PRESS
-
Larsen | Rever | Review
()
indieworkshop.com | mortytheir music does justice to the spectacular near-legend of how Rever came to beIt 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......
-
Larsen | Rever | Review
()
All Music Guide | Andy Kellmandelicately brushed melodies come along and whisk you outThe mystique surrounding the making of this record is enough to make one take the great music on it for granted. This Italian quartet initiated a courtship with Young God's Michael Gira by sending him bizarrely packaged CDRs with varying contents, thus enabling Gira to acquaint himself with the band's sound and range. For what purpose was unknown to him at the time. Following a series of these discs, Gira received a final package that included a round-trip flight to Italy and a sum of money -- the producer was invited to work on the band's record. Curiosity aroused, Gira obliged. For three weeks he recorded the band and edited the results without actually seeing the band; the band, a pair of engineers, and the producer communicated through a translator as a screen divided them. The result? Much like Ulan Bator's Ego: Echo, another record overseen and released by Gira, Rever is an excellent LP that carries in the tradition of Gira's own Swans and Sonic Youth without making overt references to the past. It sounds like most of the record derived from extended jamming sessions that......
-
Michael Gira | Interview
()
Spike Magazine | Jordon Leigh BortleFlawed Beauty - The Consumer And Other Stories Michael R. Gira is most widely known as the driving force behind Swans, undoubtedly one of the most extreme bands to have ever graced the planet. Gira called time on Swans in 1997 after 15 years of sonic experimentation but has not been idle since. In Swans' wake followed The Angels of Light, which produced last spring's release "How I Loved You"; a haunting and beautiful body of work. Then there is the World of Skin, Gira's solo records, his found-sound ambient project The Body Lovers (an on-going three part series) and its "companion" release The Body Haters. Yet Gira's creative output has not been strictly defined by his work within the context of sound alone. He is also a writer of fiction, most notably with his acclaimed collection The Consumer And Other Stories, a spoken word performer, an artist and designer, and has been known to do film scores in independent cinema, most notably Two Small Bodies, a film by Beth B. Most interviews with Mr. Gira have tended to deal with his accomplishments or goings-on in his work as a musician and recording artist or......
-
Michael Gira | Interview
()
Spike Magazine | Jordon Leigh BortleFlawed Beauty - The Consumer And Other Stories Michael R. Gira is most widely known as the driving force behind Swans, undoubtedly one of the most extreme bands to have ever graced the planet. Gira called time on Swans in 1997 after 15 years of sonic experimentation but has not been idle since. In Swans' wake followed The Angels of Light, which produced last spring's release "How I Loved You"; a haunting and beautiful body of work. Then there is the World of Skin, Gira's solo records, his found-sound ambient project The Body Lovers (an on-going three part series) and its "companion" release The Body Haters. Yet Gira's creative output has not been strictly defined by his work within the context of sound alone. He is also a writer of fiction, most notably with his acclaimed collection The Consumer And Other Stories, a spoken word performer, an artist and designer, and has been known to do film scores in independent cinema, most notably Two Small Bodies, a film by Beth B. Most interviews with Mr. Gira have tended to deal with his accomplishments or goings-on in his work as a musician and recording artist or......
-
M. Gira / D. Matz | What We Did | Review
()
Dusted Magazine | Emerson Dameron pooled their collective demonsHumanity was created on a gray, humid summer afternoon. We¹d been waiting for something awful to happen all day. Immediately cursed with a self-concept and cognizance of history, the human was immediately doomed to annihilate itself through a combination of hubris and guilt. Things progressed very slowly. On this day, the gods, Michael Gira (ex-Swans, The Angels Of Light) and Dan Matz (Windsor For The Derby), pooled their collective demons, consigning them to occasionally awkward, often transcendent collaborations. After equipping them with acoustic guitars and decorating their habitat with eerie whirrs and drones, Gira and Matz sent the demons to roam the earth. Sometimes these foolishly proud humans cleaved to their own kind and made beautiful, lulling music together. Sometimes, they hastily decided to stray and defiantly stuck to their newly chosen paths, even after being punished for their inability to make do with the established points and angles. Pervasively enthralled with all that would eventually destroy them, they thirsted and they slaked. In the meantime, these outcasts, too, made some jaw-dropping music. In both camps, the men were prone to make the women suffer through their unhinged self-indulgence and repent through......