MIMIR
<< back to the Combined Discography
Release date and tracklist
1999
DE LP Streamline 1012 inside image
2002
DE CD Streamline 1012
available here
side a
- untitled
- untitled
- untitled
- untitled
side b
- untitled
- untitled
- untitled
March 27, 2015
NL Enhanced MP3 self-released on Bandcamp
- Untitled Parts 1 – 6 40:00
Credits
Notes
LP manufactured in the US by Anomalous. Limited to 950 copies green vinyl and 100 on black vinyl, both packaged with a color postcard.
CD manufactured in the US by Drag City, 2002. The music has not been noticably remixed from the LP edition.
Moonwise the dance began, and we were so quickly lashed into a frenzy by the rhythm of Christabel’s drum and the powerful vapors from the stramonium, vervaine, and musk boiling in the pot. The goats pranced around us in an outer circle, bleating. The air was filled with a humming and a drumming of wings, and millions of bumble bees gathered over our heads and formed a great female figure over the boiling cauldron. The swarm shimmered and shook in the formation of giantness. The figure buzzed and shimmered, then somewhere from the depths of the body made from so many millions of bees came a voice so unbearably sweet that we felt drowned in honey…’ — from Leonora Carrington: The Hearing Trumpet. The Obvious: Mimir is the third album by the group consisting of Jim O’Rourke, Andreas Martin, Silverman, Christoph Heemann and Edward Kaspel. It was recorded between 1993 and 1997. This CD reissues the limited edition LP version from 1999.
notes from Bandcamp:
The 3rd excursion with Jim O’Rourke joining Christoph, Andreas, EK and The Silverman. A voyage that begins like the aural equivalent of a few choice splashes of paint on a wide open canvas. Then slowly the colours move in….Mixed and produced by Christoph. Enhancement is subtle.
Contrary to popular belief, the 3 Mimir albums ARE still available on cd from: www.dragcity.com/products/mimyriad. I strongly recommend a visit to Christoph’s own website where it’s possible to buy his music directly: www.christophheemann.de. The music of Andreas is harder to track down but keep your eyes peeled for the wonderful 10″ “Doppelpunkt Vor Ort” on Robot Records and his self-released CDR , “Live Im Loft”. Jim has a Bandcamp page for his wonderful “Steamroom” project – here is the link: steamroom.bandcamp.com
Reviews
Mimir is the highly adventurous, quietly experimental music of musicians Edward Ka-Spel of the Legendary Pink Dots, ubiquitous out-music guitarist Jim O’Rourke, Christoph Heeman, textures whiz Seeman, and Andreas Martin. There are six untitled tracks here, each one completely different than its predecessor. Track one is a gorgeous miniature ambient soundscape with violins, whirring sounds of wind coming through strings, and there’s a gentle wash of keyboards and lots of well-placed silence. Track two, however, is a meditation on multi-tracking guitars that are playing a country shuffle not unlike moments in Bob Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline Rag.” Motion and travel are the themes as the guitars endlessly repeat open country themes that get underscored by unidentifiable sounds and noises and are extrapolated upon by still other guitars while never losing their central riff. The side closes with a fairly insistent, though dark and airy guitar/piano duet enhanced with streams of white noise and feedback Side two is a batch of electronically manipulated tape studies, where some instruments enter the fray, but mostly it feels like spliced and manipulated tape. And since there are no credits on the thing other than the band members’ names, there is nothing to do but guess. It’s compelling, however, in a nightmarish sort of way. These final three tracks create a different kind of tapestry than the first side, instead of laid-back mysterious beauty, the offer a paranoid set of figures for listener’s to meditate upon as they grow tenser with each passing moment. On green vinyl and limited to a run of 950 numbered copies, this is an out-music fan’s fetish of choice. – Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Mimir is back with their third and finest album to date. Mimir is something of an ambient supergroup, comprised of Christoph Heemann, Andreas Martin (both ex H.N.A.S. members), Edward Ka-Spel, the Silverman (both leading members of the Legendary Pink Dots), and the prolific Jim O’Rourke. The music is incredible, masterfully recorded and mixed by Heemann, and it really does defy easy description. Side one is a brilliant collage of ambience, noise, loops, drums and some beautiful melodies for guitar. This music occupies a space all on its own, and fills the house with elements of incongruous beauty. Side two is much more quiet and deep, and is divided into more distinct movements. It is less acoustic and more organic, with subtle stylings fading in and out of the mix. You can recognise all the key players here, but especially Ka-Spel’s tendency toward analogue loops (the opening sequence has you riding on the tracks of a familiar aural train ride straight from his earlier records). Stunning work, and highly recommended. This one’s limited to 950, folks, so you’d better act quickly. – Richard di Santo, Incursion
The third album from post-rock post-kraut post-goth supergroup Mimir features members Christoph Heemann and Andreas Martin of HNAS, Edward Ka-Spel and The Silverman of Legendary Pink Dots with seminal guitarist/producer/noise artist/Spice Girls fan Jim O’Rourke. This LP-only release from Anomalous comes in a limited edition of 950 green vinyl copies (and 50 black). The soundscapes are wonderful and the acoustic guitar adds a dimension completely foreign to most LPD and HNAS works. The LP is released nearly 6 years after the second CD, “Mimyriad” was released also on Streamline. It’s dreamy and serene, only after being harsh, percussive and abrasive for quite a few minutes. The album is very charming and hard to pinpoint exactly what happens where as nothing’s labelled anywhere. Of course that’s all supposed to make for a more interactive listening experience, right? Okay, I’ll admit it’s becoming increasingly hard to describe. Well, you’ll just have to trust me on this one – don’t pass the album up if you’re a fan of O’Rourke or the spacious Silverman or noisy HNAS works. – Jon Whitney, Brainwashed
