Of
GEL CD 10
The Sun & Earth Together
Clouds of drifting tones from Loren Chasse of Blithe Sons & Thuja, made with cymbalon,
autoharp, guitar, zither, sheng, & stones.
autoharp, guitar, zither, sheng, & stones.
"One of the finest experimental groups of recent time was Thuja, a ensemble that
featured both Steven R Smith and Loren Chasse, and it is Chasse himself who is
responsible for the impossibly blissful “The Sun and Earth Together”, an album so fragile
and meditative that it almost defies gravity. Played on Guitars, Cymbalon, sheng (a
Chinese multi-piped reed instrument) and stones, the album contains for tracks, each a
ripple in the fragment of time, quiet drones with a deep sense of purpose. Of the four,
the 26-minute title track is the jewel in the collection, a drone so achingly beautiful that it
will slow your heartbeat and bring tears of joy to your eyes, although every piece is filled
with grace and a delicate touch." - Terrascope
featured both Steven R Smith and Loren Chasse, and it is Chasse himself who is
responsible for the impossibly blissful “The Sun and Earth Together”, an album so fragile
and meditative that it almost defies gravity. Played on Guitars, Cymbalon, sheng (a
Chinese multi-piped reed instrument) and stones, the album contains for tracks, each a
ripple in the fragment of time, quiet drones with a deep sense of purpose. Of the four,
the 26-minute title track is the jewel in the collection, a drone so achingly beautiful that it
will slow your heartbeat and bring tears of joy to your eyes, although every piece is filled
with grace and a delicate touch." - Terrascope
"...a phantom tendril from his own personal dreamworld reaching through our shared
reality to caress our ears and cause imaginary crystals to glow softly somewhere within
that part of our minds attuned to such blissful vibrations. Chasse always incorporates
some primitive grit into his work, his music full of feedback hiss, quiet distortion,
ambient elemental field recordings of nature, the magnified rubbings of rocks and
plants, objects close to the ground, part of the earth, illuminated (and given shadow too)
by the radiation of a far-off, flaming star.
The Sun and Earth Together is akin to a slowly turning mobile, as if it were giving off
drones and tones as well as glinting with color and the reflections of light. As light
shimmers, so does this music. As light dims, it dims too. The abstract sculptural shapes
of this imagined mobile move in beautiful indeterminate patterns, much as the sounds
Chasse conjures from disparate sources all drift delicately, and droningly, in
phosphorescent clouds and constellations.All composed of tingling, whispered layers of
lo-fi loveliness, gentle and graceful and ultimately glorious." - Aquarius Records
reality to caress our ears and cause imaginary crystals to glow softly somewhere within
that part of our minds attuned to such blissful vibrations. Chasse always incorporates
some primitive grit into his work, his music full of feedback hiss, quiet distortion,
ambient elemental field recordings of nature, the magnified rubbings of rocks and
plants, objects close to the ground, part of the earth, illuminated (and given shadow too)
by the radiation of a far-off, flaming star.
The Sun and Earth Together is akin to a slowly turning mobile, as if it were giving off
drones and tones as well as glinting with color and the reflections of light. As light
shimmers, so does this music. As light dims, it dims too. The abstract sculptural shapes
of this imagined mobile move in beautiful indeterminate patterns, much as the sounds
Chasse conjures from disparate sources all drift delicately, and droningly, in
phosphorescent clouds and constellations.All composed of tingling, whispered layers of
lo-fi loveliness, gentle and graceful and ultimately glorious." - Aquarius Records
"Loren Chasse is back with another solo album under his Of moniker, one of the most
consistently irresistible sonic outfits out there today. Where a lot of improvisational music
only briefly goes beyond being sonically interesting, Of takes the richly organic qualities
to the quieter extreme. The sounds here are so closely knit with nature and
environment, that if you just close your eyes you’re likely to see hints of waves rippling
through the sea or the stillness of majestic trees. Chasse’s glacially unfolding, yet
detailed and somewhat grainy sonic landscapes, offer a sacred space for solitude,
wonder and beauty which is difficult to pin down in mere words. Not really sure what’s
what here but there’s lots of field recordings, rusty guitar ambience, autoharp, stones,
bowls, branches, quietly tinkling bells and zither to make up the graceful acoustic
drones, swirls and tones that hover around distant clusters of manipulated field
recordings.
The Sun & Earth Together is a somber and hypnotic listening, even when segments of
tracks break out from this mold of quiet, organic growth, Chasse quickly returns to the
life-giving drone connected with impressions and inspirations of nature. It’s very early
and I don’t really like it when it happens, but I might already have heard the best
recording of 2008. Utterly beautiful and essential in a way that my words never can
capture." - The Broken Face
consistently irresistible sonic outfits out there today. Where a lot of improvisational music
only briefly goes beyond being sonically interesting, Of takes the richly organic qualities
to the quieter extreme. The sounds here are so closely knit with nature and
environment, that if you just close your eyes you’re likely to see hints of waves rippling
through the sea or the stillness of majestic trees. Chasse’s glacially unfolding, yet
detailed and somewhat grainy sonic landscapes, offer a sacred space for solitude,
wonder and beauty which is difficult to pin down in mere words. Not really sure what’s
what here but there’s lots of field recordings, rusty guitar ambience, autoharp, stones,
bowls, branches, quietly tinkling bells and zither to make up the graceful acoustic
drones, swirls and tones that hover around distant clusters of manipulated field
recordings.
The Sun & Earth Together is a somber and hypnotic listening, even when segments of
tracks break out from this mold of quiet, organic growth, Chasse quickly returns to the
life-giving drone connected with impressions and inspirations of nature. It’s very early
and I don’t really like it when it happens, but I might already have heard the best
recording of 2008. Utterly beautiful and essential in a way that my words never can
capture." - The Broken Face
Reviews -