PRESS

M. Gira | Drainland | Review
The Big Issue | Rob Mitchellthe Pied Piper of nihilismThis new solo album from Michael Gira of Swans fame, confirms his standing as the Pied Piper of nihilism. It is as brutal and upsetting as it is compelling and beautiful and it forces the listener to think, to reassess, to confront the most basically held truths, a rare thing in modern music. Musically is swings between discordant sonic battery and lush, spectral almost country ballads. Lyrically, it features Gira at his bluntest. His outlook is a worst-case scenario so horrific... Read more...
Swans | The Great Annihilator | Review
New York Press | Jessica WillisSadness Saves.Enough. I'm over it. If Beth Gibbons' disbelieving, choked-up quiver is the introduction to a ruptured heart, then the frigid Leonard Cohen-esque monotone of Swans' M. Gira is the blessed outro. Gira's delivery has all the chummy warmth of mirrored cop shades and arms folded tightly across the chest, and Swans' The Great Annihilator (Young God/Invisible) might be all I need. The jangly, huge acoustic guitars and horrorshow irony of "She Lives!" reminds me of the pleasure in a well-timed, succinct get the FUCK... Read more...
Swans | The Great Annihilator | Review
New York Press | Jessica WillisSadness Saves.Enough. I'm over it. If Beth Gibbons' disbelieving, choked-up quiver is the introduction to a ruptured heart, then the frigid Leonard Cohen-esque monotone of Swans' M. Gira is the blessed outro. Gira's delivery has all the chummy warmth of mirrored cop shades and arms folded tightly across the chest, and Swans' The Great Annihilator (Young God/Invisible) might be all I need. The jangly, huge acoustic guitars and horrorshow irony of "She Lives!" reminds me of the pleasure in a well-timed, succinct get the FUCK... Read more...
Swans | The Great Annihilator | Review
CMJ | Cheryl BotchickLiltingly ethereal and at the same time gloomy and sorrowful.Though the Swans have been on a three-year hiatus, 1995 marks the thirteenth year of their existence, an eternity in terms of alternative bands, most of which quickly fall victim to one trend or another. Perhaps it was the fact that when they emerged in a world of New Wave and jangly guitar groups in the early '80s. Their bludgeoning rock of nearly unprecedented volume was already too alien to be part of the rise and fall of... Read more...
Swans | The Great Annihilator | Review
CMJ | Cheryl BotchickLiltingly ethereal and at the same time gloomy and sorrowful.Though the Swans have been on a three-year hiatus, 1995 marks the thirteenth year of their existence, an eternity in terms of alternative bands, most of which quickly fall victim to one trend or another. Perhaps it was the fact that when they emerged in a world of New Wave and jangly guitar groups in the early '80s. Their bludgeoning rock of nearly unprecedented volume was already too alien to be part of the rise and fall of... Read more...
Lisa Germano
Rolling Stone | Paul Evans Unforgettable 1994Geek the Girl Midway through Geek the Girl, as strings throb above a squawking police emergency call, Lisa intones a mantra of fear: “Baseball bat beside the bed.”  The song, “…A Psychopath,” is aural theater that deals body blows; it’s harrowingly real, as is this entire beautiful, wrenching album.  John Mellencamp’s violinist, Germano has accomplished fine music before: On the Way Down From the Moon Palace and Happiness were lovely and subtly disturbing.  But with Geek she joins such poets of pain as Kurt Cobain... Read more...
Lisa Germano | Review
Spin Magazine | Lorraine Ali raw, discordant drones, and music-box prettiness 1993Happiness Listening to Lisa Germano’s smart and subtle lyrics on Happiness, it’s hard to imagine that this 29-year-old violinist once backed Bob Seger as he wheezed lines like “love to watch her strut.”  The Indiana native, whose talent also survived tours and albums with John Mellencamp and Billy Joel, must have hid her complexities deep inside-that’s where Happiness comes from.          Germano’s second album- and major-label debut- possesses no squashy ditties about small towns or uptowns.  Instead, it’s a mocking look... Read more...
Lisa Germano | Review
Option | Robert Gordon Germano sounds like a new visionary 1991On the Way Down From the Moon PalaceIn these times of formulaic alternative rock, this is real alternative. Rock sensibilities are applied to songs featuring violin and other stringed instruments, bowed and picked, where the guitar is usually spotlighted. There are no hooks to speak of, and many of the songs are instrumentals. Germano does some very interesting pairings of the strings with rock drums, such as on “Screaming Angels Dancing in Your Garden,” which seems also to have some... Read more...

NEWS

MORE >>