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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Christoph Heemann - The Rings Of Saturn (Dom Bartwuchs, 2008)

1 Untitled 4:08
2 Untitled 5:07
3 Untitled 8:06
4 Untitled 1:03
5 Untitled 6:55
6 Untitled 12:06
7 Untitled 5:22

It’s been a long time without new solo albums by Christoph Heemann and I, for one, was missing them a lot. If there’s an artist whose individual music is perfectly symbolized by the worn out adjective “cinematic”, that’s the introvert gentleman from Aachen. Many illustrious projects have seen him as a fundamental contributor – HNAS, Seclusion, Mirror, In Camera to name a few, a collaborative effort with Charlemagne Palestine upcoming; still, there’s something in the personal releases that, by some means, distances this farsighted visionary from practically everybody. Maybe - just maybe - a comparable creative entity might correspond to Jim O’Rourke – not surprisingly an erstwhile Heemann collaborator – but the concoctions of altered reality and concreteness generated by this man are unambiguously unique, The Rings Of Saturn – a self-released limited edition - being no exception.

After an introductive collective conversation (Italians, of all humanity), the record starts to unveil its seducing grace, an untainted attractiveness that only recurring listens can really bring forth. Merging urban environments, chatting characters, kids at play, passing cars, birds in gardens and shoes on pavements – plus a myriad of other indecipherable, yet welcome to the ears sources – with absurdist takes on actuality, the composer explores the remote corners of the listener’s psyche, filling the surrounding air with materializations that get disfigured and processed that necessary bit to maintain their origin visible through delirious dreams. Case in point, the hilariously disquieting detuned-and-delayed marching band heard in the third movement before eloquently austere sounds of bells – first a railroad, then a church - take center stage, letting us in silent pondering. We’re used to listen to these manifestations, yet Heemann manages to make them appear as the most pleasant occurrence in the world.

A minute or so of cut-up including various scraps of muzak – typical of earlier masterpieces such as Invisible Barrier – introduces the fifth chapter, made of haunting aural snapshots characterized by the whistling voices of hundred of feathered creatures whose presence, aptly treated and mixed with the sound of automobiles, represents an ethereal apparition from which an ill-omened foreshadowing emerge under the guise of slowed-down, droning frequencies (possibly an elongated piano reverberation, but it could be anything). A fabulous moment of intense emotion, among the absolute best of the disc.

Much appreciated here are the glimpses of pregnant silence characteristic of rural areas at dawn, blackbirds and roosters mixing their existences while, somehow, a radio appears in the distant background to fade away almost instantly. A refreshing element of familiar awareness soon overwhelmed by a looming moan out of nowhere, as to remind that the end is never too far even when things get calmer. It’s doubtful that people untrained to this kind of introspection will be able to penetrate the essence of moments like this; luckily for them, a motorcycle and a dog promptly arrive to cement our feet in an unwelcome reality once and for all, despite the tolling from another bell tower ending the vision.

The sonic narrative is concluded by a track based on looped-and-destroyed orchestral fragments and mariachi-styled trumpets, an untitled piece of poignancy that, again, leaves the whole in a state of uncertainty and suspension, a “to be continued” of sorts which seals a stunning present for 2008’s Christmas. A superb release, destined to 100 lucky owners who – hopefully – don’t deserve to be called “latecomers”.
Brain Dead Eternity blog

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just reissued by Robot Records so buy it!

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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Merzbow & Christoph Heemann - Sleeper Awakes On The Edge Of The Abyss (Streamline, 1993)

1 Tunneling (18:21)
2 Mandala (9:48)
3 Eagle (4:44)
4 Sleeper (1:24)
5 Doorstep (6:56)

Raw sound material (1987) provided by Masami Akita (Merzbow).
Processing, added sounds and mix by Christoph Heemann. (1988-93)

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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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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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Mirror - Places Of Light (Three Poplars, 2004)

A1 Untitled (4:27)
A2 Untitled (6:00)
A3 Untitled (8:38)
B1 Untitled (20:41)

no need for a review...

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A Mouse Orchestra - A Lump In Your Throat (Robot Records, 1994)

A A Lump In Your Throat Pt. 1 (3:00)
B A Lump In Your Throat Pt. 2 (2:14)

Collaboration entre David Jackman et Christoph Heemann

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John Duncan / Andrew Chalk & Christoph Heemann - The Elgaland-Vargaland National Anthem / Old Hive (Die Stadt, 1998)

A John Duncan The Elgaland-Vargaland National Anthem (2:34)
B Andrew Chalk & Christoph Heemann Old Hive (6:03)

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Mirror - I Paint For Love Of Color (IDEA, 2001)

A1 Untitled (23:27)
B1 Untitled (22:49)

no review, nice drones...

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Mirror - Islands (Die Stadt, 2001)

A1 Part I (5:32)
A2 Part II (13:59)
B1 Part III (8:25)
B2 Part IV (6:06)
C1 Recorded In Concert Austin, Texas (19:13)
D1 Recorded In Concert Austin, Texas (17:23)

Double LP de Mirror, le premier comprend quatre drones enregistrés en studio, le second est l'enregistrement d'une performance live donnée en 2000 à Austin avec drones à trois guitares où l'instrument devient méconnaissable....

Mirror began as a collaborative project between Christoph Heemann (of HNAS) and Andrew Chalk (of Organum), They have now been joined by mult-instrumentalist Andreas Martin, whose collaborations with Heemann have been documented on the notable Memoirs of a Lepidopterist double-CD released by Robot Records in 1999. Islands, their new double LP on Die Stadt, contains four studio tracks on the first LP plus a recording of a concert they gave in Texas last year on the second. Mirror has amazed me with every one of their releases. Their records are always presented in beautiful packaging, very limited press runs and each one has never failed to fill me with wonder at some of the most mysterious and compelling sounds I have ever heard. This new work is no exception; these sounds seem to breathe and expand far beyond the limits of my sound system. On the first LP, beautiful deep drones unfold, surrounded by a gentle rainfall which introduces the "islands", and which you also return to as the LP comes to an end. The final piece ends abruptly and in a fashion listeners of Heemann's work will be accustomed to - in a climax of dramatic sound (in this case the sounds of rain) intensifying and then suddenly cut to silence. The live performance on the second LP continues in this vein. All three players perform on guitars (processed in ways to make the sound sources almost unrecognisable, save for the scrapings of an ebow, occasional rough textures and a returning motif on sides 3 and 4), and here as on the first LP the sounds echo and warp into stunning drones, scrapings and harmonies. The three members of Mirror seem to have a direct access to the void; their music is the dynamic soundtrack of the view from here, a bridge over the void ("un ponte sul vuoto", as Calvino has written), and like the steps of this bridge, intervals of emptiness open between sounds and echoes.

Limited to 1000, 500 of which are pressed on blue vinyl, and 150 of those 500 come packaged with a bonus 7 inch of exclusive material available only through Die Stadt's mailorder service. Very highly recommended.

Incursion

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Current 93 / Michael Cashmore / Christoph Heemann - Untitled (An Introduction to Suffering) (Durtro, 1999)

A1 Current Ninety Three An Introduction To Suffering
A2 Current Ninety Three All The Pretty Little Horses
A3 Current Ninety Three Calling For Vanished Faces
A4 Current Ninety Three The Cat Is Dead
A5 Michael Cashmore Untitled
A6 Current Ninety Three In An English Garden
A7 Michael Cashmore Untitled
A8 Current Ninety Three The Flower Is RedRobed
A9 Michael Cashmore A Silence Song, Silent
A10 Current Ninety Three Et In Arcadia Est
A11 Current Ninety Three Moonlight, Or Other Dreams, Or Other Fields
B1 Current Ninety Three Judas As Black Moth
B2 Christoph Heemann Lazy Moon Part I
B3 Christoph Heemann Lazy Moon Part II

Recueil de prises alternatives des albums Soft Black Stars et All the Pretty Little Horses, complété de morceaux de Michael Cashmore et Christoph Heemann enregistrés au moment de Soft Black Stars...

"An Introduction to Suffering", "Moonlight, or Other Dreams, or Other Fields" and "Judas as Black Moth" are out-takes or alternate vocal versions of songs from Soft Black Stars. "All the Pretty Little Horses", "Calling for Vanished Faces" and "The Cat is Dead" are out-takes or alternate vocal versions from All The Pretty Little Horses. "In an English Garden", "The Flower is RedRobed" and "Et in Arcadia Est" are from a discarded album that Current 93 had been working on, some of which later ended up in different form on David Tibet/Steven Stapleton's Musical Pumpkin Cottage LP. The Michael Cashmore and Christoph Heemann tracks were solo pieces that were recorded around the time of Soft Black Stars. Those tracks were completed / recorded in early 1999.
Discogs

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Mirror - Eye of the Storm (Streamline, 1999 (2003 reissue))

1 Eye Of The Storm (42:59)

Un morceau d'éternité hypnotique...

An hypnotizing piece of eternity...

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