Mirror - In To The Wood (Three Poplars, 2002)

1 In To The Wood 71:48

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Mirror - Nights (Three Poplars, 2001)

1 Untitled 2:11
2 Untitled 17:57

Sold Exclusively at the Chicago shows on March 30th & 31st, 2001.

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Jonathan Coleclough & Andrew Chalk - Sumac (ICR, 1997 (1999 reissue))

1 Sumac 71:06

Released a few years back as a one-sided piece of vinyl, Jonathan Coleclough and Andrew Chalk's "Sumac" has been one of those hidden gems within the deep listening realms of music that has continuously amazing us. Fortunately, "Sumac" has re-emerged from obscurity with this lengthy 70 minute cd version. Andrew Chalk is a veteran of the noise / drone scene who has recorded with Organum, Ora, and Feral Confine. Working with upstart dronologist Jonathan Coleclough, Chalk has conjured a breathtaking memser of bowed metal wires, cymbals, and other pieces of metal with shifting chunks of backward masked slow aerated sound. "Sumac," shrouded in a glistening darkness, is one of the all-time great drone records.
Aquarius Records

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Ora - The Toper (Gnome, 1994 (1999 reissue))

1 Arkose 12:09
2 Knapton 5:53
3 The Toper 18:29

by request

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Ora and Lol Coxhill - Live (Gnome, 1998)

1 Untitled 24:50
2 Untitled 12:46
3 Untitled 16:19

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Never Say When (Broken Flag, 1987)

A1 Ramleh - Bite The Bolster
A2 Uncommunity - Nyhyio Nyhyl Fyt
A3 Cranioclast - ...And Still The World Exists
A4 Total - Face To Face In The Howling Night
B1 Controlled Bleeding - Segments Of The Body
B2 Andrew Chalk - Thack
B3 Jonathan Briley - The Hunter
B4 Giancarlo Toniutti - Covar Peste In Cagna

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Ferial Confine - The Full Use Of Nothing (Fusetron, 1999)

A Intro, Parts 1-4 20:13
B Parts 5-6 18:16

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Ferial Confine - Meiosis (Broken Flag, 1985)

A1 Untitled 3:45
A2 Untitled 11:57
A3 Untitled 15:18
B1 Untitled 5:18
B2 Untitled 1:18
B3 Untitled 6:04
B4 Untitled 5:17
B5 Untitled 5:58
B6 Untitled 6:00

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The New Blockaders & Ferial Confine - The Final Recordings (Dom Bartwuchs, 1991)

A Untitled 17:06
B Untitled 18:21

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Ora - Rosea (Hic Sunt Leones, 1996)

1 Golden Hemisphere (12:37)
2 Sadness Of Beauty (11:11)
3 The Forgotten Well (10:38)
4 Rosea (8:49)
5 Flowers Of Tan (16:05)

The inscription for Ora's "Rosea" states that this music is "full of Elves and Gnomes" and those of you familiar with the little things in life that we here at Aquarius love, you know that gnomes and elves fit right in (last list's "Ancient Forest of Elves" anyone?). Although the notes on the back, provided by the ususally tight lipped recluses Andrew Chalk and Jonathan Coleclough, share none of the valuable insight into the music of gnome and elves that the inscription implied. Anyway, Ora is the textural drone collective that features Darren Tate, Lol Coxhill, Colin Potter (Nurse With Wound), as well as the aforementioned Chalk & Coleclough. This 94-95 record's loosely structured field recordings of geese and what Byram thinks sounds like someone rolling around on a couch with contact mics taped to their latex t-shirt coalesce into signature patterns of sound that fade in and out of delicate drones. Texturally, Ora has always been quite adventurous, and "Rosea" is no exception.
Aquarius Records

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Christoph Heemann / Andrew Chalk - Cassia Fistula (IDEA, 2002)

A Christoph Heemann Cassia Fistula (3:11)
B Andrew Chalk Cassia Fistula (3:21)

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Mirror - Nightwalkers (bonus CDr) (Robot Records, 2005)

1 Untitled (18:59)

sold with the 2005 reissue of Nightwalkers on Robot Records...

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Ora - Final (ICR, 2002)

1 Distances (7:55)
2 New Movements In G (12:45)
3 Things Shall Fall (9:45)
4 Gamela (11:23)
5 Inkwell (8:30)
6 Abstraction (9:34)
7 Roses? (8:06)
8 Across (4:48)

Disque composé de morceaux rares et de trois inédits, devant au départ être un double album... les morceaux manquants formeront en fait After Rainfall... Drones à base de field recordings, d'effets électroniques divers, saxophone, flûtes, sitar, etc...

Many moons ago, Darren Tate and Andrew Chalk found their way to Colin Potter's IC Studios, where the three initiated the humble yet eccentric drone project Ora, with occasional help from the likes of Jonathan Coleclough, Daisuke Suzuki, MNortham, and Lol Coxhill. The majority of the Ora releases have been small editions of CD-Rs following in the tradition of the UK underground cassette culture, where artists would simply release things themselves whenever the albums were finished and without having to adhere to the timetable of a record label. The obvious disadvantage in Ora's case is that their limited nature discouraged many from ever discovering the beautiful sounds found on Ora's odd CD-Rs. Fortunately, Ora has compiled several anthologies from those CD-Rs, the first being the Streamline 2LP "Aureum" (which has unfortunately received the same fate of the CD-Rs and has gone out of print), and more recently, the "Final" CD released on Colin Potter's ICR label.
With Darren continuing on as Monos, Andrew working in Mirror, and Colin busy engineering / collaborating with Nurse With Wound, Current 93, Monos, and dozens of other projects, Ora has ceased to be, and "Final" is probably the last Ora document to be released. Culled mostly from the CD-Rs "Live," "Distances," and "New Movements In G," this anthology does also include a couple of unreleased tracks. As the more recent Monos and Mirror recordings reflect, Ora's specialty has been the construction of the opiated drone that implores a sort-of calmness but at the same time actively confronts the listener with its sound rather than floating to the back as aural wallpaper. Built from field recordings, bowed metals, and various electronics, Ora situates their drones within a wide spectrum of textures -- ranging from the sporadic use of angular blurts from Lol Coxhill's sax and accompanying dense scrapes like a huge boulder getting pushed across a concrete floor, to tiny fluctuations from flutes and sitars. "Final" stands as yet another exceptional record from this small aesthetic circle of UK drone artists.
Aquarius Records

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Ora - After Rainfall (Fungal / ICR, 2003)

1 Gnome Culture (9:14)
2 The Slope (12:24)
3 Darkness (11:35)
4 Attribution To Memory (12:52)
5 After Rainfall (21:25)

These are the Ora tracks that should have formed a double album with "Final" but were thought to be lost.
Thankfully, they were found.

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Mirror - Live In Bern (Three Poplars, 2003)

1 Live In Bern (47:13)

no need for a review...

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Mirror - Pedestrian / Nocturne (Three Poplars, 2000)

A Pedestrian (4:41)
B Nocturne (6:21)

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Mirror - Islands (bonus 7") (Die Stadt, 2001)

1 Untitled
2 Untitled

the album is here

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Isolde - Untitled (Penny Poppet, 2005)

A1 Untitled (11:27)
A2 Untitled (9:30)
B1 Untitled (8:46)
B2 Untitled (6:05)

Groupe formé par Andrew Chalk et Robin Barnes... Inutile d'y chercher du drone, l'acccent est avant tout mis sur les improvisations de guitare...

Released in a tiny edition of only 30 copies on expensive metal tape, this release probably slipped right by die-hard Andrew Chalk collectors until they saw mention of it when the Isolde 3" CD came out. In some ways the edition size makes sense though. Aside from the high cost of the cassettes used, this is a very private feeling music. Though the strains of Chalk's e-bowed guitar can be heard in here, the primary focus is on gently unfolding improvised guitar work. Paired with quiet wildlife recordings and seemingly filtered as to remove a lot of the high end, this has a very distant feel to it. The rising and falling strummed and plucked notes on the guitar provide this release with more activity and a following of the line than the soundscapes one can get lost in that Chalk is better known for. Of course all of this is probably due to Andrew collaborating with Robin Barnes for this project. Rather than say that one of them is responsible for certain aspects or not, I would say this is a lovely marriage of two people's talents. The results would probably appeal more to fans of Christina Carter's more spacious moments than those are hunting for drones.
Eric Lanzillota

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Christoph Heemann & Andrew Chalk - Mirror Of The Sea (Robot Records, 2000)

A Mirror Of The Sea Pt. 1 (19:20)
B Mirror Of The Sea Pt. 2 (20:41)

Quand le duo Mirror décide de sortir un disque sous leur vrai nom à l'occasion de concerts donnés à Austin en 2000, cloches, gongs, drones de guitare, field recordings...

Andrew Chalk and Christoph Heemann have been collaborating extensively as Mirror over the past year, so it seems odd that the two of them have suddenly decided to release an album under their given names. It would make sense if they deviated from their work as Mirror. The source material for this album, bowed bells, gongs, and distant guitar drones, differs, and while the overall beauty and concept reveal a definite Mirror-like desire to capture an elusive spirutual voice through the resonance of drones. Extended organ chords, gentle creaking of an old wooden floors, and long reverberations of breathy flutes make for a more baroque tonal quality than the typicalChalk / Heemann sound. "The Mirror Of The Sea" is a beautiful picture disc with drawings by Andrew Chalk on each side. Of course, it's recommended.
Aquarius Records

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Andrew Chalk - Fall In The Wake Of A Flawless Landscape (Three Poplars, 2004)

A Untitled (20:45)
B Untitled (20:54)

Le second travail solo d'Andrew Chalk après Over the Edges (1999), les drones y sont majestueux et calmes, Andrew Chalk se défiant de toute facilité nous surprend sur plusieurs plans, tant sonores qu'émotionnels....

It's been about five years since Andrew Chalk released his last solo effort, Over the Edges. His newest album comes as a vinyl-only release in an edition of 600 copies and not only does it look excellent (the sleeve artwork and the little flourishes on the record itself are gorgeous), but it sounds absolutely majestic. Split into two side-long pieces, Fall in the Wake of a Flawless Landscape carries with it the same foreboding energy that 1999's Over the Edges had, but it also resonates a ubiquitous calm that feels something like floating on ocean waves. Chalk's drones stay consistent throughout, relenting only to reveal more ominous tones under the dominant ring and drag of some timeless organ. The blurred images of the cover bring to mind a haunted spectre traversing some dark plain covered in tall grasses and of unbearable size; no matter how far that figure travels, the disqueting feeling of infinity is always present. Anxiety dominates the album, but so does a sense of privacy. Throughout, I imagine myself as this fictional pilgrim caught up in some endless search and, at the same time, that long and lonely feeling opens up some kind of inner peace, as though I am happy being alone and lost. So far as the sound goes, Chalk's compositional skills are unbeatable. Whenever the sounds become too ghastly or alarming, Chalk shifts gears and somehow inverts them into striking and monumental sounds of great beauty. Strings buzz, organs disintegrate, and whales bellow their songs over this landscape, all in a harmony that defies any easy explanation. This is what Chalk does best though: defy easy anything. Fall in the Wake... occupies several emotional and atmospheric worlds at once: the dense and open, the terrifying and the awesome, and the contradictory positions of both quiet and loud. It's a difficult middle ground that Chalk finds and weaves into music and it's a difficult middle ground that few others can accomplish. This release has me anxiously awaiting the next Mirror album and has put me in the unenviable position of wanting more solo Chalk music: five years between albums is too long to wait.
Brainwashed

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