Larsen
You gotta love the story behind this mysterious italian group. Around the turn of the millennium, the band would send Michael Gira (of Swans/Angels Of Lights fame) strange packages including some of their music on CD-R. They would do this twice a month until a letter suddenly arrived with a missive. Gira was to take the plane to Torino on the first of the following month, he would be spending twenty-one days producing the band's album and return home on the 22nd - all expenses paid. Under such peculiar circumstances and considering the overall quality of these puzzling recordings, Gira accepted the challenge. But the fun doesn't end there. For three weeks, Gira was not able to actually see the band as they performed only behind a special screen. All communication was done using a translator who was there throughout the recording process. Imagine having to work with shadows, who it is said argued quite violently at times, being told to record when you least expect it and try and edit all the sessions down to an album without direct involvement. This has to be a first (unless The Residents - another famously anonymous band - worked that way as well).
When I first heard this story, it immediately drew me to the band, much like the mystery behind Jandek attracted me to the works of the texan recluse in the first place. Who doesn't enjoy a good whodunit!? You can't blame me for expecting something completely off the wall and mind-bogglingly fucked up, but surprisingly, Larsen's music is actually quite structured and accessible. Like gypsies having a go at the whole repetitive krautrock sound, or Godspeed You! Black Emperor sixty-five years from now in a nursing home (and a few too many pills), it is quite difficult to describe their work adequately. Rumbling distortion, atonal accordion drones, spurting brass, trance-inducing chants, minimal melodies repeated ad nauseum; all brought to you in a confrontational little package. Fans of Brast Burn/Karuna Khyal will most certainly get a kick out of this. Same goes for anybody interested in the limits of rock music.
ReverLabel: Young God Records Release: 2002 Format: CD Cat. no: YG19 |
|
Song list: | |
| |