h. stilz (baritone & tenorsax/bass clarinet & clarinet/flute/keys)
m. vujanic (vocals)
b. walter (violin, viola)
d. kartmann (vibes, drumkit, marimba, percussion and sometimes even oboe) &
k. griesshaber (vocals)
graphic master: s. hayez/kudeta graphics
"one-time" participants/contributors/guests:
n. lazarakopoulos (drumkit, mastering) m. singer (violin) g. palavestric (found sounds) t. kinsella (voice)...
extended team baja: y. kikuchi: the drums/percussion stoned sample pirates: the-all-seeing-analogue-eye .
Influences
change & silence (or gin & juice...)
Sounds Like
AETHER OBELISK CD REVIEWS:
ALLMUSICGUIDE:
"The music Daniel Vujanic releases under the moniker Baja belongs to a category all its own. There is nothing quite similar to it out there, and it's pretty subversive music. Plus, Aether Obelisk, his fourth release, marks the point where the clever approach breaks through to the side of endearing art. ...At its core, Aether Obelisk is a set of ambitious long-form compositions in seemingly unrelated but thematically linked sections -- prog at its best, approached from the electronica side... Yet, throughout, Vujanic never loses sight of a certain form of pop entertainment. Catchy melodies, complex arrangements, upscale composition: Aether Obelisk has it all, and wraps it up in a way you have never heard before. "
TINY MIX TAPES:
"Baja’s music does not follow a straight course; it tunnels into itself, skips forward, and expands in leisurely circles. The willingness to shuttle from idea to idea within big compositions is reminiscent of some of The Fiery Furnaces’ output, but unlike those of The Furnaces, Baja’s songs aren’t spastic riddles to be unpacked; they’re more like detailed itineraries, inked onto paper, that yield memories as one travels across them in three dimensions."
TEXTURA:
"...An almost prog-like intricacy characterizes some of the writing, as does a dizzying, rather ADD-like tendency to shift gears within a given song."
MUSIC EMISSIONS:
"..."Aether Obelisk" grows on you slow, then hits you hard with its power, one that you can't place, but know you understand."
SWAN FUNGUS:
" Folktronica, free-jazz, post-rock, ambient experimental…it’s easier just to defy categorization and appreciate Aether Obelisk for what is is: challenging, enlightening, and beautiful....any kind of art that forces us to fundamentally rethink our personal aesthetics deserves high praise, and although I feel like Aether Obelisk is not the pinnacle of Baja’s recorded output, Daniel Vujanic deserves immense credit for his ability to force us into questioning ourselves and each other about why we really enjoy music."
30MUSIC.COM:
"...The clashing styles that Vujanic employs are an interesting mix, and the brief dalliances with straightforward song structure make them sound even more exotic.., its attention to detail makes it a challenging but rewarding listen."
EXPERIMUSIC:
"...(Aether Obelisk) offers adventurous types an entire aural world to delve into and enjoy. It shows us that our confused and sometimes bleak postmodern world can still yield treasures."
ALOHA AHAB CD/LP REVIEWS:
"...clever und von schlichter schönheit." INTRO 05/2007
"...herrlich schrulliges ding zwischen postrock, notebookindie, jazzigen versatzstücken, gelegentlichen gitarrenausbrüchen und - ja - pop..." VISIONS magazine 07/2007 - 10 punkte.
"...so gut und gnadenlos wie in "the true friends of the great northern heartbreak" hat noch keiner ein Post-Noise-Stück in eine schimmernde Folk-Perle verwandelt." Robert Heldner/sellfish.de
"... extrem facettenreich.." OX Fanzine No.72
"...trotz aller Easy-Listening Ruhe große Variabilität..." alternativenation.de
"...Anhänger solcher Künstler wie Pedro The Lion oder Tortoise hingegen können sich schon mal einen Abend freinehmen, sich über die unzähligen Haken und Stil-Sprünge freuen - und nach ein paar Hördurchgängen Schritt für Schritt tiefer in dieses eigenwillige Werk eintauchen..." wasteofmind.de
"Zarte Klänge, verspielte Melodien und akustische Akzente inmitten sphärischer Wogen ... erfrischend unprätentiös... ein entspannender Hörgenuss." faz.net
"Da ist die Komplexität des Jazz, die Direktheit des Rocks und die Leichtigkeit des Pops. Und noch so vieles mehr... Einigen wir uns auf die Plattitüde: Die Platte wächst..."bands-in-berlin.com
"... Baja, ...entdecken Strukturen, legen sie behutsam frei, lassen sie für sich alleine sprechen, um sie anschließend wieder in die große Rumpelkammer des Postrock zurückzuschleudern..." cnet.de
...Wunderschön, oh Schluß, nochmal hören, wann gehts los?, gleich, endlich, jetzt, ahh, Baja." Mario Kreuzer/motor.de
"psychedelische indie sounds im flaming lips stil" epad.de
"...was Bands wie Múm und Broken Social Scene schaffen, dass gelingt Baja mit „Aloha Ahab“ auch..., aus den vielen verschiedenen Instrumenten einen eigenen einheitlichen Postrockstil mit Indierock- oder Indietronic-Einflüssen zu synthetisieren, der in der Lage ist, über ein ganzes Album hinweg zu begeistern und zu faszinieren...„Aloha Ahab“ könnte eine der Platten schlechthin für den Frühling werden. Sie hat von der bitteren Süße bis hin zum leicht schwelgend Schmachtenden alles, was es dazu braucht...
Michael Weber/crazewire.de
"...One-Man-Show des Multiinstrumentalisten Daniel Vujanic,... gediegenes Stück Indie-Gefrickel im Stile von The Notwist oder Motorpsycho..." hurricanebar.de
"...scheint als hätten Kieran Hebden, Tortoise, The Beta Band und The Earlies gemeinsam eine geheime Session aufgenommen." hoersturz.de
WOLFHOUR REVIEWS:
THE GAP (Austria):
...intelligente, abwechslungsreiche, aber niemals überladene Kompositionen. Aktuelle Kammermusik könnte zum Beispiel so klingen.
(8/10)
TWOWAYMONOLOGUES (USA)
... Wolf Hour manages to sound soaked in vintage jazz atmospherics, thoroughly modern and urban and thoroughly post-modern at the same time. It is beholden to no particular time or place. Likewise, it follows no particular direction to its logical end, and yet remains instantly enjoyable at the same time....(8/10)
COKEMACHINEGLOW:
... music as episodic and disjointed, as appropriate to its time, as anything out there. There are moments during Wolfhour where I feel like this music has been telegraphed back from a post-album future and expressed in an anachronistic vocabulary of plastic discs and track listings....Vujanic is making music for the Shuffle generation, positing endless subdivisions that thus, beautifully, enable the listener to consider the music in almost anything....
DE:BUG (D)
...Ambientklänge mit Geräuschen, Gitarrenfolk, Jazz, Fieldrecordings, Postrock, Elektronik, Psychedelik und einer großen Portion Pop...
www.squidsear.com
...There is what seems to be an “effortlessly” created anthropomorphia about Wolfhour...redefines the opaque meanings generated by the appellation “post-rock”; symphonic and dizzyingly orchestrated...Baja’s particular wrinkle is thoroughly considered, never less than lobe-tickling, and, unlike many recordings assembled in the silicon-deep editing bays of today’s mouse-keteers, demands repeated spins to reveal its exquisitely-layered pleasures.
EXCLAIM! MAGAZINE (CANADA)
...(Vujanic) stirs things up, unleashing frequencies and fragrances that place Wolfhour in the court of the Books or even Jaga Jazzist for its expert blending of organic and inorganic elements... the suite of “Go Wolpertinger! Go!,” “Djilas Plus” and “Bous Makel” could just as easily be adapted for an Emerson Lake and Palmer album as for Aphex Twin...
LUCID FORGE (canada):
...Baja slowly envelops the listener by sheer curiosity, then slowly blooms into a carefully organized series of musical colors, shapes, and patterns...further listening will reveal secret melodies and hidden passages that will pour cold water into your soul. Some very beautiful stuff here.
TEXTURA
... Rejecting genre boundaries, Vujanic sprinkles his mercurial mix of folk, jazz, pop, electro-acoustic, and post-rock with an occasional sliced-and-diced vocal melody...
STEREO SUBVERSION:
...I’ll be the first to admit that at times Wolfhour touches brilliance…
CHART MAG (canada)
... composer Daniel Vujanic admittedly puts his music through a staggering number of editing stages, and the pristine arrangements on Wolfhour act as evidence of that....
Vital weekly:
... layers the cake with guitar,
organs and electronics. Eclectic music this is, swinging - literally - all
over the place. Jazz, pop, rock, free improv even it all passes with great
ease by the listener....
GAZ-ETA (poland):
... Neo-ambient, folk-electronicslabs for the mind and soul, "Wolfhour" comes out as a clear winner ....”
SOUNDTHESIRENS:
...Vujanic is a one man musical army...
WESTZEIT (D)
...PostRock-geschulte JazzImprovisation mit diversen Indie-, Minimal- und Pop-Einflüssen...
DowntownmusicGallery NYC
...This magical music ...has a most relaxed quality with quaint layers of elegant guitars, saxes, bass and percussion. It is quietly psychedelic with constantly shifting layers elegant sounds. ... reminds me of some of that Canterbury whimsy that we all cherish so dearly.
GET THE "AETHER OBELISK" AT YOUR LOCAL RECORD STORE OR DIGITALLY RIGHT HERE: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=307309467&s=143441
emusic: http://www.emusic.com/album/Baja-Aether-Obelisk-MP3-Download/11408437.html
with Buttons:
still to come: gradient/elixir/into the night of you(th)
AUDIVERSITY.COM:
...Daniel Vujanic, and his loose collective known as Baja conjure an amazing array of subtly moving music with their two-part debut on Stilll Records. ... This genius piece of music is hard to describe with words and impossible to categorize, so if you are a big fan of any of the aforementioned artists, blended genres that especially included folktronica, electroacoustica or jazz-anything, and/or challenging yet laid-back music please, please, please do yourself a favor and pick up this disc; because you know as well as I do, you deserve it.
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COKEMACHINEGLOW.COM:
...Maps/Systemalheur doesn’t rely on groove-based electronic production; it resembles free-jazz interspersed in minimalist pastiche and insistent polyphony. ...It’s not that Maps/Systemalheur resists being brainy. It’s just that the intellectualism at work in Baja’s music is located in the listening, detected in the way it emotes intelligently rather than intelligently references emotion. By making process and reward one in the same, mirroring the obstinacy and arbitrary nature of human emotions, Vujanic is using electronic music in a way that makes it less a statement about media or a contemporary discussion about subverting conventional songwriting than a tool of matter-of-factness; Vujanic is a Apollonian fully aware of the necessity of his Dionesian counterpart, returning us to a more fundamental discussion about how words may never encapsulate what it is we want to say, or how music makes us feel.
Conrad Amenta
April 10, 2007
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DROWNEDINSOUND.COM:
... Vujanic is constantly opening doors to new scenarios within the record, but because of its relaxed, amiable mood, it never really becomes obtrusive and uncomfortable. One thing which will polarize opinion is the fact that you never know what’s around the corner – some will deign its incoherency as a nullification of the album’s brilliant musicianship, while others will see it as a strength...Maps / Systemalheur is a record which will appeal to both free-jazz enthusiasts and fans of minimalist electronics. The production is great, and the musicianship manages to work well in the cut-and-paste way that Baja works.
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JAZZINBELGIUM:
...une suite avec
plusieurs dévelop-
pements où guitares, traitements électroniques, sons d’ambianceet autres instruments sont subtilement agencés. Daniel Vujanic
fait aussi office de chef d’un orchestre amical
captivant, à la fois séduisant et étonnant. Il est
également mélodiste et arrangeur mature,ayant
parfaitement intégré l’héritage post-rock, électronique, mais aussi jazz et contemporain. .... nous voici à peine sous le charme que Baja nous projette dans un autre court-métrage
sonore avec de délicats entrelacs de guitares
électriques et acoustiques. Une révélation et un
doux plaisir pour les âmes voyageuses. Et si ce
monde était beau...?
Philippe Franck
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THETRIPWIRE:
Incredible genre-melting album that deconstructs rock norms ...
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GUTSOFDARKNESS.COM:...."Maps/Systemalheur" s'écoute d'une traîte ou ne s'écoute pas. Mieux ; "Maps/Systemalheur" se vit ! Même si le système d'écriture employé par Baja transpire trop le dictat du laptop, l'album n'en est pas pour autant dépourvu d'âme. Les couleurs pastels apportées par les percussions (vibraphone, marimba), la guitare électro-acoustique et les rares cuivres (clarinette, soprano ?) donnent toute sa profondeur à un disque éminemment poétique, cristallisant une rencontre jusque là encore inédite entre Kieren Hebden (Four Tet) et Mark Hollis (Talk Talk).
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TINYMIXTAPES.COM:... (maps/systemalheur) is a work that’s somehow entirely friendly and sincerely detached all at once. It’s pretty, twisting, and curiously impalpable, like a ball of feathers. (And, pssst, it’s only a debut). If the indie rock just isn’t getting it done for you anymore, Baja’s enveloping, intangible compositions may be just the guide you need to more engaging musical territory.
HERE ..S A VIDEOEDIT/VISUAL DUB OF "DJILAS PLUS". THE SONG IS FEATURED ON "WOLFHOUR" IN A FULLY ORCHESTRATED VERSION (OUT JANUARY 2008 on OTHER ELECTRICITIES).
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Basementizid AfterExpo Party – Mobilat Jake The Rapper, Combination Rec., www.myspace.com/jaketherapper Lele, www.boldrider-boldrider.blogspot.com Waltha Himmel, KYO Hospital, www.myspace.com/walthahimmel Brrk!, www.myspace.com/zona_antifascista Duo Synchron, www.myspace.com/duosynchron de Asis Hannes Buchwald, www.myspace.com/zpunktb Samstag, 13. Juni | Einlass um 21:30Uhr Mobilat Club, Salzstr. 27, Heilbronn Zwei floors. Auf einem Jake The Rapper und Waltha Himmel und auf dem anderen Floor erwarten euch Brrk! und Synchron mit hartem Rave. Im Hof: Lele, Artist aus Slowenien, hat im Hof eine antistajle street session; eine Anregung ohne Fragestellung gegenüber dem Autodesign und dem Hype auf die Kunstformen. Darüber hinaus: Francisco de Asis und Hannes Buchwald bereiten eine Installation zu mitnehmen.
Am Donnerstag, den 26.02. 09 gibt..s "Stuttgart kaputtraven 3" in den Wagenhallen. NuRave, Indietronics, Elektro und Elektropunk mit viel Schnaps und BummBumm!
Diesmal mit EGOTRONIC, als Support DADAJUGEND POLYFORM und danach die DJs aUtOdiDakt & JOHN DISCO mit NuRave und Elektrorocke.
Achtung: Einlass diesmal schon ab 20:00 Uhr, Beginn um ca. 21:00 Uhr!
