By blending acoustic drone, trip-hop, ambient funk, and alternately melancholy and grand sweeps of electronica, Baja is a welcome entry into the ambient arena. "Wolfhour" is full of varied compositions and instrumentation, and they display as good a pop sense as they do a taste for outré fair.this third release from German free-jazz composer Daniel Vujanic mixes and matches styles and moods, all of them confident and winning.  

From the intro to "Meth Arrow" (a number of the tunes have really memorable intros) through the oddly uplifting "Phrem" to the majestic but humble closer "Paperblades; ponytails," Baja command a large sonic toolbox that gives them plenty to work with, both in the compositions and in the echoing but clear production.

Danceable tracks ("Go Wolpertinger! Go!") mingle neatly with meditative drones ("Bous Makel"); Vujanic sets himself up for a big task: to cover a wide range of sonic space and make it all work. This is real and right on throughout.