PRESS
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Michael Gira | Interview
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alive.co.uk | Simon NetherwoodMichael Gira is one of music¹s true originals. He first surfaced as the leader of Swans, a band that started off pushing the envelope on noise and morphed into something beautiful, graceful and thoroughly dark with many disparate elements. After 15 years, he called it a day with Swans, bowing out with the final studio masterpiece ŒSoundtracks For The Blind¹. Since then, he¹s released solo acoustic albums, formed a new band Angels Of Light and delved into electronic experimentation as The Body Lovers and tapped a similar but darker vein with The Body Haters. He has also delved into book writing with the intense, mind-bending collection ŒThe Consumer¹. He also runs his own label Young God Records which he formed after Swans suffered some bad experiences with other labels. Autumn 2003 sees Michael making a rare UK appearance with a solo tour lined up with support from Devendra Banhart. We were lucky enough to get the chance to send him a few questions via e-mail. Here is the result:- 1. What can we expect at the forthcoming UK shows? the shows are entirely solo acoustic. I¹ll be playing several new unrecorded songs, as well as material from......
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Everything Is Good Here/Please Come Home
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stylusmagazine.com | by Andrew UnterbergerIts ability to sound majestic without sounding epicI used to have a guitar teacher who listened to music that I, at the time, deemed to be “really out thereâ€â€”elusive time signatures, bizarre improvisational interplay, the whole bit. He taught me a lot about music, but the most important lesson that stuck in my mind was his belief that all music was based on the tension/release principle. To demonstrate, he took out his guitar and repeatedly played a shrill, two-note chord that sounded absolutely horrendous. But as he gently moved one of his fingers down the fret board, finally resting on a note that harmonized perfectly with the first, I understood completely. It’s this lesson that I think about whenever I hear the Angels of Light’s latest outing, Everything is Good Here/Please Come Home—because every time the ever-present tension on the album becomes unbearable, it suddenly becomes soothing and comfortable, while never fully dropping the feeling of queasiness that was so excruciating moments before. Everything is Good Here crackles to life with “Palisades.†Over lovingly plucked and strummed guitar lines, lead singer Michael Gira (of 80’s cult band The Swans fame) croons “Fall down to the ocean/fall......
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The Angels of Light | Everything is Good Here/Please Come Home
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clinkmagazine.com | by Matthew D. ProctorA stunning new height of feverish visionIt is seldom to stumble upon music with vision in the strewn hemispheres of what is considered music today. The Angels of Light have always truly been an exception and do just what their name implies, literally creating music that brings light to the world.Throughout the years Michael Gira has always brought a purity to his music with the dissonant, groundbreaking Swans and other related side projects. The Angels of Light are a direct break with the brutal, burning soundscapes of the Swans.Gira chose folk orchestrations with hints of fragmented Americana to express delicate beauty with touches of subtle violent misery. Yet, with the Angels of Light’s third studio collection, Gira has reached a stunning new height of feverish vision transcending the world of human existence while still expressing it.This is music that portrays the soul trapped in the mechanics and functions of the body and fallible mind.It is also music that is engulfed by the act of redemption. Tense and emotionally exhausting, Everything is Good Here/Please Come Home is a new type of Americana.Gira’s vision of existence is bleak, psychologically knifing and mysterious, filled with visions of backwoods......
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Devendra Banhart | Review | Black Babies (UK)
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clinkmagazine.com | Matthew HD. ProctorDevendra Banhart is the shadow of Woody Guthrie and William Blake praying and being inflicted with the awful vision of the Vision.Each Banhart song is chapter in an endless saga of Americana. He continues the tradition like his forefathers Leadbelly, Charley Patton and Dock Boggs. Yet, instead of writing about the everyday world through plain language, Banhart uses poetry of pure experience, much like Blake, that invokes what the hell trees would confess if they could talk. Yes, trees do want to talk! The Black Babies is not the full follow up to last year’s full length Oh Me Oh My…The Way The Day Goes By The Sun is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming Love Songs Of The Christmas Spirit. Rather, it is a mini album that unleashes six unreleased compositions and two old ones from the debut. Banhart has been compared to many as sounding like Marc Bolan. Yet, this description is rather inaccurate and can unfortunately perverse what he truly does sound like. Banhart inhabits and creates his own world. His sound and vibe is cosmic like Bolan, but Banhart draws his water of inspiration from a different well. The sound is as lo-fi as......
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Angels of Light | Everything... | Review
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thevinylsessions.com | Denise CoutureAngels of Light have created a unique album that could fit into just about any musical collectionAngels of Light-- Everything Is Good Here/Please Come Home Another one of those albums that I wouldn't really know where to place in simple genres. The latest release from Angels of Light is all over the musical map, but the album is laid out well enough so that nothing feels out of place. "All Soul's Rising" has this tribe-like chanting and drums in the background that makes you go "hmm, no one else is going this today, but it's kind of cool". The first thing I thought of when I heard Everything Is Good Here/Please Come Home was Patty Smith. This is the type of album that I can imagine Patty Smith either owning or wanting to create. From start to finish, I was intrigued by the wierd sounds, unique lyrics and the combination of so many different instruments. Angels of Light have created a unique album that could fit into just about any musical collection. An excellent album that deserves a listen from everyone....