Another breakthrough for former Swans frontman M. Gira and company - short, sharply orchestrated, almost-pop songs that access a multitude of musical styles and references. These 12 finely hewn tributes to friends and her... more »oes, stars and scoundrels make this easily the most accessible Angels of Light offering yet.« less
Another breakthrough for former Swans frontman M. Gira and company - short, sharply orchestrated, almost-pop songs that access a multitude of musical styles and references. These 12 finely hewn tributes to friends and heroes, stars and scoundrels make this easily the most accessible Angels of Light offering yet.
CD Reviews
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Matt Bateman | Somewhere else | 04/12/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you're familiar with Angels of Light, you probably know what to expect from this one. But you'd be wrong. The most immediately noticeable change is that the five and six minute song lengths are pretty much gone. In fact, the average song length on Sing Other People is under four minutes, which means these tracks are much less epic than those on previous releases. Gone also are the louder numbers. There's no yelling, no overpowering electric guitar, and none of the stampeding drums that have marked this band's albums thus far. Most of the tracks range from not too sparse acoustic pieces to what sounds like Brian Wilson-style backing vocal arrangements. If Wilson were channeled through Gira's twisted sense of melody. And of course the lead vocals are as deep as ever. Overall, this is just as good as anything you've heard from this band so far, even if it is different."
Amazing
alexander laurence | Los Angeles, CA | 04/19/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Michael Gira has done a large amount of work. Some of is sounds nice and much of it is dark. Much more is very nasty. I guess that is why he has such a large Goth following that pays attention to his every move. Recently Gira has created a lot of folk music and good tunes. He has embraced narratives and told stories. Much of this album is vocals and acoustic guitar. Not much of the dark vibe can overpower these songs. "The Kid Is Already Breaking" is a song about Devendra Banhart. There are plenty of songs about children and time passing. Gira uses mostly the Akron/Family as his backing musicians on this record. Of course there are some frequent collaborator like Siobhan Duffy on here too. There are plenty of new sounds on this record. It is a good place to start listening to his music. Michael Gira will always be an American musical genius. Maybe more people can find this out in the future?
"
The Return of accoustic violence
HOOMER | PA USA | 05/11/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I grabbed a promo copy of the album from ebay several weeks before it came out...and grabbed another promo copy at the "record release party" at tonic.....So I was quite familiar when I saw Gira....
Of course as always several of the songs were available all be it in different form on several older releases. I do like the way Gira releases "demo" versions of songs long before they are recorded "proper" on album....it is interesting to hear the "evolution"......
The Album as a whole is great...its a very different animal to "everything is good here..."....Gira threatend to create a more mellow album...and I guess this is the result. The songs themselves are great. Opener is Lena's song....originally released on one of the LTD edition website exclusives....I forget the name this second...the brown one....lol.......I do like the finished version of this song a lot. It is a great song live too.......
I am personally partial to "Jackie's spine"...and of course the violent "Michael's white hands" which is a fave live.....The Final version of Destroyer is also great. Having heard it live 2 or 3 times before it was ever recorded thsi is also a fave song for me. The AKron boys do a great job on this song...on the final record...and live in the current incarnation of AOL.....
In fact I love the Akron boys......though I do wish thatd they'd release at least one sprawling epic song that they play live...sometimes...they are capable of epic 10-20 minute songs..... believe me...they can hold it.....
On the mountain...another old song is also good. I often think of AOL as folk music with the use of accoustic guitars as double headed axes.....I think this album more so than the previous AOL albums displays this violence perhaps in a subtle more beautiful way than ever before.
"
Evocative musical portraits
Pieter | Johannesburg | 10/08/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Other People is lighter overall than the Angels Of Light's previous masterpieces New Mother, How I Loved You and Please Come Home. The sound is mostly folk with some hints of country in songs like On The Mountain. The tracks are shorter and there is even some playful variation in My Friend Thor and Simon Is Stronger Than Us.
The opening number, Lena's Song is a tuneful slice of folk with lovely imagery. At over 5 minutes each, On The Mountain and Destroyer are exceptions to the rule. The second is perhaps the closest to Gira's gloomy explorations, reminiscent of certain songs on Love Of Life and Great Annihilator. The Sound Of Freedom, God Loves America and Blood Promise come to mind.
Perhaps a sequel to Celebrity Lifestyle on Annihilator, Michael's White Hands has an edgy beat, dissonant texture and shouted vocals, and is the most intense excursion on the album. The next one, To Live Through Someone, is a slow and fragile ballad with moving lyrics, whilst the brief Simon Is Stronger Than Us is almost like a chant, powerful and evocative.
Imagine a blend of Leonard Cohen and Lou Reed's story songs about friends and acquaintances and you will have an idea of the feel of Other People. The album compares well with AoL's earlier work, but I miss the magnificent swirling build-ups of masterpieces like Public Embarrassment Blues, Angels Of Light or Two Women.
Although obscure by comparison, Michael Gira is in the same league as artists like Richard Thompson, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Cohen and Reed. He also has the deepest, most sombre voice of them all! Fans of the aforementioned ought to investigate his work in Angels Of Light and on the later Swans albums.
"
Gira is still creating great music after all of these years
Internal Abbatoir | Albuquerque, NM | 07/07/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Michael Gira should be bigger than most of his contemporaries. In fact, he should have hit it big with Swans years ago for creating a truly original, unrelenting sound. However, it is an indisputable fact that the mainstream prefers a watered down, easily accessible sound as opposed to music that is actually challenging. Gira's one and only major label release, The Burning World, proved to be a commercial failure. In many ways, The Angels of Light continue down the path that The Burning World opened up. And while Swans explored the depths of different textures of sound, The Angels of Light strips everything down to the most basic and intimate levels. With that said, Gira has become a fine singer/songwriter."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1