A Silent Place, 2007, stan db+

This is just amazing. "The Sea Swells A Bit..." is comprised of three epic tracks weighing in at around 20 minutes each, and over the duration Baker experiments with guitar textures, tape loops and drum machines to create a thoroughly warming and textured listening experience. There are echoes of the avant-shoegazers Windy and Carl or Labradford, or even Talk Talk / Bark Psychosis in places, resonances of post rock and hints at the dreamy ambience of Brian Eno or Stars of the Lid, but Baker’s sound feels more live and more spontaneous than any of the above. The eponymous opening track is the choice cut here, coming across like the Cocteau Twins submerged beneath the Atlantic. It’s an aquatic journey into hidden melodies and waterlogged, wheezing drum sounds and after 20 minutes you’re deep into Baker’s world. However it’s not single tracks that make this album what it is, it’s the blurry vision that Baker exudes over the course of the entire record, making for an utterly involving and mind-meltingly beautiful listening experience. Sublime.