A few weeks ago we mentioned what we thought at the time was a really one-off thing. Nicholson Baker, the author of several books collectively loved by Vol. 1 folks, issued a song protesting the construction of a military base in Gangjeong. We mentioned that the song sounded a good deal like Brian Eno, Robert Wyatt and even some Arthur Russell, and the conversation continued on Twitter about how great “Jeju Island Song” sounded (not to mention the important message):

Now, thanks to a tweet by Ed Champion, I’m starting to think that maybe there’s a slight chance that Mr. Baker has a whole secret cache of songs he’s been recording in his spare time and will release them in slow increments to an unsuspecting public.  The first of the three songs Champion links to, “Nine Women Gathering Firewood,” is about nine Afghan women killed by NATO warplanes when they were just gathering firewood in the mountains outside their village. The haunting song sounds like a throwaway from the Brian Eno/David Byrne album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, or more recent Gang Gang Dance:

Baker continues mixing music with politics with the Tangerine Dream sounding ode to Bradley Manning, “Whistleblower Song.”

And to round out the trio, Baker says “When You Intervine” is about intervening in the war in Libya.

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