Daniel Aged’s Bass Improvisations, Pt. 1 is a recording to luxuriate in, an immersive set of four pieces that the accomplished musician laid to tape as a creative assignment. Best known for his session and production work with artists including Frank Ocean, FKA Twigs, Yves Tumor, Zsela, and Kelela, the Los Angeles-based Aged committed to spending focused time crafting a series of delicate, percussion-less pieces for his beloved instrument of choice, the bass.
“The bass is the instrument I grew up playing and I have a deep connection with it. I’m always exploring that instrument and its role within music,” he says. “I had a thirst to see what I could make in a week. So I made it in a week.”
As textured as they are inventive, three of the extended works originally came out in 2020 as a digital release on his Chiron Sound label. Four years later, Aged has teamed with In Sheep’s Clothing to issue a limited edition vinyl version of Bass Improvisations, Pt. 1. The release includes a new, previously unreleased, track, “1122.”
Along with his brother Andrew, Daniel formed Teen Inc. in the early ‘10s and, after shortening their name to inc., signed to 4AD to release their influential debut album, No World, in 2013. Featuring a young Sam Gendel, the album helped define the sound of ‘10s LA, and led them to work with Kelela on her 2015 release for Warp, Hallucinogen. Daniel released his self-titled debut solo album in 2018, followed three years later by his sublime second album, You Are Protected By Silent Love. Like a few tracks on Bass Improvisations, Pt. 1, You Are Protected … features Daniel’s sublime pedal steel guitar playing.
“I was just playing with melody, textures, and patterns, and seeing if I could express something in a simple format,” Aged says of the new vinyl release, which he created in what he calls his “little apartment in Echo Park.”
“In all things, I like to feel grounded in some way,” Aged adds of his intentions for Bass Improvisations, Pt. 1. “I’m always drawn to something grounding.”
