Dogging It

Benign. Breezy. Genial. Mellow. Yogic. Tantric. Cozy. Warm: These are all words to describe the modal music of the Bitchin Bajas on their latest release, Bitchitronics. The drone duo based in the Chicago area seeks to blend the lines between music and meditation, with multiple sounds, instruments and samples repeating together at different speeds and slight variations to form a whole new set of sounds.

Beginning with the first track, “Transcendence,” parts of the four song release (though, like any good meditative tool, clocks in at over forty minutes) are musical, with modal background and varying instrumental solos. Other parts are random sounds on loops, overlaid with other instruments playing along. The second song, “Inclusion,” is much more just a strange loop. There is a free-jazz flute solo towards the back end of this song but otherwise not much going for it.

The third track, “Sun City,” starts as slowly as the others, but clarifies what the listener has already begun to hear– that there is something more to the Bajas’ sound. They are very good manipulators of semi-modern studio equipment, including tape delays, pan effects and multi-instrument keyboarding. So it is not just your garden variety relaxation tape, but maybe something more. Perhaps, it is as if the Bajas are trying to deconstruct organized sound (music), and connect it to a greater power in their own way. Perhaps.

The album is, all in all, intriguing at times, but leaves the listener asking, “What is the point of all of this?”  And maybe there isn’t one. As music fans we all have our own tastes, and surely some just want background music for relaxation, meditation, massage, etc.  If this is where your tastes or your mood lead you, Bitchitronics is waiting for you to connect.