How I Loved You
(Young God) Used CD $10.00
Far from M. Gira’s usual terrain of brute excess and into a zone of languid reverie, bittersweet longing, this 2001 album is “largely acoustic with a palette of oblique electronic washes and blurred sonic architectures applied for cavernous, orchestral atmosphere. Its elegance is seductive.” With Gira on vocals, guitars, and effects; Christoph Hahn on lap and electric guitars; Lawrence Mullins on percussion; Dana Shecter on bass and piano; Birgit-Cassis Staudt on accordion, piano, and Casio; and Thor Harris on dulcimer and piano, joined by Bliss Blood on vocals and Kid Congo Powers on electric guitar. Digipak. Sealed.
New Mother
(Young God) Used CD $8.00
“M. Gira continues with his intentional break from Swans. Anything but a softening of his art…, New Mother instead … experiment[s] even further, concentrating on acoustic guitar songs accompanied by a variety of musicians…. 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…, creating a marvelous.…” Digipak.
Sing Other People
(Young God) Used CD $8.00
Pitchfork calls this 2005 album “a gutsy record. It maintains the band’s lo-fi intimacy while expanding its breadth to include back-up singing and more voluminous instrumentation. Fans of Everything Is Good Here / Please Come Home, the Angels’ tumultuous 2003 stab at lysergic goth-folk, shouldn’t be faulted for thinking they’re hearing a different band altogether. Part of this metamorphosis can be attributed to the assistance of fellow Young God signees Akron/Family. ‘Lena’s Song’ stakes Michael Gira’s booming baritone against a glistening backdrop of nylon-string plucking, fretless bass, glockenspiel, and a chipper Beach Boys-esque vocal harmony. The song proves Angels of Light capable of clarity and levity…. ‘My Friend Thor’ is as subtle an act of self-immolation as a club to the head from its namesake: It starts acoustic, with a laconic Gira following the rigid outline of his strumming, before he’s blindsided by a burbling gamelan orchestra. The detour moves the song from the sound of stark isolation to a full-on fireside jamboree, replete with a veritable tabernacle-full of backup vocalists.” Digipak
We Are Him
(Young God) Used CD $6.00
On the sixth and “most engaging [of Michael Gira’s albums] as Angels of Light,” according to Pitchfork, “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)…, [and has] 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…, Gira hands down … imprecations.” Digipak edition from 2007