This rare first edition C-30 from Andrew Chalk in beautiful letterpress packaging shows his sensibility already in full bloom. "Bloom" may indeed be just the right word to describe the earthy organic drones that comprise CRESCENT (1986) and its gorgeous graphic design. One gets the impression that this really is a handmade release, some sort of pre-industrial artifact with the artist's touch in full evidence here. With that in mind, I hesitate to use the much maligned term "industrial" to describe these sounds, as they seem more akin to markings found in Lascaux, that "cathedral" of Paleolithic Art found in southern France. Here are hushed atmospheres that slowly evolve into themselves, folding and unfolding until a reverence rather than a noisy crescendo is heard, much like a a pagan prayer. The titles imply elemental forces at work, and that's precisely what you hear: rubbing, bowing, blowing, shaking, and striking. A call back to an earlier, less frenetically electric time.
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