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Larsen | Interview
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The Wire | #238 | Jim HaynesScreen Ceremonies A certain degree of anonymity suits the music of italian art rock ensemble Larsen, as the group's guitarist Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo explains, "What we are doing is very intimate and personal" he says. "It's something that u get or you don't. In our records and our gigs, we try to build an intimate space, a certain atmosphere, something that only belongs to us and suck the listeners into it. We let the audience witness and experience a kind of private ritual." During the past ten years, the groups have toiled in obscurity, concentrating on their private ceremonies. However, public reactions do not always agree with private rituals. Conjecture, hearsay and mysteries shroud Larsen's work as they have slowly , and pheraps reluctantly, seeped into public domain. In 2002 their second album Rever was produced under an unusual set of circumstances by Michael Gira, of Angels of Light and Young God Records. Several years back, Gira started receiving a series of packages from Italy, each contained CD-R from Larsen bundled in grey felt with rough twine. As Gira recalls, "Sometimes the Cds contained music- a whispered song, accompanied by a distant accordion, as......
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Larsen | Review
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musicspork.comSwans + Low + Young gods = LarsenWhen our dear editor threw this one in my lap, my interest was piqued immediately. First off, Rever was produced and released by Michael Gira (of the Swans) and his label, Young God Records. I am definitely all ears when Gira endorses someone. To add to my interest in hearing this CD, I was told that Larsen, despite the Scandinavian sounding name, is an Italian band. And not only that, as unlikely as it may seem, it is an Italian band that I've heard compared to Godspeed You Black Emperor. I don't know about you, but to me, it seems the only time Italian musicians get melancholic is when they sing about their mother, while the rest of the country's musical output is as sunny as the country itself... But what tops all of these things is the story behind Rever. Apparently Gira had been receiving anonymous CD-Rs from Italy for about a year. Every package arrived punctually on the 1st and 21st of the month. No explanations were attached. Eventually, a letter arrived, with a wad of cash, tickets to Italy and instructions to show up in Torino. Gira showed up to......
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Angels Of Light | Everything Is Good Here | Review
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agouti.com | EliMichael Gira never ceases to astound meThe transition he¹s made throughout his artistic career is quite remarkable. From his beginning in the experimental noise-rock outfit, Swans, to his solo projects, eloquent spoken word efforts and purely instrumental ambience of The Body Lovers, the man has made quite a name for himself. His most recent musical incarnation, The Angels of Light, has mystically unveiled a bizarre and harrowing darkness, aligned with mournful desolation. Although not entirely different from previous works, Michael Gira has indeed broken new ground here. His first two Angels of Light albums, New Mother and How I Loved You, were absolutely fantastic, arguably some of his best and most consistent work to date. Make no mistake about it, Everything Is Good Here/Please Come Home continues that tradition. However, I must advise a bit of caution before purchasing this record. First-time listeners may not be able to appreciate the fact that most musical contributions contained herein have a length that varies from four to nearly seven minutes! At times, certain tracks can be very redundant and grating ("Rose of Los Angeles" is a case in point). Nevertheless, the album still delivers the goods when it comes to......
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Angels of Light | Everything is Good Here | Review
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tinymixtapes.com | wolfmanThere is something mystically cryptic about Michael Gira's current band name The Angels of LightDriven by constant sorrow and overwhelming heartbreak, The Angels of Light may be indie rocks most paradoxical outfit in today's music. Their third album, coincidentally named Everything is Good Here/Please Come Home sheds a concurrent redemption for the wretchedness and ever-present melancholy of ex-Swans Michael Gira. Accompanied with melodic yet numinous instrumentation and his powerful drone or sweet whispers, Everything is Good Here/Please Come Home exemplifies a road less travels by our regretful traveller. What is evident and striking is how subtle are Michael Gira's cries for forgiveness and redemption. The album portrays the familiar themes of previous work and familiarizes the listen to Michael Gira's frightening inner-emotion. Also, Gira's delivery is more abrupt, almost violent in retrospect of his previous work with Swans. The musical approach remains a constant illogicality, bouncing from uplifting ballads to damp and sombre acoustic folk. Attached with the presence of Gira's torture, the album is an inconsistent balance of an extremely bi-polar emotional intake. Such ballads as "Sunset Park" exemplify the inner struggle of the listener's arousing sentiment. Throughout, the song remains upbeat, progressing boldly and feverishly from......
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Michael Gira & Devendra Banhart | Live Review
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thirteenthpoodle.com | Mark NewtonBush Hall, Shepherd's Bush, London You would have to call this a rare visit to these shores by cult NY noise-monger and leader of seminal 80s/ 90s band Swans, Michael Gira. The venue, equally unique, with its Renaissance stylings and baroque Edwardian architecture, providing a provocatively demure backdrop to his nihilistically intense songs of love, sex, and hate. First, Devendra Banhart, Gira's talismanic madman, a Syd Barratt-esque troubadour with a nice line in inspired lunacy who enraptures his audience with a compelling, unwittingly arch performance. Funny, but not intentionally so, laughter is not a requirement. At his best, songs of simple subtlety such as "Adam's Son" are truly beguiling and he certainly acts as an interesting foil for what is to come. Gira looks so severe and old these days, yet retains a monolithic presence that sucks you in to the shadow of his dark light. His first major appearance in the UK since the fated disillusion of Swans in 1997, 250 or so of his pilgrims are here to keep the faith. An interesting bunch, consisting as it does of Goths - blacked up to the nines, earnest looking beard wearers, student types, a few American......