they decided to put the issue to rest once and for all by recording an album of covers from some of their favourite bands.
Consider this album an exploration of the roots of Nadja: everyone compares us to My Bloody Valentine, so we had to cover them; Codeine and Swans were both bands exploring the heaviness of metal without actually being metal (sound familiar)… The Cure have that lovely, bittersweet gloominess; Elliott Smiths Needle in the Hay is simultaneously so simple and so devestating; no one believed us when we said we covered a song from The Kids in the Hall movie, a staple of our live set, so we had to get that one to tape; how could we resist the opportunity to cover A-has heaviest (but oh so catchy) tune And Slayer is just Slayer. In an effort to illustrate our motivations behind this album, we asked our friend Mathew Smith to create a series of childrens-storybook-like drawings to go with each cover song.
[ AttnMagazine.CO.UK ] “Fool Redeemer” – It’s nice to hear a split release that doesn’t use the “split” aspect as an excuse to throw out any idea of musical cohesion. Fool, Redeemer, flows very neatly as a start-to-finish listening experience. According to my recent interview with Aidan Baker, this wasn’t something that was openly discussed between the artists, but there’s no denying that a common atmosphere holds the tracks firmly together: it’s very rickety and organic in nature, bringing to mind a barren field dotted with dry, spindly trees bent into eerie shapes.
I’d never heard Picastro previously, but “Skullduggery” offers a very instant and provocative introduction. The music sounds wounded and warped, like a once beautiful song that has been beaten into stuttering, broken fragments – twanging guitars send out scratchy melody in weary lurches, bending out of tune and back in again, while drums retain the minimum amount of thudding, percussive momentum required to keep the whole thing trundling awkwardly forward.
Meanwhile, “A New Soul’s Benediction” breathes a sombre love song into an empty room; vocals take a soft and reluctant centre stage, spilling out gently beside a simple guitar chord progression. Gorgeous sweeps of strings bringing about a brief stretch of outspoken beauty, but it’s not long before the track crawls back into itself again. The other two tracks here feel more akin to interludes in comparison to the aforementioned cuts that sit on either side, but they at least paint further detail in the desolate soundscape provoked in the two “main” tracks.
The transition into Nadja territory is rather gradual, bridged by the slow acoustic strums that lead the way for the opening five minutes. By the 10-minute mark, “Venom” is swamped by the screeches and buzzes of Nadja’s trademark metallic feedback. The initial melody (a beautiful one at that) is swallowed by the guttural noise black hole, resurging as a climactic doom-pace groove of drum machine and distortion, while Aidan’s vocals murmur gently from beneath. This is a very strong Nadja cut, and while it doesn’t break away from any of the band’s synonymous traits, it pushes them to their most powerful extremes.
One interesting aspect of the split is that each artist contributed to the tracks of the other, and while this has only really taken the form of slight texture embellishments – Aidan’s flute on the Picastro pieces, Brandon’s drums and Liz’s guitar on the Nadja composition – it once again strengthens Fool, Redeemer as a cohesive release. This isn’t just a bunch of tracks that coincidentally work nicely alongside eachother – Nadja and Picastro have merged and interweaved, and somehow manage to smooth out their artistic seams without ever a whiff of compromise.
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< < < < < [ EDIT NOTE: 2012 Title [ Dagdrøm ] Update ]. > > > > >
“Dagdrøm” is [ Nadja’s ] first proper full-length since their 2010 release Autopergamene (Essence Music) and, replacing their habitual drum machine, features live drums courtesy of Mac McNeilly from [ The Jesus Lizard ]. While Nadja retains their signature overblown sound and heavily distorted guitars, these songs are more concise and structured, tempering their experimentalism and ambience with a more straightforward “rock” sound and compositional style. As such, Dagdrøm looks both forward and back—a departure from Nadja’s usual sound and style, it also harkens back to the noise rock scene of the ’80s and early ’90s and bands like Big Black, Caspar Brötzmann Massaker and, of course, The Jesus Lizard, all of whom were influential on Nadja’s sonic development.
Originally from Toronto and currently based in Berlin, Aidan Baker (guitars, woodwinds, vocals, drum machine) and Leah Buckareff (bass, vocals, accordion) create music variously dubbed dream sludge, metalgaze and ambient doom—atmospheric textures and elements of shoegaze, and experimental / ambient with the heaviness and volume of metal and noise.
Nadja has released numerous recordings on Alien8 Recordings, Hydrahead, Southern Records, Robotic Empire and their own label, Broken Spine Productions (to name a few). The group has toured and performed extensively around the world, appearing at such diverse festivals as Incubate, SXSW, FIMAV, Roadburn and Unsound.
< < < < < [ [ FaceBook ] | [ Last.Fm ] | [ MySpace ] ]. > > > > >
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Dagdrøm [ * * * * * ] X10
Release Date – 2012 [ 30th OCT ]
Genre – Experimental, Drone, Post-rock, Shoegaze, Dronegaze, Post-drone [ YOU NAME IT ]
Tracklist
1. One Sense Alone
2. Falling Out of Your Head
3. Dagdrøm
4. Space Time & Absence
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BANDCAMP Nadja – Dagdrøm
BIGCARTEL Nadja – Dagdrøm
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Artist – Nadja & Vampillia
Album – The Primitive World
Release Date – 2012
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Minimal, Dark-core, Music-noir, White Noise
Tracklist
01 – Shining
02 – Northern Lights
03 – Icelight
04 – Anesthetic Depth
05 – Call From Eternity
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Nadja & Vampillia – The Primitive World
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Artist – Aidan Baker & Thisquietarmy
Album – Dоcument: Eurotour 2011, Live In Paris & Ljubljana
Release Date – 2012
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Minimal, Dark-core, Music-noir, White Noise
Tracklist:
Aidan Baker & Thisquietarmy
01. Live In Paris – Part I 12:34
02. Live In Paris – Part II 10:28
03. Live In Paris – Part III 8:13
04. Live In Paris – Part IV 9:57
Aidan Baker
05. Live In Ljubljana – Part I 14:46
06. Live In Ljubljana – Part II 11:25
07. Live In Ljubljana – Part III 4:57
08. Live In Ljubljana – Part IV 6:08
09. Live In Ljubljana – Part V 11:50
Thisquietarmy
10. Live In Ljubljana – Part I 9:19
11. Live In Ljubljana – Part II 7:59
12. Live In Ljubljana – Part III 6:37
13. Live In Ljubljana – Part IV 8:15
14. Live In Ljubljana – Part V 4:22
15. Live In Ljubljana – Part VI 6:11
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Aidan Baker & Thisquietarmy – Dоcument: Eurotour 2011, Live In Paris & Ljubljana [ Part I Of II ]
Aidan Baker & Thisquietarmy – Dоcument: Eurotour 2011, Live In Paris & Ljubljana [ Part II Of II ]
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Excision
Release Date – 2012
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Minimal, Dark-core, Music-noir, White Noise
Tracklist
01 – Jornada del Muerto
02 – Perichoresis
03 – Spahn
04 – Kriplyana
05 – Autosomal (Version 2)
06 – Kitsune (Fox Drone)
07 – Autosomal (Version 3)
08 – Clinging To The Edge Of The Sky
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Nadja – Excision
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Artist – Picastro & Nadja
Album – Fool Redeemer
Release Date – 2011
Genre – Experimental, Post-rock
Tracklist
01. Skullduggery (04:51)
02. Fire Perfect (04:56)
03. Darnia (07:20)
04. A New Soul’s Benediction (04:04)
05. Venom (23:07)
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Picastro & Nadja – Fool Redeemer
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Sky Burial [ * * * * * ]
Release Date – 2010
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Minimal, Dark-core, Music-noir
Tracklist
01 – Nadja – Jaguar [ 18:59 ]
02 – Nadja – Sky Burial [ 19:05 ]
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Nadja – Sky Burial
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Artist – Nadja & Troum
Album – Dominium Visurgis [ * * * * * ]
Release Date – 2010
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Minimal, Dark-core, Music-noir
Tracklist
01 – Part 1 – 11:34
02 – Part 2 – 12:45
03 – Part 3 – 25:12
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Nadja & Troum – Dominium Visurgis
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Artist – Nadja & OVO
Album – The Life And Death Of A Wasp
Release Date – 2010
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Minimal, Dark-core, Music-noir
Tracklist
01-nadja-ovo-movement ~ A wasp Flying Around The Sugar
02-nadja-ovo-movement ~ Trapped In A Jar
03-nadja-ovo-movement ~ Put Some Sugar In My Cup Please
04-nadja-ovo-movement ~ Drowned In Coffee
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Nadja & OVO – The Life And Death Of A Wasp
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Ruins Of Morning
Release Date – 2010
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze, Minimal, Dark-core, Music-noir
Tracklist
01 – Nadja Pt 01 – 20:48
02 – Nadja Pt 02 – 19:29
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Nadja – Ruins Of Morning
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Autopergamene
Release Date – 2010
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze, Minimal
Tracklist
01. You Write Your Name In My Skin [ 25:39 ]
02. You Write My Name In Your Head [ 07:11 ]
03. You Write Your Name In My Blood [ 26:13 ]
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Nadja – Autopergamene Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Belles Betes
Release Date – 2009
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze, Minimal
Tracklist
01. Skin Like Sand
02. Beautiful Beast
03. Machina
04. Chainsaw
05. Green + Cold
06. Wound Culture
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Nadja – Belles Betes Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja And Black Boned Angel
Album – Nadja And Black Boned Angel
Release Date – 2009
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze, Minimal
Tracklist
01 – Angel I – 23:23
02 – Angel II – 26:19
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Nadja and Black Boned Angel – Nadja and Black Boned Angel Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Pyramids with Nadja
Album – Pyramids with Nadja ( * * * * * )
Release Date – 2009
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze, Minimal
Tracklist
1 Into the Silent Waves
2 Another War
3 The Sound of Ice and Grass
4 An Angel Was Heard to Cry Over the City of Rome
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Pyramids with Nadja Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Under The Jaguar Sun
Release Date – 2006
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze, Minimal
Disc One
01 – SUN1jaguar
01 – SUN1jaguar
03 – SUN3fieryrain
04 – SUN4flood
05 – SUN5earthquake
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Nadja – Under The Jaguar Sun – Disc 01 Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Disc Two
01 – Ocelotonatiuh
02 – Ehecatonatiuh
03 – Quiuhtonatiuh
04 – Atonatiuh
05 – Nahui-Ollin
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Nadja – Under The Juguar Sun – Disc 02 Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV
Release Date – 2009
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1. Only Shallow (My Bloody Valentine) 6:35
2. Pea (Codeine) 4:09
3. No Cure For The Lonely (Swans) 6:56
4. Dead Skin Mask (Slayer) 10:06
5. The Sun Always Shines On TV (A-Ha) 6:01
6. Needle In The Hay (Elliott Smith) 4:45
7. Long Dark Twenties (Kids In The Hall) 6:35
8. Faith (The Cure) 12:47
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Nadja – When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Touched
Release Date – 2003
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Mutagen 12:00
2 Stays Demons 10:22
3 Incubation / Metamorphosis 12:15
4 Flowers of Flesh 9:05
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Nadja – Touched Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Skin Turns to Glass
Release Date – 2003
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Sandskin 11:40
2 Skin Turns to Glass 12:20
3 Slow Loss 20:05
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Nadja – Skin Turns to Glass Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Corrasion
Release Date – 2003
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Base Fluid 11:45
2 You Are as Dust 10:35
3 Corrasion 8:35
4 Amniotic 21:00
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Nadja – Corrasion Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Bodycage
Release Date – 2005
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Clinodactyl 21:43
2 Autosomal 10:10
3 Ossification 20:42
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Nadja – Bodycage Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Bliss Torn From Emptiness
Release Date – 2005
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Bliss Torn From Emptiness 48:54
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Nadja – Bliss Torn From Emptiness Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Truth Becomes Death
Release Date – 2005
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Bug / Golem 22:54
2 Memory Leak 16:23
3 Breakpoint 11:28
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Nadja – Truth Becomes Death Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Trembled
Release Date – 2006
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Breakpoint 8:52
2 No Cure for the Lonely 7:44
3 Corrasion 10:55
4 Tremble 17:42
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Nadja – Trembled Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Thaumogenesis
Release Date – 2007
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Thaumogenesis 61:43
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Nadja – Thaumogenesis Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Radiance of Shadows
Release Date – 2007
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Now I Am Become Death the Destroyer of Worlds 23:26
2 I Have Tasted the Fire Inside Your Mouth 27:26
3 Radiance of Shadows 28:59
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Nadja – Radiance of Shadows Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – A Storm Of Light & Nadja
Album – Primitive North ( * * * * * )
Release Date – 2009
Genre – Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze-metal
Tracklist
01 – A Storm Of Light – brother
02 – A Storm Of Light – sister
03 – Nadja – i make from your eyes the sun
04 – Nadja – brother (remix)
05 – A Storm Of Light – i make from your eyes the sun (remix)
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A Storm Of Light & Nadja – Primitive North Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Desire in Uneasiness
Release Date – 2008
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Disambiguation 7:12
2 Signs-Expressions 13:16
3 Affective Fields 7:43
4 Uneasy Desire 15:16
5 Deterritorialization 18:49
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Nadja – Desire in Uneasiness Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja / Netherworld
Album – Magma to Ice
Release Date – 2008
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Netherworld – Closing to a Winter Night 8:59
2 Netherworld – Frozen Divinity 7:17
3 Netherworld – Closing to a Glacial Dawn 10:13
4 Nadja & Netherworld – Ice to Magma 9:15
5 Nadja – Kriplyana (Melted & Refrozen Snow that Looks Blue in Early Morning) 19:00
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Nadja / Netherworld – Magma to Ice Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Moss / Nadja
Album – Split
Release Date – 2003
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Moss – …of Flesh and Blood 9:52
2 Nadja – I Am as Earth 10:26
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Moss / Nadja – Split Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja / Methadrone
Album – Absorption
Release Date – 2005
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Nadja – Absorbed in You 30:43
2 Methadrone – A View Into the Empty 8:31
3 Methadrone – Absorbed 3:56
4 Methadrone – Sustained Presence of Loss 4:09
5 Methadrone – Placebo, Part 2 6:37
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Nadja / Methadrone – Absorption Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Atavist & Nadja
Album – 12012291920 / 1414101
Release Date – 2007
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Twentyfour: Sixteen 24:16
2 Twentynine: Thirtyseven 29:37
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Atavist & Nadja – 12012291920 / 1414101 Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja
Album – Guilted by the Sun
Release Date – 2007
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 Guilted 10:04
2 By 4:52
3 The 4:26
4 Sun 8:40
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Nadja – Guilted by the SunGuilted by the Sun Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja / Fear Falls Burning
Album – We Have Departed the Circle Blissfully
Release Date – 2006
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
A Untitled # 1 20:09
B Untitled # 2 20:07
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Nadja / Fear Falls Burning – We Have Departed the Circle Blissfully Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Artist – Nadja / Fear Falls Burning
Album – Split With Fear Falls Burning
Release Date – 2007
Genre – Experimental, Ambient-metal, Drone-metal, Shoegaze
Tracklist
1 14:25 14:25
2 15:32 15:32
3 14:41 14:41
4 15:43 15:43
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Nadja / Fear Falls Burning – Split With Fear Falls Burning Password – SirensSound.blogspot.com
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Recommendations: ~ Eluvium ~ Ender ~ A Storm Of Light ~ Ghastly City Sleep ~ Landing
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