Lawrence English – A Mirror Holds the Sky (2021) [FLAC 24bit/48kHz]

Lawrence English – A Mirror Holds the Sky (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24bit/48kHz | Time – 36:43 minutes | 437 MB | Genre: Ambient, Field Recording
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Room 40

Vital narrative-led field recording work captured in the Amazon rainforest by Aussie recordist and Room40 boss Lawrence English. Utterly captivating stuff that places us in the center of a misunderstood part of the world and allows us to appreciate its rare, complex beauty.

While English is likely best known at this point for his transcendent and ear-splitting drone plates like “Wilderness of Mirrors” and “Cruel Optimism”, it’s his understated field recordings that have always fascinated us most. “A Mirror Holds The Sky” is a selection of untreated recordings gathered in 2008 in the Amazon over a period of several weeks, chopped down from over fifty hours of audio. It’s layered, textured sound that’s as mind-alteringly elaborate as any pioneering electronic work (think Morton Subotnick or latter-day Autechre) but exists completely in the natural realm.

‘The Jungle’ eases us into a world that might be familiar to anyone who’s spent significant time with Werner Herzog’s “Aguirre” or “Fitzcarraldo”. The Screaming Phia takes a lead role here, calling indiscreetly over the hum and buzz of insects and other birds. But as the album digs further into the rainforest, more unfamiliar sounds are unearthed. ‘The River’ seems to exist both underneath and above the water, capturing the swirl of insects that flutter on the surface. ‘The Island’ is more unsettling still, with implacable animal gurgles that build into a chorus of groaning, dissonant rasps noisier and more desolate than any noise tape.

On ‘The Shore’, innumerable insects fashion layers of hypnotizing drone that lull you into near meditation, while ‘The Tower’ magnifies these sounds further, breaking the illusion. The record is constructed so perfectly; English works like a documentary filmmaker, using real life footage but forming a narrative anybody can hook themselves into.

It’s a towering work from a consistently engaging artist that truly celebrates the raw sonic power of the natural world – and is an album to file alongside Chris Watson’s still incomprehensible/incomparable ‘Outside The Circle Of Fire’ – it’s that good.

Tracklist:
1. The Jungle (08:37)
2. The River (07:07)
3. The Island (04:10)
4. The Shore (07:18)
5. The Tower (04:25)
6. The Rain (05:09)
7. A Mirror Holds The Sky (36:46)

Download:

mqs.link_LawrenceEnglishAMirr0rH0ldstheSky20212448.rar