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Larkin Grimm - Parplar review
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theredalert.com | Adam McKibbinThis year's presidential election was a reminder that Americans are suckers for a good story. http://www.theredalert.com http://www.theredalert.com/reviews/grimm.php Whether the point of focus is Hollywood or Washington, whether you¹re a Hockey Mom or fallen pop idol, narrative always matters. How does this pertain to a talented, eccentric, folk-fueled singer-songwriter named Larkin Grimm? Well, Grimm¹s bio reads like the result of a brainstorm session in which an artist, publicist, critic and label exec sat around dreaming up the most compelling and sometimes contradictory twists and turns they could cram into a 27-year span. Of course, this really isn¹t a lonelygirl15 sort of deal but what a deal it would be. The CliffsNotes: Grimm was born into a religious cult, raised by a commune, lived in poverty in Appalachia, then got whisked off to a boarding school thanks to a scholarship from Coca-Cola, one of the dominant global symbols of the capitalist rat race. That led to Yale, Yale fatigue, world travels, Into the Wild Alaska, a stint in Dirty Projectors and, after an extended game of cat-and-mouse, Yale graduation (guess it wasn¹t too elitist in the end). Wanderlust runs wild on Parplar and when Grimm grabs......
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LARKIN GRIMM - parplar
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progarchives.com - Bob Moore (aka ClemofNazareth) LARKIN GRIMM's story has all the makings of an American folk princess fairy tale...that is, if Hunter S Thompson and Jack Kerouac were writing it as a Tim Burton screenplay. Born to artistic and multi-cultural parents (who were also longtime members of the Holy Order of the MANS religious cult), Grimm was set early to become either another casualty of weirdness and The Struggle (Fringe Edition), or to morph into something unique and darkly vivacious that mainstream society could never hope to spawn or to understand. Fortunately for us she chose the latter. In addition to the hippy parents and extended cult family of her formative years, Grimm is in the incongruous position of having both corporate America and blue-blood New England aristocracy to thank for paving part of the way for her journey. Grimm¹s adolescent education came courtesy the Coca-Cola corporation in the form of a boarding-school scholarship for gifted Appalachian children; and another scholarship at the prestigious Yale University followed. She would take a few detours before finally completing her studies there though, including a trek across Alaska; studying the massage arts in Thailand; a stint living among eco-warriors and other tree-hugger......
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Larkin Grimm: Parplar
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soundfixrecords.com | TravisFor those of you who thought the freak-folk movement was missing a dollop or two of genuine freakiness, Larkin Grimm is your girl.On Parplar, her Young God debut, Grimm, the product of Appalachian hippie cult parents and a Yale education, veers from unbelievable beauty to ghoulish spookiness. The gorgeous and sparse loneliness of opener ³They Were Wrong² aches and soothes simultaneously, but is interrupted by the ferocious gallop of ³Ride That Cyclone,² letting you know that this forest is inhabited not just by fairies and unicorns but also by goblins and sex-starved witches. In fact, on ³Blond and Golden Johns² she sounds exactly like a witch (or what I imagine them to sound like). She is able to vary, from track to track, between the sound of a kind and loving mother, an excited cult leader, and a heartbroken lover, each voice authentic and firmly rooted. Grimm is no tourist. She¹s a vagabond anarchist folkie, for real, and the music is just as real, raw, and beautiful as a result. (Travis) http://www.soundfixrecords.com http://www.soundfixrecords.com/products/larkin-grimm-parplar...
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LARKIN GRIMM - Parplar
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UNCUT MAGAZINE (UK) | DAVID STUBBS Appalachian guitar picking; Swan's Michael Gira produces... (four stars) Born to hippy parents and members of a religious cult, 26-year-old Larkin Grimm has no permanent address and dwells in a tent in the warmer months. Her music betrays her Appalachian origins-her father was a fiddler- but Parplar is more than mere neofolk. ³They Were Wrong² has the solemn toll of Gira¹s work itself ,but then she bursts into a galloping strain of post-eco-apocalyptic dementia with ³Ride That Cyclone². Grimm is vocally schizophrenic, and this is truly music from another country....
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Larkin Grimm - Parplar
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www.babysue.com / www.LMNOP.com If there's one thing you can always count on from the Young God label...it is a steady supply of artists that the general public is unaware of and would ultimately not understand. http://www.lmnop.com/2008-Oct-LMNOP-Reviews.html#anchor203484 Produced by Michael Gira (Akron/Family, Angels of Light, Swans), Parplar is (not surprisingly) an odd and perplexing album. At her young age, Larkin Grimm already has an interesting life history. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee but later moved to Thailand before returning to the United States to continue her education at Yale University...at which point she became a member of the ultimately confusing art band The Dirty Projectors. She then recorded three solo albums before hooking up with Gira to record Parplar. So...who does Larkin Grimm sound like? Actually, a great many artists from the past ten years or so and yet...there are strange qualities in her music that don't really sound like anyone else. Her vocals are particularly interesting. Sometimes they sound smooth and conventional...while at other times they are downright bizarre. It is difficult trying to describe this music because there are very few good reference points. Folks seeking easy music should be forewarned. These tracks will take many repeated spins......