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Avant lo-fi masterpiece....
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www.stylusmagazine.com | by Ed HowardWhen bedroom recording coincides with true geniusDevendra Banhart’s music, like so much that’s good in this world, is deceptively simple. One guy, an acoustic guitar, and a home recording studio rarely add up to rock bombast, and frequently can be a formula for masturbatory venting, but every so often someone gets it right, and the result is electrifying. Syd Barrett, on his post-Floyd solo albums, achieved just that balance of off-kilter genius and raw experimentation necessary to reach lo-fi nirvana, and Banhart’s self-assured, train-off-the-tracks debut comes close to matching Barrett’s effectiveness. Of course, unlike good old Syd, Banhart is probably not a schizophrenic acid casualty, and he definitely doesn’t have David Gilmour behind the mixing boards desperately trying to neaten things up. Banhart’s unadorned, unpretentious songs also verge much closer to folk than Barrett ever did. Like Dylan in his early Guthrie admiration phase, Banhart’s melodies capture the primitive simplicity (if not the actual sound) of back-country porch blues. Songs like “The Charles C. Leary†evoke the storytelling tradition in folk history, but without actually telling a coherent narrative. Again, like Barrett and Dylan, Banhart’s lyrics focus on images and poetic phrases, not tangibles, and his......
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Larsen | Rever | Review
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voir | Thierry BissonnetteInvité en Italie par un mystérieux ensemble de rock sériel pour participer...yeux bandés, à la production d'un album, Michael Gira est parvenu à établir une interaction qui fait de Larsen un ajout cohérent à la mosaïque très originale de son étiquette Young God (Angels of Light, Calla, Ulan Bator, etc.) La froide simplicité des compositions est ici mise en relief par l'ajout d'accordéon, de trompette et d'autres sources non identifiées, de même que par des voix féminines et masculines empruntant plusieurs langues à la façon de l'esperanto. Allant d'un rock aussi cérébral que forcené jusqu'à la transe bouddhiste (lorsque les deux ne sont pas fondus), Larsen révèle un univers curieux, rigoureux, charmant....
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Larsen | Rever | Review
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kathodik | Andre PalucciÈ davvero piacevole sapere di un gruppo italiano che incide per una prestigiosa etichetta come la Young God RecordsE' ancor più appagante costatare con mano l’ottimo risultato che ne è scaturito da un rapporto nato, vissuto e conclusosi nella più assoluta astrazione fisica; e questo, non per una chiara distanza geografica inevitabilmente presente fra Torino (dove sembra risiedano i Larsen) e Brooklyn (sede della Young God), ma per un perentorio e oscuro volere della band a non lasciarsi identificare sul piano fisico.Un rapporto decisamente peculiare come riferisce lo stesso Michael Gira che, incuriosito da una serie di CD-R che con regolarità arrivavano da mesi al proprio POBOX e arrivato a Torino per il volere degli stessi Larsen, non è mai stato in grado di guardare negli occhi i propri interlocutori continuamente protetti da uno schermo durante le session di registrazione dell’album.Il risultato di quelle strane sedute è "Rever", un album che, al di là delle curiosità che hanno accompagnato la sua lavorazione, colpisce ancor più per i propri contenuti.È difficile parlare di vere e proprie canzoni, più correttamente si potrebbe dire di una miriade di sublimi intuizioni, incipit che in sala di incisione hanno trovato il modo......
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Larsen | Rever | Review
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preamp.com | Holly DayGod, this is beautiful. Tense, frightening ambient landscapes of static and accordion looped in on themselves, with the occasional nonsensical vocals that come across as religious chants from a post-apocalyptic choir. Okay, so that's track one and two. Then the album turns into a pleasant-sounding sort of instrumental of accordions and violins and piano, only to degrade into electric guitars and stark, whispered vocals. It goes on from there into repetitive guitar and percussion pieces, to pieces punctuated by five-minute waves of cymbals crashing, gorgeous, echoey bass lines, and the occasional foray into rock. This album is so disturbing that I can't play it while my kid is home, and so nerve-racking that it actually makes me nauseous. I'm going to buy everything this band ever puts out....
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Larsen | Rever | Review
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indieworkshop.com | by Morty...their music does justice to the spectacular near-legend...It would be a minor tragedy if the story of how Larsen operates or how they came to be produced by Michael Gira were the only interesting thing about them. To my great satisfaction their music does justice to the spectacular near-legend of how Rever came to be. (I won't attempt to summarize the story, visit the Young God Records site for yourself and read about it). Over 10 hours of music was recorded for this release which clocks in at a little over 49 minutes. Ritualistic pieces have been trimmed for the obvious practical reasons as well as coherence and digestibilty. I'm more than envious of M.Gira for getting to experience first hand what this album "Rever" can only give us a glimpse of. What we do get to hear invokes the greatness of the Swans and Sonic Youth without ever coming off as a copy. The atmosphere is moody and dark much like Evol/Sister era Sonic Youth or Great Annihilator era Swans though more subdued than any of them. The song "Maya" has an on and off guitar droning very similar to Sonic Youth's "Stereo Sanctity" (on Sister)......