Ian Baxter
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Sound Artist

Press

"229, 294, 306, 337" is an analogue adventure with the occasional low-fi excursion signed Ian Baxter. There are seven tracks in a very "French" setting, guitar based electronic music as it was once defined by ADIM from France and maybe especially by Melodium their brightest shining star. But, Ian Baxter probably states it better himself if not remarkably much more concise than I managed to do: "A piece in seven parts based on tones made from a beer bottle, guitars and electronics". It's an interesting listening experience and a fine October Man Recordings release.

Review of 229,294,306,337 from electronic desert

" Now IAN BAXTER 's 229,294, 306, 337 on Octoberman limited to 30. Now this is the sort of album your boyfriend will put on for you when you've got PMT when all you really feel is Lightening Bolt . Its an atmospheric journey through guitar harmonics and looping stuttering pluckings. It says on the label that beer bottles are used as an instrument and it sounds like young Ian's had a few, but his salvation is that he's picked some very relaxing sounds to clash against each other creating quite a lovely peaceful pot of stuff."

Review of 229, 294, 306, 337 on Norman Records

"Ian's own contribution - 'U-238' - is taken from the two-track Uranium EP , and is a guitar-based Eno-esque slice of ambience. According to the site blurb, it's built up from loops, but if this is the case they're used to create a delicately shifting patina of non-repeats - sort of like Feldman - so that you know that what happens next will come from quite a small pool of possible events, but you're never completely sure what it will be. Like Music for Airports there's just enough of this in-built expectation to engage the mind, but never so much that you have to really work at it. Unlike Music for Airports , these are tangibly acoustic instruments - you can hear the scraping of fingernails on guitar strings - which brings an additional level of engagement - if you want to listen for it. In an analogy that I'm sure Ian will appreciate, it's like watching a session of test cricket after a boozy Sunday lunch, and all the better for it."

The Rambler Blog http://johnsons-rambler.blogspot.com

"Ian Baxter goes for the drone in his first contribution; the minimal and hypnotic "SK and VL". It would be interesting to hear this on the big sound with proper channel separation although it probably takes both its (wo)man and sound system to play it back...The tenth and last track "Nice New Chord" by Ian Baxter settles slowly as the sounds of a gently treated stringed instrument fade away and thereby conclude the compilation."

Review of the Afterglow Compilation on www.electronicdesert.com

"Loops of minimal guitar that are good in a lulling sort of way"

Review of Uranium EP in Sandman Magazine