Longtime ambient/experimental guitarist Aidan Baker, from Toronto, Canada has been releasing music since 2000 and of the hundreds of albums he released on various labels, sad to say the only one I'm familiar with is 'Gathering Blue' (2009) on the now defunct Equation Records boutique label, primarily because I know the owner and had a CD (Chemistry Set - 'Experiments From The Lab', 2023) released on that label myself. 'Gathering Blue' was a good deal more calm, gentle and meditative than 'Adverse Camber,' and there was a little singing on it, albeit very much relegated to the background. This is not to say that either of these albums are indicative of Baker's oeuvre; one could spend months listening to his discography and come away with only a general sense of what Baker's music is all about.

'Adverse Camber' is five tracks in a little over 47 minutes, and as Baker describes it, "A return to simple solo guitar with heavy ambient sounds, combining drifting drones with noisy textures in attempt to encompass both the light and the dark at the same time." All sounds on the album were achieved via playing electric guitar, and with electronic processing of the same. "Petrol/Jasmin" employs some rapid finger-plucking obscured by electronics over a droning background, adding in some feedback as the track progresses, also echoey sliding fret noises. The feedback shifts in waves as the track nears its conclusion. "Coma" turns up the volume and intensity on the noise aspect, and anyone expecting anything akin to traditional ambient is likely to be put off before the track gets really interesting. Halfway through when the distortion subsides, a dream-like atmosphere emerges in thick, dense layers of ambient drone. How this is achieved with guitar is beyond me but suffice to say that it is remarkable.

"A Scent Like Oblivion" begins with harmonic picking that could be reminiscent of clockwork - like the inner working of a pocket watch. It is hypnotic and meditative up to the point where snarling, backwards feedback takes over and twists it into oblivion. "Everything Is Dark Until You Say Yes" seems to be the lightest, calmest track on the album, with various forms of strumming through electronic processing. 'Adverse Camber' is closed out by “Superelevation," the longest track on the album at 18:26. It begins with dark or grey ambient drones in shifting, echoed tones. This continues until about halfway through a more industrial type drone emerges, something you'd hear on certtain releases by Peter Andersson's Raison d'être. The industrial noise element increases and dominates the track for a while, re-emerging and subsiding like a monster being birthed from the primordial ooze. Before that phase is over, a single drone of light emerges from the firmament, and all is lifted back into the galactic cosmos.

This is a remarkable album that can blend experimental noise with ambient and not overshadow either. Experimental but stimulating, 'Adverse Camber' should have listeners searching out Aidan Baker's other releases for more, and there certainly are quite a few to choose from.