Bitchin Bajas

Chicago trio Bitchin Bajas craft hypnotic instrumental pieces that balance synthesizers against acoustic and electric instruments with measured restraint. Their sonic identity unfolded gradually across a catalog mixing informal home recordings with more polished studio efforts, as early cassette and EP output gradually gave way to larger statements such as the 2016 Bonnie "Prince" Billy collaboration Epic Jammers and Fortunate Little Ditties, the 2021 Sun Ra tribute Switched on Ra, and the 2022 double album Bajascillators.

The project originated in 2010 when Cave guitarist Cooper Crain launched it as a solo endeavor alongside his work with the Chicago Krautrock revivalists. Its initial textures remained psychedelic yet avoided the heavier propulsion of Cave, favoring atmospheric detail over driving rhythms. Rapid productivity followed, beginning with the 2010 full-length Tones & Zones and continuing through numerous split singles, EPs, and limited cassette editions alongside increasingly developed long-players. Dan Quinlivan of Mahjongg joined, converting the venture into a duo and layering additional synth and guitar elements across Crain’s drifting arrangements. Cave’s Rob Frye later entered the lineup on flute, saxophone, and guitar. Early documentation of the trio’s growth appeared on 2011’s Water Wrackets, 2012’s Vibraquatic, and the more cohesive 2013 album Bitchitronics, the latter issued by Drag City after prior self-released or small-label efforts. A self-titled double album followed in 2014, stretching eight tracks across nearly eighty minutes of expansive drift. Transporteur, a concise LP for the French imprint Hands in the Dark, surfaced in 2015, the same year the group joined Natural Information Society for Automaginary. Epic Jammers and Fortunate Little Ditties arrived in 2016 with Bonnie "Prince" Billy, while filmmaker Olivia Wyatt of Sublime Frequencies collaborated on the Sailing a Sinking Sea film, issued that year as an LP/DVD package. The double album Bajas Fresh emerged in 2017, prompting tours that showcased its refined complexity. Drag City assembled much of the earlier catalog into the seven-disc Rebajas box set in 2018, encompassing both scarce and previously available material. Subsequent stray releases included a 2018 split with DSR Lines and the self-released 2019 cassette Cuts III. Having already interpreted Sun Ra’s “Angels and Demons at Play” on Bajas Fresh, the band expanded that affinity with Switched on Ra, a collection of eight Sun Ra pieces issued on cassette by Drag City in October 2021. Bajascillators marked the first substantial full-length since 2017, presenting four extended side-long compositions that incorporated MIDI bells, a broader synthesizer palette, and tighter production values while further refining the group’s approach to kosmische music.