Search - Larsen :: Seies

	Larsen Seies Genres: Alternative Rock, International Music, Pop, Rock Track Listings (7) - Disc #1 The Snow Mother Rever 2nd Momi Haula Marzia "If you're troubled by the retrograde state of guitar-based music, Larsen warrants your attention..." - ALL MUSIC GUIDE "They center their songs around the dynamics of multiple guitars, which may erupt in buzzsaw stacca... more » « less
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CD Details

All Artists: Larsen
Title: Seies
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Important Records
Original Release Date: 1/1/2006
Re-Release Date: 3/28/2006
Genres: Alternative Rock, International Music, Pop, Rock
Styles: Europe, Continental Europe, Progressive, Progressive Rock
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 793447508320

Synopsis

Album Description

"If you're troubled by the retrograde state of guitar-based music, Larsen warrants your attention..." - ALL MUSIC GUIDE "They center their songs around the dynamics of multiple guitars, which may erupt in buzzsaw staccato and then glide into sublime arpeggiated chords..." - THE WIRE "This is the soundtrack for bad dreams and good nightmares; a strange, strange world." - ERASING CLOUDS Following Larsen's critically and commercially successful full-length Play on Important, we bring you SeieS, housed in a deluxe Important Records cardboard gatefold sleeve and printed on matte paper to look almost as good as it sounds. SeieS is Larsen's fifth full-length, and work on it began when the band was recording Play. However, where Play was Larsen's most orchestrated/ambient work, SeieS tends to be quite a bit more song-oriented. Tracks like "The Snow," "Haula" and "Marzia" are Larsen's most sinister compositions, disturbing soundscapes that would fit very well in a David Lynch movie. The remaining tracks feature female vocals thanks to ex-Swans chanteuse Jarboe. Also outstanding is the work of Larsen's beloved cello player and longtime collaborator Julia Kent (of Antony & The Johnsons).

CD Reviews

What ever happened to post rock?

razdragat | Houma, LA | 12/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It realized it had gone as far as it knew how, and went back home. Godspeed YBE did away with samples and crescendos to concentrate on structures, and has been sleeping ever since. Mice Parade added some vocals, became another jazz band. The Swords Project turned in its homework, made some spacey pop and gave up.

This album by Larsen has a sense of picking up where some of those bands left off, not at their last albums, but at their peaks. In tone, SeieS bookends a sense of spiritual celebration in tracks 2-5 with ominous brooding at the beginning and end, with strings and ethereal vocals filling in the gaps between guitar and rhythm figures. Several tracks have some words, others have just word-sounds, but in general the voices won't distract you; they function merely as some odd organic instrument. You won't find as much of a drive to crescendo as some other post-rock outfits, but more thorough, patient exploration of light and dark textures.

This is probably one of my two favorite albums I've bought this year, the other being Bonnie Prince Billy's The Letting Go. On one hand, the two have almost nothing to do with each other. On the other, with their shared senses of dread and awe, and lush instrumentation, they sit quite well right next to one another.

If any of the above appeals at all, just buy the album outright. Listening to 30-second samples won't give you any better an idea, and it might be tough to find a friend to borrow it from or a CD store with it in stock to preview. When it arrives in its little cardboard slip, you'll be relieved to find that post-rock isn't dead after all."