{"title":"All","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"swans-not-here-not-now-handmade-2cd","title":"Not Here\/Not Now (Handmade 2CD) Sold Out!","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eYG6969\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSWANS • NOT HERE \/ NOT NOW 2XCD \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHand Made and Assembled\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #990000;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSOLD OUT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe packaging to this handmade limited edition is made with a linoleum block print (printed on hand-brushed white ink). The drawing for the print and the printing itself was expertly accomplished by Nicole Boitos (signed and numbered 1 – 2000 by Nicole), based upon a concept\/sketch by M.Gira. Each individual cover is further drawn upon \/ personalized and signed by M.Gira. Each one is unique! The songs on the CDs are live Swans recordings culled from the recent 2012\/2013 tours. Most of the songs have not yet been recorded as studio versions – this is new material, in progress. The collection also includes two crude demo recordings by M.Gira, of additional new material to be recorded for the upcoming new Swans studio album. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOPTIONS TO BUY THE LIVE 2XCD AND TO HELP SUPPORT THE RECORDING OF THE NEW SWANS ALBUM (AS YET UNTITLED) AND IN PROGRESS :\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1. buy hand made web only 2x live Swans CD with original signed and numbered woodblock print, customized and signed by M.Gira - $40 - Limit 5 per order \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e2.  as above AND RECEIVE 2xcd deluxe digi-pack signed version of (untitled) new Swans album immediately upon release: $55 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e3. as in option 1 AND RECEIVE 2xcd deluxe digi-pack signed version of Swans (untitled), website\/tour exclusive package that includes live swans dvd from 2012\/13 tours - $65\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e4. as in OPTION 3 AND RECEIVE “executive producer” credit in upcoming swans studio album - $100\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e5. OPTION 3, AND 4 PLUS a 3 color 12 x 19 inch screen printed poster ) printed on double thick, 120 weight paper and made from a drawing by m.gira. Each poster is signed by m.gira and dedicated by name to customer. These posters are limited to purchasers of this option - $175 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e6. OPTION 3, AND 4, 5 PLUS be on VIP guest list and meet band for one show on upcoming swans tour(s) 2013\/14 - $200\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e7. OPTION 3, 4, 5, 6, plus, AND AGAIN, YES THIS IS REAL:  m.gira will record and send to customer avideo of a simple, short, original song, acoustic guitar and voice, with customers’ name in the song,  praising the customer, his or her ancestors, thoughts, dreams, and future or past lives, forever . This video will be made by m.gira, sitting at his desk, at home, singing directly to you, and you only. - $500\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e8. Order options 1 – 7 using the shopping cart system, THEN, using the Paypal button below, contribute an additional $100 or more, and receive a secret gift, and undying gratitude. AGAIN, Please order options 1 – 7 using the shopping cart system only, and make your additional contribution for option 8SEPARATELY using the Paypal button below. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThanks for your support!\u003cbr\u003eIf you wish to donate separately from the above purchase options, please do so by clicking the Paypal button below. All donations, large or small, are sincerely appreciated! Again, any donations made by clicking the Paypal button below have no connection to your purchase (via the shopping cart) of any of the options above.  Thanks again!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ccenter\u003e\u003cform method=\"post\" action=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/cgi-bin\/webscr\" target=\"_top\"\u003e\n\u003cinput src=\"https:\/\/www.paypalobjects.com\/en_US\/i\/btn\/btn_donateCC_LG.gif\" alt=\"PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!\" type=\"image\"\u003e \u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/www.paypalobjects.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003c\/form\u003e\u003c\/center\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFOR THIS PROJECT, SWANS WILL CONVERGE IN A COMMUNAL DESERT ENVIRONMENT WITH THE COMMITTED GOAL OF MAKING JOY THROUGH SOUND, FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME. YOUR PURCHASE OF ANY OF THE OPTIONS ABOVE CONTRIBUTES MIGHTILY TO THE RECORDING AND LOGISTICAL COSTS INHERENT  IN THE REALIZATION OF OUR RIDICULOUSLY OVERAMBITIOUS ASPIRATIONS. THESE DAYS, EACH RECORD FEELS LIKE IT COULD BE THE LAST. OUR HOPE IS THAT IF THAT TURNS OUT TO BE THE CASE, IT WILL BE JUSTIFIED.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCD1: 1.To Be Kind  2. Just a Little Boy  3. Coward  4. She Loves Us!  5. Oxygen… \u003cbr\u003eCD2: 1. The Seer \/ Bring the Sun \/ Toussaint L’ouverture  2. Nathalie Neal  3. Kirsten Supine (demo)  4. Screen Shot (demo)…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSWANS: michael gira - guitar, vocal; norman westerg - guitar; phil puleo - drums, duclimer, gizmos; thor harris - drums\/percussion, vibes, clarinet, melodica, violin, gizmos; christoph hahn - double lap steel guitar, guitar; christopher pravdica – bass, gizmos.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/nothere1_copy1_medium.jpg?535\" height=\"226\" width=\"226\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/nothere1_copy1_medium.jpg?538\"\u003e     \u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/nothere2_copy_medium.jpg?538\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/nothere3_copy_medium.jpg?538\" height=\"240\" width=\"240\"\u003e     \u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/nothere4_copy_medium.jpg?539\"\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eEACH ONE IS UNIQUE\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/notheredrwgsmall_copy.jpg?539\" height=\"790\" width=\"501\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eTHE POSTER (option 5). \u003cbr\u003e3 COLOR SCREEN PRINT ON HEAVY STOCK PAPER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese recordings are a snapshot of Swans at a particular time. The songs (though it’s admittedly a stretch to call some of them “songs”), began one way at the beginning of a year-long tour, and thereafter shifted in shape constantly, sometimes spontaneously during a performance, at other times through revisions (after revisions, after revisions) during sound-check. At least an album’s worth of material was created and then discarded live in this fashion… (If I ever have the time, I’m considering sifting through all the recordings that were made of this tour and creating a special edition album of that material - some versions of the songs on this record bear no resemblance to what’s on these 2 CDs, for instance)…  So, the music presented here is at a moment perhaps three quarters of the way through the touring cycle of 2012\/13. Things continued to evolve considerably thereafter from what’s presented here, but I think these recordings caught us at a good point. At the time of this writing, we’re going into the studio in a week to record much of this material (as well as material I’ve written that hasn’t yet been played by the band) for a new album, where it will doubtless take on a completely new shape. my main hope, personally, is that I’m surprised with the results at the end.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt this stage of the game, it has been touching, stirring, inspirational, even soul-lifting to see our audiences increasing to such an extent, and to witness  people finally, finally, seeming to just open up and share the experience of making these sounds with us. It really is a shared experience, and it feels like you-all are participating with us – though we still “call the shots,” - as it should be! This last bit of touring has been the most gratifying, musically and spiritually, of my life, and I thank you here for making it possible. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs was the case with our last studio album, The Seer, we’re just going to go in the studio now and record endlessly, as a first stage. In this instance, we’ve managed to wrangle a great, live-in studio in the middle of the desert in West Texas. Once the tenure of my friends in Swans is finished there, I’ll remain, recording more with other cohorts, and I’ll travel around a bit, trying to find ways to wrestle the music into a shape that suits it’s core intent (and maybe also contravenes it). I hope the songs change and develop beyond recognition. Along the way I’ll get  more friends in to augment the sounds, and then hack at it and add more (always more) until there is no more, then start cutting things away again. I won’t pay any attention to the LENGTH of the thing, in the end, or how long it takes to make – or how many enemies I make along the way – ha ha!. Who knows how long the final effort will be – 2 hours, 3, 4? Maybe it’ll just be a strangled little worm, 10 minutes long. At the end I’ll figure out some way to put it in some sort of format that makes sense. During the last record, I realized, what difference does it make? We’re not exactly trying to make music that’s accessible in the regular music world, so why accept any constraints whatsoever? What’s an “album,” and who cares? People that are inclined to be interested will find it if they want. Just let the music dictate the final shape, nothing else. So I don’t know what will happen. Once the music shows me that it’s had enough of my interference it’ll be done, and that’s it. For that last bit of freedom – the faith you’ve shown in these endeavors - I am sincerely grateful to supporters such as yourself, indeed!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot Here \/ Not Now is what has now become known as a “fundraiser” or “crowd-sourcing” CD. I’ve been doing this sort of hand-made release since 2000 (then, with Angels of Light), and with the support of people such as yourself, have been able to record and work at a standard that would have otherwise been utterly impossible. THANK YOU, endlessly! …I also remain grateful that you – our live audience – have felt it worth your while to attend our concerts, and my hope is that you’ve experienced some of the joy we experience while playing this music. THANK YOU, again, endlessly! – Michael Gira \/ Swans \/ Young God Records \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHERE ARE SOME IMAGES THAT SHOW THE PROCESS OF MAKING THIS SPECIAL EDITION:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1. MG original drawing and concept sent to nicole \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/1._hammer_now001_copy_2_medium.jpg?540\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2. MG showing the hammer type that should be used\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/2MG_SHOWS_HAMMERPhoto_on_2013-07-30_at_12.38_copy_medium.jpg?541\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3. Nicole’s original sketch\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/3DRAWINGnicolehammer_copy_large.jpg?542\" height=\"334\" width=\"249\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4. Nicole’s first print, and woodblock\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/4NICOLEDRAWING_BLOCK_copy_medium.jpg?543\" height=\"187\" width=\"251\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e5. Each one gets a wash of white ink, then it’s printed upon\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/5_FIRST_PRINT_NICOLE_copy_large.jpg?544\" height=\"330\" width=\"246\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e6. Nicole, in the process of printing 2000, a movie...,\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yWLjdYQOQyU\" height=\"315\" width=\"420\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" frameborder=\"0\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e7.  a pile of white ink-prepped envelopes\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/7_PREPPED_ENVS_copy_large.jpg?545\" height=\"191\" width=\"256\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e8.  in the midst of printing...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/8_PRINTED_ENVS_copy_medium.jpg?546\" height=\"191\" width=\"256\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e9. Nicole has sent them to MG, now he is personalizing and signing\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/9mg_signing_copy_medium.jpg?547\" height=\"194\" width=\"259\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e10. MG signing etc. it goes on forever. things could get ugly\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/10mg_SIGNINGdunce_at_desk_copy_large.jpg?548\" height=\"346\" width=\"259\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e11. MG discovers that the majority of the 2000 envelopes have, due to humidity, self-sealed!!!!! He sorts through them, finding the ones that need to be steamed open (most of them). a movie...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hZloh0qVOLk\" height=\"315\" width=\"420\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" frameborder=\"0\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e12. MG steams each one open. again. again. again....\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/12dunce_steaming_copy_large.jpg?549\" height=\"352\" width=\"264\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRandom video found on youtube of Swans performing “Toussaint L’ouverture” at Primavera Sound, Barcelona Spain 2013. This eventually became the final song of the set during the tour. This song grew entirely from improvisational\/emotional expressions during the live set, and eventually was harnessed and subsequently developed into a cohesive piece of music after numerous performances. It has since continued to evolve, and may soon benefit from direct, hopefully furious, equine expression during the upcoming recordings. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ICFHyJ2hiQo\" height=\"315\" width=\"560\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" frameborder=\"0\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Swans","offers":[{"title":"2CD","offer_id":632058905,"sku":"","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Option 2","offer_id":632061605,"sku":"","price":55.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Option 3","offer_id":632064117,"sku":"","price":65.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Option 4","offer_id":632064813,"sku":"","price":100.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Option 5","offer_id":632065977,"sku":"","price":175.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Option 6","offer_id":632066361,"sku":"","price":200.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Option 7","offer_id":632067337,"sku":"","price":500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/now.jpg?v=1571438765"},{"product_id":"swans-we-rose-from-your-bed-with-the-sun-in-our-head-handmade-live-2cd-sold-out","title":"We Rose From Your Bed With The Sun In Our Head (Handmade Live 2CD) Sold Out!","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYGX999\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSOLD OUT\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSwans: We Rose From Your Bed With The Sun In Our Head 2x Live Handmade CD\u003cbr\u003eHandmade and Assembled \/ With 2 Color Woodblock Print Sleeve of Original Drawing by M.Gira. Each One Uniquely Signed and Numbered and Further Personalized by M.Gira. This Version is a Limited Edition of 1000 and includes Exclusive Solo Recordings of Songs for New Swans. Album in Progress (as well as narrations\/explanations re the new songs, exclusive to this version).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eOPTIONS TO BUY LIVE 2XCD AND TO HELP  SUPPORT NEW SWANS STUDIO ALBUM TITLED “THE SEER” IN PROGRESS:\u003cbr\u003e1. buy hand made web only 2x live swans cd with original signed and numbered woodblock print sleeve made from drawing by m.gira - $30\u003cbr\u003e2. as above AND RECEIVE 2xcd deluxe digi-pack signed version of Swans The Seer immediately upon release: $45\u003cbr\u003e3. as in option 1 AND RECEIVE 2xcd deluxe digi-pack signed version of Swans The Seer, website\/tour exclusive package that includes live swans dvd from 2010\/11 tours - $55\u003cbr\u003e4. OPTION 3 AND RECEIVE “executive producer” credit in upcoming swans studio album - $100\u003cbr\u003e5. OPTION 3, AND 4 PLUS an original unique drawing by m.gira dedicated to customer (see example below) - $150\u003cbr\u003e6. OPTION 3, AND 4, 5 PLUS be on guest list and meet band for one show on upcoming swans tour(s) 2012\/13 - $175\u003cbr\u003e7. OPTION 3, AND 4, 5, 6, plus, AND YES THIS IS REAL  m.gira will record a simple, short, original song, acoustic guitar and voice, with customers’ name in the song, praising the customer, and send customer an mp3 of the song - $500\u003cbr\u003e8. OPTION 3, AND 4, 5, 6, 7 and contribute an additional $100 or more over option 7, and receive undying gratitude, and a secret gift.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYOUR PURCHASE OF ANY OF THE ABOVE OPTIONS CONTRIBUTES DIRECTLY TOWARDS THE CONSIDERABLE (AND EVER EXPANDING) RECORDING COST OF THE NEW SWANS STUDIO ALBUM, THE SEER, IN PROGRESS)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThanks for all your support!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you wish to donate separately from the above purchase options, please do so by clicking the Paypal button below. All donations, large or small, are sincerely appreciated! Again, any donations made by clicking the Paypal button below have no connection to your purchase (via the shopping cart) of any of the options above. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThanks again!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cinput src=\"https:\/\/www.paypalobjects.com\/en_US\/i\/btn\/btn_donateCC_LG.gif\" alt=\"PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!\" type=\"image\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTRACK LISTING: disc one: 1. intro\/no words no thoughts 2. jim 3. beautiful child 4. the apostate 5. yr property 6. sex god sex disc two: 1. the seer (intro)\/ i crawled 2. eden prison 3. 93 ave. b blues \/ little mouth... demos\/special website only recordings: 4. hello there 5. lunacy 6. the mother of the world 7. the daughter brings the water 8. a piece of the sky 9. the seer 10. goodbye. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSWANS: michael gira - guitar, vocal; norman westerg - guitar; phil puleo - drums, duclimer; thor harris - drums\/percussion, vibes, clarinet, melodica, violin; christoph hahn - double lap steel guitar; christopher pravdica - bass.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/rose1_large.jpg?550\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/coloring-personalizing_16_large.jpg?551\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/mg_drawing_example_16_large.jpg?552\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eEXAMPLE OF DRAWING YOU WILL RECEIVE WITH OPTION 5\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote from Michael Gira: Thanks to all of you who attended the Swans shows during our recent tours. The experience, for us, was life-giving and nourishing. The audiences were not only the largest with which we’ve ever been blessed, but the most genuinely connected and in tune with the sonic\/psychic experience in which we all participate. Thank you!... Represented in these discs are the best recordings we could provide of the (ever-evolving) shows. Those of you who attended the early shows realize that the first iterations of the music morphed and grew (seemingly with a will more expansive than our own) into something quite different by the end. This, in itself, was immensely gratifying. We also developed many new songs  – or sonic events is perhaps a better way to describe some of them -  along the way. In compiling these recordings and mixing them with my trusted friend and engineer Kevin McMahon (at Marcata Studio, Gardiner NY), we did our best to represent that transition... if you choose to acquire this 2 disc set, in my view it would behoove you to listen to the music at a generous volume level. This has absolutely nothing to do with an aggressive intent, as some mistakenly assume. Exactly the opposite, in fact. As with the live experience, it’s all about immersion. We – Swans - experience that sense of being subsumed in something greater than ourselves when we perform, too. Maybe that’s even our selfish reason for making the music in the first place. At the best of moments, it doesn’t even feel as if we are playing the music ourselves. More that we’re animated – vivified – by the ongoing sonic wave.  I can’t speak for my friends and cohorts, but it’s what I live for. In any event, it’s my hope these discs provide you with a positive experience of some sort....  Thanks due here especially to my friends in Swans, listed above – true love! (full list of thanks and credits provided within the CD packaging)... ALSO INCLUDED (ON DISC 2) herein are a few acoustic performances by me of songs that will be on the upcoming Swans album. These are the basic templates - the songs necessarily mutate into something else entirely by the time we’re through with them. These simple versions are included here to give you a picture of the process involved. They’re not meant as (and aren’t!) “great performances”. By the way, these are for YOU only. Please, please, please do not “share” these, or any of the other recordings on the goddamn internet or anywhere else. Would really appreciate your attention to this request!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpeaking of the packaging, the cover image is a drawing by myself that was expertly converted to woodblock, and then printed and numbered by my good friend Nicole Boitos. She also was kind enough to number them, 1 through 1000. I suppose if I weren’t perpetually holed up in the studio working on the new studio album, I would have printed them etc myself, but definitely the result would have been the smeared mess of a dim-witted 3 year old by comparison. Thanks to Nicole for doing such an expert job! But, I indeed served my time in the end. After receiving the finished prints I assembled the final package personally, signed each one, as well as did some additional coloration on each one (see pictures on this page). This is a labor of love. Or labor, anyway! See the pictures below for what’s entailed\/an indication of the process... Below those pictures a a couple random youtube links that vaguely represent a few moments of the live experience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Again, Thank You! and I hope you enjoy the music. See you on the next tour.  -  MG – Dec. 2011  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zAMyKtJJ784\" height=\"315\" width=\"560\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" frameborder=\"0\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6J3Lg3aLNoQ\" height=\"315\" width=\"420\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" frameborder=\"0\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Swans","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":632080241,"sku":"","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/rose2.jpg?v=1571438765"},{"product_id":"swans-my-father-will-guide-me-up-a-rope-to-the-sky-special-edition","title":"My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky - Special Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eYG43X\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e•••SIGNED BY M.GIRA•••\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIncludes an extra CD (Approx 40:00) of reworked material sourced from the original recordings. Available September 21 2010.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/livesite.younggodrecords.com\/home\/658457004326-my-father-will-guide-me-up-a-rope-to-the-sky-cd\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCOMPLETE INFORMATION REGARDING THE REGULAR EDITION OF My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/a\u003eI took instrumental passages and single sounds from the “My Father...” album and tortured them and stretched them and added other sounds and orchestrations and strangled that mess until it was forced into a new form called “Look At Me Go”. The process was similar to what I did with my Body Lovers\/Body Haters project. In a sense this is actually The Body lovers #2 of 3. Additional contributions to this piece of music were generously provided by Jason La Farge (strings) Hunter Hunt Hendrix (guitar) Kristoph Hahn (guitar) )and Brian Carpenter (horns)... in addition I mumbled and bleated here and there. Any number of sounds were wrestled from various animate and inanimate sources. This was mixed\/mangled\/compiled\/composed\/abused at Seizure’s Palace – Jason La Farge engineer and at Marcata Studio – Kevin McMahon engineer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e- Thanks! Michael Gira\/2010\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Swans","offers":[{"title":"My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky \/ album \/ 2CD","offer_id":632109717,"sku":"YG_MYFATHER_2CD","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/Swans_-_My_Father_Special.png?v=1571438765"},{"product_id":"swans-cop-young-god-greed-holy-money","title":"Cop\/Young God + Greed\/Holy Money","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e•••SIGNED BY M.GIRA•••\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSBZ047CD\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e•ORIGINAL RELEASE DATES: 1984-1986•\u003c\/strong\u003e PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS AN IMPORT ITEM – NOT RELEASED BY YOUNG GOD RECORDS. \u003cbr\u003eLABEL: SOME BIZARRE (UK) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHIS DOUBLE CD COLLECTION INCLUDES THE RELEASES COP, YOUNG GOD. GREED, AND HOLY MONEY. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIF YOU WANT HEAVY, BRUTAL, UNCOMPROMISING, VIOLENT, IMPENETRABLE, UNDENIABLE, PHYSICALLY, PSYCHICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY DEVASTATING, OBLITERATING LOVE LOVE LOVE-MUSIC – THIS IS FOR YOU! \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE TEMPLATE FOR COUNTLESS BANDS AND GENRES.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/cop1_4ed7ae59-6b04-42cc-a1a3-9c2a9f899d3d_large.jpg?891\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCOP\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eby Ned Raggett  (AMG)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eConsisting of a four-piece lineup -- Mosimann on drums, Westberg on guitar, Harry Crosby on bass, and naturally Gira on vocals -- on their second full album Swans add even more vicious crunch to their basic approach, resulting in quite possibly one of the darkest recordings ever done. Gira's words come across a little more forcefully and cleanly than before, and the existential horror shows that he details, almost always phrased in confessional\/accusatory \"I - you\" terms, make up in sheer power what they lack in any kind of subtlety. For example, typical lyrics, from the snarling \"Your Property\" state: \"I give you money -- you're superior. I don't exist. You control me.\" Matching his at-times unearthly moans and cries perfectly, the pounding music mostly consists of one slow, descending chord progression or a repetitive series of one or two notes after another, extending the power of loud feedback and amped drums to indescribably forceful effect. The opening grind alone on \"Why Hide,\" as Westberg stretches out his strings behind Mosimann and Crosby's pummeling, is crushing enough before Gira delivers a harrowing vocal. The most legendary track from the album is the title cut; as a vicious anti-boys-in-blue rant finds its equal only in N.W.A.'s \"Fuck Da Police.\" With such thoroughly bilious Gira lines as \"Nobody rapes you like a cop in jail\" providing the mental pictures, a slow, steady punch of music gets slowly but surely more aggressive and destructive as the song unfolds to its raging conclusion. Jim Thirlwell, aka Foetus, helps contribute to the apocalyptic noise on the release, but you somehow figure that Swans would have reached this state quite well on their own regardless. Ugly, compelling, and overpowering, Cop remains the pinnacle of Swans' brutal early days.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/cop2_d82f78c7-9ecf-46be-9617-bafd3f4ed56e_large.jpg?892\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCOP\/YOUNG GOD EP\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e(from \u003ca href=\"musicfortherestofus.blogsport.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003emusicfortherestofus.blogsport.com\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFormed in 1982, The Swans initially was connected with the nebulous 'no wave' moniker, but that association lasted for only one album, following the departure of their original guitarist. \"Cop \/ Young God \/ Greed \/ Holy Money\", released in 1999 (shortly after the band had disbanded), is a double LP featuring the albums \"Cop\", \"Greed\", \"Holy Money\", and the infamous \"Young God\" EP (which Kurt Cobain listed among his favorite albums). The studio recordings present Swans with their most unadulterated musical vision: agonizing auditory assaults, all recorded between 1984-1986. The guitar sounds as if it were being amplified through diesel exhaust pipes, the bass sounds as if it were strung with electrical wires, and the drums are accented with various metal 'found objects'. But one of the most unnerving aspects of The Swans' sound is Michael Gira's vocals. Alternating from a deadpan delivery (in which he issues matter-of-fact statements regarding death, dismemberment, sex, \"humiliation as a disease\", and other subversive conversation starters) to snarled shouting, he deftly explores the squalid underside of existence in a manner few bands are able to accomplish effectively. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile the \"Young God\" EP is stylistically similar to the \"Cop\" LP, there are a number of interesting differences between the two. Almost immediately noticeable is the fact that the songs, though similar to the previous album, are much more 'sinister' sounding than 'overtly brutal' (although it is important to note that there is no loss in intensity; in some respects, this album is a bit more intense). Also obvious is the fact that the band had, by this point, began to experiment with slightly more complex song progressions (such as the outro of \"I Crawled\"). Michael Gira's voice is also a little bit more diverse on these songs, with reverb and chorus effects appearing in the mix at times (this does, however, cause his voice to be somewhat further back in the mix). His ranting\/screeching\/shouting is especially pronounced on the song \"Raping A Slave\". And that loud clanking sound you hear every once in a while? That's a steel table and chain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/cop3_4ab5c935-298e-423c-99dc-0dc92bb612b7_large.jpg?893\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGREED\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy Ned Raggett (AMG)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFeaturing two bassists -- Crosby and newcomer Algis Kizys -- and no less than three drummers -- Gonzalez, Ted Parsons, and Ivan Nahem -- Greed marks the initial turning point of Swans towards more varied and ultimately even more astonishing musical heights than the early records, which were aggressive beyond all words, ever indicated. The opening track \"Fool\" demonstrates as much, being almost wholly piano-based, though the portentous echo of the notes along with grinding guitar noises underlying Gira's ever-more commanding, raspy singing (as opposed to shouting) mean that it's all still very much Swans. An increasing spaciousness and sense of more stripped-down arrangements also show up, along with some slightly more active tempos. \"Anything for You\" has Gira's strangled wail of earlier days, but the music is a little calmer, a little more restrained; \"Stupid Child\" uses a delicate playing of cymbals as effectively as the expected slow percussion rumbles. Lyrically, unsurprisingly, things are little different from before, with images of utter self-loathing, power, domination, and economic corrosion of the soul dominating Gira's words, though at times interesting new elements creep in as well. On \"Heaven,\" for instance, Gira resignedly sings of a \"heaven\" which could be that of dying victims or of exhausted lovers, a fascinating double image. Jarboe makes her presence known on a number of songs, most effectively on the title track, where her wordless background vocals constantly loop in and out of the mix (notably, despite the title, Gira here sings of emotional isolation rather than the monetary greed expected given such other songs on the album as \"Money Is Flesh,\" a slightly calmer semi-cousin to \"Time Is Money (Bastard)\").\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHOLY MONEY\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"line-height: 1.2; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"\u003eby Ned Raggett (AMG)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlso recorded at the sessions for Greed and A Screw (the album actually contains the \"Holy Money\" mix of said single), Holy Money is logically similar in general tone and feel to those releases, mixing the established Swans blueprint of lyrical and musical extremity with an ever-broader range and, at times, a broader delicacy than before. \"A Hanging\" helps to showcase Jarboe's increasing role with the band. Her striking, semi-gospel wails mix with the storm-cloud-laden music, which builds into a massive tribal drum pattern, while Gira sings of self-sacrifice to what sounds like a very unforgiving deity. This immediately leads into the brief \"You Need Me,\" where Jarboe's haunting voice sings a lyric of apology solely over echoed piano. Such unexpected twists crop up throughout Holy Money, as the band engages in a fruitful search for new musical directions. Greed's \"Fool\" is revisited as \"Fool #2,\" transformed into an equally ominous track, but this time accompanied by almost majestic electric guitar and drums along with the original piano and keyboards. Gira's vocals are notably clearer in this piece, though the lyrics are hardly any less gentle. Another Greed track, \"Money Is Flesh,\" gets its own drastic remake on the album as well. \"Another You,\" meanwhile, has distinctly strange and beautiful -- in an alien way -- guitar scrapes and shades which provide texture to the lengthy track, with one of Gira's most obsessive interpersonal lyrics (and one of his best vocals up to that time) further gracing it. Ending with \"Coward\" -- contrasting almost intimate if still haunted upfront Gira's spoken vocals set against a buried series of his screams and shouts in the background of the mix over a repetitive crunch of guitar, bass, and drums -- Holy Money well documents the continuing transformation of Swans into a more complex, intriguing beast.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Swans","offers":[{"title":"Cop\/Young God + Greed\/Holy Money","offer_id":632123425,"sku":"YG_COP_CD","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Cop\/Young God WAVs","offer_id":51960322294062,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Greed\/Time is Money WAVs","offer_id":51961771426094,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Holy Money\/A Screw WAVs","offer_id":51961775358254,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/Swans-1986-CopYoungGod-GreedHolyMoney.jpg?v=1571438765"},{"product_id":"swans-teeth-t-shirt","title":"SWANS - TEETH T-SHIRT","description":"\u003cp\u003e100% cotton, natural and soft on your beautiful skin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SWANS","offers":[{"title":"Woman's Small","offer_id":823466777,"sku":"YG_Teeth_WS","price":20.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Woman's Med","offer_id":634405017,"sku":"YG_Teeth_WM","price":20.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Woman's Large","offer_id":634405897,"sku":"YG_Teeth_WL","price":20.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Men's Small","offer_id":634374925,"sku":"YG_Teeth_MS","price":20.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Men's Med","offer_id":634375721,"sku":"YG_Teeth_MM","price":20.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Men's Large","offer_id":634378113,"sku":"YG_Teeth_ML","price":20.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Men's XL","offer_id":634402573,"sku":"YG_Teeth_MXL","price":20.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Men's XXL","offer_id":634403493,"sku":"YG_Teeth_MXXL","price":20.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Men's XXXL","offer_id":44330634576174,"sku":"YG_Teeth_M3XL","price":20.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/24899064_1687154921334995_1231631399_n.jpg?v=1571438765"},{"product_id":"akron-family-angels-of-light","title":"Akron\/Family \u0026 Angels Of Light","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e••• SIGNED BY M.GIRA•••\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e YG30\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA week after an extended US Tour and a few shows in Europe Akron\/Family and I went into the studio and recorded this album straightaway. Everything was recorded live, with a few overdubs - mixed and finished in nine 8-hour days. Akron\/Family is my favorite \"Rock Band\" in the universe (or \"rock-related band\" - something like that!). I watched every show they did from beginning to end for about 40 concerts and was consistently amazed. The audience responses - for a then almost completely unknown band - were astounding. They tear down the roof. They generate such pure JOY, coupled with a wild sense of constant invention, that it's impossible not to get sucked into their weird world of sonic chaos, then gorgeous vocal harmonies, then march-of-the-crazed-clowns with ever-escalating psychedelic mantra crescendos, then country stomps, then genuinely touching plaintive, atmospheric songs, then extended improvisations, then into some kind of Beatles meets Beefheart backwoods midnight incantation (\"Raising The Sparks\" - a song that never fails to get the audience whooping like suddenly zapped and enlightened idiots) - and on and on. A friend of mine saw them and, struggling to find a way to describe them, said that they contain the entire history of rock music, sometimes in a single song. Ha ha! Preposterous, but sort of accurate. So, their songs on this album, coming right off a lengthy tour in which they also played a set of my songs every night as Angels of Light, just leap out of the speakers, in my opinion. I don't think I've ever seen a band in the 25 years that I've been personally making \"rock\" music contain the elements of exuberant experimentation, flat out intense, ecstatic and focused performance, and immediate accessibility that they possess.... Also contained on this album are 5 songs performed by me, with Akron\/Family serving as (my) Angels of Light. They have an uncanny ability to step into the world of the songs I wrote (also covered here is Bob Dylan's \"I Pity The Poor Immigrant²) - without imposing their own aesthetic - and lift them up to something beyond what I could have initially imagined. I've never had a better backing band, ever. I hope you enjoy this record! \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- Michael Gira\/Angels of Light\/Young God Records\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis album was recorded and mixed at Trout Recording, Brooklyn, by Bryce Goggin (Phish, Lemonheads, Ramones, Swans, Pavement, Angels of Light etc etc). It was co-Produced by Michael Gira and Akron\/Family. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAKRON\/FAMILY: \"...Akron\/Family has accomplished what most musicians fail to do in an entire career. In a perfect combination of inspired production, innovative instrumentation and transcendent songwriting... a richly layered and flowing album that is as emotional as it is challenging... already transcended category with its eponymous debut full-length.\" - Prefix.com \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eANGELS OF LIGHT: \"Gira's recent employment as producer and label boss to Akron\/Family has been a transforming experience for all parties. The energizing effect the younger group has had on Gira's creative energies and artistic output are copiously in evidence throughout these recordings. Together, they have produced a form of beautiful, rustic pop music. If Brian Wilson had crashed a motorcycle and holed up to recuperate at Big Pink with The Band, this is how the Basement Tapes would have sounded.\" - The Wire\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3\/11\/2006 | dustedmagazine.com | Adam MacGregor\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAkron\/Family \u0026amp; Angels of Light | Review\u003cbr\u003eThere's something sunny and friendly about Akron\/Family\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDusted Reviews\u003cbr\u003eArtist: Akron\/Family \/ Angels of Light\u003cbr\u003eReview date: Feb. 26, 2006\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProteges ex-Swan leader Michael Gira knows how to pick 'em. To wit: The success of current neo-folk darling Devendra Banhart, whose first few albums Gira released on his Young God label, while also having subsequently employed Banhart as one of his Angels of Light. Likewise, when it came time to for the most recent restaff of AoL's ever-mutable lineup, Gira employed Brooklynites the Akron\/Family, which perform an admirable double role on this latest release, their second on Young God. As such, it's more of a \"split-personality\" release more than a split project proper, wherein the only difference in personnel among the tracks over both segments is the addition of Gira himself on the five AoL songs. Gira has discovered a strange and wonderful roots-rock boy band of sorts in A\/F. Their first seven tracks exude a country and blues-inflected jubilance without succumbing to jam band excess. A\/F's four-tiered vocal arrangements have invited a spate of Beach Boys comparisons; nonetheless, it's hard not to suspect that Brian Wilson or (shudder) the Lettermen may have had an inspirational hand in the album opener, \"Awake.\" As suddenly as the lullaby takes effect, the band obliterates it with the blast of free improv that opens \"Moment\" during which the harmonies take a turn to somewhere between Godspell and the Muppets. \"Future Myth\" lopes along propelled by fingerpicked guitar, peppered with the tinkling of that friendliest of all instruments, the glockenspiel, the playful noodling of a penny whistle and the ringing drone of what sounds like bowed vibraphone. There's something sunny and friendly about Akron\/Family, the kind of music that grips your hand, smiles and looks you in the eye like it's instantly and genuinely glad to know you. It's this accessibility sans pandering that may be the band's greatest strength recommended to all in search of guilt-free, feel-good music. \"I've never had a better backing band, ever,\" Gira said, and indeed, the elder statesman presides over his golden find with gentle discipline, reigning in their flights of fancy enough to deliver the intently performed, dynamic-rich dark Americana that has become AoL's hallmark over the last few albums. The cover of Bob Dylan's \"I Pity the Poor Immigrant\" sets the table for \"The Provider,\" an Appalachian raga set to a steadily plodding shuffle, and punctuated by stabs of Quine-esque guitar skronk. \"One for Hope,\" one of Gira's cyclical ballads features choirboy backing vocals that complement Gira's plaintive lead. It's those A\/F trademark harmonies, again, that hint in part at intriguing new territory on the reworking of the Swans' \"Mother\/Father.\" Sung accapella over a vaguely afro-beat rhythm, the tune sounds nothing like the original, nor quite like anything either artist has done previously. Gira didn't necessarily need artistic rejuvenation, but it was bound to happen anyway, as the song goes, when he found the \"right bunch of fellows.\" Cheers to the second installment of this beautiful friendship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOUTSIDELEFT.COM \u003cbr\u003eOctober 3\/05 \u003cbr\u003eAlex V. Cook, Music Editor \u003cbr\u003eTHE NUCLEAR FAMILY HAS EXPLODED MY MIND \u003cbr\u003e(excerpt of the review) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe Kinks- meets- Dixie Dregs godhead rocker \"Raising the Sparks\" send you into a spin, stomping out of your classroom or job with authority figure mutedly shouting at your back as you run off to join the Revolution \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e.... allow me to join you in congratulating myself on being an early adopter of Akron\/Family, the most exhilarating and solid weirdie-beardie band in operation. The new Animal Collective, which was the new Flaming Lips which was the new Floyd on and on and on, this here second release by my favorite rock Mennonites from Brooklyn shows they are tangential path to musical glory. Their half of his dispatch opens (³Awake²) with a slow guitar ramble and Abbey Road harmonies setting this spooky ride in motion. Already it sounds more mature, more solid than their exquisite leafpile of a debut. ³Moment² then explodes in a cascading cacophony for a full minute before descending into he most joyous shout-along song on the line theses days. They sound like a four man Polyphonic Spree, with twice the wild and half the gimmicky collective consciousness ­ instead of being the latter¹s show choir, they operate like extensions from a common mind, with a great Krimson-meets-Skynnyrd guitar runs that will send any of you into a fit of unbridled happiness. Latter day Allman Brothers My Morning Jacket have their work cut out for them on their highly anticipated album Z in with ³Moment.² ŒWe all Will² is just a beautiful melody, harnessing the don¹t-make-me-grow-up horse Roger Waters and Ray Davies rode long before them and lights out for the territories. ³Future Myth² twinkles like birds, like someone gave them the assignment to tear apart the instrumental breaks from Styx songs and create something meaningful and beautiful and ageless from them. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIts all just great stuff. ³Dylan pt 2² acts as a 4-minute distillation of the death-blues-pop cycle closing out Abbey Road, pushing the boundaries that stretch (really, if I have to listen to the Beatles, like you are making me, side two of Abbey Road is the poison I choose.) mixing that same deft guitar work, detuned harmonies and batshit explosions. ³Oceanside² is a refreshingly tranquil piece after all the hysterics getting you ready for the Kinks-meets-Dixie Dregs godhead rocker ³Raising the Sparks² send you into a spin, stomping out of your classroom or job with authority figure mutedly shouting at your back as you run off join the Revolution. Akron \/Family may be wearing their influences on their sleeves, but goddamn they wear them with style. Right now, this moment while listening to it, I think they are the best band in the world. I don¹t know if it will stay with me, but transcendence in its very nature is fleeting, so grab that comets tail while you can. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou have ex-Swans and archaeologist that brought Devendra Banhart to the surface Michael Gira to thank. Like with Banhart, he put his feelers out and discovered a second implausibly great group to promote. On this split, and as with his last Angels of Light album, he was shrewd enough to recognize the good thing before him and employ these beat farmers as his backing band, and drops five of the warmest examples of his folk brilliance on the back end of this disk. Gira is known for creating music that is exquisitely hard and cold, whether its the megaton death bomb rock of Swans or the ghost-looking-back-at-you-in-the-mirror plaintive music of his Angels of Light, but on How I Loved You, we started to see some of his reserve fall away and almost see this notoriously grim figure crack a smile. On the opening track, a cover of Dylan¹s ³I Pity The Poor Immigrant² we see some of that warmth glowing even brighter, but its back to the iceberg for the minimalist folk dirge ³The Provider.² It must be said here, Akron Family are supremely versatile musicians, in that they rein in their campfire Bacchanalia to become the steam engine-cum-grandfather clock of God that Gira needs to flesh out these harrowing songs. His trademark baritone sounds more comfortable than I¹ve ever heard it, and the stuff just rocks, like swarms and swarms of locusts are picking the meat off your carcass and you¹ve quit fighting them, ready to take on the inevitable with chilled resolve. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter that epic, perhaps Gira¹s best song ever, ³One for Hope² is a relaxing pastoral number, (this seems to be a well-olied Akron\/Family operational plan) and the remake of the Swans track from Œ94 ³Mother\/Father² as a drum circle chant is just, well, enchanting. The final number ³Come For My Woman² casts Gira¹s voice in a Roy Orbison envelope of velvet and vibrato guitar, bringing this western ballad in the realm of the sublime. Gira has a good thing going here with this group, both a bandleader and producer, and it seems they him as well. Banhart¹s rocket shot through the atmosphere of Gira¹s hand-handled Young God records, and word has it that its an amiable shift, but I¹m hoping he holds onto these guys. They are a glistening brilliant band unto themselves, and acting as his Angels of Light, I think he¹s finally found the sympathetic foils to his particular art he¹s been needing. The previous Angels albums have been carefully engineered almost to a fault, these tracks bring an element of danger and uncertainty into the mix that I think really suits Gira¹s persona and presence. Powerful stuff. I highly recommend this album if your are a person whose mind is sorely in need of a good blowing, and given the climate of aggressive conformity and homogeneity that is passing for culture nowadays, I¹m guessing that you are one of these people.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Angels Of Light \u0026 Akron\/Family","offers":[{"title":"Akron\/Family \u0026 Angels Of Light \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":633932477,"sku":"YG_AKRONANGLES_CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_34_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"death-seat","title":"Death Seat","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG44\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJames Jackson Toth, AKA Wooden Wand is your fearless friend, the stumbling guy that goes out and gets himself into some incredibly fucked-up situations but comes out shining and lives to tell you all about it, entertaining you safely and immensely. You should be grateful. His songs are beautiful, indisputably, both musically and lyrically, and they’ll give you joy if you listen to them. In my view, he’s a great American songwriter in full bloom.\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost likely you’ll think that’s a preposterous claim, and I won’t blame you, but you’ll be totally, completely, and unforgivably wrong to think so. James is a natural. To me it’s obvious he’s animated with the same spirit that’s moved through Willie, Waylon, Merle, and Hank. Not to say he sounds like them, but his songs unfurl with a similar casual authority. There’s no space between who he is and the work he does—never without a guitar, and always writing or listening to\/seeking out new music. He’s inhabited. If there were justice in this world, which there isn’t, he’d be on tour right now with Willie Nelson as an honored guest. He’s got that picaresque quality that Dylan had in his heyday, wherein the shambolic narrator undergoes various travails and epiphanies—harrowing, bleak and darkly comical—in the course of a narrative, then leaves you mystified, both smiling and sad.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI laugh out loud when I hear some of the lines in these songs, they’re just so immediate and vivid. The pathos sometimes can leave you, frankly, drained, but the language and the singing is effortless and without loaded portent—it goes down smooth. He’s got a million “zingers,” as he calls them—the sort of concise one- or two-line descriptions that set up the atmosphere for a song instantly. Really, if Nashville were a place where one could peddle great songs anymore, James would be the king of the place. He’s a passionate singer and guitar player and inhabits the songs as he performs them with straightforward, unpretentious, and confident gravitas. I’ve been listening to this record over and over for the last several months—we went through dozens of equally compelling songs before choosing the line up of tracks—and the more I listen, the more honored I am to be associated with James Jackson Toth. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJames has previously released records with Kill Rock Stars and Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label; Lee Renaldo produced one of them. He also had a sad slide with Ryko Records. When I heard the latter record I could not believe how good it was and I was pissed off and saddened that it did not do right by James. My humble hope here now is that his music will reach people in a direct and clear and powerful way, because the world needs more truth and passion, and James most definitely supplies it. These songs are a flat-out pleasure to listen to, and each one brings further rewards on repeated listening. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLast time I talked to James, he was laying floors down in Murfreesboro, TN. He is not a hipster, that is for sure, and God bless him. The songs are literate, and there’s a painful irony in some of them, but the level of commitment and sweet passion is rare, and born of hard earned experience. Listen to his music! - Thanks, \u003cem\u003eMichael Gira – Young God Records\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMusicians include members of Glossary, Lambchop, Silver Jews, Mercury Rev, Fire on Fire\/Big Blood \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003ejames jackson toth: acoustic guitar + electric guitar + mandolin + vocals\u003cbr\u003ebrian lowery: pedal steel + dobro + organ + electric piano + vocals;\u003cbr\u003ewilliam tyler: electric guitar\u003cbr\u003egrasshopper: acoustic and electric mandolin + acoustic piano\u003cbr\u003edm seidel: acoustic piano + electric bass + electric guitar\u003cbr\u003ejoey kneiser: electric guitar + acoustic guitar\u003cbr\u003ebingham barnes: electric bass\u003cbr\u003espencer duncan: upright bass\u003cbr\u003ecasey kaufman: cello\u003cbr\u003eandrew mosiman: fiddle\u003cbr\u003ecaleb mulkerin: electric guitar + vocals\u003cbr\u003ecolleen kinsella: vocals\u003cbr\u003ekerry kennedy: vocals\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003esiobhan duffy gira: vocals\u003cbr\u003etyler coppage: drums + percussion\u003cbr\u003ekenny siegal – theramin, mandolin, additional percussion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduced by M. Gira. Recorded by Joey Kneiser and Stephen Goose Trageser at the Haunted Mansion, Murfreesboro, TN., January 2-10, 2010 and Kenny Siegal at Old Soul Studios, Catskill, NY, January 16-17, 2010. Mixed by M. Gira and Kevin McMahon at Marcata Studio, Gardiner, NY, June 2010.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/stereogum.com\/548322\/wooden-wand-ms-mowse-stereogum-premiere\/mp3s\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eEarly blurb by Brandon Stosuy at Stereogum.com:\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI’ve always enjoyed James Jackson Toth’s stripped-down, dusky music most: It gives us the space to sink our teeth into his songwriting; his voice sounds best when it’s foreboding, bummed, soul-sick, burnt. Previously, he nailed this in the hissing, raw Harem of the Sundrum and the Witness Figg, a collection I reviewed, ecstatically, five years ago (“At the local record store, the ‘freak-folk’ section’s gridlocked. It’s a fucking epidemic”) ending with: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"These lo-fi hymns succeed because they’re highly listenable. The collection’s direct, unadorned, honest, idiosyncratic. Like neo-folk’s most interesting players (Banhart, Ben Chasny, Joanna Newsom), Toth sounds more like his precursors than his contemporaries, and very much like himself. Timeless is a tough (even questionable) word to plunk down on the present, but all things considered (and considered carefully), Harem of the Sundrum and the Witness Figg should sound especially singular this time next year, even if Toth goes and gets himself a buzz cut.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThose songs did survive, for me at least. With Death Seat, I get that feeling again. As mentioned last year, I also enjoyed the demos and castaways he collected on Hard Knox. But this is his strongest “new” collection since Harem. Get a sense of the mood with “Ms Mowse.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk\/MagSitePages\/AuthorPage.aspx?id=68\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eEarly review at pennyblackmusic.com\u003c\/a\u003e: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWooden Wand: Death Seat \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReviewed By: Jamie Rowland\u003cbr\u003eLabel: Young God Records \u003cbr\u003eFormat: CD \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s been a good year for releases on Michael Gira’s Young God Records this year, with his own band Swans reforming to release their first new album in 14 years, and James Blackshaw’s brilliantly haunting album 'All Is Falling' coming out in August – certainly by my reckoning, one of the albums of the year. And this pattern continues in October with the release of 'Death Seat', the latest release from James Jackson Toth, better known to the music world as Wooden Wand. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Death Seat' is Toth’s first release on Young God Records, and it’s easy to see why Gira was interested in him as an artist; 'Death Seat' has the gothic country\/blues sound familiar to anyone who has listened to one of Gira’s Angels of Light records – Toth's voice is even quite similar to that of the Swans’ front man. Wooden Wand, however, is of course an entity unto itself, so let’s not get too carried away with comparisons. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne might assume that with a title like 'Death Sea't this record would be a pretty dark and sombre affair, but in fact for the most part the lyrics are very witty and extremely well-observed. They are also wonderfully descriptive, and really make you feel a part of the world within the song. For example, on the frankly beautiful album-closer ‘Tiny Confessions’, Toth sings: “Father, forgive me\/I ain’t been to see you in weeks\/ I’ve been solving all my own problems\/From the floor where I sleep” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOther stand-outs on the album include the title track, opener ‘Sleepwalking After Midnight’, the lo-fi philosophy of ‘Until Wrong Looks Right’ (“Unfocus your eyes\/Until that street-light becomes a sun-rise\/’Til you can see the truth and the lies\/Until Wrong looks right) and the short but oh-so-sweet ‘The Arc’. My personal favourite though, and the track I would urge you to try out as a taster, is ‘Bobby’, possibly only because of the lyric “He painted his house the colour of skin\/So if the situation called for it he could blend in”, but it also has a really winning melody. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you’re familiar with the past releases of James Jackson Toth, then this should be a welcome addition. If you’re new to the world of Wooden Wand, then what sweet treats await you and your ears.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wooden Wand","offers":[{"title":"Death Seat \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":633943429,"sku":"YG_DEATHSEAT_CD","price":12.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Death Seat \/ album \/ LP","offer_id":633943433,"sku":"YG_DEATHSEAT_LP","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_63_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"difference-and-repetition","title":"Difference and Repetition","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG09\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDan Matz continues to release music under the name Windsor For The Derby after several line up changes along the way. Several albums have come out since the YGR release below, way back in 1999 – well worth checking out. Difference and Repetition is one of their best, and I hope you’ll give it a listen. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e– Michael Gira\/Young God Records 2008\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWindsor for the Derby stake out their own highly personal and original terrain of organic guitar soundtrack music. Augmented with sensuous analog keys and delicate vocals, the guitars are uneffected and interwoven in complex patterns that shift ineffably over time. The resulting atmosphere is intimate and unpretentious - handmade extended county-folk ballads laced with a gentle sadness, as if Brian Eno had a hand in remixing Harry Smith's anthology of American folk music. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWindsor for the Derby was formed in 1994 in Austin, Texas. Daniel Matz and Jason McNeeley are the core members of an ever shifting collaboration that has included (and may sometimes include) John Weiss (Rodan), Adam Wiltzie (Stars of the Lid), Wayne Magruder (Bowery Electric, Calla) and a variety of other contributors. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTheir fist two CD's, Calm Hades Float and Minnie Greutzfeld, were released on Trance Syndicate Records. Windsor For the Derby opened for Swans on its final US tour, and M. Gira was so taken with their sound and performances that he immediately offered to release them on YGR. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDifference and Repetition is the most refined and focused Windsor recording to date. YGR is extremely proud to offer these intimately crafted dreamsongs as the first in its coming series of new releases offering a poignant and non-cynical musical experience, rare in its warmth and understatement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e6\/20\/2001 | allmusic.com | Thom Jurek \u003cbr\u003eWindsor for the Derby | Difference and Repetition | Review \u003cbr\u003eAMG Expert Review \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn their debut recording for Young God, and third overall, Windsor For The Derby refine their delicate, intricate guitar landscape even further. Based in Austin, the core of Daniel Matz and Jason McNeeley with guests that include Adam Wiltzie from Stars of the Lid, Christian Goyer and Erik O'Brien. Keyboards, from floating electric pianos and tightly woven yet spaciously measured guitar patterns dictate the flow from which Windsor For the Derby's music emanates. On the nearly 13-minute \"Shoes McCoat,\" the band tangle two guitars in an edgeless knotty, slowly unwinding labyrinth that grow longer in length and intricacy over the track's duration. Certain notes get stretched to resonate a tad longer before they move, or a sudden shift up the neck on one note like a slide whistle will occur, but otherwise, the patterns build and unfold, adding layer upon layer of mysterious intent that results in gorgeous music. Everything is so subtle here—even the vocals are so slurred and unreachable as to be just another instrument in the mix. The analogue keyboards in \"Nico,\" a pipe organ (resembling a harmonium) and a piano resonate in the shadows of the bass and guitars as an off-meter rhythm accents each phrase, and another, and another until the phrase becomes the pulse of the tune itself. But perhaps nothing here is more strikingly beautiful than \"Lost In Cycles,\" a vocal track where the lyrics are indecipherable, whispered hoarsely into a lilting guitar line and a sustained keyboard line that gives way to feedback on both sides of the channel to create a dense yet melodic wail of harmonic distortion. Windsor For The Derby is perhaps not the best known band making records from Austin, Texas, or even on the Young God label, but no matter how hard they are to find, their records—especially this one—are worth seeking out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e8\/1\/2000 | MOJO MAGAZINE | Andrew Cardeen \u003cbr\u003eWindsor for the Derby | Difference and Repetition - Review \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere's no reason to overlook the third lp from texas post-rockers windsor for the derby. \"difference and repetition\" is their first for ex-swans leader michael gira's young god label and continues on the gentle trajectory of their earlier work with a soothing mix of repeated phrases, hushed whispers, and organic ambience. think eno, tortoise, and late '60's pink floyd.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Windsor For The Derby","offers":[{"title":"Difference and Repetition \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":924693249,"sku":"YG_Difference_CD","price":12.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/windsor_600.jpg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"akron-family","title":"Akron\/Family","description":"\u003cform action=\"http:\/\/young-god-records-2.myshopify.com\/cart\/add\" method=\"post\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cinput type=\"hidden\" value=\"633990753\"\u003e \u003cinput type=\"hidden\" value=\"back\" name=\"return_to\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG28\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere’s the press release for Akron\/Family’s debut album on Young God, from 2005 – Michael Gira\/Young God Records 2008 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/form\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAkron\/Family are four extremely nice, sincere and well-mannered young men from rural America who came to NYC (in 2002) to make music, hoping to find a thread of real magic still winding through this city's music scene. They certainly did just that, but they did it by retreating into a tiny Brooklyn apartment, where they made their own world instead, in complete and stubborn isolation. They proceeded (while simultaneously growing alarmingly long beards and developing a playful but hermetic quasi-religious\/sonic worldview\/creed known as \"AK\" or sometimes \"AK-AK\") to make several albums worth of recordings on crude home equipment – the material compulsively chopped, spliced, and orchestrated into fractal jewels of song and schismatically opposed atmospheres. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey accrued at least 3 albums worth of music in this obsessive manner. Along the way, they sent me the increasingly compelling results. Soon I was completely won over – stunned in fact – by a show at Brooklyn's Pete's Candy Store, where the music veered from gentle American country folk to unabashed electronic noise to gathering and erupting crescendos, to extended skronk improvisations that then suddenly cut to an LSD version of a backwoods barbershop quartet or a Louvin Brothers spiritual – sometimes all within the course of one ridiculously long \"song\" – ha ha! When they all sing together it's like the goddamn Beatles or Beach Boys or maybe an eerie and twisted version of The Band.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen we started work on this album we first spent a good deal of time sifting through the trove of already-recorded songs. A few of those are included here with varying amounts of further orchestration. The rest of the songs are highly edited-down studio versions of the abovementioned live \"epics\", Young God Records not being just yet in the position of being able to release a triple CD debut (!). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey've got an enthusiasm for pure sound too that shows through in many of the songs – note the squeaking chair in Italy that Miles \"played\" or the weirdly skewed composition of Suchness (but still a formidable \"pop\" song, in my opinion), or the \"drum\" in Rainforest, which is actually all four Akrons simultaneously violently beating their chests, the resulting percussive sound being the air released from their mouths with each beat. As we worked, a song would sometimes be described as too \"red\" or not \"aluminum\" enough or some other arcane (to me) reference, but inevitably, corrections made with the aid of a screwdriver or maybe the sanded metal rails of a staircase resulted in an unpredictable but \"correct\" result. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn any event, there's a wealth of sonic variety contained herein, and first and foremost they're great SONGS, and well sung indeed. I certainly hope you enjoy the music!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e6\/3\/2005 | Boston Phoenix | by TED DROZDOWSKI \u003cbr\u003eAkron\/Family \u003cbr\u003eAKRON\/FAMILY CD \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eblends acoustic string instruments with layers of electronic noise and vocal harmonies. These urban Okies from Brooklyn have created a kind of contemporary-primitive style that blends acoustic string instruments with layers of electronic noise and vocal harmonies. Their compositions reflect both the sweet, earthy influence of the Band and the textural applications of Ennio Morricone. And here they’ve written some evocative songs that, thanks to the high plaintive lead voice of Ryan Vanderhoof, tell stories of searching for self-realization, true love, and desire. Layers of sound slowly build as each number unreels. At the start of the epic \"Italy,\" the only instruments are a lightly amplified electric guitar and the squeaky chair that Miles Seaton rocks back and forth to elicit just the right slow groan. Other guitars intervene as Vanderhoof begins to sing, and the song crescendos with a four-part vocal break, tinkling percussion, and minimal drumming that — in the Akron\/Family’s quiet, spacy universe — sound like a volcano erupting. As they alternate between explorations of mountain-music roots and unpredictable yet entirely organic experimentation, it becomes obvious that these guys have made one of the more daring, free-ranging debuts of the year. Fans of Devendra Banhart and John Frusciante will dig Akron\/Family’s abstraction; those who find Banhart too hippy-dippy will enjoy their more grounded musicality. Michael Gira, the former frontman of Swans and current Angels of Light leader who runs Young God Records, became so smitten with Akron’s approach that they’re now his backing band, so there’s a testimonial\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4\/18\/2005 | Pitchforkmedia.com | by Sam Ubl \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAkron\/Family \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ea compelling, emotionally complex experience As long as people believe poverty and authenticity go hand-in-hand, lo-fi will never go out of style. Demand for the holey cardigan stylings of artists like Phil Elvrum, Lou Barlow, and Emperor X seems to peak every couple years, and after last year's freak(folk)-out, you might expect a brief recession, followed by the reemergence of a hermetic lo-fi denizen like Elvrum with his strangest sonic odyssey yet. But Akron\/Family jump the gun with their new self-titled debut LP, drawing on lo-fi's aesthetic tenets while broadening its instrumental scope. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLo-fi, yes, but Akron\/Family are working with way more than a four-track here: Loads of swampy found-sound texturing belies the complexity of their arrangements. Close-mic'ing and muffled vocals are standard fare, but don't disregard the triple-tracked guitars, string sections, and frequent choral accompaniment. The album varies tonally without swinging wildly, and the instrumentation-- while often dense and effects-laden-- is consistent at its core. Ringleaders include guitar, banjo, bass, and vocals (lots of it). This makes for an easy listen; even at 14 tracks and a shade over an hour long, the album seldom drags. But it's just as easy to extrapolate singularly catchy tracks as it is to digest the album in its totality. Opener \"Before and Again\" condenses the band's selling points into a multifarious folk farrago, replete with bucolic acoustic plucks, string swells, chirruping synths, and ambient sounds. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDespite the boundlessness of their instrumentation, Akron\/Family maintain remarkable warmth (o, that stock descriptor of lo-fi ingenuity!), playing at restrained volumes that invite close listening. Occasionally they bust out with some noize, like the mushrooming electric gee-tar solo on \"Suchness\", but any departure from the band's typical whisper feels like a wail. Half of the album's sonic density comes from white noise, but unlike, say, The Glow, pt. II, it's used for layering, never as a stopgap between songs. Eight-minute plodder \"Italy\" issues a steady stream of waking yawns as it squirms to life. The song's lethargic pace may lead some to hit the snooze button, but wait it out: When the voice declares, \"I'm ready,\" it's no joke. Guitars and drums erupt out of their lassitude and hack away at the beat until it no longer exists, while a trumpet brings some melodic semblance to it all. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTry as the band might to weirdify the album, the melodies are irrepressible. Certain songs reveal a jones for back porch folk. \"I'll Be on the Water\" is the tread back to shore after a long wet day, happily sunburned. At first uncomfortably pensive, the song grows more comfortable in its bittersweet, lovelorn pose, blossoming from a scratchy murmur into a bonfire jamboree. \"Afford\" is similarly pastoral: notice the bird chirps amid nylon strings spiraling listlessly in the humid mix. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEvery family needs a father, and Akron have Angels of Light frontman Michael Gira, whose production draws on the restless, emotive aspects of the band's sound and embraces their sprawl. Frustrating for their imperfections, charming for their listlessness, and irresistible for their melodies, Akron\/Family are likable for all the wrong reasons. The album is easy to criticize, yet Akron\/Family couldn't\/shouldn't have done anything differently. When a band keep you as close and captive as Akron\/Family, dwelling on the shortcomings would be depriving yourself of a compelling, emotionally complex experience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3\/13\/2005 | stylusmagazine.com | William S. Fields \u003cbr\u003eAkron\/Family Review \u003cbr\u003ealbum of the week \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI’ve read at least two histories registering the impact of traveling family singers like the Rainer Family on early American pop music (via their influence on blackface minstrelsy) stretching out over time through the Carter Family and landing on heavy hearts from the Jackson 5 to the Danielson Famile. Singing families are attractive, a quirky Americana cliché that runs through the heart of pop. So please note the slash: You are not being introduced to The Akron Family. Both “Akron” and “Family” are words with a comfortable and soothing ring, but divided by the slash they’re just signs, side by side, an oblique surrealist one-liner. Similarly, the music of Akron\/Family is a string of acoustic indices recalling a homesteady sort of folksy warmth but underscored with a fractured post-everything back-story. Akron\/Family’s self titled debut is an absolute (but glorious) wreck of false starts, abandoned experiments, fractured faux-anthemic folk-rock and somewhat-fettered-improvisation. It is free-associating fantasy, musically and lyrically, pure carnival; deeply flawed; precious and self-mocking, glowing-via-the-glum. Viva the flaws, though. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI’ve often said I’d rather spend my time with a compelling failure then any slick, put-together success. This goes both for records and for people. Success is the reward for hitting the mark and the mark is usually hit because it’s fat and well-worn, clear and obvious and sates a cultivated, manufactured hunger. Stumbling in order to find truth in the cracks, the works that take chances almost never entirely ‘succeed.’ But they are frequently beautiful. They tell us more about each other then they do simply show us the face of some person we wish we were. Joyce once wrote to his wife “the two parts of your body which do dirty things are the loveliest to me.” Likewise, it’s an ugly, scatological desire that is captured musically on Akron\/Family, with time and pitch-correction stripped away, drums bleeding into the red, old-timey holler-aping four-part choruses in outer-space, 90’s-era string emulators, acoustic guitars, and mandolins plaintively hymno-tizing flatulent trumpets and damaged Casiotone arpeggiation, wooing them into the center of songs that never congeal…songs that blow kisses to dead lovers followed by fart sounds. This record is rule-unfriendly, decidedly unhip, disjunctive, comic, and oddly heartbreaking: a willful failure enacted in order to effect the only sort of artistic sense and success that matters to four fellas neither Ohioan nor family, who have made one of the year’s most intriguing records and who consistently register as one of my favorite live acts New York currently has to offer. If you thought this was shaping up to be a bad review, check your expectations: this shit is fucking brilliant. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAkron\/Family are four guys from non-Brooklyn who have been in Brooklyn long enough to grow Rip Van Winkle beards, record three LP’s worth of banjo-‘n-incense fax-n-friction electro-acoustic folk-wave campfire songs and capture the attention of ex-Swan Michael Gira. Initially the self-willed Baudelairean anti-hero of post-industrial music, Gira went on to establish Young God Records and has since begun to build the label into, unexpectedly, one of the bright lights in New York’s indie-acoustic music scene, bringing out Calla, Birdwatcher, and discovering and releasing the massively popular Devendra Banhart. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut I do not expect Akron\/Family to immediately capture listeners (and the press) the way that Banhart has. With a strange and arresting vibrato, an intense visual presence, freely-associative lyrics and a clever knack for hooks and sing-songy choruses, instantly hummable, it is possible to apprehend quickly what he’s about—it sticks fast and sticks hard: as Counterculture a figure as he may strike, Devendra is exceedingly marketable. I see Akron\/Family as artistically every bit the discovery Devendra was, but in contrast to the neat package Banhart makes, Akron\/Family look imminently un-sellable. Way to go, Michael. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eValues The Akron\/Family Album Lacks \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- sobriety and unity of purpose \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- coherency from across the room \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- urgency\/danger \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- confession \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- a reducible voice \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- a reason to empathize \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- a single \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf Akron\/Family don’t exactly lack an aesthetic, it only becomes clear after the weight of the sprawl dissipates three or four listens in. The aesthetic is characterized not by the strong voice of a band’s ego, the smell of its barbaric emotional yawp, but by the character of its ecstasy; the peculiar way in which the musicians are able to stand both inside and outside of the logic of the songs and the way they contour the songs and sculpt the joins in a sort of ongoing self-dialog. In this respect they have more in common with Van Dyke Parks’s Song Cycles than their contemporary indie ‘freak-folk’ brethren. They bite off more than they can chew, consistently embrace the wrong solution for the problems they create for themselves musically. And they do it with absolute conviction. While inviting sterling outsider improvisers like Bob Rhainey and Nate Wooley to make cameos on their junkyard sing-along odes, they eschew the peaks and valleys of improvised music and jamband pyschedelia one expects. And although it is not always clear that such abstract and digressive contributions find a place to live within the songs, Akron\/Family never takes the easy way out by mixing them into the background as texture; the tensions between the songs and the noisome scribbles and shards of sound are given an equal voice in the joins and interludes throughout the record. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eExpecting confession, engaging cleverness or emotional depth of purpose from the lyrics, the words will appear to be a glaring oversight. But in context of the record this is forgivable. The words are as unassuming and characterless as they should be, providing a content-light, communal cadence for group harmonies unburdened by the weight of pedagogy, narrative or ego. There are, however, noteworthy moments of both poignancy and quirkily playful parlor games: songs like “Suchness,” an absurdist séance invoking Kant, Hegel and Pete Seeger to the tune of Bone Machine in a lazily-recorded porch-song pastiche with the refrain: “I want to see the thing-in-itself \/ I don’t want to think no more”. [Note: See, for 18th century Empiricist philosopher-types holding that knowledge comes to us via the senses, it appears impossible to be in contact with things outside of yourself, the “thing-in-itself,” since all things were mediated by the senses. For the Rationalists, for whom the thing-in-itself could be known through Reason and Intuition, even faith, there were no such problems.] It is easy to believe that the music on the record is in fact a hymn-cycle to Platonic confrontation with commonness, household things-in-themselves, the music of creaking chairs and an unwillingness to allow for the possibility of radical subjectivity burying you alive. “Four legs on the chair \/ Three flowers in the vase \/ Two seconds until \/ One suchness ten thousand things.” Akron\/Family, the starry-eyed, self-doubting, no-wave Rationalists smacking of a conflicted Luddism come off on the side of faith and intuition, trusting the noumenal world the music circumscribes and allowing the songs to spin off into whatever senseless and magical Western frontier territories they may, knowing when to let go. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn an indie-pop era that most values the complex, unified and auteurish statements, this takes tremendously big balls. And bigger balls still considering the framework of discontinuity, abrasion, interruptions, and inside jokes are clearly intentional constructions by a band capable of breaking your heart any day of the week with the type of personal and earthy indie song cycles to make Jeff Tweedy weep. The road less traveled is one that lets in the light and the joy and the comedy of both at the expense of the simpler, schtickier pleasures they are well-schooled in (read: when they do give you what you want, the wrapping paper’s all fucked up). This debut will not be the record of their career and leaves me wanting more already, but it is the right record at the right time and a stupidly profound and convincing debut that is up there with the best releases of the year thus far.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Akron\/Family","offers":[{"title":"Akron\/Family \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":633990753,"sku":"YG_AKRON_CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Akron\/Family \/ album \/ 2LP","offer_id":633990757,"sku":"YG_AKRON_LP","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_32_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"everything-is-good-here-please-come-home","title":"Everything Is Good Here \/ Please Come Home","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG22\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere’s a press release below from 2003, when Everything Is Good Here was released \u003cbr\u003e– Michael Gira\/Young God Records 2008\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA NOTE FROM MICHAEL GIRA\/ANGELS OF LIGHT\/SWANS\/YOUNG GOD RECORDS:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI once had a band called Swans, based here in NYC. It lasted 15 years. We released a ridiculous amount of albums along the way, and they seem to have had an influence and\/or effect (bad and good!) on a fair number of people. In 1999 I started my new band, The Angels of Light, at which point (I hope), I left my past behind. This is the 3rd Angels album. It started, innocently enough, with the intent of being a simple collection of well-written songs performed by the musicians who played them live for the last few years, with the addition of a few acoustic songs, lightly colored. Instead, as things often seem to go around here, I ended up saturating every available molecule of the recording tape with sound, then hacked, cut, poured sonic fertilizer\/salt on the resultant wounds, and it finally metastasized into this raging\/weeping BEAST, which in the end succeeded in slowly biting off my head, leaving this album behind as evidence. Some songs might be construed as sad or poignant, and others \"rock\" in a weird, skewed way, I suppose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe way I work as a producer is first to follow the visual picture I had of the song's final outcome when I wrote it - then eventually throw out all my high fallutin' ideas\/dreams, remaining open to chance, \"mistakes\" (especially), random juxtapositions, blind alleys, and most importantly, the input of others. The results here are sometimes subtle, sometimes excessive, but I think I've managed to sort through the chaos, letting the songs discover themselves. So, it's densely orchestrated in some places, sparse in others. It is much, much different than the first two angels albums. A few friends say it's a \"breakthrough\" or some such thing, but believe me, the thing controlled me, I did not control it. Maybe that's why, after about 20 years of making records, I think it's one of the best things I've done. In retrospect, it seems the subject matter of the songs is my response to disasters\/cataclysms  personal\/historical\/political - with a few exceptions, 2 of which are my versions of fairy tales, and the other a simple love song. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe instrumentation is all over the place, initially built up from my acoustic guitar and voice, then incorporating everything from electronic noise, to banjo and mandolin, to bass-drums-electric guitar, to (open-tuned) lap steel guitar, to vibraphones and marimbas, to accordion, fiddles, and flutes (yes, flutes), to the dreaded children's choir, to layered vocal harmonies, to drones acquired from various organic sources, to piano and fender Rhodes, to trumpet and trombone. Where does it fit in the current musical environment? Nowhere, I'm sure. It's a gift for the befuddled, the rancorous, the deluded, the chosen, the failed and the insane, the crazed and misguided, the spiritual seekers, the hungry, the numb, the inveterately passive, the secretly angry over-achievers, the blandly normal, the well-primed consumers, and the mildly, distracted curious - Oh, and You, of course. I hope you'll listen. It was made with LOVE, believe it or not, and it's as close as I can come to a purity of intent. These are my songs, but the musicians\/friends that contributed to these recordings are stellar, in my opinion, and in all cases their performances forced me to view the final arrangements in a new, unfamiliar  and often uncomfortable, light  the best place to be. I can't think of anything that would be less fulfilling than ending up with something that sounded exactly as I'd planned it from beginning to end.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere's who played on these recordings: Christoph Hahn: open tuned lap steel guitar, electric guitar; Dana Schechter: bass guitar, piano, voice, toy organ; Thor Harris: percussion, vibraphone, piano; Larry Mullins: drums, percussion, vibraphone, farfiza organ, synthesizer, voice. Additional musicians include: Joe McGinty: piano, fender rhodes, harmonium; David Garland: flutes, accordion; Bryin Dahl: treated\/electronic guitar; Eszter Balint: violin\/fiddle; Herr Kid Congo Powers: electric guitar; Patrick Fondiller: mandolin, bass guitar; Kevin O'Connor: banjo; Steve Moses: trombone; Larry Moses: trumpet; David Coulter: violin, banjo, children's choir arrangement. Siobhan Duffy: background vocals; little Devendra Banhart: background vocals, gnomish mascot; Martin Bisi: recorded and mixed at BC Studios, with Martin engineering. What I did on the recordings: Michael Gira: voice, acoustic\/electric guitar, harmonica, stupid piano, production. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNOTE: This album was made possible by the sale of the Angels of Light Live Cd We Were Alive! It was old exclusively at \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.younggodrecords.com\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ewww.younggodrecords.com\u003c\/a\u003e with the express purposes of funding this CD. Thanks go to a core cult of blithely optimistic fans!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHERE ARE A SOME REVIEWS (\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/Press\/?C=65\" target=\"_top\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003emore press\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e):\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e12\/1\/2003 | \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/pitchfork.com\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003epitchfork.com\u003c\/a\u003e | by Brandon Stosuy  \u003cbr\u003eAngels of Light | Everything Is Good Here\/Please Come Home\u003cbr\u003ePitchfork 'best of 2003' issue  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the Angels of Light's epic third album, frenzied dirges, pagan laments, and celebratory incantations build tension like Poe's tightest tales and then, without fail, release a piss-storm of Old Testament wrath as redemption. In the CD booklet is a picture in which a copy of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's Yanqui U.X.O. rests atop a pile of mail, papers, and musical detritus-- the homage is intentional, yet while The Angels of Light share Godspeed's sense of protracted anguish and triumph, Angels frontman Michael Gira did it first with Swans, and still does it better. Practicing compassionate masochism through visceral intrusions rather than suggesting global politics through facelessness, static diagrams and expected loud\/soft dynamics, Gira embodies disaster and its attendant unpredictability, concocting a breakneck prophetic power struggle that comes off like holy writ. Or at least the orchestral punk-rock edition of Paradise Lost. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3\/4\/2003 | All Music Guide | Ned Raggett  \u003cbr\u003eAngels of Light | Everything is Good Here... | Review\u003cbr\u003eAMG rating: ****  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHaving created some of the strongest music in his life on the previous Angels of Light album, on Everything is Good Here Michael Gira maintains the winning streak but explores a newer, more controlled delicacy. It's hardly a new move for him, of course, but in ways this album, the third in the Angels of Light guise, finds his extremes of harrowing, wrenching music and performance and a calmer, almost mystic approach more integrated than ever before. The drama in his vocals and arrangements are more than even implicit instead of directly blasting, to beautiful and powerful effect. \"Palisades\" sets this tone from the start, incorporating everything from backing choirs and dank, dark riffs to the quietest of arrangements into one cohesive performance. Other songs that hit the balance just right include \"Nations,\" with its quiet, persistent vibes part a counterbalance to the more insistent guitars and piano, and the incredible \"Sunset Park,\" words delivered as a steady mantra over a surging slow burn performance that feels like a triumphant march. Gira's gift for ritualistic theatricality certainly hasn't left him, as even a casual listen to the increasingly frenetic \"All Souls' Rising\" — keep an ear out for the almost stabbing vocal bursts — or the even more freaked out \"Rose of Los Angeles\" shows. On the quieter side through and through, \"What You Were,\" with Gira's cracking vocals and piano providing the centerpiece, is the album's hidden treasure, the lyrics of loss, regret and mystery particularly compelling. Both Gira's core backing musicians and the many guests throughout contribute incalculably to the end result, whether it's Larry Mullins's always excellent percussion or David Coulter's work with everything from violin (\"Kosinski\") to a children's choir.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3\/5\/2003 | Wire Magazine\/March 2003 | Tom Ridge  \u003cbr\u003eAngels of Light | Everything Is Good Here | Review\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eit looks forward rather than back  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a troubled record. It broods, it glowers menacingly. It possesses an intensity which brings Michael Gira around full circle, back to Swans, even as it builds on the foundations of Angels of Light¹s earlier work. That¹s to say: it looks forward rather than back. Gira sings in a variety of voices, from a weary, cracked croon to a declamatory shout, from considered musings to rising hysteria. The production has broadened to encompass massive surges in sound, contrasted with intricate, interwoven melodies. It begins with ³palisades², a damaged lullaby of a dirge that sounds, paradoxically, merciless and tender. ³Do you see how they ruined your mind? Do you see how they wasted your like?² Gira sings. ³All Souls¹ Rising has an enormous, pulsating sound, ruptured by the singer¹s bitter, preaching drawl, as it builds to a frenzy of self-flagellation. ³Kosinski² casts him as a narrator describing his obsession: ³When the light shows through your window\/I can see you there in the mirror\/touching blond hair that¹s a river of translucent, liquid light.² Thematically, it recalls ³Evangeline², from How I Loved You, with Gira an unseen voyeur describing the object of his desire. Qualified by a sense of pain that love can bring with it, his romanticism is ambiguous. He describes love, in ³Family God², as ³an endless ache², and his weary murmur gives way to something edgier midway through ³What You Were², suddenly dropping his mask of tenderness. These intricate concerns are projected on a backdrop of ambitious musical arrangements that encompass broader, apocalyptic themes. The somber ³Nations² is perhaps too obvious lyrically, but an unrelenting air of menace arises from it¹s unstoppable momentum. Closing the album, ³What Will Come² is another dirge-like waltz. It sounds fragmented, with Gira¹s voice weakened and wasted even as he calls for some kind of redemption. With buzzsaw guitar noise disturbing his meditation, he calls out, ³Save us  from what will comeŠ² Yet you don¹t so much hear uncertainty as resignation in his voice, as if Michael Gira already knows. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAngels of Light\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEverything Is Good Here\/Please Come Home\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e[Young God; 2003] \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo a certain extent, most of us are still living sheltered lives, insofar as we rarely confront our spirituality, reject our families, or cross our internal lines of social decency. Beliefs and codes vary from person to person like wardrobes, but very few people are willful, foolish or terminally self-aware enough to defy their own. Cultural expectations-- \"absurd and malignant\" or otherwise-- have sway, and the precious, indecent few who manage to outrun them are generally viewed as outcasts or criminals (though sometimes, as prophets). Aside from whatever law they break, criminals rob us of our conventions: through acts of violence and upheaval, they force us to confront our boundaries. For some, ignoring the tenuous line between right and wrong is an easy feat, but for others, personal demons are as controlling as any backlog of cultural norms. From the sound of Everything is Good Here\/Please Come Home, Angels of Light (and Young God figurehead Michael Gira) may yet have demons to master, and boundaries to set. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGira broached straightforward indecency long ago, via his most infamous and acclaimed project, Swans. In the mid-80s, when even the most ruthlessly earnest punks were only beginning to come to terms with a \"responsible\" definition of anarchy, Gira and then-partner Jarboe were speaking--sometimes literally-- of masochistic torture and humiliating, brutal sex, over drastically compressed drones and industrial propulsion. When the decade closed in an alternative rock flourish, Swans thrust forward by leaps and bounds: Love of Life, The Great Annihilator and especially Soundtracks for the Blind predicted Godspeed You Black Emperor! and all manner of dark-ambient music, though thematically, Swans still seemed to equate God with a dominatrix. Gira's post-Swans (read: post-Jarboe) folk collective, The Angels of Light, matches his previous band's penchant for mythic grandeur, with more muted dynamics, if not sentiment. Everything Is Good Here is their third release, and it's as disturbing as it is wonderful. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to Gira, the album is a response to various personal, historical and political disasters. In some ways, that cryptic declaration takes the edge off the songs, as without pretense there's vast room for interpretation in his lyrics. Where \"Palisades\" might read as a particularly bitter response to suicide-- \"Reasons won't come\/ And no one will regret that you're gone\"-- it could as easily lament claustrophobic personal terror: \"Do you see how they ruined your mind? Do you see how they ruined your life?\" Gira's smoke-stained baritone barely carries the words over acoustic guitar and delicate bell-tones, though later he verges on overtaking a serene arrangement of church bells and a children's choir. The altogether peaceful \"Kosinsky\"-- with its deft, gently strummed electric guitar and bright fiddle motif-- initially reads as a tender love song; Gira's description of hair like \"translucent, liquid light\" and the \"rhythm of your breathing\" seem poignant, though he again blurs boundaries by admitting he looks on his love with \"the eyes of an animal.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe textural range of Everything Is Good Here lends an epic, almost timeless quality that goes a long way toward fleshing out Gira's often-mythological way with words. \"All Souls' Rising\" features impressions of pagan ritual, and self-purification via \"the cull of foreign bone\" and forcing \"the blue smoke in... [to] fill the sack of skin.\" The relentless hammer of drums and murky stew of bass, organ and guitar-- not to mention Gira's own droning war cries-- conjure scenes of violent sacrifice and the chaotic laws of a still-dominant Earth. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContrarily, the midtempo, near-Beatles \"Sunset Park\" reveals little in its single repeated line, \"She brings some\/ She'll bring one,\" but betrays a brilliant optimism in Gira's simple, dignified melody, and wall of shimmering guitars. Later, on \"Wedding\", an extended, gently strummed introduction is offset by ominous brass tones and the dissonant children's choir, giving way to Gira's rugged moan. The choir caps each phrase with angelic harmonies, quite removed from the intentionally grotesque sound of Swans, or even scattered moments on this album. As a whole, Everything Is Good Here is at once breathtaking and, like a great many Gira releases, simply too much. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe overwhelming impression is one of acceptance and redemption, despite repeatedly bleak (or at best, mysterious) narration from Gira. The production helps, but digging deeper into its lyrics, it seems that, rather than prolong an inner struggle, Angels of Light seek salvation. \"What Will Come\" openly requests that God \"save us... from what will come,\" though it's difficult to reconcile Gira's leap of faith after an album's worth of explicitly self-empowering, judgmental narrative, clouded by contradiction. Nevertheless, music that resonates with as much emotional weight and vital abandon is rare, and though I'm less inclined to look for answers in the mix than revel in its chaos, Everything Is Good Here\/Please Come Home is a commendable, heady experience. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-Dominique Leone, January 21st, 2003\/\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.pitchforkmedia.com\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ewww.pitchforkmedia.com\u003c\/a\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMusic Reviews\u003cbr\u003eJim Knipfel\/THE NEW YORK PRESS\u003cbr\u003eJANUARY 22, '03 \u003cbr\u003eEverything Is Good Here \u003cbr\u003eAngels of Light\u003cbr\u003e(Young God) \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince the Swans broke up after 1996¹s Soundtracks for the Blind, Michael Gira has remained one of the busiest men in music. His Brooklyn-based label, Young God Records, has released dozens of albums by an international collection of jazz, rock, noise, folk and experimental groups. He¹s repackaged several old Swans records, released a spoken-word album and recorded his own music with a variety of musicians and under a variety of monikers‹the Body Lovers, the Body Haters and Angels of Light. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach post-Swans bands had a different attitude. The Body Haters was pure, rabid noise. The\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBody Lovers was noisy too, but more refined. Of them all, Angels of Light remains the most\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003edirect descendant of the Swans, continuing along the same trajectory the Swans were following when they broke up. That is to say, the songs on this third Angels of Light album bear no resemblance whatsoever to early Swans recordings. There are tunes here, and real singing, and more traditional song structures (and all the songs come in at under seven minutes). There are plenty of acoustic numbers, too. Not to say that there aren¹t the occasional howls and explosions of sharp noise and untuned guitars‹but there¹s plenty else going on there as well. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGira¹s working here with a massive array of musicians, playing not only the traditional guitars and percussion, but piano, violin, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, keyboards‹and a multitude of sound effects.Though I certainly hesitate to use the word \"delicate\" when it comes to describing any Gira\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eproject, it almost works here. No, instead of \"delicate,\" let¹s say \"complex.\" There. That¹s better. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLyrically, Gira remains unmistakable. On the surface, as words alone, they seem simple enough. Sometimes dark, sometimes simply obscure, sparse portraits, usually of women, usually loaded with vague but very physical descriptions. But once the words are laid beneath the music (and once Gira begins intoning them), they take on an entirely different quality. They become songs full of sadness, distance, dread and longing. Sometimes full of melancholy beauty, as in the opening number, \"Palisades\"‹and sometimes full of rage, as in \"The Family God,\" which ends with Gira screaming, \"Give me some more!\" over and over. They¹re songs guaranteed to take even the best mood in the world and drive it skull-first into the pavement. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are times when it¹s difficult to tell when one song ends and the next begins‹but oddly, that¹s okay. There¹s always been an hypnotic quality to Gira¹s work, evident even in the earliest Swans recordings. It¹s always seemed that they aren¹t songs he¹s writing so much as incantations. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith this latest album, Gira proves again that he¹s a rarity amongst musicians (especially of the underground variety). He¹s been able to go from fronting the Loudest Band in the World (which sometimes seemed to be that way for the sheer sake of being the Loudest Band in the World) to fronting one of the most interesting, subtle and intelligent experimental ensembles around. And for all that, they¹re still mighty grim!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eVolume 16, Issue 4\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Angels Of Light","offers":[{"title":"Everything Is Good Here \/ Please Come Home \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":633993157,"sku":"YG_EVERYTHING_CD","price":12.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_35_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"great-annihilator","title":"Great Annihilator","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG18\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2017 remastered 2LP and 2CD version available \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/collections\/frontpage\/products\/great-annihilator-2017\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e•••COMES WITH INSERT SIGNED BY M.GIRA•••\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis album is actually really good in a lot of ways. Too much reverb here and there, but not as intrusive as some other Swans releases (I used to be infatuated with Phil Spector and naively figured that adding reverb could get the same effect). Anyway, I think this album holds together well. It was a complete nightmare to make (but then, all the Swans albums were!).I lived in a tent in a mosquito infested studio right next to Cabrini Green in Chicago for what (?) something like 3 months, rarely leaving. Band members and Jarboe and Bill Rieflin etc came and went, and somehow we crafted this thing into what it became. I can still listen to most of this sometimes, so that counts for something. There's some reviews below if that's any help to you - Michael Gira\/Young God Records 2008\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe San Francisco Bay Guardian\u003cbr\u003eJan. 25-31, 1995 \u003cbr\u003eby Neva Chonin \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Swans are a study in metamorphoses. In 1983, when Melody Maker magazine dubbed the NYC noise mavens \"a deeply repulsive form of audio pornography,\" it was more a compliment than a slam. Cacophonous, confrontational, and unrelentingly loud, the band used vocal rants and bone-crunching distortion to achieve unparalleled levels of sonic pain. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThen, around '87 or so, rock's ugliest ducking found its inner Swan and blossomed into a vehicle for sweeping, complex arrangements of keyboards, strings and evocative sound effects. Vocalist Michael Gira traded his guttural growl for the croon of a balladeer, and the latter-day Swans were born.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir 12th album, The Great Annihilator, is a majestic symphony of haunting melodies and shifting moods. Spirituality - or rather the absence of it - provides the linking motif. With a kinetic industrial goose step, \"She Lives!\" plays with chanted images of madness and martyrdom, while the jagged coda of \"Celebrity Lifestyle\" lays the groundwork for a cutting look at material dreams: \"She's just a drug addiction\/ And a self-reflecting image of a narcoticized mind.\" \"Warm\" forms the album's thematic center, overflowing with ethereal vocal loops and drums that patter like raindrops accross the lyrical landscape. On \"Mother\/Father\" and the mantric \"My Buried Child,\" vocalist Jarboe outdoes herself with a spectrum of darkly distinctive voices. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTaken on its own, this album is a vivid example of how to combine the dissonant with the dulcet while retaining a dangerous edge. Viewed in the context of the Swans' 12-year journey from audio pornography to majestic romanticism, The Great Annihilator serves as an epic apotheosis.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1\/1\/1995 | Puncture | Paula Keyth  \u003cbr\u003eSwans | The Great Annihilator | Review\u003cbr\u003eThe Great Annihilator is another sweeping rock opera.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the eighteenth Swans record released since 1982's Filth set a precedent for painful soul-searching dirge. Their first new release in three years, it combines the hard-hitting percussion of the earlier albums with the prettier, ballad-heavy later songs.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Great Annihilator is another sweeping rock opera. Songs are accented with samples and eerie keyboards, supported with powerful drumming by Ministry's Bill Rieflin and other guests. Snippets of horror-movie soundtrack back Michael Gira's low thorazine crooning. The music is tightly orchestrated, with dynamics added by rhythmically chugging acoustic guitars and keyboards sounding at times like the stringboards of a broken piano, or a demented new-age synthesizer.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGira, a lugubrious songwriter on a par with Ian Curtis, has a way of hitting the lyrical nail on the head with one deft slam of his hammer. When he says \"I love everyone,\" we know exactly what he means (he doesn't). His words are disturbed expulsions of fear and anger that take on a sarcastic, bitter tone, as in the opening lines of \"She Lives!\": \"Now I just want to thank you for going insane; every second that you suffer is a loss that I gain.\" Gira bellows from deep inside his thin frame, his delivery calling up a crooning, Sinatra-esque character—perhaps a bit more monotone: a calm, mellow front masking something ugly and forbidden. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJarboe's singing styles vary from childlike voices to climbing choral backups sung with space-odyssey breathlessness. The outstanding song here, \"Mother Father,\" with Jarboe leading, is belted out with delightful viciousness. \"Buried Child\" uses whispers to call up a Macbeth-like witches' spell. Certain songs suggest the funereal, march-like beating of a drum on a slave ship. The Swans are a dark band, often criticized for their solemnity. The lyrics' visceral, graphic quality is not for the faint-hearted, nor is the music. But given the right mood, this record is uplifting, hypnotic: \"dissolve your body today, there is no in- or outside.\" Float on, SWANS. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1\/1\/1995 | Option Magazine | Lang Thompson  \u003cbr\u003eSwans | The Great Annihilator | Review\u003cbr\u003eThis music is both grandiose and meticulously detailed.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor nearly two decades, Swans have pursued their own vision despite fickle fans who don't want them to change, critics who don't really listen and several indifferent record labels. But they have faith in the compelling power of their work, and remain undaunted by trends and pointless expectations. The group's newest album, The Great Annihilator, as always, demands an open ear. Put too much faith in the printed word and you might think the lyrics excessively weighty. You might wish the beat was less static, that the vocals were more varied, that the mood a bit more optimistic. Which only means you'd be happier with the Go-Go's. This music is both grandiose and meticulously detailed; rather than pop's recklessly forward momentum and instant gratification, Swans write pensive songs with unflinching but subtle humor. They layer sounds rather than put the melodies up front, giving lines of chiming guitars as much weight as the trance-like drumming or the direct vocals. The cumulative result is beguiling and moving. \"She Lives!\" is a series of moody, minor-key tumbles between sparse piano chords, distorted guitar riffs and Michael Gira's tense vocals. \"Mother\/Father\" could almost be an offbeat club hit with it's danceable (but eccentric) rhythm, Jarboe's weaving vocals (and screams) and the sheer sonic splendor of massed guitars. Though destiny to be as underrated as other Swans' albums, The Great Annihilator is compelling, thoughtful music and a good way to enter the Swans' unique world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e7\/28\/1995 | Washington Post | Mark Jenkins  \u003cbr\u003eSwans | The Great Annihilator | Review\u003cbr\u003eThe best songs here manage to transcend trendiness  \u003cbr\u003e(Special to the Washington Post) \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn their earliest albums, Swans made brutally basic proto-industrial music. The band gradually mellowed, however, incorporating acoustic guitars, female vocals and Eastern melodies into a style that led to an alliance with a major label. The relationship didn't last long, but the group (long based in New York but now resident in rural Georgia) hasn't entirely abandoned its sound from that period. Its latest album, \"The Great Annihilator,\" successfully incorporates aspects of both eras. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy now, combining a sinuous crypto-Islamic vocal with a fierce beat is not a novel idea. Still, Swans meld the two with more potency than most; such songs as \"Celebrity Lifestyle\" and \"Mother\/Father\" (the two \"Annihilator\" tracks recycled on a new three-song CD) are both ethereal and earthy. Indeed, the best songs here manage to transcend trendiness. By contrasting floating melodies with thumping beats—and M. Gira's bass vocals with Jarboe's soprano—Swans crafts music of such incantatory power that lyrics about the \"place in space where violence and love collide\" don't seem overreaching.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Swans","offers":[{"title":"Great Annihilator \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634003541,"sku":"YG_ANNIHILATOR_CD","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/swans-the-great-annihilator.jpg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"how-i-loved-you","title":"How I Loved You","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG16\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere’s a press release below for How I Loved You, written in 2001 – mg\/ygr 2008 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere is the new Angels of Light album. I wrote the songs over the last couple of years. As it turns out, they're all love songs, in one form or another. The songs started out with just my voice and acoustic guitar, and then developed naturally over time by playing them with my friends (listed below), whose collaboration and contributions are positively inspirational, to me anyway. Our combined sensibilities feel very natural at this point, which I guess comes from having played most of the songs live a lot. The songs were recorded live in the studio, then subjected to my usual lapses of over-orchestration. In this case though, I think I reigned myself in, and the final sound\/picture seems to fit organically with the basic songs and lyrics. Anyway, I did my best. You decide. Making this album was a labor of love for all of us. I think this intention comes through, and I hope you find something of use to you personally in the music...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e- Michael Gira - Angels of Light\/ Young God Records  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMichael Gira\u003c\/strong\u003e - voice, acoustic and electric guitar, production; \u003cstrong\u003eChristoph Hahn\u003c\/strong\u003e - lap steel guitar, electric guitar; \u003cstrong\u003eDana Schechter\u003c\/strong\u003e - bass guitar, piano, melodica, backing vocals; \u003cstrong\u003eLawrence Mullins\u003c\/strong\u003e - drumset, vibraphone, timpani, farfisa vip 600 organ, sleighbells, tambourine, castanets, glockenspiel; \u003cstrong\u003eBirgit-Cassis Staudt\u003c\/strong\u003e - accordion, melodica, cassio, piano, backing vocals; \u003cstrong\u003eThor Harris\u003c\/strong\u003e - hammer dulcimer, piano, backing vocals; \u003cstrong\u003eBliss Blood\u003c\/strong\u003e - backing vocals and double vocal on #2, ukulele; \u003cstrong\u003eSiobhan Duffy\u003c\/strong\u003e - backing vocals and double vocal on #5; \u003cstrong\u003eKid Congo Powers\u003c\/strong\u003e - additional electric guitar on #3 and #8. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca class=\"RegularLink\" href=\"http:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/audio\/interview\/AjdaInterview.ram\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAudio Interview with Michael Gira\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e | Real Audio format\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"regularXSml\"\u003econducted by Ajda the Turkish Queen\u003cbr\u003erecorded on November 13, 2001\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHere’s some reviews from the time \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/Press\/?C=65\" target=\"_top\"\u003e(more press)\u003c\/a\u003e : \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e8\/16\/2001 | LA Weekly | Jay Babcock  \u003cbr\u003eReview | Angels of Light | How I Loved You  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eThe mid-'80s work of New York industrial-grind-rock templateers Swans was so singular  and so devastating that it was inevitable that its creator's future work would be burdened with unfair expectations. But like Nick Cave, a contemporary with a similar reputation borne from extreme early work, ex-Swans leader Michael Gira has found a way out. Released this past spring, \"How I Loved You\" is Gira's second Angels of Light album since he disbanded Swans in 1997. Swans' apocalyptic monolithia (surely  still the soundtrack for many a session in a dominatrix's dungeon) have been exchanged for acoustic and lap steel guitars, piano and accordion, sleighbells  and ukulele; Gira is more likely to sigh now than to bellow, to hum rather than shriek. The Angels allow Gira maintain the aesthetic intensity and under-appreciated pitch-black sense of humor of his Swans work even as the volume has softened, the music's textures and melodies have edged toward meditative  country and western, and the lyrics have bent nostalgic. With a few notable exceptions, brutalism is out here, and a more subtle, layered sensuality is in. \"How I Loved You\" is made up of love songs. Or, actually, songs about loving someone from near or afar, and all that can entail: projection, jealousy, admiration, empathy, lust, surrender, subjugation. Even as these 'love' songs are rooted  in specific historical coordinates or personages--young women in New York bars, Nico, Gira's mother, a teenage boy being raped repeatedly in an Israeli prison (there's that Gira humor)--the lyrics have a time-less, elemental quality to them: The city is a forest, the buildings are \"towers of ice,\" the girls are \"scattered crimson pearls.\" \"And my fingers touched  your two sleeping lips\/as the echoes passed just above our heads\/as the city flashed just beneath a cloud\/that concealed the stars, that reflected sound\/and  protected us from an emptiness\/and then drifted down, in a diamond mist,\" sings Gira in the albumës sumptuous opener, \"Evangeline.\" The embodied is loosened from its physical vessel; the grossly material turns utterly transcendent; the prosaic is alchemically transformed. The Angels are at play. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e5\/30\/2001 | Detroit Metro Times | Walter Wasacz  \u003cbr\u003eAngels of Light | How I Loved You | Review\u003cbr\u003eGira was a pop-culture original. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnce, seemingly in another lifetime, Michael Gira meted out punishment to himself and his fans like no one else has before or since. In performance, he and his band, Swans, were so loud, the music—played at a crawl, so slow it appeared frozen in time and space—bludgeoned the eardrums and made intestines vibrate. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut it was Gira's voice, which thundered and howled over this sonic sludge, that delivered the real pain. In the song \"A Hanging,\" he prayed, \"Dear God in Heaven\/I'll hang for you.\" And in \"Coward,\" he commanded a lover to \"Put your knife in me\/and walk away.\" (Both songs appear on Swans' divine and submissive 1986 masterpiece, Holy Money.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGira was a pop-culture original. A romantic literary outlaw spiritually descended from Celine and Genet, he wrote with the feverish hand of a condemned man—his songs evoking images of foreign prisons, public castration, slaves being raped. Gira grounded Swans, which gradually replaced their early monochrome harshness with Technicolor songs of Love and salvation, with 1996's Soundtracks for the Blind finale. It seemed Gira had pushed the thematic limits of fleshly humiliation and agitated mysticism as far as he could. Or did he? The Angels of Light, a group Gira launched the following year, shows him continuing his unyielding personal journey to the end of the night.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHow I Loved You is the new band's second album (New Mother, released in 1999, was the first). It begins quietly with a beautiful power ballad, \"Evangeline,\" and ends with \"Two Women,\" in which Gira's narrator promises an idealized mother figure he will \"kneel naked upon the burning coals\/If you'll come for me.\" Gira's mother, whose portrait is on the cover, is clearly the object of scorn and devotion on How I Loved You. (Gira's father, who is pictured on the back cover, apparently plays little role here). She appears again in \"Song for Nico,\" where Gira sings, \"You are the reason I've stayed on this earth, Mother sing me into my birth.\" Gira turns his attention to other women (or, maybe not?) in \"New York Girls.\" The song drones along a flat line created by organ, timpani and layers of acoustic guitars before it all breaks down into the kind of excuisite chaos and terrible beauty that John Cale brought to the Velvet Underground. When Gira, his voice now dreamy and numb, sings \"New York Girls\/I'll worship what you are\/New York Girls\/ How cruel and pure you are,\" Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen (two artists who have also tracked their souls as they inch their way out of the body) come to mind.  That's heavenly company for Michael Gira's Angels, to be sure. How I Loved You is a whisper, a rant and a remembrance: It seeks to answer questions most of us would never dare to ask.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4\/1\/2001 | WIRE | Issue 206 | Jim Haynes  \u003cbr\u003eAngels of Light | How I Loved You | Review\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the core of Michael Gira's being, there is an urgent need for transcendence and love.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCall it the soul, if you like; or call it the neurotic by-product of male sexuality. Gira would probably call it god albeit a god of his own making which reflects his registry of lofty ideals, applicable to all of humanity. Yet neither Gira nor anyone else in this world is without sins or blemishes when held in comparison to his own theology. In spite of his ultimate disappointment with humanity, in particular his own, he has anxiously waited, and sometimes violently pleaded, for providence - divine or otherwise. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen he conceived Swans 20 years ago, Gira proposed a direct assault to get to his spiritual essence with a blind rage aimed at the annihilation of the body. Without the body, he postulated that the soul could exist in perfect harmony with its ideal. The mistake in this hypothesis was in underestimating the connection between body and soul. Gira's humility has often qualified his command over Swans as a failure. This is obviously a hyperbole. Swans were a catalytic force that willed sound, action and life into existence. From those experiences, Gira has fashioned his complex mythology, which polarised divisions between misery and joy, ugliness and beauty, father and mother, salvation and damnation. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePerhaps in homage to what Swans meant to Gira, he effectively split its aesthetic in two: the soiled Ambient projects Body Lovers\/Body Haters, and Angels Of Light, which centres around his talents as a singer-songwriter. Whereas the former is dedicated to evoking a response through psychoacoustic tension and sonic juxtaposition, the latter speaks more closely to Gira's personal god, as a unique mutation of the timelessness of country\/blues storytelling and his solipsistic spiritualism. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrue to its title, the second Angels Of Light album, How I Loved You, is a collection of love songs. It begins by speaking of love with elation in \"Evangeline\", as Gira pleads to his object of desire with the wistful innocence of a schoolboy. \"Untitled Love Song\" is his strolling duet with ex-Pain Teens singer Bliss Blood, both of them uncharacteristically full of sweetness and light. These are the most benevolent images of love Gira has to offer. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThereafter he guides the album down a steep slope of sexual dependency, perverse lusts and a grizzled despair in which his body continuously betrays his mind's wishes to never have sex again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom here on, How I Loved You follows similar patterns to the songs on Swans' Soundtracks For The Blind. Gira begins with a simple languid melody, then he steadily builds in complexity, continuously driving it into deeper, darker and more intense realms. \"New City In The Future\"- the album's 11 minute centrepiece - opens with an acoustic guitar strum, Gira offers a spacious simplicity which gradually submits to the increased volume from an orchestrated arsenal of organs, guitars and timpani, while its loose collection of fragmented memories moves freely between architecture and romance. Whenever a train of thought is lost or a metaphor collapses under its own weight, Gira growls \"you were mine\" as a mantra which intensifies into a bellowing howl by the conclusion. While \"New City In The Future\" might be addressing love lost, Gira could also be pining for his suffocating hole which, from his current position, may appear a better place than the lonely wisdom of a broken heart.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the legendary masculine forces of Cash, Howlin' Wolf and Robert Johnson haunt this recording, Gira's orchestration also recalls Dolly Parton's recent return to bluegrass. Yet the muse that inspires and seduces Gira is far from the Disneyfied madame in The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. She is a sexually explosive woman, at times the bloody, vengeful Salome, at others the nourishing, protective mother. She is the woman whom Gira loves, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the violence that she inflicts upon his soul, she has driven him to create many masterpieces, including this one.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Angels Of Light","offers":[{"title":"How I Loved You \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634008449,"sku":"YG_LOVED_CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_37_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"in-the-maybe-world","title":"In the Maybe World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG32\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI am incredibly proud and pleased to announce the release of Lisa Germano's new album on Young God Records. I have been a fan of Lisa's music for years. Her songs are impossibly poignant and often heartbreakingly beautiful. She's a great lyricist and singer but also an extremely talented multi-instrumentalist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe plays violin, piano\/keyboards and guitar with equal authority, as well as producing her own records with great imaginative effect - the result is seductive and truly magical. No one sounds like her. You get the feeling you're walking through her dreams as you listen. The intensity of feeling in her singing is a little frightening sometimes - it's like she's singing very close to your ear, leading you through her ultra emotional world. It's a place I very much enjoy visiting, and I hope you will too. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLisa began releasing her music in the 90's, first on Capitol Records, and then several more albums through 4AD. Perhaps most notable among them were the fantastic Geek, The Girl, and Excerpts From A Love Circus. These records created a very special \"antique\", lost carnival atmosphere - extremely personal, simultaneously self-effacing and confrontational missives of emotional damage and impossible love. She received a fair amount of acclaim at the time in publications ranging from independent-oriented fanzines and magazines and on to Spin, Rolling Stone, etc. In 2003 Lisa released the absolutely beautiful and wrenching audio journey Lullaby For Liquid Pig, featuring woozy paeans to alcohol, fantasy landscapes and out-of-focus dreams. Her side projects\/collaborations include the album OP8 (with Giant Sand and Calexico) in which she is the featured singer, and diverse hired side-person stints with David Bowie, Neil Finn, John Mellencamp, Simple Minds, Iggy Pop, Sheryl Crow and others. As an artist\/performer, in my opinion, she's right up there with the cadre of strong, emotionally raw challenging and original women singers such as PJ Harvey, Maryanne Faithful, Cat Power and Bjork, and it’s about time Lisa had her due. in the maybe world features some of Lisa’s best songs to date. Typically, her (self) production and arrangements are inventive and completely unique, the words cut right to the core and her voice carries you gently off into a world where the distinctions between beauty, loss, love and pain tend to blur. The songs are immediately gratifying and sensual, but are also ultimately complicated and reward repeated listening. I hope you enjoy the music ! - Michael Gira\/Young God Records \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eall songs C 2006 lisa germano\/emotional wench publishing (BMI) \u003cbr\u003eand P Young God Records 2006. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMagnet Magazine \u003cbr\u003eJuly\/August 2005 \u003cbr\u003eBy Kenny Berkowitz \u003cbr\u003eLisa Germano - In The Maybe Word (highlighted review) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you're headed towards a desert island and can only take one bitter, depressed, broken hearted multi-instrumentalist, take Lisa Germano. She's a first rate musician who switches between guitar, piano, keyboards, and violin, playing them all with a sharp, brooding intensity. As a writer, there's no one else like her when it comes to crafting barbed, brittle songs of yearning, loneliness and betrayal. Germano is an acquired taste: Even on a good day, she's pretty pissed, and those good days don't come along very often. In the past, she's sunk too deep into self loathing and her albums have been difficult listens. But now, at 48 years old, she's somehow cut a deal with herself. The words still wound, but never fatally, and for all her pain, the melodies have never sounded prettier or her voice more vulnerable. Whether she's wishing she could disappear (\"all along I want to go into oblivion\") or singing both sides of a lover's quarrel (\" Go to hell\/Fuck you\/I love you\/I love you, too\") the songs on In The Maybe World have a deadpan, droning resilience, with little more than piano, string bass and an occasional cameo from Johnny Marr playing a handful of notes as softly as possible. It's a painful thing of beauty, and the smartest, sharpest writing of her career.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLA Times \u003cbr\u003eLisa Germano \u003cbr\u003eApril 6, 2006 \u003cbr\u003eDon't worry, it's dark only for art's sake Lisa Germano tackles death and life's dramas in song, but has a brighter side too. \u003cbr\u003eBy Steve Hochman, Special to The Times \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter Lisa Germano released her 2003 album, \"Lullaby for Liquid Pig,\" some fans were so concerned about her state of mind that they sent her Bibles and self-help materials. The album, after all, dealt with coming to terms with, but not rejecting, alcohol and addictive habits, both chemical and emotional. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou wonder what they'll send her after this summer's release of her new album, \"In the Maybe World.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe subject matter this time: Death. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded over the last two years, the album includes songs that grew out of the death of her cat (\"Golden Cities\"), her father's successful heart surgery (\"Too Much Space\") and singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley's drowning a decade ago (\"Except for the Ghosts\"). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBefore anyone heads to FedEx with packages, though, the Los Angeles-based musician wants to elaborate. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It could be a real death or a death inside or the death of a relationship or the death of an idea,\" she said, settling in at a West Hollywood teahouse with a cheery, engaging manner hardly seeming like someone with death on her mind. \"But it is about death and not fearing it.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was a point she reiterated to a small audience Tuesday at Spaceland, the first night of a weekly residency at the Silver Lake club through the end of this month. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I don't think it's depressing,\" she said, drawing uncertain laughs from those who had braved the rain to come out. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the teahouse interview, thinking back over her six previous albums, she acknowledged a dark thread running through her distinctive, dreamlike work ‹ often fragile, impressionistic, almost hesitant yet frank accounts of psychic puzzles at times compatible with the somber songs of the Eels, one of many acts she's played with as a talented musician on keyboards, violin and guitar. (Others include David Bowie, Neil Finn, Wendy \u0026amp; Lisa and fellow Indiana native John Mellencamp, with whom she first came to prominence as his violinist in the mid-'80s). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut Germano is eager to draw a line between her art and herself. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Sometimes people think I'd be really upset a lot,\" she explained, in a tone anything but. \"I have moments, but I write through them. It's important to be happy.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was an artistically dark yet engaging Germano who appeared at Spaceland. She started out thanking opening band Jean-Paul Yamamoto for its electro-disco frivolity, wryly noting that she wished she could be so loose. From there it was straight into a series of \"Liquid Pig\" songs before a sequence previewing the upcoming album. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe new songs effectively wove together the by-nature contradictory aspects of the subject matter: tenderness and anger, sorrow and humor, endings and beginnings. Accompanied by her own piano and electric guitar with subdued backing on portable pump organ by Patrick Warren and bass by Sebastian Steinberg, her hushed, her confessional voice conveyed both adult confidence and childlike insecurity. In visual terms, the music was charcoal sketches, \"Starry Night\" swirls and fading, flickering home movies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe residency provides the perfect way to introduce the new music ‹ intimate, unpredictable, in the moment. She promises each week's show will be different, if for nothing else than for the other acts on the bill. (Next week she'll be followed by Mekons members Jon Langford and Sally Timms.) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUltimately, there's a sense that she is working out her emotional uncertainties through her art and reaching contentment, something reflected in her attitude toward her own career. Having had a taste of pop success with Mellencamp and getting her own stabs at major-label deals in the early '90s, she's quite happy now to have her music released on the low end of the food chain. The new album is coming through Young God Records, owned by former Swans leader (and long-time Germano fan) Michael Gira and in recent years home to such offbeat upstarts as Devendra Banhart and Angels of Light. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Liquid Pig\" marked something of a transition. It was released through the Internet-anchored ArtistDirect firm just before the label went belly up. That, she says, was upsetting but hardly as devastating as it once might have been. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA job at Book Soup in West Hollywood allowed her to pay the bills while she let her music ventures evolve without even thinking in terms of record contracts and album schedules, a situation that proved creatively comfortable. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I don't know how to explain it,\" she said. \"I'm just not an artist in the music business anymore. I tried that. Now as a person I make the music I do and it's me.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere is no regret in her voice. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"When you're younger, it's important you have that drive or desire,\" she said. \"I'm 47, so it's kind of permissible to not continue that.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003epaintings by francesca sundsten\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lisa Germano","offers":[{"title":"In the Maybe World \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634010673,"sku":"YG_MAYBEWORLD_CD","price":12.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_46_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"love-is-simple","title":"Love Is Simple","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG34\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those of you who have seen my simpering, slavishly devotional blurbs and press releases in the past re Akron\/Family, wherein I make ridiculous claims about them (which I happen to believe!), it should come as no surprise to you now when I reiterate they are one of the best bands on the planet. I don't recall seeing such fantastic live shows ever, except maybe Pere Ubu at the Whisky in LA circa 1978 or Pink Floyd circa Umma Gumma era 1968\/9. Take those unrelated reference points and mix in The Beatles, Chicago Art Ensemble, Credence Clearwater Revival, The Grateful Dead, The Hollies, The Butthole Surfers, Led Zeppelin, and you might get a notion - probably not. Best thing is to see them live and listen to their recordings, and I'll shut up. Anyway, this record comes the closest to bridging the gap between the chaos, rock action, tribal bongo-banging and sentimental sing-alongs of their live shows and the necessarily more cerebral, or at least worked-over and layered process of recording in the studio (where they excel by the way, being patient and obsessive techno nerds as well as rampaging apes on demand). So, there's some beautiful songs and harmonies on this album, and also some wild and weird jams, all in the service of their chosen Deity, or Nothingness, or LOVE, or whatever it is they're on about. I enjoy the music, and I hope you do too… The album was recorded and produced by Andrew Weiss and mixed variously at Trout Recording by Bryce Goggin, at Excello Studios by Ethan Donaldson and by Andrew Weiss at Zion House Of Flesh. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- Michael Gira\/Young God Records - 2007\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAkron\/Family Says: Notes on Recording Love is Simple: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecording is not… so simple… Almost a year has passed now… And before that almost a year since we had been together in a room and not on the road.  All of us scattered as quickly as possible to new homes after returning from a tour and another tour that bled together and never stopped. We didn't really talk much, or hang out and sit on the stoop together any more. We had lovingly hugged each other goodbye and tried to forget the van with no heat and the bronchitis and everyone's combined smells for a while to clear our heads and fall in love with other things for a summer. So when it came time to sit down and play for the first time in front of only ourselves, each of us had our own little bout with stage fright. But at last with glee we let loose. We remembered how sweet the other's laughs could be, how great guitar solo's were, and how 4 voices in a room could feel like a happening. We had FUN! And so from songs inside our heads, and words on papers in accordian folders, and playing in Seth's parent's garage and getting yelled at by neighbors, we took these songs to Canada and then settled down with them in the woods of New Jersey to record with Andrew Weiss… We met Andrew at a bowling alley in Asbury Park, those same Springsteen stomping grounds. All long hair and glasses and sandals and cigaretted he invited us to his house to record. After finding out he had made all the Ween records (except for the country one) and then comparing us to the Boredoms, we were sold. And so somewhere in the woods of New Jersey, where the lands are filled with Midwestern ceramic sculptures, mirrored lawn ball pulpits, pine tree grapes, and voodoo iconography, we settled in for two weeks to record our second fourth record… Andrew challenged us in ways unforeseen. He fed us copious amounts of stovetop espresso 3 hours past bedtime, he told us how Neil Young had always eaten a huge bowl of pasta right before a show, he reminded us that the records we loved and grew up on all lived in \"no place\", that Hall and Oates didn't get it right until their 10th try, and finally, he made us try again, and again, and again… The completion of our first cycle, this record is both a love letter to the past and a launching pad into the future. And in a way not before captured, this record has the unmistakable field holler of friendship and brotherhood… Hues from all our records emerge and then dematerialize back into the portaled journey from beginnings to new ends. On the way we see the friendly sounds we love so much only to have them eventually submerge back into the watered universal womb to prepare for what is TRULY next, what new lunged Hendrixian wonder world lays ahead for humanity and sound… Suoni per il Popolo, the future: we will fuck shit up!\u003cbr\u003e-Love, Akron\/Family\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNME (UK)\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/thelineofbestfit.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eThelineofbestfit.co.uk\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAkron\/Family - Love Is Simple\u003cbr\u003ePosted on 05 October 2007 \u003cbr\u003eby Rich Hughes \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Hey, you noticed? Eveyone is crazy!“. I’m not sure there’s a better way to discuss this album than start with this line from “I’ve Got Some Friends”, one of the many folk-tinged-psychedelic songs that appear on Love Is Simple, their third album. They’ve always had an ear for the more obscure side of musical development and this album is no different, though it sees the number of ideas crammed into one album slightly down on last years meandering opus Meek Warrior. Whether you think these guys are “crazy” are not will depend entirely on whether you like your songs straight or with a twist. You can never second guess where Akron\/Family are going to take you, but as long as you hold their hand, you won’t get lost.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe’ll start with the psychedelic folk of “Ed Is A Portal”. Seven minutes of tribal chants, chunky banjos, electro-breakdowns and hippy values. It feels like three songs squeezed into one. Just when you think you’ve got to grips with the chants and fuzzed vocals, it changes direction. It’s a magnificent piece of work and one that pretty much sums up Akron\/Family as a whole. It’s obvious why Michael Gira (aka Angels of Light) uses these guys as his backing band - they share his same cosmic vision of music. They can also completely wrong foot you. The album actually starts with “Love, Love , Love (Everyone)” which could be a new hippy anthem. It’s simple acoustic guitar compliments the simple words that echo the simple themes, but put so plainly it’s beautitful; “Go out and love, love, love (everyone)“. It’s proof that they don’t need to embelish everything they do with layers upon layers of ideas and musical themes. Another standout track is “Lake Song \/ New Ceremonial Music For Moms” which apes 70’s folk masterpieces of the Fairpoint Convention at the beginning but descends into something altogether more involving. There’s the occassional buzz of guitar that hints of a more rock approach, but it’s spanish guitar flourishes around the simple, but obvioussly tibal, rhythms become picked apart as it descends into a wall of chants and sinister vocals. It’s not world music, but worldly music. Tapping into hopes, fears and dreams that everyone has no matter where they are in the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe majesty of all the tracks can get a bit dauting over the entire albums. The middle section contains tracks that all pass the five minute mark without blinking. But at least the music contined within these songs is relatively straight forward. The themes of love and family pervail all the tracks. The use of chanting and tribal rhythms just serves to cement the fact that we’re all part of one global family. Yes, it might by the hippy ideal and this is by far the most hippy-tastic album I’ve listened to all year - Devendra Banhart has got nothing on these guys. “There’s So Many Colours” is as close to early 70’s prog as we’re going to get without developing a time machine. The folk tinged madness of early, Pete Gabriel era Genesis, Yes meandering guitar solos and Barrett era Floyd vocals and songwriting. The fact that it’s over eight minutes just compounds it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere’s a couple of times they miss the mark however. The playful “Phenomena” is another slice of prog-rock, but it feels a little out of place, the whirring electric guitars spoil the delicate vocals and acoustic guitar intro. The experienmental jazz intro to “Of All The Things” might not have sounded out of place on Battles Mirrored; bouncing rhythms and quirky guitar solos. But it’s underlying musicality is, once again, more Worldy than electronic and it’s off-kilter delivery just sounds a touch strained.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat you’re going to think about this album will be influenced by whether you’ve read this far without giving up. If this mad and crazy infusion of the hippy dream and tribal rythms has you intrigued, then you’re going to have to give this a listen. If you’ve been put off by my description, then it’s best to stay away. I, however, have been completely mesmerised by this meandering opus of a record. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGeorge Parsons\/ Dream Magazine \u003cbr\u003eSept 2007 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAkron\/Family\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e Love Is Simple\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (Young God)  This is one of those great albums, not just a collection of songs, but like the days of yore when each song was it’s own revelation, this set of eleven songs moves from strength to strength with mind-blowing agility.  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEd Is a Portal\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e sounds like a cast of hundreds shaking up a holy nondenominational spiritual sort of visionary folk rock. But this is never off-putting, in fact they are going out of their way to be as humane and friendly as possible via a recording. Very earthly and grounded, with unbounded musical attributes and stylistic plundering that reaches from surreal Butthole Surfers mayhem, to giddy Todd Rundgren manic pop within the song \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eI’ve Got Some Friends\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e alone. And then there’s the elevated sunshiney pop that becomes a tribal chant\/howl of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLake Song\/New Ceremonial Music for Moms\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThere’s So Many Colors\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e begins like a Father Yod family singalong that slides into extraterrestrial electric guitar interpolations, massed male lead vocalists repeating while thundering psychedelic glory explodes all around, sliding into acoustic quietude to close this chapter. The universal all-ages lullaby of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCrickets\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is one of those songs that not only lifts you up, but offers some sort of very tangible magical reassurance as well. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePhenomena\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is an angular \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbbey Road\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Beatles bristling with compressed angst and genius. There’s all that and much more in this fifty six minute masterpiece.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Akron\/Family","offers":[{"title":"Love Is Simple \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634012345,"sku":"YG_LOVEISSIMPLE_CD","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Love Is Simple \/ album \/ 2LP","offer_id":634012349,"sku":"YG_LOVEISSIMPLE_LP","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_31_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"lullaby-for-liquid-pig","title":"Lullaby For Liquid Pig","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG36\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDelux digi-pack CD w\/ bonus disc containing 23 tracks\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“…delves into those bleak hours before the sun comes up, with raw emotion that's calculated to disturb. Stark, gorgeous songs weave a spell of deep-seated loneliness coupled with unceasing introspection; the album is a gut punch from the first hanging, ethereal note. “ – Salon.com \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Lullaby for Liquid Pig is deceptively potent; in just thirty minutes it divines your most closely held memories, guiding you farther farther back with endless, heartbreaking choruses…” Pitchforkmedia.com \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Lisa Germano pushes confessional intimacy to unsettling extremes …Unashamed candor often spells dreary self-indulgence. In Germano's insightful hands, it's fascinating and strangely exhilarating.” - Blender \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNobody makes records like Lisa Germano. This music seeps into your system with a warm glow like alcohol gently working its way into the bloodstream through the lining of an empty stomach. From the first moment you’re drifting weightless through Lisa’s gossamer world, where everything’s infused with a woozy, fairy tail melancholy, and maybe just a hint of the sour taste of last night’s wine. Liquid Pig is particularly beautifully and richly orchestrated, but also so intimate and saturated with a peculiar sadness (that can suddenly shift to joy or whimsy) you get the feeling you’re drifting through the dreams inside her head, led along by the soft breeze of her breathing. Lisa says that if you removed the breath from her voice there’d be nothing there. That particular quality is perhaps what draws you in. It really is the sound of a lover whispering a song or a secret in your ear. These songs are intimate, even “confessional,” but they’re certainly not limited to the personal. Seems to me, any human being with a sense of their own frailty ought to find a place for themselves in this beautiful and seductive music. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis album was first released in 2003 but the label that released it disappeared very soon thereafter, and it sadly went out of print. It’s my extreme pleasure to make it available now and I hope that this time it reaches the audience it deserves. - Michael Gira \/ Young God Records\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLULLABY FOR LIQUID PIG: 1. Nobody’s Playing 2. Paper Doll 3. Liquid Pig 4. Pearls 5. Candy 6. Dream Glasses Off 7. From A Shell 8. It’s Party Time 9. All The Pretty Lies 10. Lullaby For Liquid Pig 11. Into The Night 12. …To Dream \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBONUS CD – 20 songs (56 MINUTES): 1. It's A Rainbow (home recording) 2. (Live from Lisbon): Way Below The Radio \/ Guillotine \/ Moon Palace \/ Woodfloors \/ Pearls 3. My Imaginary Friend (home recording) 4. Flower Steps \/ From A Shell \/ Turning Into Betty (live from Largo Club) 5. Candy (home recording) 6. Liquid Pig (home recording) 7. In The Land Of The Fairies \/ In The Maybe World \/ Golden Cities (live from Lisbon) 8. Wire \/ Red Thread (live from Largo Club) 9. Dream Glasses Off (home recording) 10. It's Part Time (live from Lisbon) 11. Making Promises (home recording) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSOME REVIEWS \/ ARTICLES THAT APPEARED AT THE TIME OF LIQUID PIG’S FIRST RELEASE: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom Salon.com \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHard luck, red wine and loneliness \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLisa Germano made her hauntingly beautiful record alone, then turned down a tour so she could take care of her cat. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy Julene Snyder \u003cbr\u003eApril 1, 2003 | It's not surprising to learn that as a child, Lisa Germano delighted in self-inflicted pain. In some ways, she's never stopped picking her open wounds. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat's unexpected is that she doesn't mean it literally. \"I used to lock myself in a closet and torture myself,\" she recalls. \"Not cut myself or anything, but I'd have these childhood fantasies where everything was awful. I'd make myself cry, and then it would end when I was crying so hard that the prince would have to come and save me.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow in her mid-40s, she's long since stopped waiting to be rescued. \"I don't believe there's a prince coming anymore,\" she laughs. \"I'm just sick of the whole thing.\" On the phone from her Los Angeles home, Germano sounds incongruously upbeat for a self-described \"fairly dark person,\" but she blames her perkiness on morning coffee. Her demons tend to come out at night. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBoy, do they. Germano's latest effort, \"Lullaby for a Liquid Pig,\" delves into those bleak hours before the sun comes up with raw emotion that's calculated to disturb. Stark, gorgeous songs weave a spell of deep-seated loneliness coupled with unceasing introspection; the album is a gut punch from the first hanging, ethereal note. \"These are your secrets, hidden inside,\" she murmurs on the opening track, then lays them out, one by one, like canapés at a suicide's farewell party. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe tone is hardly unexpected, as Lisa Germano has never made music for the faint-hearted. For the last decade, the multi-instrumentalist (violin, piano, recorder, guitar, voice, etc.) has specialized in delving into the deepest crevices of her psyche, exposing nerves, tendons and viscera until she reaches the white gleam of bone. While critical acclaim has been lavish for album after album -- six since her self-released 1991 debut -- audiences have not flocked to buy Germano's records. This is a crying shame, as her intimate, near-whispered delivery and spare arrangements tower above your average chart-toppers' best efforts. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGermano's chosen subject matter doubtless has something to do with the elusiveness of financial success, especially in the context of a recording industry that celebrates superficiality. The bleak \"Happiness\" (1994) explored the depths and valleys of depression and relationships with breathtaking directness. (\"You wish you were pretty, but you're not … ha ha ha\/ But your baby loves you, he tells you so all the time\/ Oh, that must be why you're so happy together.\") Yikes. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHer subsequent full-length release on 4AD, the harrowing \"Geek the Girl,\" is an even more devastating dose of raw sensation. (Liner notes describe the record as the tale of a girl who is \"constantly taken advantage of sexually\" yet who still dreams of \"loving a man in hopes that he can save her from her shit life What a geek!\") That album's pièce de résistance, the nervous-breakdown-inducing \"A Psychopath,\" culminates with a recording of an actual 911 call made by a terrified woman as an intruder breaks into her home. It's deeply chilling and more than a little creepy. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTrue to form, 1996's \"Excerpts from a Love Circus\" was a muffled scream, as Germano wielded her sweet, often-tentative voice with a surgeon's precision. The matter-of-fact self-loathing of \"I Love a Snot\" reveals flashes of humor and self-knowledge: \"Tubby tubby butt, tubby tubby face, tubby tubby stomach when I am with you Icky icky breath, each and every kiss you're a snot, and I adore you.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut honesty doesn't pay the bills. 1998's \"Slide\" turned out to be her last with indie label 4AD. In spite of reviews lauding the work and a burgeoning sense of hope woven through the record, it ended up selling a disappointing 6,000 copies. \"They're still my friends, but I understood,\" Germano says about 4AD's decision to drop her. \"They've got to pay the bills.\" - - - - - - - - - - \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStill, the muse doesn't stop coming just because payday's been canceled. Germano's been tinkering with \"Lullaby for a Liquid Pig\" for the past three years -- in spite of having no record label and no money. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I don't even want to make a lot of money. Just enough,\" she says. \"I don't know how people make it. I've stripped away my life so I just live in a room.\" (Her income comes mostly from her day job at Book Soup on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, where she's worked on and off for five years.) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo in true DIY fashion, Germano recorded \"Lullaby's\" 12 songs at home -- a practice she's become accustomed to over the years -- and ultimately put them on the audio-editing software ProTools so that she could send tracks to various musicians to get their input from a distance, since a lack of finances prohibited working together in person. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith contributions by former Crowded House frontman Neil Finn, ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, and Wendy Melvoin (Wendy and Lisa\/Prince), \"Lullaby for a Liquid Pig\" is an excellent -- albeit deeply disturbing -- addition to the Germano catalog. It's slotted to be released in April on ArtistDirect's new Ineffable label. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt first listen, one would think that the album is unambiguously about the seductions of booze (specifically, red wine). And while it's true that many of the songs on \"Lullaby for a Liquid Pig\" have to do with alcohol, Germano says that in talking about the album, she's come to the conclusion that it's not really about drinking at all. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I've had to figure out what it is about,\" she muses. \"You strip away and strip away and strip away until you get to the real meaning. And even though some of the songs are about alcohol, it's mostly about loneliness, about being thirsty, being thirsty for more than you can get -- than you should get -- it's about being needy, about being a pig.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGermano believes that drinking every night masks a deeper void. \"There's something about alcohol that's either 'I'm a big drunk alcoholic' or 'Let's go out and have some fun,'\" she says. \"But it's really about the behavior. A lot of us have this need, this behavior. We have our vices. Some people have sex with a million people, some do heroin, some drink, but it all comes from the same lonely place.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe laughs and tries to lighten the mood. \"To mock your own behavior makes it less sad. Even the title [of the album] is mocking myself, that 'Everything is about me' thing, being so self-consumed. There's just too much me sometimes.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf course, \"too much me\" is the very essence of Lisa Germano's work, and \"Lullaby for a Liquid Pig\" is no exception. The hazy, almost underwater vocals of the opening track, \"Nobody's Playing,\" are accompanied by a hesitant melody picked out on piano keys. When she murmurs, \"Circles and circles\/ Places to drown\/ All that you feel\/ Is you're going down,\" there's a doomed inevitability, a noose that only grows tighter as the album progresses. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe discordant opening of \"Liquid Pig\" is a rumination on morning-after regret, Germano's accusatory whisper \"Who did you call\/ What did you say\" a precursor to the certainty that whatever you said, whatever you did, you'll doubtless do it again -- and feel like shit the next day. The delicate prettiness of \"Pearls\" is laced with self-loathing (\"Hurry world\/ Whirl and whirl\/ Stop when you fall down\") and the siren call of home. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"That song is about alcohol,\" Germano says. \"When you look inside, you see some really bad shit. But then, as you're getting drunk, you feel like you're home. But that's not right, getting drunk to do that. It strips it away and then puts it back in. When you hate yourself, all sorts of stuff grows, but in the end there's nothing to learn from alcohol.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere's a raw quality to Germano's voice on many of the songs here that she freely admits is owed to her vices: \"I like some smoke and some wine when I sing,\" she says. \"It makes me like the sound of my voice. It doesn't make it gravelly, doesn't make me turn into Marianne Faithfull. It just deepens it.\" She almost sounds giddy on the song \"Party Time\" when she drawls, \"And I smell like wine, most of the time, a big red wine.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe album's title track flirts with the idea of going cold turkey before quickly backpedaling: \"Well, if I do stop\/ Or if I don't stop\/ It doesn't matter\/ I probably won't stop.\" A fluid segue into the next song, the almost dizzy introspection of \"Into the Night,\" finds Germano making a laundry list of denial: \"What not to see\/ What not to hear\/ What not to be\/ When you begin seeing your sins.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA slender hint of hope snakes through the album's last track \"To Dream,\" tempered with a heartbreaking fragility. Of course, after all that's come before, the listener clings to lines like \"Don't give up your dream\/ It's really all you have\/ And I don't want to see you die,\" hoping that wishing might just be enough -- just this once -- to make it so. - - - - - - - - - - \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGermano's labor of love is coming out on veteran record producer Tony Berg's newest venture, Ineffable Records (billed as a \"creative collective\" of artists). The release will almost certainly not change Germano's immediate financial situation; she had to plunk down nearly every penny she got as an advance to pay the vet bills for her ailing cat, 12-year-old Miamo-Tutti. \"The cat got really sick really quickly,\" Germano says. \"I had to feed him by hand and give him medicine a couple of times a day.\" The sick kitty meant that she had to postpone a planned tour with former Crowded House frontman Neil Finn, a decision she says Finn supported wholeheartedly. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"John Cougar probably would have had me arrested,\" she laughs, imagining telling the hard-rocking Mellencamp that she couldn't go on the road because she had to nurse an ailing kitty. Since nearly every article ever printed about Germano mentions her one-time affiliation with his band as a fiddle player, she kicks herself for bringing it up. \"I've tried so hard not to have the press mention it!\" she laughs. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBesides her dark past as a backup musician for heartland rocker Mellencamp, Germano has another incongruous skeleton in her closet. In high school, she was a cheerleader. \"I didn't expect to make it and was shocked when I did,\" she recalls. \"Even then I was not a positive person. I got yelled at every day for not smiling, so I quit.\" She laughs when she tells the story, but she sounds as if she's still unsure as to what went wrong. \"I thought I was smiling,\" she says ruefully. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSadly, Miamo-Tutti (who Germano describes as a \"very Italian cat), ultimately didn't make it. (\"I'm sure [he's] having a big party with all the other cats up there,\" she says in an update on her Web site.) Perhaps he'll make an appearance in a future Germano song; a likely scenario, given her penchant for turning episodes from her own life into art. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen asked what it's like to perform such personal material live, Germano is matter-of-fact. \"These songs really work best when I have a sense of humor,\" she explains. \"It lets the audience think, 'This is hard, but at least she's all right.'\" While she doesn't get stage fright, she does say that wine can help her to focus better. \"It's important that I really start breathing before I go on. My voice is all breath. Without the breathing, there's nothing there.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll Music Guide \u003cbr\u003eby Heather Phares \u003cbr\u003eLisa Germano's music has always had an out-of-time quality to it, but never more so than in the current musical climate, where toughness and a jaded attitude dominate almost every style of music. The almost complete lack of hardness -- both sonically and lyrically -- in Germano's work is both a blessing and a curse, perhaps limiting her audience but making an indelible impression on those she does reach. Her fans won't be disappointed by Lullaby for Liquid Pig, a concise but evocative album that sounds all the sweeter due to her long absence from the music scene. Once again, though, the strangely timeless quality to her music makes the long gap between Slide and this album irrelevant -- Lullaby for Liquid Pig is very much of a piece with the rest of her gently brave, individualistic work. While her music has never chased trends, the weightless, shimmering sound that Germano has pursued since Geek the Girl still manages to sound much fresher and more innovative than that of artists who reinvent their sound with every album. Like Geek the Girl, Lullaby for Liquid Pig is something of a concept album, revolving around addictions of all kinds, not just the alcoholism that the album's title obliquely alludes to. It's not so much the addictions themselves that Germano explores as the desires and delusions behind them, which she expresses beautifully on \"Dream Glasses Off\" and \"From a Shell,\" a pair of songs that melt into each other and repeat the phrases, \"someday someone is gonna love you\" and \"it's the buzz, it's the buzz,\" as desperate mantras. Whether it's love or alcohol, the album says, it's the same addiction to hoping that someone or something is going to save you from yourself. While Lullaby for Liquid Pig's subject matter is typically dark, on the whole the album is more like the bittersweet meditations on Excerpts From a Love Circus and Slide than the truly tormented-sounding Geek the Girl, although in the topsy-turvy world Germano creates here, the superficially happy-sounding songs carry more danger than the brooding ones. The weirdly loopy \"Candy,\" with its bright and hazy textures, and \"It's Party Time,\" which sounds like bubblegum pop that's been broken and reconfigured and alludes to the Troggs' \"Love Is All Around\" and Neil Diamond's \"Red Red Wine,\" have a disturbingly woozy quality that sounds like sinking into a blissfully ignorant narcotic cocoon. Conversely, the album closes with a few dark yet oddly hopeful songs like \"Into the Night\" and \"…To Dream\" that suggest that some kind of happy ending is still within reach. Imparting its wisdom and melodies in fits and flashes, Lullaby for Liquid Pig is nevertheless one of Lisa Germano's most accessible works yet; with any luck more fans of challenging but beautiful music will catch up with her this time around.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLisa Germano \u003cbr\u003eLullaby for Liquid Pig \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI'd wager that most of our readers would otherwise ignore what's sure to be among the more spectral and alluring records of 2003 because its author was once a precious Lilith Fair poetess. You'll probably shiver to learn she previously made her living-- for the better part of a decade-- as John Mellencamp's violinist. In fact, I dare say most of you would mistake Lisa Germano for Meredith Brooks. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGermano, however, has certainly earned some measure of disinterest and even disdain thanks to her uncomfortably maudlin records, all wincingly breathy and for the most part bereft of focus. On her first two full-lengths, her violin playing is still saddled by the stereotypical country melodies she spun for Mellencamp's renowned backing band; her second album Happiness was a learning and chaotic affair, and didn't make much of a splash until Capitol Records allowed her to re-sequence and re-release it on 4AD (a lot of people will tell you it was remixed as well-- it wasn't). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnce on 4AD, the precociously pouting \"Dresses Song\" caught a college radio breeze, introducing us to her moan, which was instantly compared to Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval. But while Sandoval had a more terrestrial timbre, Germano followed her sleeve-tugging, cutely awkward drawl into a melodramatic, overproduced and compositionally slight third album of effects-pedal atmosphere, 1994's Geek the Girl. Her most recent records-- Excerpts from a Love Circus (1996) and Slide (1998)-- hid a handful of great songs like \"I Love a Snot\" (fantastically remixed by one Tchad Blake) and the solemn \"Wood Floors\", but were beset by more incongruous, confused instrumentation. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt's an odd notion but the music is really what's detracted from Germano's increasingly excellent songwriting all these years. I have to assume she begins with lyrics, and whether or not she skirted a sound comparable to her constant critical companions Mazzy Star, on her bizarrely-titled sixth album Lullaby for Liquid Pig, she's stopped trying to work her words into traditional rock instrumentation and started building tunes around her effortless voice, tense but never breaking. Save one glaring failure-- \"Liquid Pig\", an underdeveloped experiment in distorted, drunken chaos-- these depressed and depressing drawing room dirges wring regret from the coldest and oldest of hearts. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe record comes into focus with \"Nobody's Playing\", an introduction that clearly defines a piano-scored slip into Americana, falling through memories real or imagined, recorded on stuttering kinetoscope and dug up a century later. On \"Paper Doll\", it seems every word is a chorus unto itself, swelling and releasing in an instant, until a multitracked passage longingly repeats, \"You can always play with me,\" perhaps not caring whether the game is child-like, loving or destructive. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Pearls\" echoes the record's opener, and if you'll skip \"Liquid Pig\", it's around this time-- just ten minutes in-- that it strikes you how easily these devastating choruses come for Germano. And they aren't heavy-handed breakup anthems or fatuous VH-1 ballads calling back to tender teenage dreams-- Germano is famously adult and obscure with imagery, and continues in her tradition. As with roughly half the tracks on Lullaby for Liquid Pig, the sound of a breeze blowing across a cheap microphone is mixed in as \"Pearls\" ends. It could come off as a cheap device in lesser hands; I've checked my windows more than once. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis daydreamt, cinematic mode is most powerfully explored by the stumbling, bemused \"From a Shell\", a hugely poetic and far too brief resignation that refuses to fall into despair in the wake of personal tragedy. Without a doubt, these are Lisa Germano's finest three minutes on record, as resonant in their doleful simplicity as any feature-length post-modern melodrama. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOf the four songs that depart from near-solo accompaniment, three are successful, if not outstanding. \"It's Party Time\" is instantly catchy but also instantly recognizable, an unwitting, note-for-note duplication of Beat Happening's most famous tune, \"Cast a Shadow\"; its loose rhythm, clean production and topical similarity to UB40's \"Red Red Wine\" also invoke that track done at a speedy clip. \"All the Pretty Lies\" follows, by far the most sonically menacing piece on the record, a twisted pile of vines and dead leaves collecting in the corner of a collapsed house, leading into the shimmering strings of the title track, which isn't powerful so much as captivating as it spins away toward this brief record's hazy horizon. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLullaby for Liquid Pig is deceptively potent; in just thirty minutes it divines your most closely held memories, guiding you farther and farther back with endless, heartbreaking choruses. Though its divergent tracks are merely distractions, the record would push either monotony or melodrama without them; they reassure us she hasn't forgotten the self-assured, sexed-up smirk that sold so many of us down her dizzy rollercoaster in the 1990s. Where she once darted past our baiting stares with coy glimpses and we'll-see winks, after ten years Lisa Germano is no longer playing in those fields, resolved, somewhat remorseful and shooting back an unwavering, crushing gaze. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Chris Ott, April 18, 2003\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLisa Germano \u003cbr\u003eLULLABY FOR LIQUID PIG \u003cbr\u003e(MELANCHOLY MUSINGS: Lisa Germano's Lullaby for the Liquid Pig is built on her exquisite piano chordings, her whispery vocals, and the moody poetics and subtle melodies of her songwriting. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnce known primarily as John Mellencamp’s able violinist, Lisa Germano has, over the course of five previous albums, established herself as a unique and challenging artists in her own right. Her twisted saga of meandering melancholy musings continues on Lullaby for the Liquid Pig, yet another album built on the foundation of Germano’s exquisite if often minimalist piano chordings and her wispy whisper of a voice — a voice perfectly suited to the moody poetics and subtle melodies that weave their way through her songwriting. The title track alludes to drug-induced ramblings. \"I need a fix\/A little one\/Then it’s over\/Then I’m done,\" she intones, as the song spirals slowly downward. \"Dream Glasses Off\" perpetuates her signature sullenness with lyrics like \"Before when I opened the door\/Let the happiness in\/Closed again.\" Complementing Germano’s never-changing mood is her meticulous production, which is a study in understated beauty and sadness that bolsters her stream-of-consciousness abstractions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlender \u003cbr\u003eReview \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLisa Germano \u003cbr\u003eLullaby for Liquid Pig \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou'd be this depressed too if you were once John Mellencamp's violin player \u003cbr\u003eReviewed by Jon Young \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLisa Germano pushes confessional intimacy to unsettling extremes. Her sixth similar album, her strongest yet, vividly depicts the folly of treating loneliness with liberal doses of alcohol. But this is no lecture on substance abuse: With her uneasy-sigh voice and gorgeous yet wobbly melodies, Germano speaks from experience, portraying sodden isolation as a twisted state of grace. \"You know what I mean\/ I don't mean anything,\" she murmurs in \"It's Party Time\"; on the droopy \"Dream Glasses Off\" she declares, \"Someday someone\/Is gonna love you\" with an utter lack of conviction. Subtle support from Neil Finn and Johnny Marr pales next to this anguished persona. Unashamed candor often spells dreary self-indulgence. In Germano's insightful hands, it's fascinating and strangely exhilirating.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lisa Germano","offers":[{"title":"Lullaby For Liquid Pig \/ album \/ 2xCD","offer_id":634013873,"sku":"YG_LIQUIDPIG_CD","price":15.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/lullaby.jpg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"magic-neighbor","title":"Magic neighbor","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG39\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLisa Germano’s new album is out now. It’s called “\u003cstrong\u003eMagic neighbor\u003c\/strong\u003e.\" Lisa hid herself away for a long while, and I was beginning to despair, then suddenly this beautiful music started coming my way. I think this is one of her best albums yet. The depth of feeling in her words and singing is truly remarkable, and she never fails to tug at my heart. Somehow it’s both sad, wistful, and hopeful, all at once. It's very private, solitary music. In my view it's deeply engaging, and I often stop what I'm doing and drift off with it into its' world when I listen to it - time and troubles disappear for a short while. For some reason her music reminds me of early Disney songs – fuzzy and dreamy. Thinking about it today, I also thought of the great – and neglected – music that Tom Waits did with Crystal Gayle for the movie “One From The Heart.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e- Michael Gira \/ YGR June 2009\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEarly Review of Magic neighbor, from BabySue.com:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.babysue.com\/2009-Oct-LMNOP-Reviews.html#anchor87455\" data-mce-href=\"http:\/\/www.babysue.com\/2009-Oct-LMNOP-Reviews.html#anchor87455\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttp:\/\/www.babysue.com\/2009-Oct-LMNOP-Reviews.html#anchor87455\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eReflective strange modern lullabies for people with a heightened sense of perception. Lisa Germano's music has touched us more deeply than any other artist in the twenty-first century. Sometimes music serves the simple purpose of providing entertainment...but in other cases music can go farther than that...much, much farther. In our constant search for music that is unique and genuine, Germano wins the top prize. Her sound is so highly stylized that at this point in time she has no competitors. She operates in a unique genre of music that she herself has created. Magic Neighbor picks up where Germano's last album (In The Maybe World) left off. The melodies are heavenly...strangely hypnotic and trippy. The lyrics come straight from the heart (as always). And music itself is peculiar and strangely absorbing. And at the heart of the songs are those heavenly vocals...strikingly subtle yet amazing vocals that can evoke real emotion in the minds of listeners. Lisa is obviously not making music for money. If she were, she wouldn't be recording these types of albums. It would be a lot easier to just create the kind of simple mindless dribble that appeals to average anybodies. This eleven track album reveals more of what we already knew. This incredible lady's music just keeps getting better and better. Over time, more and more people will look back and realize that Lisa Germano was one of the most important recording artists of this decade. Until that time...her relatively small yet passionately devoted fans will follow her anywhere she chooses to go. Music so decidedly beautiful that it is difficult to describe with mere words. Initial favorites: \"Marypan,\" \"Kitty Train,\" \"The Prince of Plati,\" \"Magic Neighbor,\" \"Snow,\" and \"Cocoon.\" It just doesn't get any better than this...ever. Highly recommended.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHere's a few press quotes related to Lisa's previous releases:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The exquisite singer\/songwriter Lisa Germano often walks that miraculously fine line between breathtaking terror and intoxicating beauty. Chilling seductive and sorrowful but dressed up like a lovely lullaby to mask the tragic core. Lost and found and lost again along the way to oblivion. Magically, there are these glimmers of hope that shine though, and the melodies are so instantly beguiling that you’re swept off your feet, but no matter how scary it gets she’s holding your hand... \" \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e- Dream Magazine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“…delves into those bleak hours before the sun comes up, with raw emotion that's calculated to disturb. Stark, gorgeous songs weave a spell of deep-seated loneliness coupled with unceasing introspection; the album is a gut punch from the first hanging, ethereal note. “ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e– Salon.com\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"...Listening to Lisa Germano’s music is a painfully intimate experience, as if a teenage girl were revealing her cutting scars in a cafeteria corner... she has always examined her emotional life with the raw confusion of an adolescent misfit.. beautifully haunted and composed, but almost too claustrophobic to bear... achingly vulnerable and bristling with passive-aggressive anger...\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e- NY Times\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Lisa Germano pushes confessional intimacy to unsettling extremes …Unashamed candor often spells dreary self-indulgence. In Germano's insightful hands, it's fascinating and strangely exhilarating.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e- Blender\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lisa Germano","offers":[{"title":"Magic neighbor \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634015101,"sku":"YG_MAGICNEIGHBOR_CD","price":12.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Magic neighbor \/ album \/ LP","offer_id":634015105,"sku":"YG_MAGICNEIGHBOR_LP","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_47_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"meek-warrior","title":"Meek Warrior","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG33\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpecial low price album features VERY SPECIAL GUEST HAMID DRAKE, as well as contributions from members of Do Make Say Think and Broken Social Scene…. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSince the debut Akron\/Family album came out in March ’05 they’ve played hundreds (and hundreds) of shows across the known world, recorded \/ released and toured for a split album with Angels of Light (also serving as backing band in the latter, both in studio and on tour), recorded a few home brewed albums they sell on the road, and have generally worked themselves to death, or at least into a new entity they themselves maybe don’t even recognize. And now this: a new “special” album that has been blaring in my office constantly, obsessively, for weeks now and that once again shows them morphing into something simultaneously unfamiliar, wild, gentle, raging, hilarious, elated and meditative - riddled with chaos and sonic contradiction, and sometimes just simply beautiful – the song “Gone Beyond” is the sort of palliative hymn I want to hear while suddenly finding myself drifting through the universe having unexpectedly jettisoned the meat-grinder of earthly existence - where perhaps songs like “Blessing Force” , played repeatedly at full volume, have pummeled me into hapless insensibility. All of this ultimately gets sorted out and makes for a stunning document, in my opinion. At the time of this writing they’re ensconced in the mountains somewhere on a much-needed recuperative retreat. Good thing, because this fall and winter they’ll be touring again and also recording another new album for YGR, to be released early next year, when they’ll tour again, and on to infinity… I hope you enjoy the music! \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- Michael Gira\/Young God Records, 2006\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"line-height: 1.2;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere’s what Seth has to say about making this recording: “These songs were written about a year ago by individual band members and then hashed out as a band together on the road in hotels and in the van the few weeks prior to the studio time in Chicago, while we were all freezing in the winter hinterlands of Canada, wheezing with bronchitis…The recording in Chicago was nuts. We played in Iowa City Monday night. Then drove all that night, slept 2 hours on the corner of 23rd and Michigan in Chicago outside the studio in the van. Then started setting up to record at 10:00 am and recorded until 8:00 pm. Then we headed straight to Urbana Illinois to play that same night. Then drove back to Chicago that same night after the show, started recording that next morning at 10:00 am, recorded all day again, and then left again at 8;00 pm to play that same night in Milwaukee. It was extremely crazy, and I can't remember if we have ever been more disoriented and tired before…We recorded at Shape Shoppe in Chicago and it was engineered by Griffin Rodriguez…Griffin also plays upright bass on track 4, no Space in this realm…The big emphasis on doing this recording was the chance to record two days in Chicago with our favorite free jazz master drummer Hamid Drake. He has played on hundreds of records with jazz luminaries Peter Brotzmann, Don Cherry, Pharaoh Sanders, William Parker, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark - the list goes on … We did an additional day of recording with theDo Make Say Think\/ Broken Social Scene guys in Toronto, two days with Jason La Farge at Seizure’s Palace in Brooklyn, and countless mind droning moments in my (Seth's) apartment. Mixed and mastered with Doug Henderson. Production was Akron\/Family and Michael Gira. We recorded ourselves in Chicago and then a day in Toronto, and then we went back to NY and did two more studio days and mixing with Michael.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSome reviews of Meek Warrior \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/Press\/?C=64\" target=\"_top\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e(more press)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e :\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDusted Magazine \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.dustedmagazine.com\/reviews\/3133\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eDusted Reviews\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003eArtist: Akron\/Family \u003cbr\u003eAlbum: Meek Warrior \u003cbr\u003eLabel: Young God \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview date: Sep. 15, 2006 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf rock is a school, the four members of Akron\/Family are its most dramatic, most academically gifted spaz-outs. They are fluent in the vocabularies of rock, folk, soul and jazz, and can ask for directions in punk and metal. And, as they prove on “Lightning Bolt of Compassion,” they don’t even have to sing their lyrics in English. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLet it never be said that they haven’t been fortunate. Few acts meet the world with instant nerd cred bestowed upon them by Swans legend and Young God Records bwana Michael Gira. Few debuts get the sort of attention, on the sort of scale, that A\/F’s self-titled 2005 disc did – that is, sincere admiration and curiosity with a minimum of calculated hype. But Akron\/Family does work hard, touring constantly, showing uncommon discipline in the studio, and serving as their mentor’s backup band. (Gira must be an unbelievably demanding producer, to say nothing of what he’s like as a bandleader.) Akron\/Family has the sort of energy that less insanely committed musicians hate. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a short couple of years, they’ve reached a point of mad productivity and dizzying musical complexity. Despite its scant 35-minute duration, Meek Warrior distills the entire history of experimental pop. Just as impressively, it finally bottles the frantic eclecticism and The Gods Must Be Crazy absurdity of the Family’s live show. The debut now sounds safe by comparison. It’s hard to imagine how this level of activity can be maintained, but there’s nothing here to suggest that the band is going to fuck up its many blessings. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor the roots crowd, Meek Warrior could be frustrating – it often sounds as though Akron\/Family is getting paid by the idea. A long free-form freakout closes “Blessing Force,” which segues into the delicate s’more-toaster “Gone Beyond,” and then, before we can finish a sentence, we’re thigh-high in the soured gospel of “Meek Warrior.” It’s executed quite cleanly, but there’s a lot of stuff going on in a short amount of time. It’s a busy record. It’s out for attention. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThrow in a space fixation on loan from Sun Ra, and you’re dangerously close to prog territory. But Akron\/Family is too festive to be prog. If pop were outlawed, these hypnotic incantations, psychedelic showtunes and cleansing instrumental interludes would still be pop. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith all this buildup, tension and release, the simple beauty of “Gone Beyond,” “Lightning Bolt of Compassion” and “Love and Space” soothes with the force of a rebooting. Now that they’re on the board, Akron\/Family is exploring all its skills at once. It may yet find its limitations, but this is a highly adaptive organism – this level of maximalism might not hold beer forever, but there’s nothing to suggest A\/F can’t do minimalism just as well. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTinymixtapes.com \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLIVE REVIEW AKRON\/FAMILY \u003cbr\u003eAkron\/Family and Sir Richard Bishop \u003cbr\u003e(Tractor Tavern: Seattle, WA) \u003cbr\u003e02.11.06 \u003cbr\u003eby j.spicer \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Night of the Living Dopplegangers. I swear up and down I was stuck between folks who looked like Peter Sarsgaard, Adam Morrison, and Dee Dee Ramone--an odd trio to envision--but that's what a show billing Sir Richard Bishop and Akron\/Family will bring. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI walked in just as Richard Bishop began his set. If you've never seen Bishop work his magic, then you'd be in for a real treat. This is another in a long line of classic Bishop performances. The man is able to make one guitar sound like an army of them (take that, Broken Social Scene!) with little effort. Watching his fingers move so nimbly across the frets becomes mesmerizing. There are times when you forget about the actual music being produced and just focus on figuring out his tricks. Once you do snap out of the trance and listen to the sound, you're blown away by how Bishop is able to switch from the gritty sounds of the OK Corral to a playful cover of \"Somewhere Over the Rainbow,\" before launching into a 15 minute collision of quiet tones meeting deafening strums. He had the crowd by the ear, and those who didn't know him beforehand would never be able to forget him. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Akron\/Family began setting up for their whirlwind performance, I listened in on the crowd. Many seemed swayed to check out the band from an article written by The Stranger--one person even quoted it to the best of his memory. I got a chuckle because they were expecting some Dylanesque performance of folk rock that they would never get, though Akron\/Family would tease them with \"Awake.\" Many in the crowd were lulled into a false sense of calm and nostalgia while others waited with baited breath for the real surprises to begin. And the minute the band exploded into the frenzied beginning of \"Moment,\" some eyes lit up as most faces tried to stop their jaws from dropping. No longer was the group behind me talking about “Dylan” and how beautiful the first song was. They were now in the midst of a fray, and not one of them knew what to do. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom then on out, it was a battle of attrition. It was Akron\/Family versus convention, and the four Brooklynites were willing to pull out all the stops as the crowd quickly melted into their hands. Whatever the band wanted, they received. The band teased the crowd with haunting melodies and bone-jarring jams. They kept us on edge throughout the night, and no matter how jovial their conversations with the crowd were (even promising to bust out some CCR if we were good), everyone expected them to blow the roof off at any moment. We were hostages with friendly captors. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen the bird calls, slide whistles and harmonicas were unleashed to herald \"Future Myth,\" the crowd was ready to spend their last amount of energy as the song devolved from a ruckus tune into a wall of distortion and tribal drum beats. As we all prepared for the big sendoff and a chance to catch our breath, one by one the band began to climb off the stage and congregate in the middle of crowd. Armed with a banjo, an acoustic guitar, and small percussives, the band launched into a beautiful sing-along, even getting the crowd to \"drink the kool-aid.\" Soon the room swelled as everyone loudly sang \"Love and space\" on a loop. It's one of those rare moments when a band trusts its crowd and gives back the best way they know how. After the campfire moment, the boys gravitated towards another part of the room and tackled Neil Young's unappreciated \"For the Turnstiles.\" The crowd was once again moved to participate, this time without the goading from the band. When they finally returned to the state for one last go, everyone left standing had been converted. No one left without a smile, and no one would ever forget what they had just witnessed. Akron\/Family transcended the music and actually reached out to their audience with no hidden agenda or false pretense. In a musical world brimming with cynicism and criticism, it's nice to have bands like Akron\/Family nurturing a heartfelt family mentality.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Akron\/Family","offers":[{"title":"Meek Warrior \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634015833,"sku":"YG_MEEKWARRIOR_CD","price":12.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_33_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"my-father-will-guide-me-up-a-rope-to-the-sky","title":"My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG43\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e•••INSERT SIGNED BY M.GIRA•••\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter years of pursuing Angels of Light and recording and producing a diverse roster of artists for his Young God label, Michael Gira has decided to reconvene his legendary group Swans. As he says: “THIS IS NOT A REUNION. It’s not some dumb-ass nostalgia act. It is not repeating the past. After 5 Angels Of Light albums, I needed a way to move FORWARD, in a new direction, and it just so happens that revivifying the idea of Swans is allowing me to do that. “\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe core group constituting Swans for this phase is Michael Gira \/ guitar \/ voice \/ mendicant friar act (original swans); Norman Westberg – guitar (original swans); Christoph Hahn – guitar (mid period swans and most angels); Phil Puleo – drums, percussion, dulcimer etc (final swans tour and most angels); Chris Pravdica – bass and gadgets (flux information sciences \/ services\/ gunga din); Thor Harris - drums, percussion, vibes, dulcimer, curios, keys (angels, now also with Shearwater)…\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis highly anticipated album is as powerful and diverse as anything Gira’s done, in Swans or otherwise. It opens with the epic, soul-crushing (bone crushing?) No Words\/No Thoughts, but quickly veers to more pastoral terrain, then on to ever-ascending mono-tonal grooves, a filmic-folk idyll featuring Devendra Banhart on lead vocal that abruptly shifts to cataclysm, then on to more airplane-taking-off ascensions, art songs, and more lethal sonic pummeling. In short, this is the new SWANS album, a significant advance from where Swans left off and as challenging and emotionally demanding as ever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIncreasing frustrated by the (self imposed) constraints he’d set for himself in Angels of Light, Gira decided that the direction he wanted his music to take would be more appropriate under the moniker of the group he started in 1982 and retired in 1997. Though the new album retains an attention to detail in orchestration, and an underlying sense of melody on many of the songs, there’s a deliberate shift towards sonic intensity, relentless, maniacal rhythms and alternately abrasive and soaring waves of electric guitar, qualities those familiar with the always-shifting sonic approach of Swans over the (now first) 15 years of its’ existence will recognize. This record immediately feels like Swans but is also obviously unique and moving into new territory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHere’s what Gira says about the moment he decided to reconvene Swans: \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“There was a point a few years ago during a particular show when I was on tour with Angels of Light, with Akron\/Family serving as the backing band. It was during the song The Provider. Seth’s guitar was sustaining one open chord (very loudly), rising to a peak, then crashing down again in a rhythm that could have been the equivalent of a deep and soulful act of copulation. The whole band swayed with this arc. Really was like riding waves of sound. I thought right then, “You know, Michael, Swans wasn’t so bad after all...” - ha ha! It brought back – in a flood – memories, or maybe not memories, more a tangible re-emersion in the sensation of Swans music rushing through my body in waves, lifting me up towards what, I can only assume, will be my only experience of heaven. It’s difficult – and probably pointless – to try to describe this experience. It’s ecstatic, I suppose – a force of simultaneous self negation and rebirth. Really, I probably only experienced this a handful of times to such an extreme extent during the entire 15 year history of Swans. All the elements have to align perfectly, and you can’t force it, though you might constantly strive for it. I don’t mean to be too lofty here, but it’s a fact. I’m talking about my own experience of the music (though I’d hope people in the audiences along the way might have experienced a similar episode). When I ask myself if I believe in God, I start to say NO, but then I remember that sensation, and I’m not so sure. So I want more of that, before my body breaks down to such an extent that it won’t be possible any more. So I’m doing it. “\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe original art for the album is by Beatrice Pediconi \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.beatricepediconi.com\/\"\u003ehttp:\/\/www.beatricepediconi.com\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe recording of this record was made possible by the sale of a limited edition of 1000, handmade CD\/DVD package exclusively at younggodrecords.com. The music CD consisted of Gira’s acoustic demos of several songs under consideration for the new Swans album and the DVD was 2 live shows of Gira solo. Gira hand printed the edition - named I Am Not Insane - (with wood block), hand colored each one individually, and assembled the 1000 copies himself. The expectation was that it would take 3 or 4 months to sell out through the limited venue of the YGR website. It sold out in 2 weeks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince the musicians live in different places on the planet, the idea of rehearsal for the recordings was both impractical and expensive. They had all heard the material in demo form, so were basically familiar with the material. In order to both allow time to work out the songs as a band with a distinct personality, and to ensure freshness in the performance, they recorded the basic tracks for one song per day over a period of 12 – 14 hours each day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnce they’d reached a peak, having hashed the songs over (and over) and reconfigured them from their original demo form into something unique to the group, the engineer hit record. Basic overdubs were done at the end of the same day. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAdditional subsequent overdubs were done later and guests included: Bill Rieflin (long-time Swans and Angels of Light contributor and currently drummer for REM and Robyn Hitchcock). \u003cbr\u003eBill played piano, synthesizer, organ, acoustic and electric guitar, drums\/percussion and more; Grasshopper (Mercury Rev) – Mr. Grass played a swarm of mandolins; Devendra Banhart - \u003cbr\u003eDevendra sang the lead vocal – accompanied by Gira’s 3 ½ year old daughter Saoirse – to the song You Fucking People Make Me Sick. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSwans will begin touring late September and will continue touring in 2 to 3 week stints for the next 18 months.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA FEW ADVANCE STORIES ABOUT THE RECORD HERE:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehttp:\/\/stereogum.com\/452821\/swans-eden-prison-stereogum-premiere\/franchises\/haunting-the-chapel\/\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eand here:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehttp:\/\/thequietus.com\/articles\/04724-michael-gira-review-new-swans-album-my-father-will-guide-me-up-a-rope-to-the-sky\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHERE’S AN EARLY REVIEW:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003efrom ATTN Magazine UK \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.attnmagazine.co.uk\/music\/2428\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehttp:\/\/www.attnmagazine.co.uk\/music\/2428\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003cbr\u003eby Jack Chuter\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is with a severe level of excitement that I present my review of the new Swans LP – My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIncredibly, it’s been 14 years since the release of the last full-length. Soundtracks for the Blind was a daunting and thorough two-disc collage – a seemingly conclusive statement, appearing to wring out the last of what Gira wished to express under the Swans moniker via an extensive array of means – soundscapes, live cuts, drones, electronic beats, post-rock, deceptively pretty synthesisers, spoken word passages, with Michael’s distinctive singing voice a haunting and recurrent theme. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn terms of sound, My Father… doesn’t exactly pick up from there. Nor would it slip comfortably under Gira’s Angels of Light project, which has been running since the initial de-activation of Swans. There are strong elements of both, but as Gira said himself, the Swans idea was revived as a means to move forward, and ultimately, the album does just that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose who picked up I Am Not Insane (a collection of Gira’s initial album ideas, presented as solo pieces for voice and acoustic guitar) will be soon to realise just how skeletal those versions were. Their transformation is astonishing – although most of the melodies and lyrics remain just about intact, these early sketches are almost unrecognisable in amongst the heaps of instrumentation and collaborative ideas that have been piled on top by the rest of the line up. A towering atmosphere has gathered to decorate the bare bones of what Gira brought to the table, and it’s unmistakably Swans – clattering and rickety and unstable – forever ominous and occasionally plainly terrifying. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“No Words\/No Thoughts” was my easily my least favourite track from I Am Not Insane, but here it’s a brutally brilliant opener, exploding from the initial introduction of glistening chimes as a thundering one-chord catastrophe. It’s left as a pummelling loop for a full three minutes, featuring warped electronics, backwards cymbals and what sounds like trombones screaming in piercing slides, before breaking down and allowing Gira to finally makes his vocal entry. It’s at the point that his perfectly executed baritone drawl enters the piece that it becomes beyond doubt that Swans have continued to maintain the high standard left by Soundtracks for the Blind back in 1996. He is on blinding form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eElsewhere there’s “Jim”, lurching forward on a heave-ho rhythm that rattles and thuds on piano and guitar battered in unison. Personally I hear a likeness to “All Souls’ Rising” by Angels of Light for the way in which it almost stops and starts in these hefty lumbering steps, with an organic intensity that arises out of the musician – the velocity and anger behind each hit and strum, not just the timbre of the instrument. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“You Fucking People Make Me Sick” is the only track that wasn’t present on I Am Not Insane and it’s probably the most unnerving piece of the lot. Contorted vocals from Devendra Banhart are echoed in a twisted child-like tone and scattered across minor-chord guitar jangle, before the piece cuts abruptly into a brilliant interplay between percussive stomp and a juddering flourish of piano dissonance. After countless listens, I’ve yet to fully “get” the nightmarish and bizarre first half, but find myself in absolute awe of the harrowing noise of the second. A lot of these pieces are left to spiral off on their own accord, often giving way to freakish atonal experimentation and leaving the sound of a band completely enveloped in their own grooves, playing off of each other with an unspoken musical understanding. It’s fascinating to hear, if not always immediately accessible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter the thudding locomotive of “Eden Prison”, “Little Mouth” closes the album on a weary melancholy deeply rooted in Angels of Light, with a thick chorus of backing vocals guiding it forward. The final minute sees the instruments away to leave Michael singing into silence – a particularly beautiful highlight from I Am Not Insane that was thankfully retained for the final product. In fact, it’s these closing stages that highlight a particular worry I had prior to going into my first listen. Would the full band versions of these tracks do justice to the strength of the song-writing at work on I Am Not Insane? I needn’t have given it a moment thought. Swans Are Not Dead.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Swans","offers":[{"title":"My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634017797,"sku":"YG_MYFATHER_CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky \/ album \/ LP","offer_id":634017801,"sku":"YG_MYFATHER_LP","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky \/ album \/ 2CD","offer_id":642709301,"sku":"YG_MyFather_2CD","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky \/ album \/ WAVs","offer_id":51961781223726,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/myfather.jpg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"new-mother","title":"New Mother","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG08\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e•••SIGNED BY M.GIRA•••\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNew Mother was the first post-Swans album of songs from Michael Gira. It was released in 1999. It was written, sung, and produced by M. Gira with contributions from a variety of players ranging across the musical spectrum, including: Bill Rieflin (ex Swans, Ministry)-piano, bass, Farfiza and B3 organ, analog synthesizer, acoustic guitar, etc. and background vocals; Christoph Hahn (ex-Swans)-lap steel, classical and electric guitar, Cassio organ, back. vocals; Larry Mullins (Iggy Pop Band, the Residents)-vibraphone, timpani, tabla, percussion, back. vocals; Thor Harris (Lisa Germano Band)-hand drums, percussion, glockenspiel, back. vocals, water bowls, etc; Phil Puleo (ex-Swans, Congo Norvelle, Cop-Shoot-Cop)-percussion, melodica, organ, mouth harp, etc.; Julia Kent (Rasputina)-cello; Bill Bronson (ex-Swans, Congo Norvelle, the Gunga Din)- bass guitar; Joe McGinty (Psychedelic Furs, The Losers Lounge NYC)- upright piano; Michelle Amar (Sulfur)- background vocals; Hahn Rowe (Feotus, Mimi Goesse Band)- violin; and Birgit Staudt (B Blush)- accordion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"line-height: 1.2;\"\u003eHere’s some reviews from the time: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom All Music Guide 1999\/2000 \u003cbr\u003eReview    by Ned Raggett \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStarting with a gentle keyboard in \"Fragment,\" which seamlessly moves into \"Praise Your Name,\" with its piano, accordion, brushed drums, and folk\/pop backing singers, Michael Gira makes his continuing, intentional break from Swans. Anything but a softening of his art -- sample lyrics from \"Praise\" include \"Kill idiot violence, punish greed, punish me\" -- New Mother instead lets Gira experiment even further, concentrating on acoustic guitar songs accompanied by a variety of musicians. As with just about anything he tries, the results are highly individual and astonishingly good. Equally noticeable throughout the full 75-minute disc are Gira's vocals -- he's actually singing, as opposed to the brooding speak\/sing of the later Swans years. While he's no Scott Walker (e.g., with occasional straining on the high notes), he's quite good nonetheless, further distinguishing his Angels work as being a mere continuation of his previous band. The general feel of the entire record draws on a juxtaposition of lush '60s American and European pop orchestration (the use of a banjo inevitably recalls Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks) with often stark, ominous recordings and arrangements (and sometimes, as on \"Angels of Light,\" a hint of the relentless build of many of Swans' final epic pieces), creating a marvelous artistic tension that avoids mere pastiche. Those songs with more stripped-down arrangements, such as the romantically obsessed \"This Is Mine,\" with merely guitar, piano, and what sounds like hammer dulcimer, succeed as well as the fuller numbers, providing a fine variety to the disc. No less than 19 musicians participated in the creation of New Mother, and the fact that Gira was able to synthesize their efforts and create such a powerful debut bodes well for his future efforts in this vein.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e6\/12\/1999 | Mitchell Foy | Creative Loafing  \u003cbr\u003eFallen angel Swans leader Michael Gira returns with a new project\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm happy to put Swans behind me.\"  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eIt's practically the first sentence out of the mouth of the iconoclastic Michael Gira as he shakes off the weariness of his recent trip overseas. Happy? It's hard to believe. The image of the angry young man of the early\/mid-'s80 ripping himself apart at the seams as the rest of the Swans slave away at their instruments is so deeply ingrained it's hard to imagine Mr. Gira being jubilant about anything. Yet with the release of New Mother, by his latest project Angels of Light (on his own Young God Records no less), it's easy to see that the albatross of his former band has been fully loosed from his neck. Quite successfully, one might add. Sure, since Swans' demise in 1997 Gira has released a couple of formidable discs under his Body Lovers\/Body Haters umbrella. But those were obviously projects; sounds and textures endlessly looped and manipulated via the trusty computer. Angels of Light, though, marks the re-emergence the legions have been waiting for. It is, for lack of a better term, a band, albeit one of a dramatically different nature. Gira, guitar in hand, is - up front where he belongs, a la \"Failure\" from Swans' “White Light From the Mouth of Infinity.” \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccompanying him is a trove of musicians -including Rasputina's Julia Kent, longtime Swans producer Martin Bisi and Atlanta's own Chris Griffin - playing an endless list of uncommon instruments: Mandolin, flugelhorn, numerous organs, glockenspiel, hammer dulcimer, Irish harp and countless others help create New Mother's exotic, pastoral sound. It's sure to please later-period Swans fans - particularly those fond of the White Light and The Burning World discs. \"It's very unusual instrumentation. Very organic,\" says Gira. \"I think it's equally intense, but in a different way than Swans.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe artistic path has always been a murky hike for Gira. In Swan's early years in the 80's - during which time Georgia native Jarboe became an increasingly prominent member (leading Swans to base themselves in Atlanta for part of the '90s) - the band seemed to be as much at war with itself as it was with the rest of the world. The band's transformation around the turn of the decade was no easier. \"When I started to change the sound of Swans,\" Gira says, \"I was learning to write songs and make music in a different way, and it was a hard thing to \\ do. I think I succeeded in a lot of instances but in a lot I didn't.\"  Success or failure, it's obvious New ': Mother couldn't have happened without those various turning points. In fact, the record almost didn't happen. \"We ran out money,\" says. Gira. \"I went into the studio and recorded most of the songs on my acoustic guitar with my vocal. Then I started to think about how I could orchestrate them - I started calling musicians I like and had them play on it. I'd get to a certain stage and run out of money and beg, borrow or steal for it. In fact, a lot of the money came from fans on the website.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat you get for his troubles is over 70 minutes of floral dementia on a grand scale. It's much more subtly unsettling than Swans, due in part to its complete lack of - among other things - his former group's heavy percussion. The rich, upfront vocals put it in the singer\/song-writer category, while the music, by turns serene and bizarre, push the proceedings into worlds beyond. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Writing songs these days, I sit down with my acoustic guitar when I wake up and am kind of connected to my Subconscious from just waking up from dreams. I just have a memory or an image or a notion and just start chip-ping away at it. It takes a really long time; words never come easy for me. Nothing ever just flows.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJudging by some of the lyrics on New Mother, these dreams are the type that make most people toss, turn and sweat at night. \"A lot of the songs are hagiographies,\" he explains. '\"The Man with the Silver Tongue' is about Viennese performance artist Rudolph Schwartzkoggler and Herman Nitsch, his buddy, who crucified animals and released their intestines on young boys. It's just this beautiful-pagan\/catholic imagery. 'The Garden Hides the Jewel' is about Marcel Duchamp - this construction he built for the last 20 years of his life. Then there're some songs where I glorify some women I've known, especially the most violent, and vengeful ones. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"And then there's the unfortunate drunken confessions as well,\" he laughs.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"I tried to deal with what I guess you could call the inherent evil I've discovered in myself; excise that, use it as material.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen pushed to further illuminate the nature of this \"evil.\" he remains elusive, offering, \"It's just a kind of horrible behavior one might be capable of.\" Given the nature of his work and the general air of mystery surrounding its creator, I have to ask him about a recent interview in which he proclaimed he had no soul. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Did I really say that?\" he replies with a laugh. \"God, these interviews I've been doing are way too personal I'm actually not a completely morose or introverted person. I try to enjoy life a bit.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1\/1\/2000 | Mark Weddle  \u003cbr\u003eOverall impression: excellent!\u003cbr\u003eThe Angels of Light is the new band led by Michael Gira, formerly of SWANS.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGira's first post-SWANS projects were the primarily instrumental The Body Lovers and The Body Haters (see also \"Number One of Three\", \"34:13\"). With The Angels of Light, Gira returns to vocal based songs. And it's so good to hear Gira's voice and words again! Lyrically \"New Mother\" is probably his most personal work to date. Many of these songs reflect Gira's relationships with himself, his parents and Jarboe (also of SWANS): his faults (alcohol comes up more than once), regrets, love, sorrow, repentance. It's a confessional of sorts, very honest and genuine. Gira has many voices here: spoken, melodic, hums, quiet whispers, fragile whimpers and the occasional grating caterwaul. These songs focus on Gira's vocals and guitar, similar to the quieter side of recent SWANS and Gira's '94 solo album \"Drainland\". A few are solely Gira (\"How We End\", \"Fear of Death\") while the rest are more fleshed out. All are relatively quiet ... you won't find crescendoing walls of electric guitar or drones here, they've been replaced with beautiful layers of melodic acoustic\/organic instrumentation. The numerous musicians contributing to this album (many of whom are veterans of past Gira\/SWANS live and studio projects) weave an elegant tapestry of sound as backdrop, where necessary, to Gira's words. Look at the credits above and you'll understand the abundance of exquisite sounds to be found within these songs. The only person missing is Jarboe, but she is most definitely not forgotten ... this album is dedicated to and in many respects is about her. \"New Mother\" could also be considered an accompanying counterpart to Jarboe's '98 solo album \"Anhedoniac\". This is a bold step forward for Gira ... from the ashes of SWANS has risen an abundance of new expression through art and music. The packaging is first rate as is usually the case with Gira's projects. The digipack comes with a five panel insert that features all of the lyrics, credits and original photography by Wim van de Hulst (who also did \"Drainland\") one of which is a wonderful new portrait of Gira. If you're a fan of any of Gira's past melodic work you will love this disc. For anyone unfamiliar with Gira, The Angels of Light is a great starting point to his superb songwriting skills. I'm positive that \"New Mother\" will be near the top of my favorites list for 1999 …\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Angels Of Light","offers":[{"title":"New Mother \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634019293,"sku":"YG_NEWMOTHER_CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"New Mother \/ album \/ WAVs","offer_id":52075189469486,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_38_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"nino-rojo","title":"Nino Rojo","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG25\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNino Rojo is the companion album to \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/Releases\/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=32\"\u003eRejoicing In The Hands\u003c\/a\u003e, which was released earlier this year. It is culled from the same sessions. It is not a series of out-takes, or extra tracks. It is essentially CD #2 of a double album (in fact both these CDS are being released as a double vinyl album as well). As mentioned in the press release for \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/Releases\/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=32\"\u003eRejoicing In The Hands\u003c\/a\u003e, Devendra had SO MANY songs, and of such consistently high caliber, that it was impossible to edit down the material to a single album. So, we decided to release 2 albums of his new songs in the space of a year. The response to \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/Releases\/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=32\"\u003eRejoicing\u003c\/a\u003e has been overwhelming. In fact, as a small label, it’s almost impossible to keep up with it. What can I say? This kid is so amazingly magical, unique, genuine and talented that people just gravitate naturally to his music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot only does my best friend’s GRANDMOTHER relate to it, but my hard-ass “experimental music” friends also enthuse about it, as well as a few “purist” country\/bluegrass friends of mine. He emanates joy, generosity, a whimsical imagination, really superb (and increasingly so) guitar playing, lyrical complexity, and an absolutely one-of-a-kind voice. It has been my immense privilege to meet him when he was not yet 21 years old - an exploding bag of crazy thoughts and dreams – and now to see him just a few short years later focused, his talent increasing exponentially, and receiving the attention he deserves. He’s one of a kind. This is a rare case where the “hype” is justified. TO CLARIFY: we sent out some cds, took out a few ads, and the response took care of itself – all that was left to us as a label was to try to keep up with it. We certainly have no power of persuasion in the music industry!!! Basically, YOU – people in the press, in radio, retail etc., and most of all a hugely increasing base of FANS – i.e. people who just respond honestly to his music – have made this happen. Nino Rojo has a few more “orchestrated” songs than Rejoicing does, but that’s more by co-incidence than anything else. Again, they hopefully add color\/context to the songs. In the end, they weren’t strictly necessary at all. Everything was there on tape when he performed the songs. This CD contains a video of Devendra and his friends performing the song “At The Hop” live (and somewhat “psychedelicized” ) in a grassy field somewhere in northern California, dandelions flitting in the wind – ha ha! “At The Hop” was co-written with Devendra’s friend Andy Cabic from the band Vetiver, and they perform a duet of it on the regular cd version. The album opens with a cover of the Ella Jenkins song “Wake Up, Little Sparrow.” There’s 16 little gems on this album. Go to it, and enjoy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e- \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/Artists\/MichaelGira\/\"\u003eMichael Gira\u003c\/a\u003e\/Young God Records\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese recordings were produced by Gira\/Banhart\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr noshade size=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“ Rejoicing in the Hands establishes Banhart as a major voice in new folk music. Not only does it improve on the promise of his earlier releases; it effortlessly removes the listener from the context of the recording. That is, it doesn't seem like an album so much as a collection of road hymns and journals, and small tributes to smaller pleasures. If some people miss the appeal of this stuff in an attempt to digest it as any other product, all the better knowing Banhart will probably keep on rejoicing until forever.”\u003c\/em\u003e –\u003cem\u003ePitchforkmedia.com\/Dominique Leone, March 17th, 2004\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“…This music is simply rendered, to be sure, but unspeakably profound and mercurial; it's funny, warm, heartbreaking, and evocative of another place and time… Banhart's music is utterly unselfconscious and poetic. Rejoicing in the Hands is a whole — each song an inseparable part of an offering for listeners to be, quite literally, enchanted and even awed by.”\u003c\/em\u003e — \u003cem\u003eThom Jurek\/allmusic.com\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"...If he doesn't slide off the rails, just yo u watch --he'll prove to be one of this century's musicians who matter. \"\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003cem\u003eThe Houston Press\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“…Banhart is only 21, and \"Rejoicing in the Hands\" is only his second album, but he's already a legend, and those who have been exposed to his music tend to speak of him with reverence and awe …vocally, he's his own man… Like Jeff Buckley, Banhart, without a trace of self-consciousness, does things with his voice that would sound absurd attempted by anyone else, and he makes them work by virtue of unshakable artistic conviction…”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e- salon.com\/Thomas Bartlett \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“…Honestly, the record is destined to change more than a few lives this year; it’s the sound of a soul in love with the world, and love, and the art form of songs, and Banhart is one of the most convincing performers around...”\u003c\/em\u003e – \u003cem\u003eTIME OUT NY\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“ Devendra Banhart's new album is as majestic as his first. Better even. Simply put, it is one of the best records you could hope to hear all year…”\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003cem\u003eOthermusic.com\/MK\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“…The last time such a prodigious talent came on the scene was when Jeff Buckley released his first album, perhaps a fine reference point for the ambition and ability at play here; but Banhart — less refined but more audaciously gifted — sings his own song, and seems blissfully oblivious to the idea that anyone might be listening. But, soon, many will be. “\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003cem\u003eLondon\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e Times\/Stevie Chick\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Oh Me Oh My..., Devendra Banhart’s 2002 debut, was the work of a madman. It was as though someone slipped a four-track and an acoustic guitar through the bars at Bellevue and said, “Play, man, play.” The troubled troubadour’s second album is as peculiar as its straitjacket-folk predecessor, but this time out, it’s actually accessible… Banhart now follows a skeletal structure of gently plucked chords, augmented with delicate touches of cello, piano and violin. It’s a mesmerizing journey through the dark heart of Brooklyn’s lost boy. “\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eA. Parks\/MAGNET\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“ When I first heard some recordings by Devendra Banhart over a year ago, I didn't realize that I would be listening to a musical revolution. His first album was raw and earnest. It was a home recording. It was a diamond in the rough. Now we have the first real album. \"Rejoicing” is the great Devendra Banhart album that we have been waiting for… This is an amazing record all the way through. This is a man to see live and buy all his records. When many musical fads will have faded, I will still be listening to Devendra Banhart. A total original.”\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003cem\u003eSF BURNING\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“ Banhart's bizarro press interviews and onstage antics have earned as much attention as his seemingly endless catalogue of fractured acoustic narratives and blues miniatures… Casually referencing early Marc Bolan, Bryter Layter-era Nick Drake and a clutch of loping Morricone film scores, Banhart wraps his songs in a gorgeously quavering warble that seems lifted right off some blues mama's dusty 78. A nearly flawless set of left-field folk.”\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003cem\u003eBob Mehr\/MOJO\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“…Banhart assembles his delicate and whimsical folk songs with the naivety of a three-year-old at play. And so while his songs are as earnest as soil, they're also as beautiful and joyous as spring in full bloom… But what really makes Banhart's second full-length album such a life-enriching listen is the all-encompassing sincerity of 'Rejoicing In The Hands'. Banhart makes music that could charm the birds from the trees such is the uncomplicated beauty of his songs. Devendra Banhart is a fucking genius. Honest. “\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eJames Jam\/NME \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“ The intimacy the recording session brings to the album is simply striking. Listen closely and you'll hear cicadas in the background, the creak of floorboards… Banhart gives himself so wholly and so without artifice or posture, that even the most jaded of listeners can't help but be awed. Simply, Rejoicing in the Hands is one of the best albums of the year. “\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003cem\u003eKevin Jagernauth\/POPMATTERS.COM\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWith long hair, bushy beard, no shirt for his stick-figure upper body, sandals and patched jeans, he came onstage talking enthusiastically about how his set would end in a \"family jam.\" And his set did indeed result in a group singalong. But forgive him for that: with his twitchy, laserlike energy, Mr. Banhart, 23, seems like a brilliant young hobo who needs to connect. His songs are weird, animist dreams of nature and love, over intricate guitar fingerpicking. In one short song after another, read off of a torn paper shopping bag, he swung from meticulously composed and soothing to half-crazy raving to a totally credible original folk song in Spanish…”\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eBen Ratliff\/NY TIMES\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“ Like some Transcendentalist cross between English folksinger Donovan and Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson, this young neo-hippie singer-songwriter plies his sweet, high, vibrato-dipped vocal cords in the service of mini-mysteries that ricochet between such notions as God-like omniscience and the playful deconstruction of the human form… And when Banhart worries his guitar notes and spins a playful tune over a drone in \"Tit Smoking\" (an instrumental, by the way), some parallels between his playing and Barrett’s are obvious. What’s also obvious is that nobody else is making music quite like this today.”\u003c\/em\u003e – \u003cem\u003eTed Drosdowski\/ BOSTON PHOENIX\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Devendra Banhart","offers":[{"title":"Rejoicing In The Hands + Niño Rojo \/ album \/ 2xLP","offer_id":634024413,"sku":"YG_Rejoicing_LP","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_36_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"oh-me-oh-my","title":"oh me oh My....","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG20\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere’s a press release I sent to music writers in 2002 when Devendra was completely unknown, regarding the release of Oh Me Oh MY…. More info follows below – Michael Gira\/Young God Records 2008 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDear Music Writer,\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe’re sending you this advance CDR copy of Devendra Banhart’s CD “Oh Me Oh My…” because we believe you’d like to be among the first to hear the songs of this completely unknown, precociously talented young (21 yr old) songwriter. To say Devendra is unique is an absurd understatement. When I first heard his voice I could not believe it. His occasionally warbling falsetto is alternately bizarre, soulful, comical, gentle, and often a little frightening (listen to “Nice People” and see if it doesn’t set the hairs on the back of your neck on end). His advanced (though often somewhat elliptical (!)) finger-picking guitar style, coupled with his wildly surreal lyrics (truly exceptional in many cases) have convinced me personally that he’s a potential major talent, and I would never use this latter phrase lightly. The 21 songs (some of which clock in at about 30 seconds) on this CD each contain their own special (psycho?) drama and immediately memorable melody - no mean feat when your instrumentation is limited to acoustic guitar and voice with only the occasional hand clap or whistle thrown in as “orchestration”. In a popular music environment inundated with computer\/electronic generated sound and sanitized ProTools mixes it’s a tremendous relief to hear something so ridiculously compelling that’s also so low tech, utterly personal, and hand made .The songs were recorded on assorted borrowed and usually broken 4 track cassette recorders by Devendra himself, in various haphazard locations around the globe. These recordings were made solely for himself, and were not intended as “demos” in order to get the proverbial “record deal”, and they’re better for it – devoid of any self consciousness or artifice, just Devendra’s skewed, idiosyncratic, magically twisted world and imagination. My first impulse on hearing these songs might have been to take him into a studio and “produce” a record for him, but the more I thought about it the less sense it made. There’s an abundance of hiss on these recordings, and the tape heads are often out of alignment - which adds an additional unnerving warble to many of the songs - but to me, it just makes the effect of the music even more special and intimate. I hear all kinds of references and comparisons that might be relevant in describing Devendra – from Marc Bolan’s pre-T Rex recordings, to Daniel Johnston, to Nick Drake (in my opinion some of the songs have a similar inner purity and pathos), to Karen Dalton (one of Devendra’s idols),to Syd Barrett, to, well, Tiny Tim (!)(Ok, Tiny Tim high on gasoline fumes! ). In the end, these comparisons don’t matter, because, as I say, Devendra is completely unique, and I’m really just trying to get you to LISTEN TO THE MUSIC and decide for yourself. So here’s hoping you’ll do just that. I’m confident many of you will be pleased with what you discover. As Devendra says: “…You certainly are nice people…The horse licks your skin, begin!”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBest Wishes,   Michael Gira\/Young God Records\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDevendra Bio from 2002: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDEVENDRA IS TALKING ABOUT HIS SONGS ON THE ALBUM “OH ME OH MY…”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe child bent over to break his neck, I said to it “” then it stopped and lit a fire and drank it. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number one, Don’t cry Honey Pie, for snake holds no knife and tick eats the Olives:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIs this: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA woman is staring at you, and she’s crying , but they are not tears they are olives she cries, but though she cries, she is not worried, for every time she cries one of her olive tears a tick crawls out from the back of the lower part of her head and (very quickly) crawls up her cheek and (very quickly) eats the olive. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt (the tick) will continue to do this as long as the woman cries olives. The fire was never to return, it never came back (listen to music) .Then the child came to bed with me to respond somehow to the new growth in\/out of it. The growth was full of oil. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number two: Roots, what if I could not count all my teeth, then I would never escape, if the sky where a stone made of lips and bones. Blah blah blah\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a land of everything being made of heat , there was spider attacking wolf or wolf attacking spider, though both were frozen so no-one was to win for certain. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow, green with tit, the heat rose from under ice, then followed me into cave, where sun keeps its claws,(there was bread there) I was there hoping to find my sister for a knew by the smell that she had slept there, at some point. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong Number Three: THE CHARLES C. LEARY. The most important song on the album. A ship my great grandfatherfather owned, it was also this painting my father had , had birds, like seagulls in the background, and about a friendchildman, , sell your ass, no, don’t. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number four: Nice people. In Evereux, in the French country side, there we were , I, Devendra with the touring popular band who had seen it all, each line is about each member. MM + Humble Horse \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number five: Animals in my play: In my plate, at this time, animals were visiting me, and Izabelle would comfort me after these visits, I swear, this is true, I swear I do not know what they wanted. (this is true).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat was something strange to me, they sounded like little medieval dwarf-like babies. I swear, some where cats, some where just animals, and my mom tried to fed them, I did too, they did not want to be fed, I don’t know what they wanted… \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Six: Cosmos and Demos. Where Two Brothers (true story) who sowed black limbs on white limbs and white limbs on black limbs, it did not work, but it was during the medieval era and they went around doing this before word from the town they were at before got to the town they were at . Was recorded on Bastille day in Paris, the background sound is that of fire works and one gun shot ( I know this because I was looking out the window as I recorded and saw the fire works, the towards the end of the song saw a man in a side street carrying a gun and walking into an apartment and then hearing it go off on the third or fourth floor) \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Seven : Michigan State. I have yet to ever go there. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Eight: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyour teethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyo urteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendme yourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklend meyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarkle ndmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedark lendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostintheda rklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthe darklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteehlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinth edarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostin thedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteethlost\u003cbr\u003einthedarklendmeyourteethlostinthedarklendmeyourteeth. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong Number nine: Miss Cain, I love you. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong Number Ten: Soon is good: Is about Jerry Elvis and Bob the crippled comic, more so a song for Jerry Elvis , to console him after Bob the crippled comic left him in the middle of the night, two weeks after they were married, he took the computer. My first show was at their wedding, I did, how great thou art and love me tender, it was a beautiful affair. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Eleven: Tell Me Something: I was admiring a picture of my mother. Persimmons will strangle the night away. Blah blah blah. This song, is lots of fun, to play, though ive neve played it live, if I play it. No, if I play and you wanna hear it, give me some shit and ill play it…. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Twelve: The Red Lagoon: Whistle while you work,hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nnnooowwwwwww, snake shall not row the boat ashore, shall not, it is blind. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Thirteen: A gentle soul, a gentle soul he is, my brother Laurent, a song for him and his daughter Camilla, for 14. im working on swimming with you again , my brother, a beautiful soul, the girl\/or brother\/slept pinned to the tits of an ancient bzzaaattttccchhhh\/cunt glow, then grew out of the suns glow, grew Oh The man cursed the salt shaker then put it in his robe , get out of my house. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Fourteen: Happy Happy Oh, now, the end sound is that sound that my dear mother made to put me to sleep as an infant and when I see her to this day. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Fifteen: Pumpkin seeds pumpkin seeds, balhblahblahtwomilliondollars, don’t die old man pigeon too, don’t split, not just yet , no. balh balh blah . I really like this song, I hope people are quiet when I play it, sometimes they are, good for them. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Sixteen: Thumbs touch Too Much: I will send you the Thumbs Too Much by Devendra Banhart if you would like, it will cost nothing, give me your address and it will be sent to you. It’s a book of psychedelic jokes. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Seventeen: Legless love: hahahahahahahah!!!! I’m standing on a new animal , I recognize its voice. Blahblahblahblah \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Eighteen: Marigold, her gills cover gills,then the child appeared and sang a favorite song. Then once again bent , sung for the child whom was disguised as a dear friend, dumb motherfucker, ohhohohoha small cat was a feminine child, im saying this to you,the bellies of the employees are donkeys on back of the record., I hate that drawing, I saw the animal ask as all animals do, I’m in the dark reaching for apples, I must be hungry, in every drop of water ,terrible music is learning to be dead, BY D.O.B then:inside the soup, a copy of a book sung itself to death pressure jules is queer name, Indian too, all Indians are drunks, im told , turquoise is precious adornment mass consumer, sing with your with till bronchitis instills and the house burns and the ashes do something I’m not sure what. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Nineteen: Make it easier on me, simply. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Twenty: Donal and Colter: Nevermind, im being watched now by small black eyes, from across the meadow , I know now there is another person. This is for two old loves, not mine but theirs, under me , the snow is breathing (happy birthday dead friend, your skin is certain to be eaten) I can see the wrinkles on its sweet-little-fingers, now ive dropped all of my belongings and am asking the black eyes across the meadow watching me to not kill me. Blah blah blah. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSong number Twenty-One: Little Monkey, Sweetyoungthing, child, raise your head, stay dead horse, stand dead horse, ride dead horse home, run river run, sun shine sun, sing child sing, sing your song , (again) sing your song. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\" data-mce-style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eSong number Twenty-Two: The spirit is near, The Spirit is Near, happybirthday da , merry Christmas dad, all holidays to you, father. ohmeohmythewaythedaygoe sbythesunissettinganddogsanddogsanddogsanddogsanddogsanddogsanddogsanddogs\u003cbr\u003eanddogsanddogsanddogsaredreaminglovesongsofthechristmasspiri\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\" data-mce-style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\" data-mce-style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e5\/1\/2003 | Magnet | by John Darnielle  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRange Life – Devendra Banhart\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlbums like this only come along every so often  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I’m terrible at guitar, though I play all the time,” says Devendra Banhart, “and I don’t think of myself as a writer, though I write all the goddamn time.” Interviews with singer\/songwriters seldom illuminate much of anything, but these self-effacing comments are helpful pointers for listeners looking to engage with Banhart’s debut, Oh Me Oh My…The Way the Day Goes By The Sun Is Setting Doges are Dreaming Lovesongs Of The Christmas Spirit (Young God). \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlbums like this only come along every so often. Self-recorded at LED-scorching Tascam levels, Oh Me Oh My recalls the voices of classic outsider like Arthur Doyle and Jandek while not sounding anything like them.. The similarities are in Banhart’s singularity and in his total dedication to his vision. While there was a time when you could expect to hear at least one home-recorded experiment per indie record--hello, Dinasour JR—it’s been some time since a new voice announced itself this clearly. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 22-year-old Banhart’s songs hang their hopes on the efficacy of repetition. “We certainly are nice people” is how the chorus of “Nice People” runs, sung in a creepy falsetto some 13 times in incrementally smaller variations over the course of three palpably harrowing minutes. “Lend Me Your Teeth” strips things down even further, its lyrics “(I’m lost in the dark\/Lend me your teeth\/Come on!”) delivered with a haranguing force. Guitar, tape hiss and a high, quivering voice are the sole tools working here, roughly constructing skeletal pieces of an unnervingly tense patchwork that elicits strong reactions from anyone who hears it. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“It’s amazing that anyone digs it, and I’m so happy they do,” says Banhart. “These are demos, sketches.” He offers a laundry list of tantalizing and increasingly puzzling possibilities for items that will one day stock his proper studio: “Zither, piano, xylophone, panpipes, barking, wingy sounds, rocky sounds, sandy sounds, handy sounds, sifting sounds, clapping sounds, gospelarian sounds, moany sounds, real simple sounds.” \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe question that usually occurs to a person confronted with something as bizarre as Oh Me Oh My is: “How am I supposed to take this?” The record, a self-contained universe of linking references that all lead back to the same place, offers few clues. Asked what sort of situation might be ideal for listening to his songs, Banhart defers, then runs with the question until he’s come clean out the other side of it. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I don’t listen to my songs; I listen to other cats who make better music,” he says. “But if I could walk in on a situation where my music would be appropriate, it would be this: Light a candle. Set the table, slowly. Set the polished, high-quality silverware. Honey, this is paradise. Baby, we are in any country you would like it to be. We are fine dining.” \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e11\/27\/2002 | New York Observer | by Joe Hooper  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDevendra Banhart, Oh Me Oh My...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMr. Banhart’s cult status seems pretty well assured  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen it comes to divas, agit-prop or otherwise, sometimes geography just raises more questions than it answers. Take the case of Devendra Banhart, a 21-year-old folk singer (I guess you’d call him) who was raised in Texas and moved with his family to Caracas, Venezuela, where, as he writes in his one-page biography, \"everything’s fucked, but I love my grandmother, whom [sic] fed whiskey to me from her pinky, paid me to touch my earlobes, and let me pull her elbow flab.\" He wound up in a squat in New York, he says, where he came to the attention of former Swan Michael Gira’s indie-rock label, Young God Records. Mr. Gira listened to his demo tape and rushed it into production, cosmetically unretouched, as Mr. Banhart’s late October debut album, Oh Me Oh My …\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWalter Benjamin famously opined, \"That which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art.\" In Mr. Banhart’s case, his crude overdubbing on a barely functional four-track is indistinguishable from his \"art naïf\" persona. His songs are surrealistic one- or two-minute vignettes rendered by a single guitar and a choir of not entirely in-sync warbly tenors (the overdubbing) which at unpredictable moments will shift into a highly unsettling falsetto wail. On the new album a variety of subjects are covered, among them romance (\"I know nature is beside me when he’s inside you, I feel it too\"), on several occasions teeth (\"Lost in the dark, lend me your teeth\") and, for some reason, Michigan (\"Oh, Michigan State, how I wanna live in you\"). \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMr. Banhart’s young career does raise the question of intentionality and self-consciousness and other subjects worthy of the next Charming Hostess album. Personally, I have no idea whether his sound comes from the open spaces and oil fumes of Texas and Venezuela or a close study of the indigenous grotesque in Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, and I don’t much care. The kid’s got a sound, as Bob Evans might say. In any event, with a midnight gig Nov. 27 at Williamsburg’s BQE Lounge, a return engagement at Tonic in December and a profile in the works at The Wire, the prestigious British music magazine, Mr. Banhart’s cult status seems pretty well assured. And deserved. The world should make a place for the truly unusual… \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e12\/15\/2002 | The London Observer | Kitty Empire  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDavendra Banhart | Oh Me Oh My | Review\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ehe's a rare find  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFew records are truly unsettling. Oh Me Oh My The Way The Day Goes By The Sun Is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming Lovesongs Of The Christmas Spirit  to give Banhart's album its full title  is one of this rare fellowship. The bearded and wild-eyed Vincent Gallo attempted recently to make an album as strange as this one and failed. Oh Me Oh My is less an album, more a poisoned stream of semi conscious primitive folk that divides roughly into 22 songs. 'Nice People' , particularly, clocks in at a lengthy 3 minutes, and its creep falsetto chorus 'They certainly are nice people,' becomes more disturbing with every repetition. For all their considerable eccentricity, however, Banhart's plucked melodies are as compelling as they are unusual. Banhart is a nomadic soul who lives in a New York squat and worships the likes of Vashti Bunyan, Karen Dalton, and Mississippi John Hurt. His more modern peers are Will Oldham and Cat Power and, like them, he's not for everyone. But he's a rare find. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e11\/6\/2002 | \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/pitchforkmedia.com\/\" data-mce-href=\"http:\/\/pitchforkmedia.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003epitchforkmedia.com\u003c\/a\u003e | Dominique Leone  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDevendra Banhart | OH ME OH MY... | Review\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe possesses a warble I won't soon forget...  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eand if that isn't the mark of a classic balladeer I don't know what is-- except that he can paint a wild picture of slow snails, cold snow, the Charles C. Leary, and very nice people. There are probably thousands of nomadic, dark troubadours who would stumble upon some surrealist notion of wisdom if given the time and the audience, but 21-year-old Devendra Banhart draws ellipses around more than mere romantic, hard travails and etched self-portraits. In short, he isn't your everyday, everyman's folk singer, though folk aficionados would do well to weird themselves out every once in awhile with his stuff.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBanhart's debut release for Michael Gira's Young God label is the work of someone presumably half-awake to conventions like \"professional recordings\" but fully aware of his own idiosyncrasies even as he performs without much trace of pretension or self-conscious nuance. The music on Oh Me Oh My is rarely more than an uncluttered combination of his unorthodox acoustic guitar pickings, more than a little tape hiss, and his immediately recognizable tenor. Banhart's voice might be a cross of Tim Buckley's flutter, Marc Bolan's timbre, and Tiny Tim's vibrato, but I would be hard pressed to claim he was imitating anyone. Similarly, his songs hit like sea chanteys started by Syd Barrett and then left mysteriously half-finished. In some cases, this is frustrating, but for the most part it seems bizarrely fitting.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBanhart does share a link with traditional minstrels in the instances he opts for epic tragedy. \"Soon Is Good\", one of the longer tracks here (the shortest being all of 39 seconds), could be about the buried pain of a lost love, though the typically half-nonsensical lyrics are tough to decipher. Fortunately, the solemn, but not quite melancholy, guitar figures are uplifting enough to support Banhart's odd mumble. Later, he drops lines like, \"My toes have my favorite feet,\" in \"Michigan State\" over understated, optimistic guitar accompaniment, and somehow comes off like a weathered road-poet.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eElsewhere, the songs can range from whimsical to slightly crazed. \"Lend Me Your Teeth\" stops just short of being a novelty number, perhaps due to the fact that Banhart keeps his yelp in check for most of it-- only leaping into whistle-warble territory for a brief stretch. \"Nice People\" may be the spookiest song on the album, beginning with ominous strumming, only to explode into a chorus of witchy Devendras repeating \"they certainly are nice people!\" There are moments on Oh Me Oh My that seem as if I'm overhearing a private sketch rather than a performance. Over the course of the CD, that might translate to ambience for some and annoyance for others.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd the idea of a personal sketch might have been the idea all along: none of the music here was meant for release, but merely Banhart's collection of home and road tapings. It's possible that his voice would resonate more clearly with the aid of a good mic and decent mix, but that could very well detract from the considerable intimacy of his sound. If part of a folk singer's power comes from the purity of his conviction, then Banhart's promising debut is the sign of someone destined for great, strange things.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Devendra Banhart","offers":[{"title":"oh me oh My.... \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634026209,"sku":"YG_OHMEOHMY_CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_39_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"rejoicing-in-the-hands","title":"Rejoicing In the Hands","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG26\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“…his raw songcraft is terrifyingly effective at communicating the breadth of human emotion… beautiful,damaged,naked and utterly compelling.”\u003c\/em\u003e- THE WIRE \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“The quaver in Mr. Banhart's voice is as shaky as his songs' connection to everyday reality...his songs and fragments ponder animals, apparitions, logical leaps and childlike certainties, all with credible eccentricity.”\u003c\/em\u003e- THE NEW YORK TIMES #2 ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF 2002\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e“It's been awhile since an obsessive, naïve, utterly original musical visionary…emerged from a private sanctum into the embrace of the rock cognoscenti. But we've got one now.”\u003c\/em\u003e -THE LOS ANGELES TIMES \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“He possesses a warble I won't soon forget, and if that isn't the mark of a classic balladeer I don't know what is… If part of a folk singer's power comes from the purity of his conviction, then Banhart's promising debut is the sign of someone destined for great, strange things.”\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.pitchforkmedia.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eWWW.PITCHFORKMEDIA.COM\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2 years ago I first heard the crude home made recordings of Devendra Banhart, then a homeless, wandering, neo psych\/folk hippie artist and musician, not yet 21 years old. We released these recordings on YGR because we'd never heard anything quite like them, ever. His voice - a quivering high-tension wire, sounded like it could have been recorded 70 years ago - these songs could have been sitting in someone's attic, left there since the 1930's. The response was astounding . Devendra soon moved here to NYC (from SF), where he lived in squats, couch-surfed, and finally found himself a home (very recently), suddenly riding a tidal wave of press acclaim, 3 or 4 US tours, tours in Europe, a special feature on NPR (for God's sake) – in short, a seismic shift in his fortunes. He's the most genuine, least cynical and calculated artist I've ever known, and he deserves every bit of the good things now coming his way. He's also one of the most innately talented, magical performers I have ever heard. Period. He GIVES. This kind of generosity and breadth of emotion is all too rare these days. Whether the songs are pained, twisted, whimsical, or even sometimes weirdly silly, aside from being fantastically musical and expertly played, they are also utterly sincere, and devoid of a single drop of post modern irony. In short, he's the real thing. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen it came time to record new music we were of course faced with the quandary of how to go about it – does he continue making hiss-saturated home recordings, or do we go into a “professional” studio? We mutually decided that it was best to move on – why should he be ghetto-ized as a possible low-fi crank\/eccentric? Besides, his songwriting and his guitar playing (in my opinion) have taken such leaps and bounds forward, that we were compelled to record them in a way that made it possible to really hear the performances clearly. Out of nowhere, the perfect situation arose. Lynn Bridges, who works with Jimmy Johnson (of Mussel Shoals fame – Bob Dylan, The Band etc etc…) contacted us and invited us down to his house on the Alabama\/Georgia border, where we recorded 32 songs (culled from something like 57 Devendra had initially submitted!) in his living room, using the best possible vintage gear. Ideal. Devendra sat on his stool in that living room for 10 days, 12 hours a day, and played, constantly. We set up a mic for his voice, a few on his guitar, and one or two in the room (an old, Georgia-style southern house with tall ceilings, wood floors etc.), and that's what you hear, for the most part, on these recordings (along with the occasional chorus of cicadas, when we happened to be recording at night, with the windows open). Then, we took these recordings to NYC and added a few overdubs here and there, played by a host of musicians (The song Rejoicing in the Hands features a tender duet with the legendary 60's English Pop Singer gamin (and one of Devendra's idols) Vashti Bunyan)...Deciding on the final arrangements was ridiculously easy – the songs were so good in their raw state that there was no need to bolster them with sonic fluff or cheap impact. So, there's a few sounds entering and leaving at will here and there, but hopefully they simply set a context. The important thing is always Devendra's performance, and his uncanny ability to transport us, through story\/words, and some pretty amazing finger-pickin' (!), just using his acoustic guitar and voice. I consider him to be an antidote, maybe even a sort of narcotic - that rare case where you feel like you're coming home when you listen to a piece of music… \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e- Michael Gira \/ Young God Records\/2004 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e: Produced by Michael Gira and Devendra Banhart \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCONTRIBUTING MUSICIANS : Vashti Bunyan - vocal duet on \"Rejoicing...\"; Jerome O'Brien - double bass; Joe McGinty - piano; Thor Harris - percussion; Julia Kent - cello; Paul Cantelon -violin; Siobhan Duffy - backing vocals; Patrick Fondiller - bass; Steve Moses - drums\/perc.... Devendra sang and played acoustic guitar, electric\/slide guitar, piano, and kazoo... \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRejoicing In The Hands is the first of two Devendra Banhart albums to be released this year (16 songs) on Young God Records. The second album, Nino Rojo (also 16 songs), will be released in late September '04\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e5\/29\/2004 | London Times by Stevie Chick  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDevendra Banhart\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRejoicing in the Hands of the Golden Empress  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis voice sounds as if it was lifted from an old Alan Lomax field recording, strip-mined directly off a dusty shellac 78, pops and scratches intact; a troubadour’s croon wavering with a unique amalgam of jazz, blues and Appalachian folk. Discovered by Michael Gira, of the New York noiseniks Swans, who released a debut album of his lo-fi home recordings two years ago, Banhart returns with this remarkable, unforgettable collection of fractured folk and joyful blues. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor all Devendra’s capacity for bone-chilling twists and passages of powerful melancholy, Rejoicing is an album defined, fittingly, by moments of heady, exultant joy — the overriding character of his singing is an unselfconscious ecstasy bubbling up from his heart, melding elements of the ancient and the sacred with the solicitous flair of a white swan-riding Marc Bolan. The songs here are spectral and enigmatic slivers spun on the sparsest instrumentation, ranging from Break the Body which courses with a gentle eroticism reminiscent of Tim Buckley at his most nakedly soulful to the faintly medievalist title ditty, accompanied by the great folk enigma Vashti Bunyan, and imbued with a potent, mystical spirituality. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe last time such a prodigious talent came on the scene was when Jeff Buckley released his first album, perhaps a fine reference point for the ambition and ability at play here; but Banhart — less refined but more audaciously gifted — sings his own song, and seems blissfully oblivious to the idea that anyone might be listening. But, soon, many will be. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePitchfork review 2004 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDevendra Banhart\u003cbr\u003eRejoicing in the Hands\u003cbr\u003e[Young God; 2004]\u003cbr\u003eRating: 8.4 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou and I listen to more music than anyone in the history of civilization. I don't mean more than your friend or that guy on that message board who seems to know about every buzz-worthy leaked CD before anyone else, but rather, more than any previous generation of active music fans. Think about all our MP3s and CDRs, the stuff we actually buy, and then add in the music we hear once and immediately declare isn't worth the 45 seconds we spent with it. It almost seems ridiculous, because ultimately, few of us would be willing to recommend more than but a few songs (let alone albums) to anyone outside our close-knit music circles. Digital media was supposed to satisfy the audiophiles with better sound and the businessmen with yet another kind of product to convince us we weren't getting everything we could out of music\/life. However, its primary effect has been to level music's impact to a similar scale as any other commodity-- outside those few songs we cling to like family, most of it ends up being used as trade-bait, rep maintenance, decoration and garbage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's easy to blame this on the digital age, but then, it seems to have been going on longer than MP3s and file-sharing. Kids have been comparing and competing with record collections for as long as I can remember-- probably as long as my mom can remember, too-- but there must have been a time when our hallowed few songs were the only ones that mattered at all. Maybe during the days when people were more worried about war or disease or how they were going to eat in the winter; was it \"folk music\" they were hearing and singing? I imagine \"entertainment\" and \"self-expression\" weren't as valuable as functionality and therapeutic relevance in music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDevendra Banhart's second full-length (and first of two planned 2004 releases), Rejoicing in the Hands, harkens back to a time before music had so many cultural roles. It's not necessarily an \"old-fashioned\" record, insofar as his performances or songs are concerned. Banhart's lyrics are as often seemingly nonsensical as they are evocative or descriptive, and his songs defy almost any conventional form you care to introduce. There are references to traditional American folk and blues, as well as hints of British acoustic folk along the lines of Fairport Convention, Bert Jansch and Banhart favorite Vashti Bunyan (who sings on the title track). However, for the most part, Rejoicing in the Hands is a record concerned with the absolute smallest things in life-- which usually end up being the most important-- helping pass the time when time is the only thing going anywhere. It's unconcerned with the past or the future, and is only too ready to supply songs you could sing after dinner or first thing in the morning. It seems valuable to hear something like \"we have a choice, we chose rejoice\" coming from a new CD, as if that was the only kind of value music was ever supposed to have. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnlike Banhart's 2002 debut, Oh Me Oh My, Rejoicing in the Hands was professionally recorded, and a few tracks feature backing musicians (including Angels of Light alums Thor Harris, Joe McGinty and Siobahn Duffy). It's far from slick, though, reeking of rustic, homemade charm. Furthermore, it surpasses Oh Me Oh My in both songwriting and Banhart's singing. His songs no longer veer into bizarro cadences or witchy vocal overdubs; Young God's Michael Gira remarks that he didn't want to pigeonhole Banhart as a lo-fi eccentric, and consequently, the singer's range of expression (and surprising delicacy) is given full justice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOpener \"This Is the Way\" sets forth the unhurried charge, confident in its own idiosyncrasy. Banhart's wordless count-off to his subtly accomplished fingerpicked guitar work betrays a casual ideal, even as couplets like, \"I knew, I knew I could stand tall\/ I could lay low,\" seem typically Banhartian in their benign whimsy. Likewise, the short guitar instrumental \"Tit Smoking in the Temple of Artesan Mimicry\" seems strangely familiar in its relaxed, uncomplicated feel, as Banhart's deceptively intricate lines cross one another like dueling minstrels on the road to nowhere. \"Todo Los Dolores\" even stops down as Banhart forgets the lyrics and has to begin again, much to the chagrin and amusement of a studio companion. If nothing else, Rejoicing in the Hands celebrates the informal and comfortable. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOther songs seem weightier. \"When the Sun Shone on Vetiver\" features Banhart accompanying his acoustic with angelic slide guitar, and a ghostly violin harmonizing his lead vocal. The midtempo, folky drone underneath his pseudo-psychedelic melodic vocal phrasing contributes to an unearthly ambience. \"Will Is My Friend\" features plaintive piano and double bass accompaniment, and comes off as a midnight country-blues lament for \"Going Back to California\". Closer \"Autumn's Child\" forgoes guitar almost entirely, featuring Banhart's quivering vocal over a soft, minor-chord piano dirge. Lines like, \"She wanted to leave it, but she could not because it was her own child,\" sound melodramatic on the page, but over the course of song, seem almost offhandedly frank. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRejoicing in the Hands establishes Banhart as a major voice in new folk music. Not only does it improve on the promise of his earlier releases; it effortlessly removes the listener from the context of the recording. That is, it doesn't seem like an album so much as a collection of road hymns and journals, and small tributes to smaller pleasures. If some people miss the appeal of this stuff in an attempt to digest it as any other product, all the better knowing Banhart will probably keep on rejoicing until forever. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-Dominique Leone, March 17, 2004 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEARLY ADVANCE REVIEW FOR REJOICING IN THE HANDS: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2\/ 24\/ 04 from: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jadedtimes.com\/reviews.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttp:\/\/www.jadedtimes.com\/reviews.html\u003c\/a\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBY TODD BERRY \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDevendra Banhart \u003cbr\u003eRejoicing in the Hands \u003cbr\u003eYoung God Records \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDevandra Banhart is an odd singer songwriter. In a time when more and more folk artists move into the electronic era, Banhart takes a purer approach to recording, adding few additional instruments and running with the strength of his songwriting and playing, and creating a strong, if minimalist, album. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the first track, you are immediately struck by just how bare this album is. Not barren, just bare; his vocals stand stark and naked, approachable and familiar, as if being played through a tube wireless radio from the forties, with a vocal warble reminiscent of singers of the time. Not to be confused with annoying crooning, his vocals are both distinct and friendly; even at his darkest moments you get the impression he is smiling through it, and the album provides a similar inspiration in the listener. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot to be outdone by his vocals, his guitar work rivals it in character and timelessness. With rhythms that seem as equally rooted in the works of Django Reinhardt as Simon and Garfunkle, Banhart successfully achieves a beautiful and powerful sound, with emotion, playfulness, and thematic prowess that will leave aspiring songwriters jealous and drooling. A beautiful, raw, and emotive release.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDEVENDRA BANHART BIO INFO (using excerpts from SF Weekly lead ARTS article) \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMan of La Mantra \/The psychedelic folk of wandering minstrel Devendra Banhart \/By Garrett Kamps\/SF WEEKLY\/Jan 08.2003 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“…Banhart was born in Texas in 1981, and named by an Indian mystic whom his parents followed. When his folks divorced two years later, he moved with his mom to Caracas , Venezuela , where he was raised amidst the shanties and sweatshops. Though his family had enough money to stay above the poverty line, life wasn't easy. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\" Venezuela was insane,\" says Banhart. \"You don't go out after 8 because it's too dangerous. You don't wear nice sneakers because, while here you may get assaulted, there you just get killed.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Banhart's mother remarried, his stepfather moved the family to Los Angeles . In the fall of 1998, having written songs since he was 12, Banhart left home to begin school at the San Francisco Art Institute, with a hefty scholarship. Though he was instantly disillusioned with the constraints of academic art, his environs took him in more productive directions. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLiving in the lower Castro, he was tapped by his roommates -- a gay couple whom Banhart refers to as \"Bob the Crippled Comic and Jerry Elvis\" -- to play two classic songs at their wedding: the gospel hymn \"How Great Thou Art\" and Elvis Presley's \"Love Me Tender.\" Touched by the request, Banhart found himself newly inspired. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShortly thereafter, he had a second epiphany. While vacationing in Bish Bash Falls , a state park in Massachusetts , Banhart and his girlfriend were quarreling about the Rolling Stones. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The argument was about [the song] 'Street Fighting Man,'\" he says. \"And I'm like, 'That's bullshit. Mick Jagger wasn't fighting nobody.' And she was like, 'Well, how do you know? Maybe they just made it up.' And I was like, 'Well, I can make up a song about something!' And it turned out to be this little song ...\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBanhart proceeds to sing, limerick-style: \"There once was a man who really loved salt\/ So he tied his nose to the sea\/ And then God came down from his silver throne\/ And said, 'Honey, that water ain't free.'\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"That's when I realized I could write about anything I wanted,\" he adds casually. \"It was like being constipated and then taking a suppository.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThus began Banhart's days as a wandering minstrel. When he returned to San Francisco , he began playing anywhere that would have him, be it an Ethiopian restaurant, an Irish pub, or Du Nord's weekly \"Monday Night Hoot.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"We had to pretend like he was just helping us with equipment and then sneak him in,\" says Eric Shea, host of the \"Hoot.\" \"He was too young to get into the club.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the summer of 2000, Banhart dropped out of art school and moved to Paris . There, he was discovered by the owner of a small club, who chose him to open shows for indie rock bands. All the while he was recording songs, both on a borrowed four-track and on a friend's answering machine. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMoving back to the United States in the fall, Banhart bounced between San Francisco and Los Angeles . At a gig at the Fold in L.A. , Banhart was doing a sound check when Siobhan Duffy overheard his set. A lover of old bluegrass and folk music, Duffy is also a close personal friend of Michael Gira, the one-time frontman for New York gloom-rock legends Swans and current owner of Young God Records. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"She couldn't believe it,\" says Gira of Duffy's reaction. \"So [Banhart] gave her a CD-R, and I listened to it and had the same response. His voice is so unique, his songwriting is just amazing…\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Devendra Banhart","offers":[{"title":"Rejoicing In The Hands + Niño Rojo \/ album \/ 2xLP","offer_id":634029153,"sku":"YG_Rejoicing_LP","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Rejoicing in the Hands \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":49047066116398,"sku":"YGR_DB_RH_CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_41_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"soundtracks-for-the-blind","title":"Soundtracks For The Blind","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"content\" role=\"content\" class=\"col2-right-layout\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"mainContent\"\u003e\n\u003csection\u003e\n\u003carticle class=\"productdetail\"\u003e\n\u003csection id=\"productdetail\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"productdetail_right\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG01\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e•••SIGNED BY M.GIRA•••\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis double CD album has everything in there – all the ideas from Swans’ 15 years of work.  There’s some contemporary recordings of the band as it existed in ‘96\/7, with Larry Mullins on drums\/percussion, Jarboe singing and playing keyboards, Vudi playing electric guitar, and Joe Goldring playing bass and electric guitar, and me singing and playing electric and acoustic guitar, but there’s also a huge amount of sounds and recordings that I (and a few by Jarboe here too) collected over the years. These are reassembled, looped, mangled, and in many cases overdubbed upon to create new pieces of music. Being the “artist” in this case, it’s hard for me to talk about this one, because the memory is so laden (or burdened!) with the experience of making this thing. I guess what I’m trying to say here is I almost had a heart attack making it (slightly kidding here). It was just overwhelming. I really set my own trap, dug my own grave on this one. There was SO MUCH material to deal with, to sift through (whole trunks full of decomposing, moldy cassettes and discs with samples and sounds), and the task of making it into something coherent was at times debilitating. Really like climbing up a mountain of sand. I don’t remember why I set this goal for myself, to somehow incorporate such a ridiculously disparate amount of material. I think maybe it was so I could justify throwing all that crap into the local dump, which is what I did when I finished the album.  But in the end, after centuries of picking at this huge iceberg of material with a toothpick, my trusty engineer Chris Griffin and I managed to sculpt something out of it. It actually breathes, seems to live, in most places I think. There’s a press release below written by Kurt at Atavistic (Swans label at the time), and some reviews too, which might give you a better idea of how this sounds. Anyway, in the end, I was elated with this music, both because I liked it and because finishing it meant I could finally lay Swans to rest after 15 years. In my case, I’m always happiest when I’m leaving. – Michael Gira\/Young God Records 2008\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePress release from 1997 by Kurt at Atavistic: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSoundtracks for the blind is the final studio album from the legendary band. Throughout their fifteen-year history, Swans have unfailingly presented intense, utterly singular \u0026amp; peerless music. Soundtracks for the blind, their new double-cd set, is the final studio album. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSoundtracks was compiled from a complex variety of sources, among them cassette loops, found sounds, narratives \u0026amp; multi-track recordings of new songs \u0026amp; interludes featuring many of the same talented musicians who joined M. Gira \u0026amp; Jarboe on last year's highly successful great annihilator world tour: Larry Mullins (drums, iggy pop band) \u0026amp; Vudi (gtr, american music club) and Joe Goldring on bass and guitar. These myriad textures, sounds \u0026amp; musical passages were then collaged, merged \u0026amp; interwoven by gira, and true to form, the fidelity \u0026amp; aural effect on the listener is just astounding.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSoundtracks for the blind totally delivers, in full circle fashion, the promise nascent in '94's great annihilator album. The collision of art, sound \u0026amp; technology has seldom sounded more complete or seductive... Soundtracks for the Blind yields total sonic immersion: your only option is to succumb.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e12\/1\/1996 | The Wire | Biba Kopf  \u003cbr\u003eSwans | Soundtracks for the Blind | Review\u003cbr\u003eSwans always wrote every song like it was going to be their last  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Swans always wrote every song like it was going to be their last. Even so, the announcement that this is finally it, after some 15 years of honing word, gristle, rhythm and half-melody into some of the finest, most enduring, if (unsurprisingly) somewhat unfairly overlooked works in the whole rock cannon, comes as a shock. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat they've decided to submit to cold economic reality and call it a day rather than face another soul-destroying struggle with media indifference and a diminishing fan base is sensible enough. But what is truly sad about the whole Swans saga coming to an end now is the fact that the music they've been making these past three years is every bit as powerful as the extraordinary, torturously slow, delayed-drop gallows rock with which they announced themselves at the start of the 80's. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese last Swansongs, spread over two CDs (which, appropriately enough, last a lifetime) cap and conclude all the major Swans concerns. At the same time, the instrumental fragments and interludes that punctuate the fully developed pieces hint at all the Swansongs that now will never be, just as they provide tantalizing glimpses of the future directions that Swans motivating force Michael Gira, and longtime partner Jarboe, might take.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe musical scope of Soundtracks is as breathtaking as it is thematically devastating. Along with its immediate predecessor, Die Tür Ist Zu, it constitutes the cement that binds all their preceding music into a single, formidable body of work. The subject of this body of work is the human body itself, and the daily toll taken on both body and soul by pointless, spiritually unsatisfying work. The tape collage \"How They Suffer\" underlines the physical frailty that permeates the set. It features two tape extracts, one of Jarboe talking to her mother, who is facing the onset of old age; the other is Gira's father talking about the detached retina that has left him blind. The piece is as moving as it is characteristically bleak, in that it offers no solace other than the sense of calm acceptance in the two voices. This admission of more directly autobiographical material is rare for a group which always spoke in the first person to articulate universal, and universally ugly, truths. Perhaps the sense of mortality the piece invokes accelerated The Swans' decision to call it a day. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhere the younger, earlier Swans would subject the body to a vicious pummeling, simulating the cruelty of the exchange values that at base govern our lives, the latter day Swans will pile into a singular riff with the musical intention of providing a release. Monotonal guitar pieces like \"The Sound\" and \"Helpless Child\" combine the controlled frenzies of Glenn Branca's guitar orchestras with the emotional intensifications of Austrian blood-artist Herman Nitsch. Where before there seemed no end to The Swans' riffing, now the piling up of overtones finally bursts into the light that illuminates the earlier darkness. But the songs are scarcely less grim. \"All Lined Up\" is even more devastating in its updated version than it was in its original take on Gira's solo album Drainland. What was once a flesh parade is now a march of the dead—ghost shapes iridescent in the winter light and the narrative intoned in Gira's most weatherbeaten baritone. Time and again, Gira and Jarboe pick at the scabs of their past to see if they can still bleed. Empathy straddles the Greed\/Holy Money and Children Of God eras with the narrator cursing a lapse into kindness as a betrayal of weakness, while the last song \"The Final Sac\", reprises the notion of love, divine or otherwise, as a form of dominance and submission.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRight up to their dying moments The Swans have stayed true to their witheringly bleak vision. It has absolutely no comparison in rock. Indeed, if Gira's obsessive way of putting a small, yet complete vocabulary through endless permutations of the same, seemingly self-loathing theme can be compared to anything it should be to the novels of the late, great Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard. Meanwhile, another Austrian, the satirist Karl Kraus, summed up why he and their like keep gnawing at the same corpse: \"Because,\" he said, \"I persist in believing there's life in it yet.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e11\/27\/1996 | Detroit Metro Times | Thom Jurek  \u003cbr\u003eSwans | Soundtracks for the Blind | Review\u003cbr\u003e* * * * * stars  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the issue of Soundtracks For The Blind, their 15th album in as many years (along 12\"s and side projects), Swans are calling it quits. There's one final tour planned and then the band enters the palace of rock and roll memory. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor me, this is difficult, because on a pop scene filled with transience and trend, Swans have always been present if not always visible, ever looking forward. They are, in both ambition and excess, a true voice of resistance to an \"alternative\" music that consumed its own corrupted flesh in the mid-1980s. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI won't spend time talking about the legion of bands they influenced—most of whom have gained in stature and economic status as a result of Swans' renegade aesthetic and unbreakable spirit—it leaves too bitter a taste in my mouth. And though I know both Gira and Jarboe are far too driven to give up working—there are books, films and duo and solo recordings planned—I will miss the persona that was so singularly Swans.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a title, \"Soundtracks for the Blind\" is filled with irony. Never have Swans been so focused on their particular strengths as they are on this double CD. As a final statement, it shows that Swans are exiting at the very top of their game, not as a broken, empty shell that merely references the finer moments of yesteryear. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVisually, this set is a work of art. A cardboard digipak with two sparely designed discs of copper and silver and a gorgeous lyric sheet inserted in an inside pocket with a silkscreen of a human boneyard on the flipside. The design has everything to do with the music; it's ambiguous, austere, imposing; it stands out and invites you in, via a complex, devastating seduction. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMusically, \"Soundtracks For The Blind\" consists of sounds compiled from many sources: found, appropriated, played, looped and multi-tracked from live shows to hand-held cassette recordings to studio constructions. Gira and Jarboe recruited collaborators such as former American Music Club guitarist Vudi, Iggy Pop drummer Larry Mullins, Joe Goldring and Kris Force, and edited in contributions from Norman Westberg, Clinton Steele and Larry Lame (these last four, former Swans members). All the music was taken apart, collaged, spindled, manipulated, remixed and remodeled by Gira and engineer Chris Griffin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore often than not, guitars bleed into keyboards and unidentifiable sounds, samples melt into drum loops, voices slip in and out of a thick, warm, sleepy mix and words become narrations by which the music changes direction, disappears and re-emerges transformed. Where single acoustic guitars appear, stringed instruments and unidentifiable sounds displace them and relegate them to the periphery, opening up a space for the singer to shift meanings even further afield. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlmost all individual traces (except for vocals) are obscured, not to render them beyond recognition necessarily, but in order to create an original (who can say that in pop anymore?), hypnotic, genreless whole, that breeds and reflects sadness, loneliness, isolation, alienation, resignation, tragedy and an eros born of out need, not want. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe twin notions of ambiguity and blur serve Swans well; they create the emotional axis on which \"Soundtracks For The Blind\" turns. Where one tracks begins, another ends, both thematically and contextually. The segues fold one emotion and the trace of its passage into another; that is then grafted as a new shadow onto the next theme. It's obvious that \"Soundtracks For The Blind\" was conceived as a continuous whole. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn years past, Swans were deservedly known for their aggression and brutality. These schema have been replaced by an ominous softness, an almost a malevolent tenderness expressed in whispers and washes. No longer do rage and domination battle with repulsion and submission for dominance in their sound—though the threat is ever-present. Individually, these territories have been eclipsed by a new, wider space, in which they are all contained: abjection. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is from the Mark of Cain that Gira and Jarboe speak, it is in this ravaged, hallowed ground from which a new sonic cartography has been hewn, and a new grammar of the iniquitous been birthed. Here Neitszche, Baudelaire and Mary Magdalene walk with Bataille, Genet and Joan of Arc. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn \"Red Velvet Corridor,\" the opening track, a slowly evolving theme of three notes breathes in the mix before what sounds like strings and a vocal drone placidly enter the fray. A lone feedback well comes from the ether and paints it momentarily. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe theme never stops, it is simple, melodic, beautiful; but even here, its sweetness colors a feeling of something sorrowful. It's elegiac, it moves the listener to the very aesthetic space Swans' discourse come from. And as it fades, one is not quite prepared for the instrumental that follows, \"I Was A Prisoner In Your Skull.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA small, minimal phrase slips out into the fore only to be overshadowed by groaning voices, pounding drums and strange, disorienting spoken words. The voice, neither Gira or Jarboe, proclaims in a pathetic manner his superiority to an unidentified lesser who depends on him. Airy keyboards repetitively play throughout, highlighting the speaker's increasingly twisted confession and accusations. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the first actual \"song\" on the record appears, \"Helpless Child,\" electric and acoustic guitars along with subtle keyboards delicately frame the narrative Gira is about to iterate. And in his controlled delivery, we can hear the cracks in his protagonist's psyche; his heart is bursting with longing and regret. This is the articulation of what is to come over the next two hours, full of warped soul and bent love, cruelty and atrocity: \"Now you be the mother\/and I'll be your fool\/I'll hide myself deep inside your crimson pool. The muddy water runs\/Beneath your folds\/You won't let me breathe, you won't let me go. Now you be the stranger\/and I'll be the white-skinned son\/You'll blacken my innocence, with sugar and opium.\/The children were suffocating down in your damp cave\/And you were the mother, and I was the sleeping slave\/Protect me from violence, hold me in your cool lips\/You drug me with kindness, I can pretend I exist\/Now you be the only child\/I'll suck on your breast\/You'll feed me with gasoline, I'll burn my name in your head.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere, redemption is a matter for the past to reconcile, the cupboard is empty and so is the bed. What is longed for is wholly absent and growing ever fainter as memory. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is what Swans do, they read the unmentionable and mirror it back to us in a language that is enough for us to understand and from so far outside our everyday experience it borders on the sacred. What Swans seem to be saying in these songs is that these elements really are part of our lives. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThings do get somewhat aggressive on \"Yum-Yab Killers,\" a live track where Jarboe chants over a drum intense mix laden with woolly guitars: \"I said come here, dear, you know what I'll do\/I'll make you my mirror of the things that I chew.\" Alternately, she spits the words or they drip from her mouth like poisoned honey. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom primal scream to funereal modal excess to ambient noir, sound forms to near-heraldic balladry, Swans have looked into the mouth of the vast unknown and given it a name, and in the process they've named themselves. They've raided the musical past for forgotten treasures—their own and others—and have made use of them in a new way. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(It is interesting to note their appropriation of Pink Floyd's \"One Of These Days\" on \"The Sound.\" Swans turn a once merely disturbing song by the former band into something so ominous, future-phobic and frightening, getting to the end of its 13 minutes is an experience in tension). \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe copper disc is only a predictable extension of disc one in that nothing is ever done predictably, though everything has a consistent \"feel.\" Each note, beat and cluster, is in a constant state of metamorphosis. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Soundtracks For The Blind\" breaks itself open and reveals itself slowly. There are epiphanies as well as black holes to be found, sometimes within the same track. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn all, \"Soundtracks For The Blind\" is almost unbearably beautiful. In its lush appearance it is seductive; in its loss, unmerciful; in its harrowing vision, it never flinches from horror; in its sheer volume and musical landscape, it is exhaustive without bankrupting itself creatively. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn \"Soundtracks For The Blind\" Swans ask questions that most of us don't want to be asked, let alone answer. One of the most sexually charged and emotionally honest recordings I have ever heard, its expressions of lust and shame allow us to live inside it and take comfort in its excesses. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a rare thing in music, that a document, particularly a final one, can encompass the darkness of the entire world in one place. Like I said, I am having a tough time accepting the fact that Swans won't be around anymore. God knows we need their courage and flawed grace more than ever.   \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e11\/23\/1996 | Melody Maker | Jonathan Selzer  \u003cbr\u003eSwans | Soundtracks for the Blind | Review\u003cbr\u003elike fragments from a world whose foundations are in the last stages of erosion  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo this is it, the last album proper by my favourite, most fatalistic band, a band who could give rise to the most transcendent of feelings only because they'd detail their own limits with such meticulous care, a band who sensed such overwhelming destiny they were stricken by it. The first time I played a Swans record, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Listening to them now, ravaged, wretched, as terminal a document for the millenium as you'll ever encounter, they sound as though they're beyond belief, as tragic as an unrequited martyr. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Soundtracks For The Blind\" is what's left now that all Swans' endeavour has burnt itself out. It's composed from shreds—tape loops, \"found\" samples, recorded testimonies of spiritually lost mid-Westerners—isolated moments blended together, like fragments from a world whose foundations are in the last stages of erosion. When they do become galvanised, it's not through any will of their own, so much as from a final, dying vision—but it's a glorious and redemptive vision, succumbing to an overpowering feeling of loss. Michael Gira has never sounded quite as raw, as naked as this. His voice is now a riddled rasp. \"Animus\" is as noble and as disconsolate as Judy Garland's last performances, with hopeless longing to match. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSwans are way ahead of you. They've already reached the point of post-millennial tension. Majestic in its scope, pathetic in its humanity, \"Soundtracks For The Blind\" fulfils Swans' irrevocable fate and their tragedy, that they'd surpass themselves. Into oblivion. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2\/1\/1997 | The Equipment Authority | Kurt B. Reighley  \u003cbr\u003eSwans | Soundtracks for the Blind | Review\u003cbr\u003ean ambitious collage that folds found sounds, tape loops, and studio recordings into a dense aural melange  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOften compared with Sonic Youth, Swans has consistently displayed greater stylistic diversity than its down-town N.Y.C. art-noise colleagues without deviating from frontman Michael Gira's singularly bleak vision. This, the band's last release (supposedly Swans is calling it quits), is no exception. It's an ambitious collage that folds found sounds, tape loops, and studio recordings into a dense aural melange.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSoundtracks for the Blind eschews conventional verse\/chorus\/bridge structures, favoring experiments with timbre and juxtaposition instead. The 1-2-3 transition from the disorienting samples of \"Her Mouth is Filled with Honey\" into the churning rock repetitions of \"Blood Section,\" followed by the twisted howl of \"Hypogirl\" (sung by longtime collaborator Jarboe), could prompt a case of whiplash. Testimonies from unspecified individuals, as in the unnerving \"Minus Something,\" offset majestic instrumental interludes of cello, bells, guitar, and keyboards. Often the most captivating elements border on subliminal, such as the fax tones buried in \"Red Velvet Corridor\" or the organ accents of \"I Love You This Much.\"  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cumulative sensation of Soundtracks' disparate elements is akin to eavesdropping on dozens of psychotherapy sessions, hearing seemingly disassociated sets of ideas underpinned with a constant surge of raw feeling. Swans has been criticized for a decade and a half for being a difficult band for listeners to understand, but you don't have to know the details of the emotional impetus behind Gira's music to appreciate its raw power.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/article\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Swans","offers":[{"title":"Soundtracks For The Blind \/ album \/ 2xCD","offer_id":634038737,"sku":"YG_SOUNDTRACKS_CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/soundtracks.jpg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"swans-are-dead-live-95-97","title":"Swans Are Dead: Live '95-'97 (SOLD OUT)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG03\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e•••SIGNED BY M.GIRA•••\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAside from the early self-eviscerating era of Swans the 2 tours captured on this album are my favorite live recordings of Swans. Somehow, all the different periods of the band came together here, and I remember the performances as being transporting and even transcendent. That's my own experience of course, but my instinct tells me the audience experienced it that way too. The sound quality of these recordings is good-to-excellent, in my opinion. In fact, of all the Swans albums, this is the one I feel most comfortable listening to. I mean \"comfortable\" in the sense that the recording seems to have captured the performance and intent of the music. There's some reviews below. If you choose to purchase this, yes, play it loud, and I hope it gives you pleasure. - Michael Gira\/Young God Records 2008\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\" data-mce-style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2\/25\/1998 | SF Weekly | Dave Clifford\u003cbr\u003eSwans | Swans Are Dead | Review \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAttrition‹the act of wearing away a surface through repeated rubbing, or the gradual reduction of will through constant waves of repetition‹is the defining characteristic of Swans. In the 15-year existence of the now-finished group, vocalist\/guitarist Michael Gira and a revolving door of contributors‹the most significant of these being longtime vocalist\/keyboardist Jarboe‹sought to isolate and exaggerate the limitations of music. Where rhythm and melody traditionally embody a song, Swans have dissected it. Where lyrical themes traditionally ignore the visceral and brutal sides of sexuality, Swans have sought to magnify them. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn early recordings like Filth and Young God, Swans hammered single or double beats of a measure and a melody into plodding tempos. The result was simplistic, brutal, and anti-melodic. But once Gira had mastered the form, he abandoned it in favor of a new sound, one in which chiming Middle Eastern drones were infused with a rhythmic impulsion. The melodicism cost the band a considerable following in the early 90s. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSwans Are Dead, the final act of attrition, contains live recordings culled from their final world tours of 1995 and 1997. Here, as clever as always, Swans' music atomizes rhythm and melody by taking repetition to an extreme, almost aberrant degree, to a point where the music is transformed into a behemoth machine that simultaneously disrupts and illuminates its own internal structure. On the album opener, \"Feel Happiness,\" the rhythm of a standard bar is frozen, as a repeated snare crack and cymbal crash compound beneath drop-tuned droning bass, guitars, and keyboard. Similar to the way a skipping CD or record plucks a small element from a passage and disrupts its logic, the repetition of flowing cymbals and a fragmented guitar melody disrupts a normal rock song.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany of the songs performed on these final tours were versions of older Swans material, reworked to emphasize certain melodic, lyrical, and rhythmic subtleties. \"Blood Promise,\" the syrupy 1994 ballad, is stripped to a torturous chiming drone of guitars and flaring cymbals. \"I Crawled\" is reworked from its original crushing plod into a tense narrative with slowly building crescendos. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStill, it is songs like \"The Sound\" and \"Not Alone\" that jarringly demonstrate Swans' tasteful flirtation with streamlined melodies. Compounding several harmonies of instruments that swirl continuously in mantra form, the group creates a sound of constant elevation and rhythmic attrition. \"The Sound\" begins as a murmur of keyboards, vibraphone, and lightly thumping percussion, and a simple melody is slowly built within the repetitive modulation between two notes. The structure has fractured and musical order is, if only briefly, transcended. Which is exactly the aim of Swans' music‹to give the taste of ecstatic annihilation. And here, a blissful farewell.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2\/19\/1998 | TimeOut New York | Issue No. 126 | Jordan N. Mamone Review | SWANS ARE DEAD \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOver the course of a 15-year existence, Swans built up a solid reputation for blinding intensity and brutal honesty. Leader Michael Gira was so unafraid to explore the limits of the crushingly leaden and the mystically ethereal that his compositions and from-the-gut emotional frankness occasionally verged on the ridiculous. More often, his tunnel vision and severity intensified music of a singular power unmatched in its sensuous physicality and visionary depth. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSwans leave behind a legacy as the most radical aesthetic dissenters from the golden age of '80s NYC tumult rock, yet also as the most faithful adherents to that scene's sternness and experimental edge. A force of extremes and paradoxes, their bowing out with an exorbitant but necessary double-live CD is only appropriate. Swans Are Dead is rough going if you're averse to Gira's obsessively dark, rhythmic repetition, but otherwise it's a rewarding final chronicle of one of the most fascinating forces ever to grace a stage. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGira \u0026amp; Co.'s discography is rich in masterful concert documents, and this pristinely recorded capper is no different. Swans Are Dead skirts redundancy by drawing from the band's twilight works but also including reinterpretations of old pile drivers; the industrial thuds of \"I Crawled\" and \"Your Property\" are every bit as methodical and grandiose as their '84 renditions but now boast aggro-elegant, complex arrangements and the dramatic, seductive pipes of keyboardist Jarboe in lieu of Gira's tough roar. These rewrites fit in perfectly with the more recent stuff (including two all-new epics), which is still huge and richly textured but often similarly mutated. \"Low Life Form,\" from Gira's spartan '95 solo LP, swells into an immobilizing tidal wave, while the once cold, steely \"I Am the Sun\" turns into a perversely choleric cabaret shuffle. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough Swans Are Dead splits its discs between a 1995 lineup and the 1997 final tour personnel, the musicianship is uniformly distinctive and flawless. If the set fails in any way, it's due to an inability to capture the volume, imposing vastness and intoxicating vibe of live Swans. But with the band buried and a Huysmansian conglomeration of home stereo, virtual reality and hypnotism yet to be invented, Swans Are Dead will have to suffice as the ultimate sensory blowout. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4\/1\/1998 | Ink #19 | Drew West  \u003cbr\u003eSwans | Swans Are Dead | Review\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey were, are, and will always be the most powerful band in the world live.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA banshee screams while the Vikings swing hammers and swords into their enemies. I sense sweat pouring from faces. Every soul being destroyed from within the shell it lives. The anger, resentment, and rawness cuts through even the hardest heart. No one ever does it like Swans. Even through the CD, I get goose bumps. I can't explain it. When I watched Swans in Atlanta for the last time, my body went numb. Every hair stood on end. I was waiting for lightning to come through the ceiling and ignite my body. So I ask why? Why must I suffer? Why are they doing this to us? Why does it have to end? They were, are, and will always be the most powerful band in the world live. We have only two CDs to remember them, but they exhibit nothing but perfection. It is Swans. Gira mixed both live recordings and \"bootlegs\" from fans to capture the emotions. I have never heard a live recording capture \"live\" like this before, and probably never will again. The songs included do not matter, because they are perfect. The first disc is the final 1997 tour, and the second the 1995 tour. I cannot promote illegal activities to gain possession of this release, but any fan will be happy. Now all that is left is the final reissue sets, and SWANS ARE DEAD.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e8\/3\/1995 | Sound Projector | Ed Pinsent  \u003cbr\u003eSwans | Review | Swans are Dead  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI find it remarkable how Swans have progressed over the many years of their existence from near-atonal cacophony to trembling acoustic melody without ever compromising the severity or intensity of the effect their music induces. The earlier Swans records, although slow, loud and harrowing, with titles that pretty much say it all ('Raping a Slave', 'Butcher', 'Thug'), always hinted at some delicate sense of beauty amid the walls of guitar noise and shudder-inducing lyrics. Although more recent albums have been perversely tuneful ('The Sound Of Freedom' could almost be Swans' take on Bruce Springsteen) that edgy sense of vertigo has remained undiluted. It is this quality which makes them unique. My first experience of the group Whitehouse (cited as an influence by Michael Gira)ì was quite extreme. I found the records disturbing to such an extent that I had doubts about wanting such vile artefacts in my house. Whitehouse, by their own testament, produced 'the most violently repulsive records ever made'. Whitehouse are all about domination - that is, beating the listener into submission. But where their untrammelled fury is directed outwards at the listener, that of Swans takes the opposite approach. Swans music doesn't name names, but rather focuses on the psychological profile of rage directed inwards; which, with the extremes to which Gira's lyrics take it, seems altogether more disturbing. Whitehouse may scream and rage about what plans they have in store for your bottom, but when Gira howls 'I'll cut off my right arm just to stand in your shadow', and sounds as though he intends to do just that, it is genuinely scary. This double CD marks the conclusion of the group's long and tormented history, with expertly recorded selections from the last two tours. Like Mr Dinger (see elsewhere), Swans are in their element doing one simple thing over and over until one is carried away by its divine momentum. The effect works in a similar way to the principle of Chinese water torture, and on occasion to an apparently similar end. This is not to suggest Swans are just about pain. No, it's more complicated than that, like the dull and vaguely satisfying numbness of a picked-at wound, a second of clarity and calm before a violent storm, extended out towards infinity. Yet in spite of this, even at their slowest and ugliest, Swans remain sublimely glorious and panoramic. There is something very Old Testament at work here. A fitting full stop to Swans' fifteen year sentence.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Swans","offers":[{"title":"Swans Are Dead: Live '95-'97 \/ album \/ 2xCD","offer_id":634051313,"sku":"YG_DEAD_CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"WAVs \/ album \/ digital","offer_id":51960323080494,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/dead.jpg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"the-angels-of-light-sing-other-people","title":"The Angels Of Light Sing \"Other People\"","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG27\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e•••INSERT SIGNED BY M.GIRA•••\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ci class=\"\"\u003eREMASTERED IN 2022\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere are a few observations regarding my new Angels of Light album. Following this, beneath it, are some rambling notes that might tell the story of how the songs came about. I hope you find time to listen to the music, and if you do I sincerely hope you enjoy it! – Michael Gira\/Angels of Light\/Young God Records 2005 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis album is different in many ways than what I’ve done in the past. There’s no general band “sound” here. The instrumentation is arranged in each song to fit the subject. Each song is its own world, a place for the people in the songs to live. I intentionally eschewed long instrumental passages, crescendos, that sort of thing – I’ve done enough of that, and I’m tired of it. The songs say what they have to say, then end. Many are entirely acoustic. When electric instruments are used, they’re used sparsely. I set a limitation before recording: there would be no drums (one song contains about 10 seconds of drums, but otherwise, nothing) – double bass or bass guitar is used instead as the rhythmic base. This had the effect of opening up a lot of space, as well necessarily forcing the songs into focus. This is as close as I’ll ever get to making “pop” songs, though I of course realize my definition is probably a little different than yours!  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJust before making this record I’d co-produced the debut album of Akron\/Family, and I liked their sensibility so much that I asked them to contribute to my own Angels of Light album. It changed everything. We collaborated fully on the orchestrations and the result was a revelation to me – a complete turnaround in many ways. I guess it’d be fair to say that their youthful enthusiasm and continually erupting stream of ideas infected me with a long absent sense of elation. They all play about 20 instruments with varying degrees of skill, and their approach was often the exact opposite of what I would have initially thought. Of course, in some cases, they did exactly as I said, and shut the hell up about it – ha ha! But the best thing for me was the surprise of hearing the songs in a new light... I had a great time making this record. It’s the most relaxed I’ve been in the studio in years, and I think it shows in the vocal performances. In any event, I hope the songs speak to you in some way...Thanks for your time!  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePS: If you’d like to read a more extensive bio about me, my past life and work with Swans as well as the history of Angels of Light, or access an archive of press about myself as well as the other artists released through the record label I own, Young God Records, go to this website: \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.younggodrecords.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ewww.younggodrecords.com\u003c\/a\u003e  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProduced by Michael Gira. Musicians: Michael Gira – acoustic guitar, vocals, harmonica, various. Akron\/Family: Seth Olinsky – acoustic and electric guitars, vocals, piano, organ, banjo, casio etc.; Miles Seaton – bass guitar, electric and acoustic guitars, vocals, casio, sounds, etc.; Dana Janssen – slide bass, electric guitar, vocals, drums on 10, glockenspiel, various percussion, saxophone, casio, piano, etc.; Ryan Vanderhoof – acoustic and electric guitar, slide guitar, vocals, casio, etc. Additional musicians: Jerome O’Brien – double bass; Siobhan Duffy – vocals; Paul Cantelon – violin; Julia Kent – cello; Patrick Fondiller – mandolin.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotes: After making more records than I care to remember I’ve realized that I have no control over the process of writing, and when I’m lucky, I embrace that fact, stop fighting, and let the creature that hovers behind my head take over. He’s my best friend. He appears less often than I’d like, but when he shows himself he makes the best decisions, so why struggle? ... This time, he first entered my mind while I was watching a lurid and humiliating (for everyone involved) television special that examined the strange and wonderful Disney-like life of a certain fallen Media God, whose race-less, androgynous visage, coupled with his preternatural dance steps and feline voice have placed him in the consciousness of millions of people throughout the world... Around that same period of time, the spectacle of Saddam Hussein’s face was also floating menacingly inside our television screens like the (lit from below) massive head of The Wizard of Oz, threatening the world with certain, delicious annihilation, or so we hungrily assumed, since that is what we were told. He would saturate our gleaming cities with caustic gas and chemicals – we could feel it gnawing at the inside of our lungs as we watched! So, naturally, these two images – that of the bleached and squeaking nymph and that of the terrible “Other” ogre – merged in my mind into one image – a fresh and even more seductive menace, a new messiah, hyper-real and luminescent, a digitized, televised, sexually charged and ravenous gargoyle racing at the speed of light through networks of cables and beaming down to us from heaven, flooding our living rooms with his beautifully pernicious glow. Egged on by my ever-present hovering best friend, I wrote a prayer for this morphed deity. It’s called “Michael’s White Hands”, and it’s on this record.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat was the seed, but it spread. Next came another song – this one definitely not written by me, since, like most other media consumers, I have no firsthand experience of the subject – called “Destroyer”. This was written as we plunged forward into our current Mesopotamian abyss. We all watched it on TV and continue to do so, so I assume it actually happened and is still happening. People are dying, many horribly maimed as well, and I, like millions of others have watched, hungry for more images, as tiny, well-scrubbed and palatable bites of it unfold parsimoniously on the screen. Another Media God, this one a sexless, partially animated clay figure, now sputters slogans, urging us on, as thousands of “Others” multiply endlessly like murderous lice, seeking the blood of our young. Better that, we’re told, than they come to our cities and suburbs and force-feed us the noxious chemicals of which they are so fond. I’ve read recently that the result of Hubris on such a huge scale is almost always soon followed by its’ angry friend Nemesis, often with utterly disastrous results for everyone involved. I do pray that will not be the case, but since even passivity is in the end a form of complicity, I fear there will be few “innocents” to spare. This song then is a sort of lament, for both “Us” and “Them”.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd then a hero died. It’s funny, he was flawed, sometimes great, sometimes quite mediocre, but his voice, regardless of the setting, had a very particular American Male quality, a quality I associate with past generations. My own father had this quality in his voice, but then again, so did William Burroughs – and maybe even Charles Bukowski had it too – ha ha! A quality of resignation, but a brooding, hardened and resilient strength also – the voice of a survivor, but definitely NOT a victim – the voice of a man that keeps getting up and coming at you no matter how many times you knock him down (or maybe how many times he finds himself lying in a mess of his own making). I once had the privilege of shaking this man’s huge farmer’s hand – the size of a shovel. With no ill intent whatsoever he crushed mine like a pretzel, looked me in the eye, sized me up, and walked on. When I heard he’d died, I wasn’t really sad or grief stricken – after all, I didn’t know him personally, he was quite old, and anything more than a gesture of respect would be unseemly and maudlin. So I wrote him a song, or someone wrote him a song. I don’t think I had much to do with it really, since in reality I was just twiddling with my guitar and it appeared on the page without much intervention on my part. My friend, again, I suppose.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpeaking of friends – my own friends anyway – they’re all heroes to me, in a way. When I think about them – whether they’re still here or gone – they occupy the mythic space of a HERO in my mind. In any event, they’re ultimately just as unknowable, which is one of the things that makes “Other People” so attractive. So, many of the songs on this record are gifts, tributes to friends. I was thinking they deserve an idealized, permanent place in which to live, so I made them one. Some of them (those still living) will perhaps be mortified when they find out I’ve written a song about them, and then had the bad manners to release it in public. They should be comforted by the fact, I hope, that firstly: I didn’t actually write it – someone else did, and secondly: when I choose a subject, or a subject chooses me, I ascribe no particular hierarchy of importance to it in comparison to other subjects. It’s all equal. It’s just something that passes through me, and thankfully, as I say, it’s beyond my control – at least in the best of circumstances. In the end, it’s all experience, and experience is incredibly strange, completely beyond my personal ability to comprehend, whether it’s received through the media or through a person standing right there in front of me. So, if there’s a song about you on this record, don’t go thinking you’re a big deal now – it’s all a coincidence!  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe remaining couple of songs on this record appeared after reading books. One was a contemporary southern gothic, the author’s name and title of which I now forget. It had an effect on me though, and somehow the feeling of its’ story melded with my own childhood memories and created a new story... Another book, a sizeable tome about the Battle of Stalingrad (in this ONE battle in WWII one million people died), left me feeling very small indeed, and in absolute awe at the pure scale of suffering and tragedy involved, but even more in awe of the heroes who were swept up in its jaws. They endured hardships that are impossible to imagine, but they continued beyond reason – squeezed in the vice of history, like all of us. But in this case, their courage made them supra human in a way – made them into something else and (in my mind) lifted them up to heaven. Again, this song is NOT an explication or an illustration, nor would I expect it to teach anyone anything at all. It appeared on its own, weaving its way through the morass of memories in my mind, and was then extracted from behind by my best friend, and is now presented in recorded form here, like all the songs on this record, for our mutual delectation (I hope)… \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA few reviews below \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/Press\/?C=65\" target=\"_top\"\u003e(more press)\u003c\/a\u003e : \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDrownedinsound.com \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2005 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAngels Of Light: The Angels Of Light Sing “Other People”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eby Mike Diver \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMichael Gira made his name with the much revered Swans, but his Angels Of Light project is a million musical miles away from work of the past. The Angels Of Light Sing “Other People” is an album of delicate beauty; like the earliest springtime blooms, it needs much nurturing, much attention, to attain its full potential. Thus, time requires investing; a single, unconcentrated listen to this record will reveal nothing. It is only when all around is still, when everything else in the day has been done, that these songs reach their targets: the nerves closest to the core of the human spirit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese songs are uncomplicated, their delivery simple and charming. The chimes and vocal harmonies throughout opener ‘Lena’s Song’ serve as a nice representation of what’s to come, but later tracks possess a depth uncommon in music so stripped of superfluous, aesthetic substance. ‘My Friend Thor’ is a ramshackle, backwater folk hymn that clatters and clangs its way through some beautifully vivid lyricism: “The starlight is leaking is leaking through the holes in your ceiling \/ The sawdust’s collecting on your spoons and your bedding...” Later, Gira’s imagery dips its toes in many thematically different ponds, but never is quality compromised. ‘Destroyer’ tells a tale of Heavenly cleansing, perhaps - “Remember as you kill us and cut us down... someone will breathe here again, and they will hate you for what you leave” - but Gira’s stirring storytelling, delivered deadpan like a narcoleptic Nick Cave, is perfectly suited to its understated, unhurried acoustic accompaniment (there is but ten seconds of drumming across 12 songs).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Dawn’ is impossibly gorgeous; ‘My Sister Said’, likewise, albeit with a sinister edge, the line “I’ll kill that man” repeated throughout. Truth be told, there’s not one song here that doesn’t warrant immediate investigation. ...Sing “Other People” is a record rich in honesty, in true human emotions and wishes and woes. It is utterly engaging, totally absorbing and, well, absolutely essential. Just buy it, love it and bow to its reciprocated beauty.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4\/1\/2005 | \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/cdreviews.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ecdreviews.com\u003c\/a\u003e | Joel Dunham  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAngels of Light Sing Other People | Review  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” -St. Paul.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI highly doubt that Michael Gira named his songwriting project Angels of Light without knowledge of this passage of the New Testament.* By assuming the name’s and the passage’s coexistence are merely coincidental, we pass up the opportunity to complement Gira with a clever witticism that he undoubtedly deserves. Paul refers to demons dressing themselves as “angels of light.” If there ever was a demon in the music world, it’s Gira. He was one of the principal members of the Swans, an 80’s sludge rock band whose nihilism, sadistic lyrics, bludgeoning and unrelenting sound is too nasty even for this noise-o-phile. Since disbanding the Swans, Gira moved into seemingly the opposite direction: folk. Although his compositions are now better described as “pretty” rather than “brutal,” Gira still retains the edge of his early devilishness. Angels of Light Sing Other People, the fourth Angels of Light LP, is my favorite album of the year so far.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn Other People Michael Gira for the first time uses Akron\/Family, a group on his Young God label, as his formal backup band. Akron\/Family are a highly innovative band; read Darren Susin’s review of their debut on Young God here, if you’re interested. What’s particularly interesting is that Akron\/Family has a playful sound… something we usually can’t attribute to Gira. However, Gira allowed the Akron\/Family members to be active participants in the songwriting process, which results in a strange tension between Gira’s stark, haunting contributions and Akron\/Family’s broad range of instrumentation, use of humor, and strange sing-along backup vocals. Gira’s voice especially doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the record on first listen, but later listens prove this dynamic to be one of the best and most unique parts of the album. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the instrumentation is almost entirely acoustic, Other People sounds remarkably full. Strings, harmonicas, mandolins, glockenspiels, mouth band interludes, whistling in imitation of cuckoo clocks… although there are many abrupt shifts in atmosphere, Gira successfully harnesses Akron\/Family’s playful and almost random innovation for the sake of each song. Unlike some of his earlier work, Gira intentionally eschews playing noise for noise’s sake, but rather ends each song when it should; quickly if need be. As a result, each track is beautifully independent, carries its own dramatic arc, and sounds unlike any other on the album. However, Gira also did a good job ordering the songs to provide excellent pacing, which makes Other People such a wonderful album as a whole. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGira’s subject matter wanders from his band’s bus driver (I’m guessing) on “My Friend Thor” to child pop stars (“The Kid Is Already Breaking”) to a modern take on the murder ballad (“Jackie’s Spine”) to a reverse-murder-ballad in which a female is the murderer and the male is the victim (“My Sister Said.”) Much of the material is more than a little disturbing: a mosquito-ridden demon\/swamp creature makes an appearance, as does (I’m guessing again) the whore of Babylon from the Revelation. Particularly harrowing is the panoply of guitar plucks that attack the listener throughout “Michael’s White Hands,” which make a headlong plunge to destruction in a song about Michael Jackson. Need I go into any details to prove to you this one is disturbing? However, Gira isn’t all fire and brimstone. Many pieces retain a sort of introspective, ironic sense of humor. “Your drawings: disturbing. Your sex drive: alarming. The hair on your body would clothe a small nation.” Or another: “Late nights in the week, then the drunks will come in. Some are pathetic, and some are my friends.”  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll in all, Gira and his Akron\/Family have created a practically flawless work. Have no doubt that this will be one of my nominations for best of 2005.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Angels Of Light","offers":[{"title":"The Angels Of Light Sing \"Other People\" \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634053649,"sku":"YG_OTHERPEOPLE_CD","price":14.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"The Angels Of Light Sing \"Other People\" \/ album \/ LP","offer_id":634053653,"sku":"YG_OTHERPEOPLE_LP","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Remastered WAVs \/ album \/ digital","offer_id":51961781977390,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/The-Angels-Of-Light-Sing-Other-People-cover.jpg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"the-black-babies","title":"The Black Babies","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG23\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a special 8 song ep made by our UK distributor Cargo UK to help devendra along in his travels through the universe. It contains 6 songs that were not included on the album \"oh me oh my…\" , taken from the same endless collection of songs we raided for the album. It also includes 2 songs that were on \"oh me oh my…\" - the charles c. leary, and cosmos and demos.- Michael Gira\/Young God Records\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSome reviews from the time \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e7\/1\/2003 | THE WIRE UK | by Edwin Pouncey \u003cbr\u003eDevendra Banhart, The Black Babies \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNew York singer\/songwriter Devendra Banhart has been rightly compared to pre-T Rex Marc Bolan, when the mystic and elven side of his personality was more prominent than during the later glittery \"jeepster\" period. Like early Bolan, Banhart is perfectly in tune with the pure nature of songwriting and has a gift of being able to pull his verses out of thin air. Embroided with a blast of Huck Finn whistling or a single handclap, Banhart's effortless technique is touched with something highly personal, spectral and very special. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e6\/1\/2003 | The Herald-Times | by David Coonce \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe simple challenges of Devendra Banhart \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis music comes from a place that is unbelievably pure \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis week the Library of Congress announced that it had selected 50 recordings that would be preserved in order to start a national registry of important recordings. The list is impressive in breadth and quality, encompassing such diverse artists as Scott Joplin, Abbott and Costello, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. It is an ultimate one-stop list of all the important milestones in our nation's history, both musical and otherwise, and serves as a fascinating document of the last century, revealed through the myriad sounds captured on wax cylinders, reel-to-reel tapes, vinyl LPs and CDs. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf there was another of these lists published in 50 years, one Devendra Banhart might well be on it. His music comes from a place that is unbelievably pure, immune from any sort of music scene. It is some of the most honest music that you'll ever hear, and literally sounds as if it could have come from any time, any place. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDevendra Banhart is a 21-year-old New-Yorker-by-way-of-Texas whose new album, Oh Me Oh My … is a staggering work of unstable brilliance. Banhart sings and plays guitar over 22 compelling songs, some of them long, fully fleshed-out compositions and others merely sketches, glimpses into Banhart's unique - and occasionally unsettling - mind. The songs are open, sparse and lonesome and feature, mostly, just Banhart and his finger-picked guitar. He creates instantly memorable, if occasionally off-kilter melodies and sings over them in a unique voice that stands alone in the rock canon. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHonestly, the closest comparison might be Tiny Tim, but Banhart is a serious artist, and his high-pitched, double tracked vocals soothe rather than irritate. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe songs are simple, but intelligent, and Banhart's guitar playing is occasionally evocative of Nick Drake or even Fred Neil. His lyrics operate on a subliminal, symbolist level, stringing together series of phrases, imagery and emotions to create scenes that are at times pastoral and elegant, and at other times claustrophobic and disturbing. The album was named \"Underground Record of the Year\" by the New York Times, and Banhart was recently featured in Mojo, Rolling Stone and Spin, proving that somehow, in this world of synthesized pop stars, some people still understand the work of a creative, challenging artist. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom recent Other Music newsletter:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe new U.K. EP follow-up to last year's celebrated \"Oh Me Oh My...\" features six great unreleased songs plus two from the previous album. The production technique remains the same, as does the high level of crafty songmanship. If you're afraid these are just crappy leftovers from \"Oh Me Oh My...\" don't worry. Folk troubadour Devendra Banhart continues to develop his song's cosmology with an ever-broadening cast of characters and themes. \"Surgery I Stole\" and \"Long Song\" are as pretty as anything he's recorded yet, and \"Lagoon\" may end up rivaling that \"Oh Michigan\" track for his most requested song at live shows. Since we reviewed his debut album last year, he's become one of the most talked about singer-songwriters going, even showing up in a long segment on NPR's Morning Edition this past weekend. All at the fresh age of 22, an amazing accomplishment. (MK) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehere's some press quotes regarding \"oh me oh my...\" :\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUsing voice, guitar, and four-track, his raw songcraft is terrifyingly effective at communicating the breadth of human emotion.... Belying his uncouth and unwashed countenance, Devendra Banhart's debut is beautiful, damaged, naked and utterly compelling. -Jim Haynes, The Wire \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTake one damaged 21-year-old drifter, give him an acoustic guitar and some busted four-track recorders, and the result is a compelling mix of the eccentric and the sublime.... Certainly Devendra Banhart's beautifully raw debut album sounds like nothing else ... more than just spittle in the face of an over-processed music industry. Soulful, troubling and troubled, it's a spiritual manifesto from a one-man species. -Neva Chonin, San Francisco Chronicle \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt's the voice that pulls you in, flitting from lilting to hectoring, sweet to sinister.... He could be Barrett-era Syd possessed by the soul of Tiny Tim ... an album that escapes definition, beguilingly sweet, yet ever so, ever so dark. -Andrew Male, Mojo \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe quaver in Mr. Banhart's voice is as shaky as his songs' connection to everyday reality. In lo-fi recordings-- usually just his guitar and his multiplied voice-- his songs and fragments ponder animals, apparitions, logical leaps and childlike certainties, all with credible eccentricity. -Jon Pereles, The New York Times \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe title says it all. A startlingly talented 21-year old from LA who looks like Vincent Gallo after 40 days and 40 nights wandering the desert communing with the spirits Of Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley, Devendra Banhart is a dreamer, mystic, crackpot, poet and a cult figure waiting to happen. His songs are simple, but contain a strange energy. His voice is either soft and devotional or shrill and deranged, as if possessed by a malevolent split personality. Lyrically he can be nonsensical or matter of fact, but he keeps you mesmeried.This bizarre yet beautiful record is a genuine modern classic. 9\/10 -Ian Watson\/NME \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eItty-bitty scraps of thoughts\/impressions, poetic prose in simple frames of spidery acoustic guitar and a startling voice that warbles high, fretful and \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eforeboding-- vulnerable, of course, but comforting, too ... loads of actually fantastic guitar picking and several thrillingly unconventional song shapes ... but what in lesser hands would be merely irritating is in Devendra's undeniably authentic and even authoritative. Oh Me Oh My... sets new (its own) standards; by the end of one spin, it's not weird at all, more a darkly angelic kind of beautiful. -John Payne, LA Weekly\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Devendra Banhart","offers":[{"title":"The Black Babies \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634079109,"sku":"YG_BLACKBABIES","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_40_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"the-body-lovers-the-body-haters","title":"The Body Lovers \/ The Body Haters","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG29\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe long awaited re release of Michael Gira’s (Angels of Light\/Swans and Young God Records head) soundtrack-without-a-film “psycho-ambient” instrumental opus of sonic chaos and wordless lullabies. Compiled, edited, mangled, fed back, mutated and morphed from high quality recordings of a dizzying array of musicians using acoustic and electric instruments -performed in the studio - as well as loops and fragments generated from these sessions, found cassette recordings, sine waves and drones, live Swans recordings, electronic noise and the occasional insect, weeping woman, or a touching recording of a baby in the process of being circumcised. Gira’s archive of early (from as far back as 1982) analog synth, tape loop experiments and “slabs of sound” mingle and interact here with contemporary studio performances . Originally composed\/recorded in 1998, this prescient collage epic summed up Gira’s 15 year (Swans) obsession with music as raw, mutable sound – alternately dreamy and abrasive, drifting from sweet acoustic melodies to music concrete in one breath. Sound-source contributions from Pan Sonic, Deathprod, Origami Rebulika, Swans and many more. The Body Haters disc contains a new track recorded specifically for this re release. Ultra lush (and expanded new) artwork by Nicole Boitos.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The entire spectrum of sound is covered throughout... simply the most beautiful piece of music committed to tape I've heard in many, many years (and quite emotionally uplifting with each listen)… a brilliant step forward for MG and friends…Highly recommended to anyone in search of first class instrumental music. Essential listening for 1998 and many years to come …” – BRAINWASHED.COM 1998\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE BODY LOVERS DEBUT NUMBER ONE OF THREE, IS THE FIRST INSTALLMENT IN THIS \"PSYCHOAMBIENT\" INSTRUMENTAL \"SOUNDTRACK-WITH-OUT-A-FILM\" PROJECT. ESSENTIALLY ONE SHIFTING AND RADICALLY MORPHING STREAM OF SOUNDS AND TEXTURES (WITH ID POINTS PROVIDED FOR THE LISTENER'S CONVENIENCE), THE MUSIC ON THIS CD IS IN GIRA'S WORDS, \"A METASTASIZING SONIC FLOWER GARDEN\", CHARACTERISTICALLY, THIS IS NOT PASSIVE AMBIENT MUSIC. SENSUAL ONE MOMENT, TURNING BRUTAL AND CATACLYSMIC THE NEXT. SOUND SOURCES INCLUDE EVERYTHING FROM ELECTRONIC \u0026amp; SYNTH NOISES, TO RAIDED SWANS GROOVES, BASS-DRUM-GUITAR- PROCESSIONALS, SINE WAVES, IRISH HARPS, MANDOLINS, ACCORDIONS, ORCHESTRAL BELLS, VIBRAPHONES, FLUGEL HORN, DIGITAL FEEDBACK, FOUND RECORDINGS, A BABY IN THE COURSE OF HIS CIRCUMCISION - ALL WOVEN TOGETHER AND FURTHER MUTILATED IN A COMPUTER, INTO A TRAJECTORY THAT NOT ONLY MAKES PERFECT SENSE (SOMEHOW), BUT IS GRATIFYING, ALMOST TRANCE-INDUCING TO HEAR.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  MUSICIANS CONTRIBUTING TO THESE RECORDINGS COME FROM A WIDE RANGE IN THE SPECTRUM: JARBOE (SWANS. WORLD OF SKIN); BILL RIEFLIN (EX-SWANS, MINISTRY); MIKA VANIO (PANASONIC); BILL BRONSON \u0026amp; PHIL PULEO (EX-COP SHOOT COP); JAMES PLOTKIN (SCORN, DEATH AMBIENT), AS WELL AS SONIC CONTRIBUTIONS FROM NORWAY'S ORIGAMI REPUBLIKA \u0026amp; DEATHPROD.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Body Lovers \/ The Body Haters","offers":[{"title":"The Body Lovers \/ The Body Haters \/ album \/ 2xCD","offer_id":634090297,"sku":"YG_BODYLOVERS_CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"The Body Lovers \/ The Body Haters \/ album \/ WAVs","offer_id":52056776376622,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_58_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"the-glass-bead-game","title":"The Glass Bead Game","description":"\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG40\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/story\/story.php?storyId=105986417\u0026amp;ft=1\u0026amp;f=1039\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eLISTEN TO A FINE INTERVIEW WITH JAMES ON NPR\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI'm incredibly pleased to announce that James Blackshaw will now be working with Young God Records for future releases of his absolutely beautiful and spellbinding music. The first such release is \u003cem\u003eThe Glass Bead Game\u003c\/em\u003e. I am - and have been for a long time - a huge fan. James has received a lot of attention lately as a prodigy\/virtuoso of the 12 string guitar, but he's anything but showy. He lays out patterns and shapes that subtly shift over time and lead you to a deeply satisfying mental state. Recently, driving around with the car stereo blasting his music I found myself inexplicably weeping. Why??? The music's not sad, or even mournful really. It's just exquisite in an ineffable way, and taps into a place, a dream place, or a pre-thought place, which each of us might recognize was always there inside of us and is suddenly revealed. Like coming home after a painful journey, I suppose...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/today\/hi\/today\/newsid_8020000\/8020106.stm\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"http:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/images\/layout\/icons\/silk\/sound.png\" alt=\"listen online\" height=\"16\" align=\"absmiddle\" border=\"0\" width=\"16\"\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eListen to James interviewed \/ discussed \/ playing live on BBC4 Radio UK recently.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJames used to be in punk bands in England, but then he started listening to people like John Fahey, Robbie Basho etc, and I assume soon locked himself in a room for 12 hours a day for several years and just played his guitar constantly. It takes intense discipline and a religious commitment to get to the place where he's at with his instrument - his soulful and kaleidoscopic ever-shifting mantra cycles are, in my view, incredibly beautiful. Just his guitar by itself, with it's swirling overtones, cascading notes and a thousand points of light, is like an orchestra, but now he's started to further orchestrate his pieces with piano, strings, wind, vocals, and the music is positively cinematic, and mesmerizing. The 18 minute-plus gem on this record is Arc, performed on piano with the sustain peddle on full throttle, and the rush of sound created by the overtones-from-heaven, augmented by strings and wind, when played at proper (full) volume, is one of the most thrilling pieces of music I've heard in years. It takes a rare and single-minded courage and commitment to make music with such a powerfully \u003cem\u003epositive\u003c\/em\u003e force at its' heart, especially in these troubled times. This is healing music that reaches for what's possible, just beyond our grasp. It is STELLAR… James is joined on this record by Joolie Wood (Current 93 and Simon Finn) - violin, clarinet and flute, John Contreras (Baby Dee and C93) – cello. Lavinia Blackwall (Directing Hand) is a classically trained singer and contributed vocals…    – \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eMichael Gira\/Young God Records\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"media_container\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003ciframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zCsNrhn41iQ\" height=\"315\" width=\"420\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" frameborder=\"0\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBrainwashed.com\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/brainwashed.com\/index.php?option=com_content\u0026amp;task=view\u0026amp;id=7562\u0026amp;Itemid=1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttp:\/\/brainwashed.com\/index.php?option=com_content\u0026amp;task=view\u0026amp;id=7562\u0026amp;Itemid=1\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003eJames Blackshaw, \"The Glass Bead Game\"\u003cbr\u003eWritten by Lucas Schleicher\u003cbr\u003eSunday, 17 May 2009\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eJames Blackshaw has released a number of introspective and genre-defying records since his debut on Digitalis Recordings. He has, however, arguably saved his best work for his debut on Young God. With a couple of familiar Current 93 faces behind him, The Glass Bead Game exhibits Blackshaw's experimental preferences, but also showcases his strength as an emotive and able songwriter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eWhy Blackshaw named his album after a Herman Hesse novel is anyone's guess. Strong religous and romantic allusions aside, Blackshaw's music is simply and strikingly hypnotic. Its mantra-like quality is perhaps all that is required to share a name with Hesse's meditation on the intellectual and mystical. But, this hypnotic color is something every Blackshaw record has\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003efeatured; his love for the likes of Terry Riley and Erik Satie is not hard to discern and his guitar-playing style lends itself to adjectives like \"rolling\" and \"kaleidoscopic.\" He has flirted with American folk music and toed the line between classical and modern guitar performances. At a young age he has explored more musical territory than many bands do over the course of an entire career. What differentiates this album from his previous efforts is the quality of the voices added to the arrangements. Accompanying him throughout are Joolie Wood, John Contreras, and Lavinia Blackwall. Flutes, clarinets, violins, pianos, and a stellar vocal performance all\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003esupport and deepen Blackwell's already sophisticated and intense approach to composition and performance. It's as if this is the band he has always wanted with him. Together with their talents, Blackshaw sounds more spectral and colorful than ever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\"Cross,\" the opening song, immediately communicates that Blackshaw and company are out to impress. With all pistons firing, Blackshaw paints a dramatic, but meditative melodic picture with his guitar. His strings are seemingly caught in a never-ending upward movement, each note intent on elevating the song to a higher and more introspective level. In the background, violins and cellos radiate a steady current of calm hums and ghostly utterances. Then, with just a brief pause, the band begins to weave their disparate melodic and harmonic patterns\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003etogether, further enrichening the song's lively character. Each member bends their instrument, wringing from it more emotion than was present the moment before. This pattern continues until Lavinia Blackwall adds her voice to the mix. Wordlessly, she accentuates the song's beauty with eruptions of melody and effortless soul. Her voice seems to steam off of the music, occuring as a natural result of all the activity already churning beneath it. It's a stunning way to start a record and, after hearing it for the first time, I was uncertain that anything could live up to it. Smartly, Blackshaw goes into deep meditation with both \"Bled\" and \"Fix.\" His nimble fingers create a ton of sound in both cases, but both songs are less showy than \"Cross\" and both find Blackshaw focusing on simple and direct arrangements. The latter is a brief and lovely piano-based song fleshed out by understated and cinematic string accompaniments. \"Key\" bridges the gap between all the previous songs and the concluding \"Arc,\" which is as epic as anything Blackshaw has attempted before. It's moderate pace and gentle dynamics pave the way for the epic conclusion that follows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\"Arc\" begins as though it were meant to be played at a funeral. Although the tones pulled from the piano are largely major and bright, they eminate an evocative quietude that only\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eremembrance and yearning can accompany. After a short time Blackshaw's piano erupts into glissandi, as though an epiphany hit him in mid-song. As the piano fluctuates between high and low notes, the song and all of its parts develop a crystalline texture. Each of the instruments begin to blend into one another. \"Arc\" eventually becomes a mass of glowing sound with different elements peaking their heads above the cascade of music that's been created. The song completely destroys all sense of time and place. Instruments bleed into one another and become disassociated from their source. Whether a particular sound is being made by a voice, an instrument, or a combination thereof can be difficult to determine. Played at loud volumes, it's an absolutely transfixing and ecstatic piece of music capable of procuring an emotional response from the listener. After I heard it for the first time, I found myself with my jaw agape and my breath left short. Something very magical happened when these musicians came together. I can only hope it won't be the last time we see Blackshaw collaborating in such a fashion. It's hard not to talk in a superlative manner about this record; it is majestic and deserving of more accolades and praise than I can possibly write.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"...his first Young God album, “The Glass Bead Game”, continues Blackshaw’s hot streak that has stretched for four or five years now. This one has five longish to epic tracks, two of which feature Blackshaw on piano, a development of the work he initiated on “Litany Of Echoes”….The sound this time is a little fuller, a little more orchestrated, a little further away from the folk\/Takoma school tag he was first saddled with, but his grace-filled compositional style remains more or less consistent...gorgeous, pensive...an extraordinary album\" \u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eJohn Mulvey\/Uncut Magazine (online) UK – \u003cem\u003eadvance review of The Glass Bead Game\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePrevious selected press quotes for James:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\"... A veritable solo symphony that's as schooled in uncommon beauty as it is in complex 20th century composition... Blackshaw writes high drama into instrumental music with subtlety and charm, speaking on sentiments and stories without requiring a single lyric... Blackshaw seems fully settled, engaging his pieces and ideas with the unflinching belief of Tony Conrad in 1964 or Steve Reich in 1965... The Cloud of Unknowing carves out a new, peerless space altogether-- one that puts Blackshaw at the top of his class.\" \u003cstrong\u003e- Grayson Currin, Pitchforkmedia.com\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\"In the tradition of \"American Primitive\" guitarists within which he's often grouped, James Blackshaw cuts rather an odd figure. Neither American, nor primitive, nor as Litany of Echoes begins, even playing the guitar, the English musician is all about upending the expectations we might have from his instrument. Whereas kindred spirits like John Fahey and Robbie Basho looked East for their Raga-inspired guitar diversions, Blackshaw instead sounds more East-Coast: his long-distance guitar tunes recalling NY minimalism, or Sonic Youth, as arranged for chamber orchestra. Mesmerising stuff, and proof that less is often more.\" \u003cstrong\u003e- John Robinson, Uncut Magazine(continues over)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\"There's an indecent ease to James Blackshaw's guitar playing. His fingerpicking mantras are as melodic as a music box, gliding through dizzying tempos like clockwork... Such is the silky control he exherts over his instrument, Blackshaw often sounds more like a court harpist than a backwoods strummer.\" - \u003cstrong\u003eDerek Walmsey, The Wire\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\"The hypnotic arpeggios at the heart of James Blackshaw’s acoustic guitar playing reflect strong influences from outside the precincts of folk music: minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Terry Riley, and some of their precursors, like Erik Satie. Mr. Blackshaw, a British autodidact still in his mid-20s, fingerpicks his 12-string Guild with an immersive focus befitting such heady allusions. At its best, his sumptuous new album, Litany of Echoes, conveys a stark and ancient feeling, like something handed down through the ages....\" - \u003cstrong\u003eNate Chinen, The New York Times\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\"Twenty-seven-year-old Brit James Blackshaw has lately emerged as a major force in the world of instrumental guitar, his epic, austere compositions and unpretentious 12-string technique perching him somewhere between John Fahey and Robbie Basho... Downright beautiful stuff.\" - \u003cstrong\u003eJonathon Cohen, Billboard Magazine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\"The most gem-like overlooked album this year is neither hairy nor scary; rubber-necking into the great unknown isn't high in its priorities. But it is preternaturally beautiful. O True Believers by 24-year-old guitarist James Blackshaw features 10 fingers and 12 strings and, frankly, urinates all over whatever will be the Mercury Prize's token folk nominee next year. Blackshaw is British, but virtually no one has heard of him outside the US folk underground; he deserves ticker-tape parades. His style derives from the Takoma school founded by John Fahey, but that is all detail. Blackshaw's got it all: skills to hyperventilate for, and instinctual loveliness in spades.\" - \u003cstrong\u003eKitty Empire, The Observer\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\"One of the best and most original instrumentalists in the new, acoustic renaissance\" - \u003cstrong\u003eDavid Fricke, Rolling Stone Magazine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJAMES BLACKSHAW SHORT BIO:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eInitially inspired by the guitarists of the 60’s Takoma label to teach himself fingerpicking, James Blackshaw writes long-form pieces primarily for solo 12-string guitar and piano that are heavily influenced by minimalist composers and European classical music and which use drones, overtones and repeating patterns alongside a strong inclination for melody to create instrumental music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and emotionally charged.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eBorn in London in 1981, Blackshaw has so far released six solo studio albums, one live recording and has also appeared on numerous compilations in the last five years. \"O True Believers\" (2006, Important Records\/Bo’weavil Recordings), \"The Cloud of Unknowing\" (2007, Tompkins Square) and \"Litany of Echoes\" (2008, Tompkins Square) have received huge critical acclaim from printed and online publications including Pitchfork, Billboard, The Wire, The Observer, The Times, Uncut, The New York Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Onion, Magnet and Acoustic Guitar Magazine. \"The Cloud of Unknowing\" was also listed as one of the 50 best albums of 2007 by The Wire (no. 24) and Pitchfork (no. 34). His latest album, \"Litany of Echoes\" was listed as Uncut Magazine's 13th Best Album of 2008.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eBlackshaw has recently signed to Michael Gira's Young God Records label (Devendra Banhart \/ Angels Of Light \/Akron\/Family \/ Lisa Germano \/ Swans etc...)and his seventh studio album The Glass Bead Game is to be released in May 2009. Blackshaw is currently a member of Current 93, Brethren of The Free Spirit (duo with Jozef Van Wissem) and performs live with Pantaleimon.  He has toured extensively in Europe, US and Japan, playing approximately 200 shows since 2005 in a broad range of environments from sold-out 1,000 capacity venues supporting Jose Gonzalez to intimate church shows and institutions such as The Douglas Hynde Gallery in Dublin and The ICA in London. He has featured on National Public Radio in the US, BBC Radio 2 and performed live on VPRO television in The Netherlands.\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJames Blackshaw Discography\u003c\/span\u003e:  \"Celeste\" \u003c\/strong\u003eCD (Tompkins Square) 2008 - originally released by Celebrate Psi Phenomenon in 2004  •   \u003cstrong\u003e\"Lost Prayers \u0026amp; Motionless Dances\" \u003c\/strong\u003eCD (Tompkins Square) 2008 - originally released by Digitalis Industries in 2004  •   \u003cstrong\u003e\"Sunshrine\" \u003c\/strong\u003eCD (Tompkins Square) 2008 - originally released by Digitalis Industries in 2005   •   \u003cstrong\u003e\"O True Believers\"\u003c\/strong\u003e LP (Bo'weavil Records) \u0026amp; CD (Important Records) 2006   •   \u003cstrong\u003e\"Waking Into Sleep\u003c\/strong\u003e - Goteburg 27.05.06\" CD (Kning Disk) 2006   •   \"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Cloud of Unknowing\"\u003c\/strong\u003e CD\/LP (Tompkins Square) 2007   •   \u003cstrong\u003e\"Litany of Echoes\"\u003c\/strong\u003e CD (Tompkins Square) 2008   •   \u003cstrong\u003e\"The Glass Bead Game\"\u003c\/strong\u003e CD\/LP (Young God Records) 2009\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"James Blackshaw","offers":[{"title":"The Glass Bead Game \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634097945,"sku":"YG_GLASSBEAD_CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"The Glass Bead Game \/ album \/ LP","offer_id":634097949,"sku":"YG_GLASSBEAD_LP","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/glassbeadgame.jpg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"the-orchard","title":"The Orchard","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG38\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFire On Fire\u003c\/strong\u003e’s first full length for Young God is available exclusively through this website on December 10, ’08. The first CD edition is a small press offset 4 color package, numbered 1 through 1000, with original art by Colleen Kinsella of Fire On Fire. It is printed on 100% recycled paper by the excellent small press Stumptown Printers - http:\/\/www.stumptownprinters.com.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI’m ecstatic that this is finally coming out! I’ve listened to this album hundreds of times by now and my enthusiasm remains unbridled. Their words and singing are great. They feed off each other and propel each other as musicians with a powerful and joyous energy. They live together in the same house and play together constantly and you can hear that sense of unity and commitment in their music…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFire On Fire used to be the art-punk-prog-chaos collective Cerberus Shoal, but they ditched their electric instruments, went into hiding for a while, and now play all acoustic—stand up bass, mandolin, banjo, harmonium, accordion, acoustic guitar, dobro etc etc, and they all sing and harmonize on the songs. Live, they do it “old school” and just use two mics placed in front of them on the stage, like a bluegrass band. They all live in the same house up in Maine, across from rusting green oil tanks, apparently. To me they sound like a backwoods, fierce, psychedelic Mamas And The Papas or a crazed and joyously vengeful gospel string band. - \u003cem\u003eMichael Gira\/Young God Records 2008\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHere’s what one nice fellow says about The Orchard:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.musicgeek.org\/wp\/2008\/11\/14\/well-well-all-be-alone-when-we-sing-our-final-note\"\u003emusicgeek.org\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFire On Fire \/ The Orchard\u003cbr\u003eNovember 14, 2008 by Bob Moore\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor anyone who has experienced the genre-bending and ranging music of Cerberus Shoal any time in the past decade, this rebirth known as Fire on Fire should come as no surprise. That band seemed to make a habit of reinventing their sound every couple of years or so (or evolving might be a better word). A band that required loyalty and a healthy sense of wanderlust and adventure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith Fire on Fire they’ve done it again, or some of them anyway, but this time unplugged and firmly entrenched somewhere in a dimension far removed from those musical roots. The trappings now are rough-hewn and varnished implements: guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, upright bass, accordion; plucked, strummed, pressed and purposefully bowed. But bubbling under the surface and woven in the words, that genesis of youth and anger and cynicism and sense of irony and sarcasm blend with newfound purpose like dandelion wine, and into something that wets the palette but leaves behind an aftertaste of bittersweet satisfaction. This is music for folks who may not be ready to stop being contrary and skeptical, but who have matured to a point where those emotions can be effectively channeled into something useful.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRight out in front of the toe-tapping acid bluegrass and new-generation Americana folk instrumental arrangements the band lays out a rich layer of vocal harmonies that’ll keep your ears glued to your iPod or Media Player or car stereo or to whatever portal-to-your-soul of choice this CD happens to land in. I’ve a bit of a soft-spot for sincere folk music (and what folk music isn’t sincere)? But this ain’t folk any more than Neil Young is a country singer. We’ve gone beyond that and more. The dirge-like apocalyptic lament “Sirocco” with its hypnotic fiddle and unrelenting bass lays a trance-like bed on which something akin to a post-apocalyptic and sickly gleeful chant issues forth: “and if we tear this kingdom down (tear it down!), let it be with a deserving and joyful sound”. I suppose this is close to what A Silver Mt Zion might have sounded like if they’d grown up just south of the border instead of on Mile End Street. And with a keener sense of harmony.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe years of experimentation and experience manifest all over this album, from the plucking bluegrass-tinged title track to the Jesus-freak throwback “Toknight” to Colleen Kinsella’s chilling vocals on the accordion tribute “Squeeze Box” to the all-acoustic post-rock (did I just say acoustic post-rock?) “Haystack”. An enchanting closer to a stunningly engaging album. All I can do at this point is hope like hell these guys somehow wind their way to South Dakota USA so I can see them live. Not likely, but you never know.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHere’s some press they received for their EP:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFoxy Digitalis\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalisindustries.com\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttp:\/\/www.digitalisindustries.com\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy Brad Rose\u003cbr\u003eJan 08\u003cbr\u003eBest EP (best of list 07)\u003cbr\u003eFire on Fire s\/t (Young God)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn absolutely stunning five song offering from this new supergroup featuring Caleb Mulkerin, Colleen Kinsella (these two also form Big Blood, another one of the year's finds), Chriss Sutherland, \u0026amp; Tom Kovacevic from Cerberus Shoal plus their ultra-talented housemate, Micah Blue Smaldone. This is down-home folk goodness at its best. All these guys \u0026amp; gals live together in the Blue House up in Portland, Maine and it shows. The varying styles and ideas fit together perfectly and make up a release so damn good that I had to invent a category specifically for it. This limited release is only available from the band or directly from Young God, so get moving or you're going to miss \u003cbr\u003eout on an absolute gem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUtne Reader March April ‘07\u003cbr\u003eBy J.H.\u003cbr\u003eFire On Fire 5 song EP\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen punk rockers go acoustic the results can be unremarkable (Tommy Ramone’ sbluegrass duo Uncle Monk), largely forgettable (Nirvana unplugged), and, occasionally, sublime. In the last category is the riveting Fire on Fire, five ex-punks who live together in a house in Maine and make strange, joyful music on traditional and unconventional acoustic instruments. The music on their eponymous EP is heavy on the vocals, which gives it a bit of a gypsy choir feel, and the band coaxes astonishing, moody sounds out of traditional instruments like the mandolin and harmonium to create enveloping, intoxicating music. With five (long!) songs this EP is svailable online only and is packaged by hand indie-style , with a screen print by band member Colleen Kinsella.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJambase.com\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jambase.com\/Articles\/Story.aspx?storyID=12984\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttp:\/\/www.jambase.com\/Articles\/Story.aspx?storyID=12984\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFebruary 2008\u003cbr\u003e(no author listed)\u003cbr\u003eFire On Fire: Fire On Fire (Young God)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFire On Fire moves with hard plectrum and steel string steps through full lunged pastoral hymns. The internal furnace that stoked Ian and Sylvia and early Fairport Convention burns inside this South Portland, Maine addition to the ever excellent Young God Records stable. Pulled from the binding folds of wrinkled skin and mud holes, FOF roll like a modern day Carter Family with exotic instrumentation (oud, zampogna, tamburizta) poking the banjo, acoustic guitar and upright bass you might expect. Just when you've settled into their backwoods quiver, \"Amnesia\" arrives and throws any preconceptions out the window with its Kate-Bush-on-nitrous shockwave. Neither dour nor baldly exuberant, this five-song introductory EP (available directly from Young God or at shows) nails a very intriguing treatise to our collective church door. I suggest we hear what they have to say in full before converting but I'll be damned if I won't light a candle to this one right away.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.brainwashed.com\/index.php?option=com_content\u0026amp;task=view\u0026amp;id=6645\u0026amp;Itemid=64\"\u003eBrainwashed.com\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSunday, 16 December 2007\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFire on Fire, \"Handmade EP\"\u003cbr\u003eWritten by Simon Marshall-Jones\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis Portland, Maine based group are members of art-punk-prog-chaos collective Cerberus Shoal along with North East Indie labelmate Micah Blue Smaldone reinvented as a kind of mutant 'bluegrass\/folky' quintet using traditional instruments (plus a few unusual ones) such as upright bass, banjo, piano, harmonium, and accordion in addition to harmonized vocals. This is anything but traditional bluegrass or folk, however, as there's a distinctly uneasy edge and fractured sense of reality bordering on dark psychedelia that removes it a million miles from the mainstream forms of those genres, while also acknowledging the debt owed to those uniquely American styles of music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a Web site\/live gig only release and comes in beautiful handmade packaging: an original piece of artwork by band member Colleen Kinsella and printed on good quality card stock while the lyrics and credits are printed on vellum. According to the Young God Web site Michael Gira—who also shared production credits with FoF's Caleb Mulkerin—has \"an adamant belief in the music\" and, to be blunt, I couldn't agree with him more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is startlingly haunting, atmospheric, shimmering, and scintillating music, channeling directly into the true heart of life and America, in much the same way as Britain's dark folk current does, scratching beneath the surface glitz and glamor to the hidden and unvarnished every day. Mulkerin's tremulous voice, reminding me of Neil Young without the nasally whine, is a perfect foil for the themes of liberty betrayed, life, death, the curse of old age, and amnesia. Running through each of the five songs is a frisson of edgy tension between the deliciously dark and poetic lyrics—often sung in male\/female harmonization—that contrast sharply with the musical backdrop of picked banjos, guitar, piano, and simple percussion. I had shivers running up and down my spine, such was the effect of these offbeat tales of modern life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLove, loss, friendship, pain, and just the plain old job of getting on with living: it's all there in buckets and delivered with an uncomplicated passion and, moreover, a simplicity that's refreshing. This is, quite simply, a breathtakingly beautiful set of songs.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fire on Fire","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50055939156,"sku":"625T\/WAV","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_44_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"the-seer-1","title":"The Seer","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cb\u003eYG45\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cb\u003eInsert signed by M. Gira\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eDVD Description \u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Swans Seer DVD was recorded variously in the cities of Melbourne, Australia, Berlin, Germany, Brooklyn, NY, San Francisco, CA., LA, CA., and Torrance, California. The footage was filmed throughout the swans tour(s) of 2010\/2011. The DVD captures swans at the peak of their creative\/destructive potential. The film is a work in progress, and will ultimately result in a feature film \/ filmography of Swans.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eDVD Credits\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDirected, filmed and produced by Simon Henwood and Marco Porsia. Edited by Marco Porsia. Additional cameras: Rodney Ascher, Dan Knight, Phi Tidy, Alessandra Romeo.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"margin_bottom_3\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eA NOTE FROM MICHAEL GIRA\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The Seer took 30 years to make. It’s the culmination of every previous Swans album as well as any other music I’ve ever made, been involved in or imagined. But it’s unfinished, like the songs themselves. It’s one frame in a reel. The frames blur, blend and will eventually fade.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe songs began on an acoustic guitar, then were fleshed out with (invaluable) help from my friends, then were further tortured and seduced in rehearsals, live and in the studio, and now they await further cannibalism and force-feeding as we prepare to perform some of them live, at which point they’ll mutate further, endlessly, or perhaps be discarded for a while.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite what you might have heard or presumed, my quest is to spread light and joy through the world. My friends in Swans are all stellar men. Without them I’m a kitten, an infant. Our goal is the same: ecstasy!\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eHOW THE SONGS CAME TO BE\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe songs The Seer, Ave. B Blues, Avatar, and The Apostate were developed organically as a group in rehearsals and on tour. They morphed constantly throughout the last series of Swans tours, and were captured and lovingly adorned in the studio. The remaining songs on the album were developed from the ground up in the studio with the participation and input of all the contributing musicians, guided by an invisible hand...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded at Studio P4 and Andere Baustelle in Berlin, by Kevin McMahon and at Marcata Studio, Gardiner, NY, by Kevin McMahon. Additional recording at Trout Recording, Brooklyn, NY, engineer: Bryce Goggin. Mixed by Kevin McMahon at Marcata. Produced by Michael Gira.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch1\u003eFULL CREDITS\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eSWANS\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eMichael Gira\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003evoice, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, casio, sounds\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eNorman Westberg\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003eelectric guitar, voice\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eChristoph Hahn\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003elap steel guitars; electric guitar, voice\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003ePhil Puleo\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003edrums, percussion, hammer dulcimer, voice\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eThor Harris\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003edrums, percussion, orchestral bells, hammer dulcimer, handmade violin thing, vibraphone, piano, clarinet, voice\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eChristopher Pravdica\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003ebass guitar, voice, incredible handshake\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eHonorary Swan: Bill Rieflin\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003epiano, organ, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums, percussion, casio, synthesizer, bass guitar, voice, bird idea\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eSPECIAL GUESTS\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eKaren O\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003elead vocal on Song for a Warrior (Karen appears courtesy Interscope Records)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eAl and Mimi of Low\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003eco-vocals on Lunacy\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eJarboe\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003ebacking vocals and voice collage on Piece of the Sky and backing vocals on The Seer Returns\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eSeth Olinsky, Miles Seaton, Dana Janssen (Akron\/Family)\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003ebacking vocals on Piece of the Sky\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eCaleb Mulkerin and Colleen Kinsella of Big Blood\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003eaccordion, vocals, dulcimer, guitar, piano and assorted other instruments on the Seer Returns\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eSean Mackowiak (the grasshopper)\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003eacoustic and electric mandolins, clarinet, various songs\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eBen Frost\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003efire sounds (acoustic and synthetic) on Piece of the Sky\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eIain Graham\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003ebagpipes on The Seer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eBruce Lamont\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003ehorns on The Seer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eBob Rutman\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003esteel cello on The Seer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eCassis Staudt\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003eaccordion various songs\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eEszter Balint\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003eviolin, various songs\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eJane Scarpatoni\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003ecello various songs\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eKevin McMahon\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003eadditional drums on the Seer Returns, electric guitar, sounds on various songs\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eBryce Goggin\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003epiano on Song for a Warrior\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"margin_bottom_0\"\u003eStefan Rocke\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"margin_top_0\"\u003econtra bassoon on the Seer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProduced by Michael Gira. Recorded at Studio P4 and Andere Baustelle in Berlin, by Kevin McMahon, assistants Marco and Boris, and at Marcata Studio, Gardiner, NY, by Kevin McMahon. Additional recording at Trout Recording, Brooklyn, NY, engineer: Bryce Goggin, assistant: Adam Sachs. Mixed by Kevin McMahon at Marcata. Mastered by Doug Henderson at Micro-Moose Berlin. Pre-mastering by Jamal Ruhe at West Westside Music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArtwork: Paintings and Swans photo portraits by Simon Henwood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"margin_bottom_3\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"media_container\"\u003e\u003ciframe height=\"281\" width=\"500\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/45729481?portrait=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" mozallowfullscreen=\"mozallowfullscreen\" webkitallowfullscreen=\"webkitallowfullscreen\"\u003e\n    \u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Swans","offers":[{"title":"The Seer \/ album \/ 3xLP","offer_id":634120341,"sku":"YG_THESEER_LP","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"The Seer \/ album \/ 2xCD","offer_id":634120337,"sku":"YG_THESEER_CD","price":17.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"The Seer \/ album \/ 2CD+DVD","offer_id":634120345,"sku":"YG_THESEER_DVD","price":20.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"The Seer \/ album \/ WAVs","offer_id":51923217449262,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_55_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"we-are-him","title":"We Are Him","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG35\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e•••INSERT SIGNED BY M.GIRA•••\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eREMASTERED IN 2022. 2 X LP AND CD FEATURE BONUS TRACKS TAKEN FROM THE SPLIT ANGELS OF LIGHT \u0026amp; AKRON FAMILY ALBUM\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Michael Gira is one of maybe ten people in the whole world who inspired me to pick up a guitar and try to write songs in the first place. He continues to be a tremendous influence on me. A new Angels of Light record is always cause for celebration around our house, and though each one is always better than the last, this new one is going to be hard to top… Forget everything you know about Michael Gira and Angels of Light, even if you love everything you know about Michael Gira and Angels of Light (which I most certainly do) - We Are Him is an intimidatingly great album and a highlight in a career of highlights…. Michael Gira taught me that you don't need to play loud to play heavy, you don't need to compromise to be a success to those who really count, and all you need to make rock and roll soup is some piss, some vomit, a little blood, and a few hundred wet cigarette butts.\"\u003c\/em\u003e - James Toth \/ Wooden Wand \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"We Are Him is the most assured and relaxed Angels of Light album since the debut, and deserves to be considered alongside Gira's highest peaks. The frightening rage of old Swans surfaces several times, albeit in more bucolic clothing; the contrast is bracing. Lyrically Gira's constantly in-pocket, addressing his subjects with renewed agility, but\u2028also in a very relaxed voice; if De Sade had lived long enough to tell folk tales around a campfire, some of them might have sounded like this. The genuinely playful orchestration - banjos? horns? chimes? slide? check – is by turns charming and perverse, and has a band-of-brethren feel to it that's both ominous and exiting. The title track is like a pure shot of adrenaline. An intimate, unexpected masterpiece.\"\u003c\/em\u003e - John Darnielle\/The Mountain Goats\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe Are Him began with my usual vows to keep things simple this time, finally, and I failed once again to live up to the task. I went into the studio with Akron\/Family as backing band (as they had been on Other People). We recorded all the basic tracks in a week. They played drums, bass, guitar, piano, and backing vocals. Despite Akron's valorous efforts and fine performances, things sounded thin and tentative to me, so I started calling my friends to help me flesh things out. Christoph Hahn came to Brooklyn from his home in Berlin (Christoph played in Swans for a while, and has played in several Angels incarnations - he has his own group called Les Hommes Sauvage too) and played his usual stellar \"kraut-abilly\" electric guitar stylings, as well as open-tuned lap steel. That helped considerably, and gave the songs balls, or bowels in many instances, as well as occasionally lifting things up nach Himmel… Next came Bill Rieflin. Bill is as fine a gentleman as you'll ever meet. He also played in Swans at one point. When I met him he was drumming in Ministry. He's since moved on to play with Robert Fripp (off and on I think), Robyn Hitchcock, and he currently is the drummer for REM. He's an incredibly expressive musician, on a variety of instruments. He played: Hammond B3 organ, Moog synthesizer, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums\/percussion, piano, casio, and backing vocals and probably 3 or 4 things I can't remember at the moment… Next the spirited and gracious Eszter Balint played fiddle\/violin to great effect. She played mostly drone based parts, but injected a lot of feel through inflection and modulation. She's a wonderful player and she also just brings a sense of warmth into the studio which is most welcome. She also sang some backing vocals here and there. Eszter first came to wide public notice through her central role in the film Strangers In Paradise, but she's gone on to become a fine singer, instrumentalist, and songwriter in her own right - look her up!....\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNext came Julia Kent on cello and Paul Cantelon on violin. They played multitracked string sections on a few songs here and there, \"arranged\" on the fly. Julia's a member of Antony and The Johnsons, and she does some arrangements as well as playing therein. Paul is primarily a pianist, composer, arranger and recently a soundtrack composer for some high fallutin' films, the names of which I now forget, but I like the way he plays violin, with lots of warble and feeling. He and Julia work quite well together too and have the added advantage (from my perspective) of tolerating my vague descriptions and out of tune humming-of-part suggestions, and then taking those scanty guidelines and making something musical and fully realized out of them. No mean feat !.. Next came my pal and x-neighbor in Brooklyn Steve Moses. Steve's a drummer and trombone player. He's in the band Alice Donut and also has his own solo extravaganza called Drumbone and also an improv duo called Lambic. He played trombone like a brontosaurus on this record. He also played drums and trombone on a few of Devendra's YGR releases… next came the estimable musical encyclopedia and flute player (and multi instrumentalist ) of true finesse David Garland. He played flute on a few songs, and also did some rather deep backing vocs. He's another great presence to have in the studio, though he's a little intimidating because he's such a repository of all things musical. He hosts the shows (on NYC public radio station WNYC) Evening Music and Spinning On Air. Aside from playing classical music and film scores and more, he's also been a big supporter of people like Devendra, Akron\/Family, Mi and L'au and other contemporary rock\/folk related music, as well as myself. David's also a songwriter\/singer and should be checked out too!...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNext came the glorious Siobhan Duffy and Larkin Grimm, singing \"Chick Vox\"on several songs (and Siobhan sings a cameo on the song Not Here\/Not Now). Siobhan drummed for years in the NYC noise\/skronk band God Is My Co-Pilot, but she went on to become the singer of the group Gunga Din, then drumming for Kid Congo and also Flux Information Sciences. She's sadly temporarily retired from music. She's got a very particular and unique voice, and it's a big loss. Larkin is a wild-ass Georgia mountain woman, or She-Shaman, or something. Ha ha! She too has an amazing voice, a huge range and as a songwriter she's eccentric and fiercely expressive and really coming into herself. She's got a few CDs out - look for 'em. We're also in the nascent stages of working on an album that she'll be putting out on Young God Records… Next came my old touring buddy Phil Paleo. Phil was drummer in a band called Cop Shoot Cop, but he played drums and yes, hammer dulcimer in Swans final phase. He played hammer dulcimer on a few songs here… Birgit \"Cassis\" Staudt played accordion and melodica on a few songs. She's played and toured in several Angels incarnations, and she's a chanteuse you can find playing cabarets and nightclubs in NYC… My big buddy and protector Pat Fondiller played a little mandolin here and there. He did a great job. His hands are bigger than the mandolin! Pat played bass on an Angels tour a while ago, and he also plays in the hard rock combo Smoke Wagon… The record was recorded at Trout Recording by Bryce Goggin and at Seizure's Palace by Jason La Farge, both in Brooklyn, and in fact right around the corner where I used to live. It was mixed by Bryce at Trout. Thanks to them, and all the above! Also big thanks to the fellow musicians\/friends who supplied the\u2028 extremely kind words about the record on this page… Michael Gira\/ YOUNG GOD RECORDS 2007\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"the moment I played -we are him- my heart exploded with the feeling 'that voice!!!!!!' and it has done it to me everytime I have ever heard it. From my first cassette of filth to this newest work, michael gira's singing is my favorite gentle violence and lovers strangulation. Now is the best he has ever sounded and I cannot without sounding insanely thrilled express how much this means to me. -we are him- is touching, frightening, wonderfully different and whole.\"\u003c\/em\u003e - Jamie Stewart \/ Xiu Xiu \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"What‚s a young turk to do when Michael Gira, at 52, is at the height of his powers? Everything I‚ve loved about his previous work ˆ the apocalyptic soundscapes, the window-shattering drums, the glistening acoustic passages, the voice like God speaking out of the whirlwind - is distilled and reimagined in these songs, and infused with an organic warmth that only makes them the more urgent and harrowing. By turns frightening, funny, cathartic, wise, even strangely sweet, \"We Are Him\" is a sprawling masterpiece by an artist whose muse seems more fertile than ever.\"\u003c\/em\u003e - Jonathan Meiburg \/ Shearwater \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Michael’s screaming is now finally reborn into something closer to the intensity of Nina Simone than punk rock. The song forms are now clear and strong enough to support vocal performances that sometimes sound like a 25-year-old Michael simultaneously hallucinating and dictating the dark underbelly of the Amercian Dream. And now that this strength and intensity is firmly rooted in tradition it can take on a whole new level of meaning and interplay and understanding that I find simply wonderful. This is not indie rock or Americana, this is authentic American music; or as Gram Parsons said, ' Cosmic American Music ' \"\u003c\/em\u003e - Seth Olinsky \/ Akron\/Family\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSOME REVIEWS BELOW \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/Press\/?C=65\" target=\"_top\"\u003e(MORE PRESS)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ca\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCokemachineglow.com \u2028May 07\u2028 by Peter Hepburn \u003cbr\u003eAngels of Light: \"We Are Him\" \u2028From We Are Him (Young God; 2007) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMichael Gira -- leader of Swans, occasional solo artist, and single best\/scariest voice in rock -- is back with a new album under the Angels of Light moniker in August. As always, new M. Gira material is reason to get excited, especially now that he has the daunting task of following up the excellent Sing Other People and a split LP with Akron\/Family that had us all worked up back in '05. If the title track is any indication, We Are Him looks to be another jump forward. Working with Akron\/Family again, Gira seems to be moving more toward the full-band rock that much of his post-Swans material has avoided. Even though the track heads into familiar territory (especially with the droning intro), the thick rhythm section and driving pulse that Akron\/Family bring with them indicates a very different Angels of Light. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEven the best songs off Sing Other People occasionally felt somewhat like lightly-adorned Gira solo tracks; A\/F were along for the ride, but they felt added-on rather than integral to the process. \"We Are Him,\" as well as the recently posted \"Black River Song,\" demonstrates the power of a more collaborative relationship. The band chugs along as Gira chants and preaches his way over the top. They rip through a couple of nasty solos, though, and the banshee backing vocals fit the track perfectly. Gira doesn't maintain the grim stoicism or quiet scariness that has informed so much of his solo material and earlier Angels of Light work, but at this point he's more than proven his flexibility as an artist. 25 years and good number of genre jumps after the first Swans EPs and Gira continues to produce innovative, exciting music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Wire \u2028\u2028Lead Review\u2028\u2028 August 07\u2028\u2028\u2028 \u003cbr\u003eBy Keith Moline \u2028\u2028 \u003cbr\u003eAngels Of Light\u2028 We Are Him\u2028 Young God CD\u2028 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMichael Gira continues to suffer from having each new album, each new \u2028fugitive direction he takes, compared with his early work, produced in\u2028 just a few short years in the early 80s. While his group Swans made\u2028 some of the slowest, heaviest and most grindingly relentless music\u2028 ever created on albums like Filth (1983) and Cop (1984), for more than a decade of their lifespan - Gira disbanded the group in 1997 - their\u2028 work was multifaceted, sweeping and often acoustic. As for his later\u2028 work under the Angels Of Light banner, the unremitting moroseness that Gira has often been accused of - perhaps not without justification\u2028 when you consider lines like \"God damn anyone that says a kind word\"\u2028(from 1988's \"God Damn The Sun\") - has for the most part been replaced\u2028 by honest simplicity and generosity of spirit.\u2028\u2028 For this fifth Angels Of Light album, Gira has again recruited acid\u2028 pastoralists Akron\/Family to realize his songs, which are usually \u2028composed on acoustic guitar. Some of the musicians featured on early\u2028 releases New Mother (1999) and How I Loved You (2001) have returned to \u2028flesh out We Are Him's arrangements. Gira has in the past bemoaned \u2028his difficulty in resisting the temptation to obsess over sonic\u2028 details, but those who found the last couple of albums a little too\u2028 dry and sparse will surely enjoy this one's lusher textures. We Are Him is the most widescreen Angles album to date without ever spilling \u2028over into the production excesses of Swans; further, it retains the \u2028freshness and immediacy that is a hallmark of Akron\/Family's work.\u2028 Nothing feels superfluous; the instrumentation, though compellingly\u2028 mercurial, in never intrusive or overwrought, allowing Gira's\u2028 songwriting to command centre stage.\u2028\u2028 And a superb set of songs it is. His early work explored the\u2028 narratives opened up between each repetition of a single riff or line\u2028 of lyric, and how abjection, violence and blank nihilism could\u2028 multiply exponentially with each hammer blow drum kick or solemn\u2028 acoustic strum. The younger Gira may have been loath to admit to any\u2028 weakness - by his own account he could be a nasty piece of work - but\u2028 at the heart of all his music lay vulnerability and a longing for \u2028transcendence. Such yearning was heightened rather than crushed by \u2028his monolithic musical constructs.\u2028\u2028 The difference with We Are Him is that he has become adept at\u2028 expressing it all with such candor, precision and economy. Certainly \u2028repetition still plays its part, as on the opening \"Black River Song\" in which a monstrous blues riff cycles around on itself until the album's first chord change, which arrives about ten seconds before the \u2028song ends. But the repetition has nothing to do with bludgeoning\u2028 monomania; it's all about trance-fuled abandon and release. \u2028Gira's words continue to conflate opposites of sin and redemption, \u2028good and evil, hope and despair. In the past this bordered on the\u2028 gratuitous, a blunt undercutting of positive potential by sheer boundless cynicism. But here it feels like an attempt to synthesize \u2028something strong and true, as if they aren't opposites but mirror\u2028 images: \"Black River runs, beneath the ground\/Receiving the days that\u2028 feed the night\/Black River flows through the belly of everyone\/Fading, \u2028growing, fading, flowing.\" In Gira's world, the breath of artistic\u2028 inspiration, the memory of departed friends and family,\u2028 personifications of love and cruelty, vengeful and forgiving gods, all\u2028 of these intermingle, coursing through the land, the body and even the\u2028 blood, though he is never explicit as to whether this is cause for\u2028 celebration or terror: \"There is no place to run from Joseph's \u2028truth\/His hands are on your throat but feeding you\" (\"Joseph's Song\").\u2028If this all sounds like serious stuff, you're right. Yet there are\u2028 some sparkling pop songs on We Are Him. The title track is built on a \u2028joyous glam rock stomp, bursting through a folk-drone intro and never \u2028letting up, while pastel guitars open and close \"The Man We Left \u2028Behind\", a waltz time confessional that crosses gossamer Byrdsian\u2028 Country rock with the offhand gravitas of Leonard Cohen. \"Not\u2028 Here\/Not Now\" rides out on some inspired Western guitar twang and\u2028\" Sometimes I Dream I'm Hurting You\" features goofy Nuggets-style \u2028garage rock organ, while \"Sunflower's Here To Stay\" even boasts a coda that recalls The Turtles' \"Happy Together\" (though the title might indicate that Gira actually had The Beach Boys in mind).\u2028Generally, though, the mood is one of calm reflection. In the past\u2028 Gira's famed intensity has felt a bit too pat, his victories too\u2028 easily won; here, the power of a song like \"Star Chaser\" is heightened \u2028by the restraint of its arrangement. It's another wrenching waltz \u2028that recasts autobiographical detail into a kind of modern tragic\u2028 folklore. Gira has characterized himself as \"the type of person that\u2028 immediately abstracts experience as it occurs\" (in The Wire 233), and\u2028 it's this gift (or curse, perhaps) that imbues his work with a near \u2028mythical depth and range. Nothing on We Are Him will startle like old\u2028 classics such as \"Raping A Slave\" or \"A Screw\", but these songs will\u2028 get under your skin (to use a recurring Gira image) and remain with\u2028 you for a long time to come.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.pitchforkmedia.com\/article\/record_review\/44801-we-are-him\"\u003ePitchfork Review\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAngels of Light \u003cbr\u003eWe Are Him \u003cbr\u003e[Young God; 2007] \u003cbr\u003eRating: 8.0 \u003cbr\u003eGrayson Currin, August 14, 2007 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA year ago, writing for Perfect Sound Forever, Brian Hell buried himself in a series of questions about lyrics with Michael Gira. The Angels of Light Sing \"Other People\"-- the fifth album from Gira's prime project since Swans' end in 1997-- had just been released. The most telling question and answer refer to \"Simon Is Stronger Than Us\", a playful song with Akron\/Family, then Gira's backing band, teasing his broad baritone with yelps for harmonies. Hell inquired if the line \"And Francis did that, too, though Francis trawled London and made no excuse\" was a reference to Irish painter Francis Bacon: \"Well yes, I am referring to Francis Bacon there, very astute of you,\" the singer replied. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOf course Gira would reference Bacon, call him by name even: Articulating with screams, something Bacon specialized in while painting, has been paramount to Gira's aesthetic for a quarter century now. On We Are Him-- his sixth and arguably most engaging album as Angels of Light-- he lands some of the best of those complete releases. Gira seems more empowered and commanding than he has in a decade, the emotions he's conveying coming in huge fits that, like Bacon's, are as powerful as they are draining. He's backed by one of the most impressive guest lists of the year (Akron\/Family providing the basic tracks, plus new friends or longtime collaborators Larkin Grimm, David Garland, and Bill Rieflin), but one must understand that this is Gira's album. He lets it all out and wastes little time: Four seconds into the colossal opening track, \"Black River Song\", for instance, a thick electric bass knock pumps against every heavy drum hit and compacted guitar sinew: \"Black river runs\/ beneath this ground\/ Black river flows forever\/ But he makes no sound.\" The chorus-- some variation of the series, \"Fading, growing, breathing, flowing,\" sung by Gira and female voices-- is sinister, challenging and almost sexy. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA track later, a rocking-chair rhythm moans beneath Gira's snarl. He's rarely sounded this foreboding: Prodded by a scathing, raw violin drone and a daring chorus of sirens, it's an escalating dirge for the collapse of society, full of floods, blood and mouths too stupid to scream. Beneath an electric guitar twitter, heavy drums and furious strings on \"My Brother's Man\", Gira hands down these imprecations: \"I walk through the thick black mud. I walk with my brother's blood. I see with my brother's eye. I scream at my brother's sky.\" Swans, anyone? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut this record isn't so simple. \"My Brother's Man\" notes that the brother is capable of murder and so is Gira. But it embraces the relationship, vowing to crush god \"in my fucking hand\" for the sake of fraternal legacy. It's protective, triumphant. The subsequent \"This Is Not Here\"-- a dark duet with Gira's wife, Siobhan Duffy-- offers the lovers choices and endings: Will the world steal the sun, or will the lovers touch the light? \"Will you dream that we breathe?\" It's not about anger or fatalism. In 1984, Gira screamed about burning and eating hearts on \"Raping a Slave\"; in 1995, he sang about supplication to God while witnessing the fragility of the world during \"Our Love Lies\". We Are Him is a near-perfect, totally committed summation hammering at the same unresolved archetypes from someone who's now a father. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat's not to say that this album is without its share of misses, or at least the occasional artistic anomie that has, by now, become a requisite of Gira's work. Those songs aren't better left unsung: \"Goodbye Mary Lou\" has a purpose, its rhythm an uneasy country twitter that leaves Gira little room to do much but say exactly what he's feeling. The first verse ends \"Mary Lou, I renounce you\"; the second, \"Mary Lou, fuck you\"; and in closing, the indiscretions of young anger that have been boiling for a lifetime come crashing down with a wink: \"Oh Mary Lou, I forgive you.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe Are Him is ultimately about getting by, about trying to survive with a family and a faith at a time when \"the dogs...howl as the street fills with blood.\" Gira, at 53, continues to evolve, to challenge himself, to question his beliefs. As long as he does that, every song won't roar like the perfect first two tracks of We Are Him or have the brilliant gospel insistence of the title track. The slight, charming chamber pop he tries won't always work as it does on \"Sunflower's Here to Stay\", a song that pushes for persistence. Luckily, doing otherwise has never been an option for Gira.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Angels Of Light","offers":[{"title":"We Are Him \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634185081,"sku":"YG_WEAREHIM_CD","price":14.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"We Are Him \/ album \/ LP","offer_id":634185085,"sku":"YG_WEAREHIM_LP","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Remastered WAVs \/ album \/ digital","offer_id":51961785090350,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/wearehim.jpg?v=1571438766"},{"product_id":"we-rose-from-your-bed-with-the-sun-in-our-head","title":"We Rose From Your Bed With The Sun In Our Head","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eYG1969\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e-SIGNED BY M.GIRA-\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is now available as a deluxe digipack with beautiful art by \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/heidiyardley.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eHeidi Yardley.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e“We Rose…” was initially released as a limited edition of 1000, handmade special 2xcd package with various levels of purchase for fans to offset the costs of the new Swans studio album The Seer. The edition of 1000 sold out in under 24 hours.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eHere are some early reviews for your perusal:\u003cbr\u003efrom \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/thequietus.com\/articles\/08657-swans-we-rose-from-your-bed-with-the-sun-in-our-head-review\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eThe Quietus\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003efrom \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.tinymixtapes.com\/music-review\/swans-we-rose-your-bed-sun-our-head\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eTiny Mix Tapes\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.tinymixtapes.com\/music-review\/swans-we-rose-your-bed-sun-our-head\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/a\u003efrom \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/pitchfork.com\/reviews\/albums\/16588-we-rose-from-your-bed-with-the-sun-in-our-head\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePitchfork\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTRACK LISTING: disc one: 1. intro\/no words no thoughts 2. jim 3. beautiful child 4. the apostate 5. yr property 6. sex god sex disc two: 1. the seer (intro)\/ i crawled 2. eden prison 3. 93 ave. b blues \/ little mouth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded variously in Melbourne Australia, Berlin Germany, and NYC. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSWANS: michael gira - guitar, vocal; norman westerg - guitar; phil puleo - drums, duclimer; thor harris - drums\/percussion, vibes, clarinet, melodica, violin; christoph hahn - double lap steel guitar; christopher pravdica - bass.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese recordings capture the rejuvenated and invigorated Swans as the group staked out new sonic and rhythmic terrain in 2010\/11. The seeds of much of the upcoming album The Seer are contained herein as the group developed new material while on tour. The tour(s) saw Swans enjoy the largest and most diverse audiences of their career. Contrary to the expectations of some, the experience was, though sometimes extreme, always joyous.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNote from Michael Gira: Thanks to all of you who attended the Swans shows during our recent tours. The experience, for us, was life-giving and nourishing. The audiences were not only the largest with which we’ve ever been blessed, but the most genuinely connected and in tune with the sonic\/psychic experience in which we all participate. Thank you!... Represented in these discs are the best recordings we could provide of the (ever-evolving) shows. Those of you who attended the early shows realize that the first iterations of the music morphed and grew (seemingly with a will more expansive than our own) into something quite different by the end. This, in itself, was immensely gratifying. We also developed many new songs  – or sonic events is perhaps a better way to describe some of them -  along the way. In compiling these recordings and mixing them with my trusted friend and engineer Kevin McMahon (at Marcata Studio, Gardiner NY), we did our best to represent that transition... if you choose to acquire this 2 disc set, in my view it would behoove you to listen to the music at a generous volume level. This has absolutely nothing to do with an aggressive intent, as some mistakenly assume. Exactly the opposite, in fact. As with the live experience, it’s all about immersion. We – Swans - experience that sense of being subsumed in something greater than ourselves when we perform, too. Maybe that’s even our selfish reason for making the music in the first place. At the best of moments, it doesn’t even feel as if we are playing the music ourselves. More that we’re animated – vivified – by the ongoing sonic wave.  I can’t speak for my friends and cohorts, but it’s what I live for. In any event, it’s my hope these discs provide you with a positive experience of some sort....\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Swans","offers":[{"title":"We Rose From Your Bed With The Sun In Our Head \/ album \/ 2xCD","offer_id":634198457,"sku":"YG_WEROSE_CD","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"WAVs \/ album \/ digital","offer_id":51960263672110,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_56_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"what-we-did","title":"What We Did","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG17\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e••• SIGNED BY M.GIRA•••\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere’s a press release and some reviews below from 2002 when Dan Matz and I did our one-off project together. Dan continues to make music as Windsor For The Derby – check out their music! – Michael Gira\/Young God Records – 2008\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDan Matz (Windsor for the Derby) and I recorded these songs at his (various) house(s) over the course of two years. This was completely collaborative, in that one of us would present the other a simple, basic idea, and then we'd build on it together, sharing completely in the songwriting process. In general, we alternate lead vocals from song to song throughout the album. We used a variety of instruments. They include: our voices, acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitar, various organs, piano, synthesizer, drums\/percussion (as well as some simple drum machine), harmonica, banjo, a few samples here and there, various toy and miniature percussion instruments, etc. James Plotkin contributed guitar and background voice on a few songs. Anna Neighbor contributed background voice on a few songs as well. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis album was a pleasure for us both to make, completely free of the stress usually associated with working on our other projects, and devoid of ego (for me, a big step!). Dan did all of the engineering on the record, to excellent effect, I believe. We both learned how to do this recording as it unfolded, and let the songs grow according to their own will whatever seemed called for at the time. Nothing was really pre-conceived by either of us, in terms of arrangement. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs I've said elsewhere regarding this project, we look at it as a \"pop\" record. However, admittedly, our view of that term might differ from the usual implied connotation! Anyway, here's some songs, and we hope you enjoy them. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe cover paintings, by the way, are by my friend, the esteemed Simon Henwood. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMichael Gira\/Young God Records 2002 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHERE ARE SOME OF OUR INFLUENCES:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE CARS, THE BEATLES, TOWNES VAN ZANDT, THE ROLLING STONES, 808 STATE, BOB DYLAN, CHAD AND JEREMY, SPK, THE GERMS, THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND, NEGATIVE TREND, JOE BYRD, BLACK FLAG, DESFINADO, MAGAZINE, SYLFORD WALKER, THE POP GROUP, LOUIS ARMSTRONG, LAMONTE YOUNG, THE BYRDS, TONY CONRAD, EMMIT RHODES, JOHNNY CASH, JOHN FAHEY, DIAMANDA GALAS, SYLVIA JEAN, CAN, MOUSE ON MARS, FAUST, PINK FLOYD, NEU, TENNESSE ERNIE FORD, ROXIE MUSIC, , PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED, JOHN CALE, JULY, NICO, LOU REED, THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS, PHIL SPECTOR, THROBBING GRISTLE, LOVE, SUICIDE, LED ZEPPELIN, MADONNA, TEENAGE JESUS AND THE JERKS,HOWLIN WOLF, NEW ORDER,SMOG,CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, NICK DRAKE, THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION, PINBACK, BURLE IVES, THE RONETTES, LEONARD COHEN, HANK WILLIAMS, RALPH STANLEY, MILES DAVIS, DEL SHANNON, GIL EVANS, MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT, WHITEHOUSE, MERZBOW, WILLIE NELSON, MERLE HAGGARD, NINA SIMONE, JOHN LENNON, PSYCHIK TV, TEDDY PENDERGRASS, OVAL, PANSONIC, BUTTHOLE SURFERS, ENIO MORRICONE, LIGETI, ARVO PART, THE ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO, PJ HARVEY, MARYANNE FAITHFUL, BOBBIE GENTRYOVAN, GENE CLARK, HOME,THE CARTER FAMILY, THE DELFONICS,CREDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL, P. MCARTNEY AND WINGS, DAVID BOWIE, MONROE MUSTANG, D'ANGELO, RAIN IN JULY, BRIAN ENO,FRED MACDOWELL, YES, U2, BRADFORD RED LIGHT DISTRICT, CHARLEY PATTON, SIGHTINGS, TAMPA RED, MICHAEL HURLEY, THE DAVE WARE BAND, FLAT AND SCRUGGS, JAMES BROWN\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHere’s some reviews from the time: \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eM Gira \u0026amp; D Matz \u003cbr\u003eWhat We Did \u003cbr\u003eThe Wire, Issue 215, January 2002 \u003cbr\u003eBy Jim Haynes \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDuring one of the final Swans tours across the US, leader Michael Gira employed the Texan post-rock ensemble Windsor For The Derby as support. Up until this collaboration between Gira and the latter's Dan Matz, Windsor had appeared to be an unusual choice, as Swans' might and emotional catharsis clearly overwhelmed Windsor's pristine repetitions and understated, Slintish punctuations. Yet in the synthesis of What We Did it becomes clear that Swans and Windsor merely took different approaches towards the same impetus to control sound in order to communicate through it. Where Gira's late period Swans built a furious trance-rock from baroque slabs of hypnotic guitar noise to augment his poetic mythologies of sex, hate, love and death, Windsor rendered an awe of the sublime through the surgical removal of bombast and a technically precise applications of mathematical compositions. Thus Gira could be seen as the Shaman and Matz the Anaesthetist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo a certain extent, Gira's collaboration with Matz picks up where Swans left off with their tense, droning grooves. Yet, Gira is speaking truthfully when he said What We Did was founded on mutual respect. As testament to such claims the album opens with \"Pacing The Locks\" a duet that sets Matz's whispered vocals against Gira's dignified baritone while the two share guitar duties, gently strolling through their spartan chords. Almost comically upbeat, \" Lines\"' could have been lifted from the Gram Parsons songbook. Backed by a locomotive-themed arrangement with its mandatory claw-fisted banjo picking and steam-whistle harmonica, Gira poises himself at the train station waiting for the love of his life coming down the tracks - only to gleefully spoil the image with the reality of how contemporary romance is now transcribed \"down through the optic line, then sifted through the screen.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile both Matz and Gira offer up a few tracks like \"Lines\" the most enthralling moments here are when the two lock into taut grooves and extended arpeggiations that incrementally multiply in density, bringing the song to a crescendo. \"Is\/Was\" begins with a repetition of a plaintive Delta blues chord, adds a sustained organ drone, followed by the tinkling of a vibraphone; Matz's voice joins Gira's, and so on, until the song becomes a very subtly constructed mass of nervous rhythms. \"17 Hours\" for guitars, drum machine and organs, increases the tension considerably, but with far more rigidity and brittleness in the arrangement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e2\/2\/2002 | Stomp and Stammer | Molly Livingston \u003cbr\u003eM. Gira\/D. Matz - What We Did \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRemember the sub-food chain dregs of your high school years? Maybe you recall the ugly ones, those poor unfortunates not up to the jockocracy and fabuloso babe standards? Yeah, well some of those outcasts merely “reinvented” themselves, learning the cruel tricks and methods upon post-graduation and became a new elite. You might recognize some of them as smug scenesters in the coolest bands, the turds who book a club, edit a zine, or who managed to show at the Whitney. The oppressed don’t merely become the oppressor. They just become fast learners in a perpetual cruel game. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI’d like to think that the music of D. Matz (Windsor for the Derby) and M. Gira (Swans, Angels, of Light, and sundry) is the music for the rest of us, the quiet thoughtful pluggers who hated the mean spiritedness of both classes of imposter. This isn’t bicoastal hipper-than-thou tastemaking, or Windy Shitty gamesmanship; but it has plenty that would satisfy acolytes of either persuasion. Slooooow arrangements drive songs filled with painfully majestic acoustic, peculiar electronic accents, and vocals that caress, annoy, and cajole in the most astounding ways. Gira and Matz squeeze so much personal expression out of the barest elements that it becomes a joy to realize that great art is sometimes the most resourceful. I really have no superlatives that would do this outing justice. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s a damn brilliant recording whose personal narratives remind me, in strange ways, of a time when I knew that patience and deliberation would see me through. It’s not what you did. It’s what you’re doing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"M. Gira \/ D. Matz","offers":[{"title":"What We Did \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":634203349,"sku":"YG_WHATWEDID_CD","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"What We Did \/ album \/ WAVs","offer_id":52056776114478,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_49_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"swans-t-shirt","title":"SWANS $ T-SHIRT","description":"100% cotton, natural and soft on your beautiful skin","brand":"SWANS","offers":[{"title":"Woman's Small","offer_id":1006142173,"sku":"YG_$_WS","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Woman's Med","offer_id":634413713,"sku":"YG_$_WM","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Woman's Large","offer_id":634414717,"sku":"YG_$_WL","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's Small","offer_id":634412477,"sku":"YG_$_MS","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's Med","offer_id":1006144201,"sku":"YG_$_MM","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's Large","offer_id":1006145085,"sku":"YG_$_ML","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's XL","offer_id":634411293,"sku":"YG_$_XL","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's XXL","offer_id":1006145517,"sku":"YG_$_XXL","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/24899238_1687155148001639_593705664_n.jpg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"michael-gira-eight-stories-sold-out","title":"MICHAEL GIRA: EIGHT STORIES (Sold Out)","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eSOLD OUT!\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMICHAEL GIRA : EIGHT STORIES\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHANDMADE BOOK, SIGNED AND NUMBERED,\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSTRICTLY LIMITED EDITION OF 1000. 32 pages.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eINCLUDES 5 DRAWINGS BY M.GIRA and the long\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eout of print spoken word CD, THE SOMNILOQUIST\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cover is heavy stock brown board-like paper. The size of the pages is 8 1\/2 x 11 inches. \u003cbr\u003eThe book was professionally printed (not on a copy machine). The books were signed using a silver paint stick pen. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cover is heavy stock brown board-like paper. The size of the pages is 8 1\/2 x 11 inches. \u003cbr\u003eThe book was professionally printed (not on a copy machine). The books were signed using a silver paint stick pen. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I wrote these stories in the 1990s, and I’ve written very little fiction since. The stories in this book are complete, \u003cbr\u003eabsolute fiction and have nothing to do with reality. They certainly did not then, nor do they now, reflect my view \u003cbr\u003eof the world, nor do they depict anyone living or dead.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe drawings included here are meant as crude and elliptical references to a notion or two expressed in the \u003cbr\u003efirst three stories, and they should not under any circumstances be viewed as art.”  – Michael Gira 2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStories 4, 5, and 8 were previously published by 2.13.61 in the book of collected stories, The Consumer, now out of print. \u003cbr\u003eThe other stories in this collection are previously unpublished.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1.  MTV AND THE CULT OF THE BODY\u003cbr\u003e2.  MY BIRTH\u003cbr\u003e3.  THE IDIOT\u003cbr\u003e4.  EMPATHY\u003cbr\u003e5.  THE COWARD ( II )\u003cbr\u003e6.  NEW MOTHER\u003cbr\u003e7.  WEEPING WOMAN \/ DRUNKEN FOOL\u003cbr\u003e8.  THE DOG\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE SOMNILOQUIST CD (M. GIRA STORY NARRATIONS) IS INCLUDED WITH THIS BOOK. The stories narrated are: \u003cbr\u003e1.Bloodsucker 2.The Sex Machine 3.MTV and the Cult of the Body 4.The Idiot 5.My Birth\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/michael_gira_8_stories032_large.jpg?616\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE COVER\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/mg_making_the_books_large.jpg?617\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMG MAKING THE HANDMADE BOOKS  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/title_page_large.jpg?618\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE TITLE PAGE\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/drawing_one_large.jpg?619\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTHE TITLE DRAWING\u003cbr\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/mtv_drawing_large.jpg?620\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eANOTHER DRAWING\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/some_text_large.jpg?621\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSOME TEXT FROM THE BOOK\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/my_birth_drawing_large.jpg?622\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAND ANOTHER DRAWING\u003cbr\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/the_cd_large.jpg?623\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE SOMNILOQUIST CD IS AFFIXED TO INNER BACK COVER\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"M. GIRA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":634443993,"sku":"","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/michael_gira_8_stories032.jpg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"swans-waste-is-obscene-tote","title":"SWANS - WASTE IS OBSCENE - TOTE","description":"100% natural material, soft and supple. works great when you shop at hole foods.","brand":"SWANS","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":634452113,"sku":"YG_Tote","price":15.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/Tote-bag-Reference.jpg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"swans-you-fucking-people-shirt","title":"SWANS - YOU FUCKING PEOPLE MAKE ME SICK - SHIRT","description":"100% cotton, natural and soft on your beautiful skin","brand":"SWANS","offers":[{"title":"Woman's Small","offer_id":50643957219630,"sku":"YG_People_WS","price":25.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Woman's Med","offer_id":634463285,"sku":"YG_People_WM","price":25.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Woman's Large","offer_id":50643957252398,"sku":"YG_People_WL","price":25.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's Small","offer_id":24336124935,"sku":"YG_People_MS","price":25.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's Med","offer_id":24336170183,"sku":"YG_People_MM","price":25.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Men's Large","offer_id":634469481,"sku":"YG_People_ML","price":25.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Men's XL","offer_id":24336226439,"sku":"YG_People_MXL","price":25.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Men's XXL","offer_id":24336305991,"sku":"YG_People_MXXL","price":25.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Men's XXXL","offer_id":45765422481710,"sku":"YG_People_M3XL","price":25.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/IMG_0824.JPG?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"drainland","title":"Drainland","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVIRUS 166CD\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDrainland is a 1995 obscure solo album by me, co-produced by the lovely Bill Rieflin and myself, with musical contributions from Bill and Jarboe. Spare arrangements (recorded in Bill's living room) with the focus on words. Some of this is pretty damn good. Some of it isn't. Ha ha! \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/michaeljarboe9495ef_large.jpg?1015\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\"You See Through Me\" features a surreptitious recording by Jarboe of a drunken rant by me. I think I discovered the cassette one day in a drawer in her desk and decided to use it for a song dedicated to her (\"you see through me\"). Of course it's incredibly embarrassing to include on an album made for public consumption, but I thought it a legitimately good recording - a good \"performance\" in a way, despite the fact it was of slovenly, spiteful me. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/files\/Picture11_large.jpg?1014\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt could have been anyone. Well, maybe not.  Prescient, it's subject was money. Anyway, it was just \"material\" and everything's fair game. In the end, it was an honest homage to Jarboe, though most people failed to notice that.  \"Fan Letter\" and \"Unreal\" are seen from the perspective of a crazed fan's inverted worship of Madonna. \" I See Them All Lined Up\" (later re-recorded for Swans) is a naked hate\/revenge diatribe, some of the most vile words I ever wrote. I apologize to all concerned. Thank god it’s not too obvious who the subject of my hatred was…. This album was and still is graciously released through Mr. Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label. Photography by the esteemed Mr. Wim van de Hulst. - Michael Gira\/Young God Records 2008 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Michael Gira","offers":[{"title":"Drainland \/ Album \/ CD","offer_id":639288273,"sku":"YG_Drainland_CD","price":15.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Drainland WAVs","offer_id":52056776671534,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/drainland.jpg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"the-milk-of-m-gira-collected-solo-home-recordings-2001-2010","title":"The Milk Of M. Gira: Collected Solo Home Recordings 2001 - 2010","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 2001 I started making and releasing handmade limited edition CDs available only through younggodrecords.com or at live shows. The recordings have been done with one stereo mic on my desk, no overdubs, just a casual performance in my office at home. Most of the songs presented are versions I recorded immediately after writing the song – they’ve also served as demos I can give to the musicians with whom I’m working to develop the material. The recordings were not (and are not) meant for general public consumption, just for dedicated followers and supporters of the music. these special packages have been instrumental in helping to fund studio recordings by Angels of Light, and now also Swans – serving both as collectible items and as fundraisers for the recording projects. Since these titles are all permanently out of print now, I’ve decided to make a digital collection of what I view as the highlights available.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere are links to these original releases, WAVs for THE MILK OF M. GIRA available for purchase.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/release\/1723825-Michael-Gira-Solo-Recordings-At-Home\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eMichael Gira – Solo Recordings At Home 2001\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/livesite.younggodrecords.com\/i-am-singing-to-you-from-my-room-michael-gira\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/master\/356586-Michael-Gira-I-Am-Singing-To-You-From-My-Room?srsltid=AfmBOorRdPUMzR21aouVQTGNxK9NrJ38n9eliJrVBTpenyAfs-woPDrO\"\u003eMichael Gira – I Am Singing to You From My Room\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/master\/823768-Michael-Gira-Songs-For-A-Dog?srsltid=AfmBOoq7Y5bOPDfpASdnpPrRgnS6fxofzEJS4Ut0G4cNATr8vAeNkBAp\"\u003eMichael Gira – Songs For a Dog\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/release\/2114176-Michael-Gira-I-Am-Not-Insane?srsltid=AfmBOorLnlZTCACWgUBemEjiBP-TP0pZrR4BHBZuJZj03z04UelwFnlc\"\u003eMichael Gira – I Am Not Insane (CD\/DVD)\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlso of note was the below, posting here for sentimental reasons! :\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/release\/725918-The-Angels-Of-Light-We-Were-Alive?srsltid=AfmBOopD30plrUjfB_gWrA8CgTxfhrZQHGwOdqdKnd1qNxICGX3T_50t\"\u003eAngels of Light – We Were Alive\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy Best! - Michael Gira 2012\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Michael Gira","offers":[{"title":"WAVs","offer_id":52557193249070,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_59_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"all-is-falling","title":"All Is Falling","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG42\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePitchfork review of All is Falling \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/pitchfork.com\/reviews\/albums\/14534-all-is-falling\/\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ultra savant of 12-string mantra cycles expands further into cinematic, orchestral glory--an orgy of organic, deeply felt and exquisitely played pathways to the sublime.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll Is Falling features James Blackshaw's first foray into the realm of the electric 12-string guitar and stretches his intuitive compositional acumen to the max. The album is comprised of one slowly evolving, shifting piece of music in eight parts, replete with swirling string cycles and wind instruments augmenting his extended pointillist flurries with clouds of sound, sometimes adding delicate counter-melodies but just as often feeding the implicit waves of overtones until they cascade in an all-enveloping onslaught. Listeners willing to close their eyes and surrender will be rewarded with a pure stream of devotional, relentlessly searching sonic incantation. All is Falling features Blackshaw on electric 12-string guitar, piano, glockenspiel, voice, and percussion aided by Charlotte Glasson who contributes violin, flute, alto saxophone, and glockenspiel, Fran Bury providing violin and, voice and cellist Daniel Madav.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe seeds of this project were sown in the past few years while James was serving as guest guitarist with a friend’s group on tour. This was the first time he’d played electric guitar in nearly a decade. Blackshaw got unexpected pleasure and inspiration from the sheer volume involved, the way the different old valve amps he’d rent for each show would perform, and having to be more pro-active in his fretting; he noted that while a 12-string acoustic guitar “sings” or “plays itself,” that an electric guitar needs a lot more coaxing. James became curious as to how a 12-string electric guitar might sound in his own work and bought an Italia Rimini and a little Fender Superchamp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe new album was recorded, mixed and mastered by John Hannon and James Blackshaw at No Recording Studio, December 2009 - January 2010 and is being release on Young God Records August 24.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe slimmer neck and the lighter string tension allowing him to play faster and to reach finger positions he’d previously found awkward. At the same time, James acquired a home-recording set up which allowed him to experiment with the arrangements for other instruments, and this became integral to how he wrote the piece with guitar taking a smaller role in the overall picture as a result. Both factors had a huge impact on the new music he was composing as well as the influence of post-No Wave maximalist guitar composers Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJames Blackshaw: \u003c\/strong\u003eelectric 12-string guitar, piano, glockenspiel, voice, percussion \u003cstrong\u003eCharlotte Glasson:\u003c\/strong\u003e violin, flute, alto saxophone, glockenspiel \u003cstrong\u003eFran Bury:\u003c\/strong\u003e violin, voice \u003cstrong\u003eDaniel Madav:\u003c\/strong\u003e cello…\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.spin.com\/reviews\/james-blackshaw-all-falling-young-god?amp;amp;ct=ga\u0026amp;amp;cad=:s7:f2:v0:i1:lt:e3:p1:t1281406110:\u0026amp;amp;cd=e5CPxiDqhs0\u0026amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNG8o_RaAzuJLM-m6WPsiMn2vXd4HA\"\u003eFrom SPIN.COM\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJames Blackshaw, 'All Is Falling' (Young God)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eA breathtaking maelstrom of string-swept virtuosity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eFor his ninth LP of pastoral plucking, British guitarist James Blackshaw graduates from gifted fingerpicker to masterful composer, combining John Fahey's tender arpeggios and Terry Riley's cycling rhythms. Presented as a 45-minute suite, All Is Falling sweeps his electric 12-string into a tangle of keening cellos, dive-bombing violins, pinprick glockenspiels, and clacking percussion. It's essentially a chattering crescendo of melody and tension, with piano-based snowdrifts giving way to Morricone epics that ultimately unfold into a harrowing, nail-biting sonic swarm. - By Christopher R. Weingarten\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.uncut.co.uk\/blog\/index.php?blog=6\u0026amp;p=1515\u0026amp;more=1\u0026amp;c=1\u0026amp;tb=1\u0026amp;pb=1#more1515\"\u003eJames Blackshaw: \"All Is Falling\" - early review at Uncut (UK) online\u003c\/a\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem style=\"line-height: 1.2;\"\u003eIn some circles, it’ll be construed as heretical behaviour: James Blackshaw not touching an acoustic guitar for the duration of an entire album, favouring instead a 12-string electric. For someone who’s been proclaimed, not infrequently here, as some kind of saviour of folk guitar or whatever, it’s something of a shock.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eTruth be told, though, Blackshaw’s latest album hardly measures up as a rock record. Instead, “All Is Falling” continues on the trajectory established by Blackshaw’s last two albums, “Litany Of Echoes” and “The Glass Bead Game”. Here, again, the virtuoso solo pieces that earmarked Blackshaw as a British relative of the New American Primitive movement are more or less subsumed into formal compositions, where Blackshaw’s guitar takes equal space as the violins and cellos. Still, though, it feels very much like a logical progression from his earliest records like “Sunshrine”: the instrumentation may vary and become richer, but the melodic quirks, the balance between sacred minimalism and romantic expressiveness, remain constant.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e“All Is Falling” is ostensibly one long piece, divided into eight tracks. “Part One” finds Blackshaw sketching out the themes on overlapping Reichian pianos, before “Part Two” establishes the major thrust of the overall piece; courtly, delicate electric guitar lines threaded through the sort of string arrangements that were showcased at the ensemble show at the Vortex last year. “Cross” from “The Glass Bead Game” is a useful reference point, as perhaps are “Actaeon’s Fall” from the last Six Organs Of Admittance album, “Luminous Night”, and some of Robbie Basho’s “Venus In Cancer”.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eIt’s around “Part Four” and “Part Five”, however, that Blackshaw really starts flying. I sometimes wonder whether he can be a little self-conscious about his own soloing skills, and consequently organises his music in an increasingly self-effacing and controlled way. But when he lets go, as here, it’s quite wonderful. It seems churlish to criticise an album as crafted and satisfying as “All Is Falling”, but I do hope that at some point in what will undoubtedly be an exploratory future, Blackshaw returns to a solo, at least partially improvising model.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe pleasures of “All Is Formal”, of course, are more formal. But that’s not to say it’s unrelentingly prettified: by the end of “Part Seven” – another expansive exercise in Glass\/Reich-style systems – the violins are wailing like sirens. And the closing “Part Eight” is a distinct departure: a lunar drone piece of shaped guitar feedback, which codifies the devotional intensity of Blackshaw’s music in a new form.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem style=\"line-height: 1.2;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJohn Mulvey\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e•••••••••••••••\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eANOTHER EARLY REVIEW:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.theskinny.co.uk\/article\/99860-james-blackshaw-all-is-falling\"\u003eThe Skinny\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJames Blackshaw – All Is Falling\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003ePosted by Martin Skivington, Wed 28 Jul 2010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eDrawing influences from classical, Indian and minimalist music amongst others, All Is Falling sees virtuosic guitar player-composer James Blackshaw delve further into the realm of hypnotic, quasi-spiritual compositions that his last eight studio releases have explored and chartered very well. Part One sets the album's mystical tone, as mesmerising piano riffs orbit over a constant bass ostinato.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis is followed by Part Two – a stoic, desert raga, fused with strings. Elsewhere, Blackshaw's use of a twanging electric guitar in place of his usual acoustic 12-string, lends the album a darker feel than previous outings. The paced fretwork of Parts Four and Five, and subdued metallic drones of Part Eight, illustrate this newfound aesthetic sublimely. Although Blackshaw is primarily a guitarist, this is not simply a 'guitar record' – it's as much indebted to the devotional jazz of Alice Coltrane as to fellow stringsmiths like Kaki King or John Fahey. Blissful listening. [Martin Skivington]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePress excerpts for The Glass Bead Game include:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e“Blackshaw's music is simply and strikingly hypnotic. “ – \u003cem\u003eBrainwashed.com\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e“..transporting, meditative, almost sacred…”\u003cem\u003e Guitar Magazine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\"For someone as technically brilliant as Blackshaw, it is a feat to be so evocative on record. Now that he has mastered piano and guitar and now that the actual playing is no longer something he has to think about, Blackshaw is working to pull feeling out of his sound. It's not so much about wowing us with the speed of his playing as it is putting that speed to use to create a world that is emotional and confused, beautiful and staggeringly big. Blackshaw can't help but pull us all in it....\" --Popmatters.com\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"... deceptively simple compositions and performances... dreamlike, ever-unfolding pieces of spiderweb intricacy with a spacious quality heightened by the ethereal chime of his 12-string.\" --Acoustic Guitar Magazine \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"... unique and a delight, whether you're into brilliant, rich guitar work, complex yet meditational atmospheres, or modern composition....\" --fRoots Magazine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e…But for his eighth record, Blackshaw moves beyond those confines, melding his mesmeric, masterful technique with cello and violin contributions from members of experiment folk group Current 93 and setting the wordless vocals of Trembling Bells’ Lavinia Blackwall to the driving, haunting opener “Cross.” Then at the piano bench for the poignant ballad “Fix” and the stunning, assured finale “Arc,” Blackshaw makes you forget all about his guitar and your earthly cares. Andy Beta\/Spin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e… but his newer material, especially the recent The Glass Bead Game, moves more into classical and experimental territory with noticeable tips of the hat to minimalism using drones, piano, and strings. Shawn Bosler\/Village Voice\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn his transfixing acoustic albums, Blackshaw builds meditative cathedrals of sound, full of modal figures and hypnotic repetitions that call to mind Steve Reich and Terry Riley as much as John Fahey and Robbie Basho. On last year's mesmerizing The Glass Bead Game, Blackshaw broadened his palette with the wordless, angelic vocals of Lavinia Blackwall, with violin, clarinet and flute, and with his own piano and harmonium. He'll be solo at this show, but his 12-string conjures a world unto itself. - Steve Klinge\/Philadelphia Inquirer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJames used to be in punk bands in England, but then he started listening to people like John Fahey, Robbie Basho etc, and soon locked himself in a room for 12 hours a day for several years and just played his guitar constantly. It takes intense discipline and a religious commitment to get to the place where he's at with his instrument - his soulful and kaleidoscopic ever-shifting mantra cycles are incredibly beautiful. It takes a rare and single-minded courage and commitment to make music with such a powerfully positive force at its heart, especially in these troubled times.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"James Blackshaw","offers":[{"title":"All Is Falling \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":641166229,"sku":"YG_ALLISFALLING_CD","price":12.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"All Is Falling \/ album \/ LP","offer_id":641166233,"sku":"YG_ALLISFALLING_LP","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_42_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"swans-the-seer-t-shirt","title":"SWANS - THE SEER - SHIRT","description":"100% cotton, natural and soft on your beautiful skin","brand":"SWANS","offers":[{"title":"Men's XL","offer_id":643481649,"sku":"YG_Seer_XL","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's Large","offer_id":643487281,"sku":"YG_Seer_ML","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's Med","offer_id":643488685,"sku":"YG_Seer_MM","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's Small","offer_id":643492925,"sku":"YG_Seer_MS","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Women's Large","offer_id":643494169,"sku":"YG_Seer_WL","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Women's Med","offer_id":643494853,"sku":"YG_Seer_WM","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/seer_shirt.JPG?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"various-failures","title":"Various Failures","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG06\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-Signed by M.Gira-\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis music is culled from the period when Swans were in the midst of a major transition from sonic onslaught to actual songwriting (really begun with Children of God, but continued here). There were several releases in this vein, and I took the songs I thought best and compiled them into this double album collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI’m ambivalent about much of it, but then what do I know???? Some if it is genuinely good I think. Anyway, I was learning (how to write a song) as I went.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany people seem to like this material, and I’m obviously (even now) incapable of being objective, so listen to some song samples and make your own choice. It is the best selling of the Swans reissues, if that means anything to you. The artwork is rather fetching if I may say so, by the esteemed Deryk Thomas. I love his work - a cross between Disney and Francis Bacon, Bosch and Turner. Seek him out on thee internet thing! \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e– Michael Gira\/Young God Records 2008\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis two-CD set collects the best of material previously released on Swans  \"The Burning World\" album and its various singles (1989), the World of Skin album \"10 Songs For Another World\" (1990), \"White Light From the Mouth of Infinity\" (1990\/1), and the \"Love of Life\" album and its various singles (1992). All these items are out of print, and this double CD set is the most sought-after release in the Swans'  series of reissues\/compilations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCD ONE: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1 Miracle of Love     \u003cbr\u003e2 Black Eyed Dog     \u003cbr\u003e3 The Golden Boy That Was Swallowed by the Sea    \u003cbr\u003e4 (-)     \u003cbr\u003e5 I Remember Who You Are     \u003cbr\u003e6 Her    \u003cbr\u003e7 No Cruel Angel     \u003cbr\u003e8 When She Breathes     \u003cbr\u003e9 Why Are We Alive?     \u003cbr\u003e10 The Child's Right     \u003cbr\u003e11 (-)     \u003cbr\u003e12 The Other Side of the World     \u003cbr\u003e13 Song for Dead Time [Mg Version]     \u003cbr\u003e14 Love Will Save You     \u003cbr\u003e15 Blind   \u003cbr\u003e16 Unfortunate Lie [Instrumental Version]     \u003cbr\u003e17 Was He Ever Alive?     \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCD TWO: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e18 Failure       \u003cbr\u003e19 Identity        \u003cbr\u003e20 The Sound Of Freedom \u003cbr\u003e21 Trust Me     \u003cbr\u003e22 Better Than You     \u003cbr\u003e23 Saved     \u003cbr\u003e24 Will We Survive?     \u003cbr\u003e25 Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes     \u003cbr\u003e26 God Damn the Sun     \u003cbr\u003e27 Eyes of Nature     \u003cbr\u003e28 You Know Everything     \u003cbr\u003e29 Song for Dead Time [J. Version]     \u003cbr\u003e30 Picture of Maryanne       \u003cbr\u003e31 Amnesia     \u003cbr\u003e32 Dream Dream     \u003cbr\u003e33 Please Remember Me  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(\u003cstrong\u003ePlease note most of this material is also available on the \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/collections\/frontpage\/products\/white-light-from-the-mouth-of-infinity-love-of-life-ltd-ed-vinyl-box-set-3cd-release\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eWhite Light. . . \/ Love of Life\u003c\/a\u003e albums)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll Music Guide \u003cbr\u003eReview by Ned Raggett \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGiven the label troubles which rendered much of Swans' late-'80s\/early-'90s work out-of-print all too quickly -- Gira's comments on MCA and Sky Records since that period have never been less than utterly scathing -- this particular entry in the late-'90s reissue series was one of the most eagerly awaited releases by fans, though not without controversy. Rather than completely reissuing everything -- Burning World, White Light, Love of Life, the World of Skin album Ten Songs From Another World, plus numerous singles and the live Omniscience -- Gira compiled and fully remastered a broad-ranging (and as has often been the case with these reissues, non-chronologically ordered), two-disc distillation of what he considered to be the best moments of the period. (In many cases he selected alternate or unreleased takes, some notably better than the more familiar versions, as with Burning World's \"God Damn the Sun,\" one of only two tracks taken from that troubled album; Omniscience itself is not featured at all on this collection.) There was some griping from Swan's fan base over this, but the fact is Gira's instincts were spot on; Failures pulls together all of the fantastic, often unappreciated highs from these years, resulting in something arguably better than all of the original releases put together. The band's spectral, mysterious, folk-influenced side (such as \"Failure\" and the World of Skin's take on Nick Drake's \"Black-Eyed Dog\") and the epic, film soundtrack-sounding side (\"Better Than You,\" \"The Golden Boy...\") are both featured in full force, as are the many side explorations and combinations of the same. As a further welcome bonus, just about every B-side from the singles of those years appears here, including such wonders as Gira's take on \"Song for Dead Time\" and the acoustic version of \"New Mind.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom SSMT.com  2003 \u003cbr\u003eReview by John Chedsey \u003cbr\u003eReview date: 06\/2003 \u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ssmt-reviews.com\/artist\/swans.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttp:\/\/www.ssmt-reviews.com\/artist\/swans.html\u003c\/a\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the latter half of the 90s, Swans' material saw a rebirth in the form of an extensive series of reissues via Young God Records, band leader Michael Gira's own label. Packing an incredible amount of material into two-disc sets, these reissued missives are a treasure trove of material that revitalize one of America's most impressive bands. Of these reissues, none may be more impressive than Various Failures 1988-1992. During this period of time, Swans released a handful of albums that have since fallen out of print and become rather expensive collector's items. But rather than reissue these albums for whatever reason, Gira chose to personally sum up the time period on these two discs. Considering the two albums have a total running time over one hundred and fifty minutes, Various Failures is an extensive time capsule that almost fully captures this era of Swans. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy 1988, Swans had begun their transformation from a dense, massive wall of sound that crushed feeble listeners into a squishy paste into a considerably more delicate and somber sound. Basing the songs on introspective lyrics, echoing acoustics and production and an entirely pensive mindframe, the songs on Various Failures are an extensive journey that will take nearly any listener through the entire gamut of emotions. Since these thirty four songs are so sprawling and full, digesting this two CD set requires quite a few dedicated listens. Once one has worked his or her way past the daunting nature of the music, Various Failures becomes the type of album that will never leave your stereo for days. Between Gira's haunting baritone voice and Jarboe's rather unusual range of voices and approaches, the CDs cover emotional ground like the IRS inspecting your tax return for a reason to audit. Unlike early material, there is little bombast, except in the emotional impact. Gira's tone often sets a very despondent mood, yet at the same time the backing music can be incredibly uplifting and intense. So many songs become highlights that both CDs are practically one major highlight. Gira must be commended for scouring his music from that era to create a two CD package that flows as one complete release, rather than a hodge-podge compilation. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite the fact that some Swans fans felt the selection of songs could have been different, Various Failures is an incredible retrospect of a very creative and rich period in Swans history. It is the type of CD that can turn a casual fan into a deep believer and force listeners into an Ebay addiction to find the original out of print albums where this music was derived. Although it may take quite a bit of time to fully get one's head around due to the length and amount of music, this CD set is by far one of the most impressive releases for Swans.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Swans","offers":[{"title":"Various Failures \/ album \/ 2xCD","offer_id":643644669,"sku":"YG_VARIOUSFAILURES_CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"WAVs \/ album \/ digital","offer_id":51959674274094,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/swans-various-failures.jpg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"mi-and-lau","title":"Mi And L'au","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYG31\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere’s a press release and a few reviews below from when Mi and L’au were released on Young God Records in 2005 – Michael Gira\/Young God Records 2008\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe have recently finished recording an album by Mi and L'au here in Brooklyn. I co-produced it with them. It turned out very lovely indeed. It was a privilege to work with such talented, sincere, and intensely focused individuals. They have a quite passion that is expressed both in the way they are as human beings and in their songs. The music is austere, but simultaneously warm. Picture a glacier with a red ember glowing in its center. Mi and L'au met in Paris a few years back. Mi is Finnish and was working as a model to make ends meet and L'au (who's French) was working in the music industry (soundtracks, I think). They fell deeply and immediately in love, and after a short period of moving from apartment to apartment in Paris, they gave everything up and decided to move to the woods in Finland, so they could be alone together in peace and to spend their time discovering each other and their music. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey live in a small cabin in complete isolation with the barest of essentials and they spend virtually all their time making music together in solitude. They are pure and gentle souls (Devendra's song, from Oh Me Oh MY... \"Gentle Soul\" was written for L'au the two had met in Paris when Devendra was wandering there, and L'au took him in, and they also made music together). Their music is bare, delicate, and made with simple instrumentation - voice, acoustic guitars, and other very sparse orchestrations. I wouldn't say it compares at all to the current crop of neo-hippy \"weird folk\" etc. though. It has the naked quality of certain early Nico recordings, or Chet Baker (I don't mean there's a stylistic similarity by any means - just a sense of space)...soulful and elegant, without being touchy-feely or confessional. Their music reminds me of how one might imagine a winter Finnish landscape - haunting and pure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese recordings were made with love in Mi and L'au's cabin in Finland and then overdubs were made in the wilds of Brooklyn by themselves as well as the ubiquitous Akron\/Family, Julia Kent (Antony and the Johnsons), Paul Cantelon, Jerome O'Brien and others. Overdubs were made at Seizure's Palace (Angels of Light. Devendra Banhart, Akron\/Family) and mixed at Trout recording by Bryce Goggin (Phish. Pavement, Lemonheads, Angels of Light, Akron\/Family etc.). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHANKS! - Michael Gira\/Young God Records 2005\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOUTSIDELEFT.COM \u003cbr\u003eAlex V. Cook, Music Editor \u003cbr\u003eOctober '05 \u003cbr\u003eTRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe gentle acoustic guitar and light harmonies are akin to watching a candle flicker \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI find that tenderness often goes underestimated in this world. We try to channel our wolf nature to accomplish things, believing that its our howl and gnash that get business done in this world, but truly, it is the meek that inherit the earth. Wolves , without fail square off against each other and while the melee has its fireworks and sexiness, you end up with 1 2 dead wolves. The real power is wielded by those that keep it in check, their resolve quiet but unflinching, requiring no sense of combat or bombast to accomplish a goal. They aren¹t fighting the thunderstorms, they are talking to he wind, and in the long run, they will get a better return on investment. Its this quiet resolve that attracts me to spooky delicate acoustic music.its parts are immediately recognizable, its structure ofter pared down to the minimum , making every element crucial. And I¹m not talking Belle and Sebastian mellow here, I¹m talking the spook folk of Will Oldham and Current 93 and Ben Chasny and now a new couple of forest dwellers Mi and L¹au. She (Mi, Finnish) and and he (L¹au, French) met in Paris where she worked as a model, he a soundtrack musician, did the bohemian flat-hopping thing and then bolstered by the warmth of their love made off to a cabin in the frozen woods of Finland, and their music reflects this spares essentiality. The music supporting their small voices consists of carefully picked guitar and the occasional mandolin. They trade off vocals, with Mi¹s whisper and L¹au¹s clipped delivery making you listen closer, as if a ghost is telling you a secret.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe opening track ³They Marry² picks and ticks like a clock, detailing the cycle of lover between lovers, with a feathery dizzying merry-go-round twinkle and swoon supporting it, while a later song actually title ³Merry Go Round² sounds as if the contraption of the opening number has been drugged and is slowly winding itself into hibernation. Its heavenly stuff, the slow orbits it creates. Its in the sparser tracks like ³Philosopher² however, where the real magic lies. The gentle acoustic guitar and light harmonies are akin to watching a candle flicker. ³I¹ve Been watching You² with its slow Nick Drake fingerpicked development shows the group to have a sinister side amongst all this sylvan filigree. ³Burns² which highlights Mi¹s voice the best, offers a solution for all those soft voiced women who are looking to sound powerful but end up sounding cutesy. He vocal style is almost like a bamboo flute, simple but direct, cutting though the various ambiance that has been attached to the recording. ³Older² languidly rolls out like a Quaalude sunset, while the string laden ³A Word in Your Belly² has the deep grandeur of a John Adams or Arvo Part string piece, no doubt coming from L¹au¹s experience scoring for films. The way slight rain drops or something like that sound like they are falling on the strings themselves is just sublime. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis album is rife with twists and turns, toy pianos and zithers and who knows what else crop up here and there, but its in the voice and the palpable connection between the two that centers this most gentle and elegant of records. It reminds me of the earlier Damon and Naomi albums or maybe Dome (I think that¹s what it was called, one of those lesser known Mute groups that only resurfaced in compilation albums) but with a decided hermetic cast about it. Like This Mortal Coil and Dead Can Dance with none of the bombast and twice the embers. Like the moon reflected off a frozen lank. Like a tree swaying in the wind. Like two people in love. it is sweet deep stuff that yields ever unfolding rewards as your spend time with it. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat is the power of tenderness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNY TIMES \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/01\/16\/arts\/music\/16cake.html \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMusic Review | Mi and L'au \u003cbr\u003eSongs Born in a Cabin \u003cbr\u003eBy LAURA SINAGRA \u003cbr\u003ePublished: January 16, 2006 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen it comes to a musical persona, \"modern-day Adam and Eve\" isn't a bad choice. If any duo can pull it off, it's the quiescent Mi and L'au. As their lore has it, the former model Mira Romantschuk, who is Finnish, and the French soundtrack musician Laurent Leclère fell in love in Paris a few years back, then moved to a woodland cabin outside Helsinki, where for four years they lived simply, writing spare songs that do more with space and silence than with notes and words. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eExisting in the same universe as the neo-folker Devendra Banhart, whom Mr. Leclère befriended in the 1990's, they engage an idea of \"North\" in ways that connect them with the whispery Canadian singer Julie Doiron and even Sigur Ros of Iceland. But rather than Sigur Ros's grandiose snowy expanses, the landscape these two explore is the space between them, knowable yet unknowable in its dimensions. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn any given evening, Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side is thronged with beautiful people. But weaving through the Christmas-lighted Cake Shop on Friday, the pale and waifish Mi and the dark, beatific L'au looked like particularly exquisite works of art - tall and pipe-cleaner thin, pointy boots poking from jeans worn the way designers only dream they'll be. Sitting close on wooden chairs on the tiny stage with their identical blond acoustic guitars, they played 12 of the hundreds of songs they've amassed while living, as the soft-spoken L'au smilingly mumbled, \"with the bears and salmon.\" Three were from their self-titled debut album released in the United States on Young God records. These they played without the sonic augmentation provided on the record by their label's owner, Michael Gira (former leader of the Swans), as well as by musicians from Akron\/Family and others. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eL'au, about whom Mr. Banhart wrote \"Gentle Soul,\" makes up for his rather nondescript voice with his guitar facility. His assured low pulses and fingerpicked interludes keep things from slipping too far into conceptual ice-floe slowness. On songs like \"Philosopher,\" which muses on the connection between walking and lucid thinking, the pair display their sense of humor. Potentially cloying lines like \"I welcome you nude,\" from the esoteric but sensual waltz \"Nude,\" are balanced by piquant ones, like the contingent request, \"Wash your complaints.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMi, who spoke six languages when she met L'au but added French for his sake, was the one whose singing hushed the club's chatter. As her long, honeysuckle hair fell forward over her Kelly-green blouse, her haunting tone infused \"Robot\" with a post-Edenic dread. In \"Paranoid,\" she adopted the voice of an officious customs agent, asking, \"What do you declare?\" and \"What is your crime?,\" answering back, as herself, \"Paranoia.\" Her lovely, droning \"Creation\" compelled rapt attention even though few understood the Swedish lyrics comparing committed love to a silkworm's generative process. She performed the show's encore, \"The Cat,\" while L'au sipped wine and relaxed to the left of the stage. The song, with its entreaty, \"We must remember nature,\" no doubt prompted collective cosmopolitan fantasies of getting back to the garden.\u003c\/span\u003eX\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mi And L'au","offers":[{"title":"Mi And L'au \/ album \/ CD","offer_id":646454029,"sku":"YG_MiAndLau_CD","price":12.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_126_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"fire-on-fire","title":"Fire on Fire","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYGX01\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNOTE: this was a specially hand made package for the website but is now only available as a full EP download sorry (!) you missed it.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e- thanks! Michael Gira\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI'm damned pleased to be able to offer here a special YGR website-only 5 song EP by the fantastic group of singers\/players called Fire On Fire. (NOTE: this was a specially hand made package for the website but is now only available as a full EP download – sorry (!) you missed it. Sign up to the mailing list for future notice of such items.) They used to be the art-punk-prog-chaos collective Cerberus Shoal, but they ditched their electric instruments, went into hiding for a while, and now play all acoustic-stand up bass, mandolin, banjo, harmonium, accordion, acoustic guitar, dobro etc etc, and they all sing and harmonize on the songs. Live, they do it \"old school\" and just use two mics placed in front of them on the stage, like a bluegrass band. They all live in the same house up in Maine, across from rusting green oil tanks, apparently. To me they sound like a backwoods, fierce, psychedelic Mamas And The Papas or a crazed and joyously vengeful gospel string band. They're great people and I love their music. It's all acoustic, but it's not in the least folky. More old-timey incantations - American music with excellent words and performed with the honed violence of intent that truly great music requires. They're a total blast live. They just recently played my back porch actually (!!!!) for my wife's birthday and it was one of the best live music experiences I've had in years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is just the first installment from these folks. We'll be releasing their debut album soon (none of the songs from this EP included). In the meantime, my highest recommendations for this EP!!!!!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e- Michael Gira\/Young God Records 2008\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1. Hangman (4:29)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2. Liberty Unknown (6:55)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3. My Lady Coffin (7:10)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4. Amnesia (4:32)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e5. Three Or More (8:12)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTotal Running Time\u003c\/em\u003e = (31:30)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFire on Fire BIO by Fire On Fire:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFire on Fire began without a name in a warm kitchen in Maine. Some of us used to be in Cerberus Shoal. We were three friends whose musical interests grew outward from the punk roots of our youth to a more personal intimate exchange and we began playing songs for each other. Songs on guitars banjos and harmonium with lots of words and voices. The music was living, open and it invited everyone to take part in it. The circle widened to include two more friends who brought rhythm melody and more voices and songs. Fire on Fire is now five friends who play fierce and emotionally sharp words to stab at our selves, our situations, our lives. Our music comes from the heart of each singer and songwriter. Take that statement how you like. Each one of us brings themselves to the common table without self consciousness. Playing for the enjoyment of playing and in turn creating a live performance that is electric and ecstatic foot stomping and howling all the night long. All five friends live together in a big blue house across from green oil tank # 28 in South Portland, Maine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eColleen Kinsella\u003c\/strong\u003e - vocals, harmonium, guitar, accordion, banjo \/ Caleb Mulkerin - vocals, guitar, banjo, dobro\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTom Kovacevic\u003c\/strong\u003e - vocals, oud, nay, tamboritza, jembe, tamborine Micah Blue Smaldone - vocals, upright bass, banjo Chriss Sutherland - vocals, guitar, doumbek\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDustedmagazine.com\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dustedmagazine.com\/reviews\/4012\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttp:\/\/www.dustedmagazine.com\/reviews\/4012\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArtist: Fire on Fire\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlbum: Fire on Fire\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLabel: Young God\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReview date: Jan. 7, 2008\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOver the years, Young God's Michael Gira has unearthed a succession of really interesting young artists and bands – Calla, Devendra Banhart, Akron\/Family and Mi and L’au so far – and helped them, in almost every case, to record the best work of their respective careers. Banhart, for all his media accolades, has not topped Rejoicing in the Hands; Akron\/Family will have a tough time outdoing their split with Angels of Light; Calla's landmark remains Televised. As for Mi and L'au, well, who knows if they will ever follow up on their self-titled debut? Living in a log cabin with a fashion model-type significant other is surely a bit distracting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn any case, when Gira announces that he's found a new band, it's a good idea to take notice. His latest discovery is Fire on Fire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFire on Fire doesn't quite start with a blank slate. The band's core was mostly together in Cerberus Shoal, a Maine new folk outfit, whose celebratory, otherworldly shows mixed old-time purity with curiously theatrical performance art. During their nine-album, decade-long run, they toured a good deal with fellow Mainer Micah Blue Smalldone, a guitarist and banjo player with two exquisite acoustic folk solo records. They are all members of a Maine-based outré Americana enclave, fond of twisting the sounds of unamplified instruments like banjo, string bass and found percussion in surreal non-traditional ways. (Death Vessel's Joel Thibodeaux also came out of this scene.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFire on Fire's first recording, a self-titled EP, is a tantalizing glimpse of the new band's possibilities, five distinctly different songs united mostly by instrumentation and a weirdly offbeat kind of rural sincerity. The opening track, \"Hangman,\" is the one they're focusing on (hence the mp3 above), yet in some ways the least interesting. It's trebly and trembly, all glistening vibrato on high guitar strings and an insanely communal, octave leaping, all-hands chorus. There's some sort of epiglottal thing going on in the singing, a vibration that sounds like everyone's furiously rubbing their adam's apple on the sustained notes. The words are skewed and full of new hippy dark optimism, all about everybody needing friends, because \"even the worst of men, even the hangman has friends.\" Just listening is like slipping into the clutches of some sort of cult; start to sing along and you're lost.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd yet, \"Hangman\" is not the best of these five songs. For that honor, I'd vote for the slow, liquidly beautiful \"Liberty Unknown.\" It's based in slow 12\/8, a three-based guitar motif twinkling in the background, as singer Colleen Kinsella stretches out the long pure notes of the melody. There's a wild thread of piping that runs through the song, not quite a flute, maybe a recorder that gives it an especially untamed heft. It might even be a political song, touching obliquely on the need for consciousness and protest in lyrics like \"We fought with our lungs, we fought with our lungs,\" intoned over and over again in a dream-like background. It's a gorgeous song and not really alt.country or alt.folk at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"My Lady Coffin\" and \"Amnesia\" stick closer to the pre-industrial America formula, the first plucked out on guitar and eased by strings, the second rollicking along on accordion blurts and junk percussion. Yet even when the music passes, almost, for Folkways traditional, the words are skewed like funhouse mirrors. \"My Lady Coffin\" is full of natural images, sung in wavery, antique harmonies, and yet so far warped from any expected folk song sentiment as to be almost disconcerting. Consider the stanza about aging, family and the circle of life: \"The kids are crazy\/They're always cryin'\/The parents continue multiplying\/Digging dirt and laying their seed\/Oh it's so much fun to breed.\" Not exactly shoring up our nation's traditional values, are they?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe EP closes with its longest cut, the eerily laid-back \"Three or More.\" The song takes its time getting going, banjo, guitar and slide bending their notes into a serene interlocked pattern, bobbing along. It's almost a minute before the vocals come in, two before the song resolves into any sort of chorus. Yet far from growing tedious, the groove becomes reassuring and comfortable. You can feel the band members relax into one another's playing, feeling it, in no rush to bring things to climax. And maybe this – more than their non-electrified instruments, their country harmonies, their birds and trees imagery – is what this band has in common with traditional folk. They have all the time in the world to bring this song off. Why hurry?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy Jennifer Kelly\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDream Magazine Issue #8\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dreamgeo.com\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ewww.dreamgeo.com\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDec 07\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy George Parsons\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFire on Fire Fire on Fire (Young God) This five song EP is only available at live gigs, or though the Young God Records website, but it’s well worth seeking out. Some of these folks were in Cerberus Shoal (we interviewed them in issue #3), they lost their electric instruments and got back to a more organic sort of acoustic based sound, tapping into a more timeless place while still maintaining their surreality and inventiveness, but also making the most profoundly beautiful and accessible music of their careers. Subtly apocalyptic folkish art rock with a soaring humanist visionary gospel soul, and five able vocalists one of whom is Colleen Kinsella who has a gorgeously expressive and authoritative voice and also did the screen printed cover art. Old-timey and as current and relevant as this moment. Devendra Banhart, Dan Hicks \u0026amp; His Hot Licks, Kurt Weill, The Band, and Neil Young are all touchstones, but this highly developed sound and spirit is all their own and quite irresistible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBrainwashed.com Sunday, 16 December 2007\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFire on Fire, \"Handmade EP\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten by Simon Marshall-Jones\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis Portland, Maine based group are members of art-punk-prog-chaos collective Cerberus Shoal along with North East Indie labelmate Micah Blue Smaldone reinvented as a kind of mutant 'bluegrass\/folky' quintet using traditional instruments (plus a few unusual ones) such as upright bass, banjo, piano, harmonium, and accordion in addition to harmonized vocals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is anything but traditional bluegrass or folk, however, as there's a distinctly uneasy edge and fractured sense of reality bordering on dark psychedelia that removes it a million miles from the mainstream forms of those genres, while also acknowledging the debt owed to those uniquely American styles of music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a Web site\/live gig only release and comes in beautiful handmade packaging: an original piece of artwork by band member Colleen Kinsella and printed on good quality card stock while the lyrics and credits are printed on vellum. According to the Young God Web site Michael Gira—who also shared production credits with FoF's Caleb Mulkerin—has \"an adamant belief in the music\" and, to be blunt, I couldn't agree with him more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is startlingly haunting, atmospheric, shimmering, and scintillating music, channeling directly into the true heart of life and America, in much the same way as Britain's dark folk current does, scratching beneath the surface glitz and glamor to the hidden and unvarnished every day. Mulkerin's tremulous voice, reminding me of Neil Young without the nasally whine, is a perfect foil for the themes of liberty betrayed, life, death, the curse of old age, and amnesia. Running through each of the five songs is a frisson of edgy tension between the deliciously dark and poetic lyrics—often sung in male\/female harmonization—that contrast sharply with the musical backdrop of picked banjos, guitar, piano, and simple percussion. I had shivers running up and down my spine, such was the effect of these offbeat tales of modern life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLove, loss, friendship, pain, and just the plain old job of getting on with living: it's all there in buckets and delivered with an uncomplicated passion and, moreover, a simplicity that's refreshing. This is, quite simply, a breathtakingly beautiful set of songs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFoxy Digitalis\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalisindustries.com\/foxyd\/features.php?which=291\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttp:\/\/www.digitalisindustries.com\/foxyd\/features.php?which=291\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalisindustries.com\/foxyd\/features.php?which=291\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003eBy Brad Rose\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJan 08\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBest EP (best of list 07)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFire on Fire s\/t (Young God)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn absolutely stunning five song offering from this new supergroup featuring Caleb Mulkerin, Colleen Kinsella (these two also form Big Blood, another one of the year's finds), Chriss Sutherland, \u0026amp; Tom Kovacevic from Cerberus Shoal plus their ultra-talented housemate, Micah Blue Smaldone. This is down-home folk goodness at its best. All these guys \u0026amp; gals live together in the Blue House up in Portland, Maine and it shows. The varying styles and ideas fit together perfectly and make up a release so damn good that I had to invent a category specifically for it. This limited release is only available from the band or directly from Young God, so get moving or you're going to miss out on an absolute gem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Wire\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJanuary 2008\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFire On Fire \/ 5 Song EP\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(no author listed)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMichael Gira's Young God label is home to several acts that plow their furrows in the rich fields of Americana, most notably his own Angels Of Light and Akron\/Family. To This roll call can be added Fire On Fire. The act emerged out of art-punk prog act Cerberus Shoal. However, in time honored fashion, they holed up in a house in Maine with only acoustic instruments and reinvented themselves as avatars of the Great Universal American Music. Mandolins twinkle on \"My Lady Coffin\" as the group chorus \"The sun's gone out, the sky is falling \/ The moon is sinking, and the men are crawling\" at a pace that suggests a twilight trudge back from a hard day's toil in the fields. On \"Hangman\", the banjos and dobros duel as a man and a woman duet that \"even the hangman has friends\". The subjects may be bitter, but the songs are joyous and warm. The EP sets high expectations for this spring's album.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePopmatters.com\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFeb 14 08\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e—Matthew Fiander\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFire on Fire, 5 Song EP (Young God)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Cerberus Shoal ditched their electric instruments, went into hiding, and emerged with acoustic guitars and banjos and stand-up basses, they eventually became known as Fire on Fire. And with their debut EP—released exclusively on the Young God Records website or at shows—they announce themselves with authority. The five lively tracks are spacious and energetic. They course with life, all full of the clang and warble of old school Americana, and a crazed collective joy as the whole band harmonizes nearly all the way through the disc. Along with the traditional instruments, you can hear oud and doumbek and tamboritza and dobro and the kitchen sink somewhere in there, making their sound too off-kilter to be called something as reductive as “folk” or “roots”. The band can foot-stomp through the insistent pining of “Hangman” or “Amnesia”, or they can pull back into a beautiful, but still raspy, wilt on “Liberty Unknown”. The five songs here—clocking in at over 30 minutes—show Fire on Fire have a lot of sides, but most important is the sense that they’re not playing to anyone on 5 Song EP. The band isn’t performing. Here, the band and the audience seem to be one in the same. And the audience never sounded so good.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fire on Fire","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50054483284,"sku":"613T\/WAV","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/image.php_id_43_size_1024_g_profile_virtuallabel.audiosalad.jpeg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"swans-manchester-poster","title":"SWANS - Manchester Poster - Sold out","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSigned by M. Gira.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eSilk screened poster by Savage Pencil for Swans' Academy 2 Manchester 08-10-10 concert. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #ff0000;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOnly 13 copies available, limit 1 per customer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eMeasures 18.5x13\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SWANS","offers":[{"title":"limit 1 per customer","offer_id":838503385,"sku":"YG_Manchester_Poster","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/Academy.jpg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"swans-lexington-poster","title":"SWANS - Lexington Poster - Sold Out","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"release_desc\" class=\"fluid margin_bottom_5\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSigned by M. Gira.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eSilk screened poster by Crackhead Press for Swans' Sept. 24th 2011 concert at Buster's.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #ff0000;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOnly 28 copies available, limit 1 per customer.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eMeasures 18x24\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"SWANS","offers":[{"title":"limit 1 per customer","offer_id":838633689,"sku":"YG_Lexington_Poster","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/lexington.jpg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"swans-to-be-kind-tour-shirt","title":"SWANS - To Be Kind - Tour Shirt","description":"100% cotton, natural and soft on your beautiful skin","brand":"SWANS","offers":[{"title":"Women's Small","offer_id":850275113,"sku":"YG_Hammer_WS","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Women's Med","offer_id":850283745,"sku":"YG_Hammer_WM","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Women's Large","offer_id":850285341,"sku":"YG_Hammer_WL","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's Small","offer_id":850292693,"sku":"YG_Hammer_MS","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's Med","offer_id":850294913,"sku":"YG_Hammer_MM","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's Large","offer_id":850297665,"sku":"YG_Hammer_ML","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's XL","offer_id":850299621,"sku":"YG_Hammer_MXL","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Men's XXL","offer_id":850301173,"sku":"YG_Hammer_XXL","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/JenKindcloseup.jpg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"swans-philadelphia-poster","title":"SWANS - PHILADELPHIA - POSTER (sold out)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSigned by M.Gira\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePoster by ALTIERI 12 for October 13th, 2012 in Philadelphia at Union Transfer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan color=\"#ff0000\" style=\"color: #ff0000;\"\u003eOnly 1 copy left w\/ slight imperfection (namely coffee stain picked up when Michael was signing it)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eMeasures 17.5\" x 23\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"SWANS","offers":[{"title":"Philly Poster (limit 1 per customer)","offer_id":863255469,"sku":"YG_Philly_Poster","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/1.jpg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"swans-portland-poster","title":"SWANS - PORTLAND - POSTER - (SOLD OUT)","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"release_desc\" class=\"fluid margin_bottom_5\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSigned by M.Gira\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePoster by Sewage for Feb 2nd, 2011 in Portland, OR at the Roseland Theater.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #ff0000;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOnly 2 copies available, limit 1 per customer.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eMeasures 18\" x 24\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"SWANS","offers":[{"title":"Portland Poster (limit 1 per customer)","offer_id":863263249,"sku":"YG_Portland_Poster","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/2.jpg?v=1571438767"},{"product_id":"swans-dallas-poster","title":"SWANS - DALLAS - POSTER (SOLD OUT)","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"release_desc\" class=\"fluid margin_bottom_5\"\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"release_desc\" class=\"fluid margin_bottom_5\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSigned by M.Gira\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePoster by Lil Tuffy for Feb 9th, 2011 in Dallas at South Side Music Hall.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #ff0000;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOnly 3 copies available, limit 1 per customer.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eMeasures 18\" x 24\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"SWANS","offers":[{"title":"Dallas Poster (limit 1 per customer)","offer_id":863272513,"sku":"YG_Dallas_Poster","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/1609\/products\/3.jpg?v=1571438767"}],"url":"https:\/\/younggodrecords.com\/collections\/all\/michael-gira.oembed","provider":"YOUNG GOD RECORDS","version":"1.0","type":"link"}