Angels Of Light (1 Viewer)

[Alan Remorse]

any fans out there? whats your favourite record?

its gotta be New Mother for me. Song For My Father kills me everytime i hear it...

 

[Jim A. Morrish]

amazing! michael gira played the lobby last year - awesome gig so it was.

From what I can gather Gira IS angels of light with whatever musicians he's hanging around with at the time of recording, on the new record he uses the akron family

 

[SONYMEGADRIVE]

amazing! michael gira played the lobby last year - awesome gig so it was.

From what I can gather Gira IS angels of light with whatever musicians he's hanging around with at the time of recording, on the new record he uses the akron family

i've only heard the new angels of light and it's amazing
can't stop listening to it

new akron/family is really good too - similar vibe musicaly, with some electronics goin on...

simon is stronger than us,

andrew

 

[Alan Remorse]

gira played the lobby? how the hell did i miss that?

 

[Jim A. Morrish]

gira played the lobby? how the hell did i miss that?

think it was early 2004 or late 2003, devendra banhart supported. full house if i recall correctly

 

[Jim A. Morrish]

http://thumped.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=9583&highlight=gira

 

[minka]

i've only heard the new angels of light and it's amazing
can't stop listening to it

must get - what's it called?

of the stuff i have, "sunset park" from "everything is good here/please come home" is particularly fantastic. plus, what an album title.

 

[Jim A. Morrish]

must get - what's it called?.

tis called:

the angels oflight sing "other people"

 

[BC]

The Hafler Trio are doing a series of albums constructed entirely from voices. they have already relased one by Blixa Bargeld, one by David Tibet (reading Maldoror of all things, and not singing about christ or kittens), one by Jonsi Birignsson of Sigur Ros, and a 12" of Michael Gira, Yves Klien and Bjork. upcoming is a full album made from Gira's voice, and one made from Steve Severin (of The Banshees).
Unlike, say the Medula album by Bjork, The Hafler Trio very heavily rework the voice into huge chasms of sound. I have only heard the David Tibet one (which is absolutely stunning) and the Gira/Bjork 12" which is interesting.
The full Michael Gira one should be worth looking out for.

 

[Jim A. Morrish]

Michael Gira, the man who founded Young God Records, fronted Swans and discovered the likes of Devendra Banhart and Akron/Family, has begun work on the next album by his own group, Angels Of Light. Gira and a rotating cast of friends have been recording in Brooklyn's Seizure's Palace Studios and Trout Recording to flesh out what is tentatively titled We Are Him. Already on board for the sessions are multi-instrumentalist Bill Rieflin (Swans, Ministry, R.E.M.) cellist Julia Kent (Antony And The Johnsons) and pedal-steel player Christoph Hahn, among many others. Gira began Angels Of Light in 1997 when he disbanded Swans. His most recent release was The Angels Of Light Sing 'Other People' from 2005. We Are Him is set for an April '07 release via his own label.

 

[M. Stratosphere]

Most of the Young Gods records stuff is really good.
How I Loved You and the Akron/Family split are both amazing.
There a go get for sure.
Didn't Akron/Family play here this year too, think it was this year, missed it anyways, sickner...

 

[I Bleed Black]

Saw Gira solo at Supersonic fest in July, played a few newies, they sounded excellant as you'd expect. Can't wait for the new album.

 

[Nate Champion]

'How I loved you' is an incredible record.

So intense and so beautiful, and that crumbling voice!

Michael Gira's and Dan Matz's record on Young Gods is woeful. You'd think it could only be a staggering low key affair, but it's boring and irritating.

 

[Jim A. Morrish]

ANGELS OF LIGHT
We Are Him


20th August 2007
Young God Records
www.younggodrecords.com/

Black River Song - listen to full song
http://www.younggodrecords.com/RadioYGR/AngelsOfLight/WeAreHim/1.asx
We Are Him - listen to full song
http://www.younggodrecords.com/RadioYGR/AngelsOfLight/WeAreHim/7.asx

"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 topŠ 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 highlightsŠ. 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." -
James Toth / Wooden Wand

"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 also 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." - John Darnielle/The Mountain Goats

We 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 HimmelŠ 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 momentŠ 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!....

Next 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
releasesŠ 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!...

Next 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 RecordsŠ 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
hereŠ 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 NYCŠ 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
SmokewagonŠ 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 extremely kind words about the record on
this pageŠ Michael Gira/ Œ07

"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." } - Jamie Stewart / Xiu Xiu

"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 – 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." -
Jonathan Meiburg / Shearwater

"Michael¹s shirtless 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 ' " - Seth Olinsky / Akron/Family

 

[bren_at_xfm]

While I still like Gira solo & angels stuff, Swans still do far more for me
whether its the madness of Filth, or the more subtle end of the spectrum like
Children of God and White Light...

Some deadly Swans CD reissues out there

 

[Alan Remorse]

Listening to We Are Him all week. I love it. Gira's still the man.

 

[BonsaiSuperstar]

Listening to We Are Him all week. I love it. Gira's still the man.

saw this post and turned it on as well!
great album!

 

[Alan Remorse]

I was kinda disappointed with the last Akron/Family one... Some good stuff on it but nowhere near the s/t album...

 

[bren_at_xfm]

Most of the Young Gods records stuff is really good.
How I Loved You and the Akron/Family split are both amazing. There a go get for sure.

Yea sure is!

And god do I really adore 'Blind' on Gira's Drainland release.... stunning!!

http://www.last.fm/music/Michael+Gira/_/Blind

 

[palace]

'we are him' is fantastic...

but i was also a bit disappointed with the last akron/family one...