PRESS
larkin grimm / live review
Madison Decider / by Joel Shanahan
Decider applauds anyone who was successfully guided to a “spirit orgasmâ€
Madison Decider
http://madison.decider.com/articles/recap-larkin-grimm-at-the-frequency,2397
7/
By Joel Shanahan February 18, 2009
Decider applauds anyone who was successfully guided to a “spirit orgasm” by
folk-transient Larkin Grimm during Tuesday night’s show at The Frequency.
While Grimm’s stated metaphysical goal for the audience may have proved too
lofty for some, that didn’t make her set of Appalachian-gone-psychedelic
tunes any less powerful. Grimm took the stage with a dulcimer in her lap,
opening with a droning rendition of “The Last Tree,” and then picked up her
acoustic guitar for the organ-centric folk of “Anger In Your Liver.” With
the exception of “The Last Tree,” Grimm’s set was largely centered on her
2008 album Parplar. After a few tunes Grimm was joined by a young-looking
kid with messy hair by the name of John Houx. Throughout the performance,
Houx offered rich vocal harmonies and throat-singing, and plucked sparse
melodies from a huge Asian stringed instrument called a gu-zheng.
At one particularly fun, if slightly weird, moment, Grimm insisted that
audience members close their eyes and take their souls on a “psychedelic
journey past the pink pyramids” to find a “spiritual orgasm.” This, um,
journey was taken during the song “Ride The Cyclone,” for which Grimm picked
out a few audience members to come on stage and sing back-up. Her set came
to a close with a haunting number called “Durge,” but not before Grimm
requested: “Sing along if any of you happen to speak Sanskrit.” One audience
member replied, “Isn’t that a font?’