Angels of Light - New Mother (17 tracks) +Album Reviews

Evolution of an Incredible Artist

Fitness Fan | Fullerton, CA USA | 01/29/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have sporadically followed Swans for the last several years, experiencing the noise and fury of the early albums to the more intricate, intriguing melodies and sounds of albums such as Omniscience and Soundtracks for the Blind. M.Gira is a talented writer who weaves soundscapes unlike anyone else.I found out about his newest project by sheer accident. But what a happy accident! I cannot believe the depth of this album. While his images are still difficult and at times brutal, invoking addictions, guilt, shame, and need, they are more intriguing than ever. Perhaps the 'softer' edge to the music makes it that much more stark, without the raging noise to hide the feelings invoked by the lyrics.The album is reliant on acoustic sounds, sparse and often absent percussion, vibraphones, and backup singing that sometimes seems strangely inappropriate. The songs are dense and complicated. This is not background music. It is music that demands your attention.I would strongly recommend this album to anyone with an experimental streak, or anyone with an ear for art, rather than product. This is an incredible album that speaks to anyone who will open their minds to hear."

The man with the silver tongue.

C. Kuhn | West Chester, PA, USA | 03/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If there is any word that must always accompany the name Michael Gira, it is undoubtedly "intensity." His work with the groundbreaking no-wave outfit Swans beside his then-wife Jarboe is still considered some of the most brutal, beautiful music in the world. His most recent albums, The Body Lovers and The Body Haters, respectively, are both lessons in aural pugilistics, but in different senses. And his much discussed collection of anecdotes, Consumer, has been rumored to induce persons of a weaker constitution to vomit. But New Mother is a different story altogether. It displays a fragility that Gira has never before allowed to show through, and the results can be frightening indeed. Gira, much like The The songwriter Matt Johnson, does not hold back in baring his dark, smoky soul to the world; in fact, he seems to revel in it. "Rise above the garbage. Leave me where I fall. Rise above the wreckage. Kill anything that walks," groans Gira on Praise Your Name, to the sound of a delicately played piano and an apocalyptic choir of voices. Don't let the name fool you: this is not easy listening for mothers or angels."

One of the Few

Harry Tenench | Tx | 11/13/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tenench has been following this artist for about 2 decades and considers Michael Gira to be one of the few recording artists who actually is an artist in every sense of the term. Angels of Light is the culmination of Michael Gira's long journey through the many twists and turns of what it takes to have artistic vision and keep it in tact for an entire recording career. While other artists struggle to craft one original sound they can call their own Gira has managed to do it 7 or 8 times ! If you look at his output from Circus Mort (only one recording) to the many facets of Swans , to Angels of Light , to the many Michael Gira solo projects it is hard to find anyone more productive and captivating. On top of this he manages to run his own recording label (Young God Records) in which he discovers other talent as formidable as his own - check out Devendra Banhart for proof. He is another story in which I had mixed opinion after seeing him perform last year , I think he was still finding his footing -only 21 years old I think. Devendra's recordings are stellar and already historically significant. Without Gira's keen sensibilities Banhart would most likely still be unknown, instead he now has wide critical acclaim after only about a year and a half long public career.

Back to this particular Angels of Light offering. It is one of the most captivating and original recordings ever published and defies category. Gira manages to take you completely out of your skin and draw you into another world with his lyrical mystique , vocal tone , and uncanny genius for instrumentational arrangement . The song subjects are sometimes clear and sometimes not but are very thought provoking and emotional throughout. It helps to have a little shared headspace with the writer (emotional experiences ,personal revelations , art history ) so some listeners are unable to find the courage to face this music . The best thing about Gira is that no matter what he is writing about , even depression, it comes off as being powerful, not whining like some writers.In fact I find that when I listen to some of his recordings that I can't listen to anything else for a while because it seems weak and trite in comparison to Gira's world. In short he challenges your human sensibilities and psyche which is something alien / unexpolored in songwriting to a large extent .

Without giving a song by song opinion I encourage anyone who values artistic integrity to check out all 3 cd's by Angels of Light ( New Mother , How I Loved You , & Everything is Good Here/Please Come Home ). Also Gira published a limited edition cd that he recorded in his office called "I Am Singing to You From My Room" that is outstanding. It is just him and his trusty Guild acoustic guitar with no overdubbing - amazing. It is only available on the Young God website and is signed by the artist. Mind boggling that an artist recording himself in his office dwarfs anything put out by the mainstream recording industry in the the past decade or more .

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Magnificent achievement

Pieter | Johannesburg | 06/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Michael Gira has explored multiple musical styles, from the obliquely brutal metallic mayhem of early Swans to the later tuneful folk, torch songs & atmospheric sounds in the side project World of Skin, and dark rock, drones & ambient excursions to complex orchestral compositions in the later Swans and The Body Lovers.

His post-Swans project Angels of Light reflects the same talent contained in the earlier work but is more accessible and digestible as the extremes associated with Swans are less prominent. With its beautiful melodies, arresting imagery and elegant orchestration, New Mother at times mirrors the brilliance of Swans' 1989 album The Burning World or the earlier work Children of God.

There are simple solo passages but overall the music consists of multi-layered textures & complex arrangements with an acoustic sound although electric instruments are used. The impressive arsenal includes acoustic, bass, classical, electrical & steel guitars, accordion, banjo, dobro, dulcimer, glockenspiel, melodica, mandolin, organ, mellotron, piano, organ, synthesizer, flute, xylophone, vibraphone, tabla, timpani, violin and more.

The album also contains dissonant, experimental tracks like Real Person, Not Alone and Fear of Death, but overall the sound is flowing and melodious. New Mother remains my number one Angels of Light album but I also recommend How I Loved You, Everything is Good Here/Please come Home and We Are Him (2008).

My favorites amongst the sonic splendor of these 17 tracks include: (4) Angels of Light with its swirling melodic buildup and poetic lyrics (6) This Is Mine, with its gracefully conveyed images of alcohol-induced despair plus religious imagery as on the aforementioned Children of God album (11) Forever Yours, probably autobiographical, with its compelling simplicity, engaging melody and personal but universal message (an echo of "Saved" from The Burning World: "You're an angel/I'll never betray you/But I'll always be/A lonely child").

The two the most exceptional songs are (13) The Garden Hides the Jewel, a gently undulating piece with unusual nature imagery and enigmatic, esoteric lyrics, and (14) Song for My Father, one of the most unbearably melancholy & moving songs I have ever heard. With lines like: "In here I sleep/Stoned guardian of my empty dream/Thank god you never saw the things that I have done/Thank God you never knew the person I've become."

Angels of Light fans who wish to investigate the gentler music of Swans from 1986 and 1987 I recommend the 2-disc compilation Children of God/World of Skin. Most of the first two World of Skin albums are there plus Swans' 1987 Children of God, the work on which the band's transition from brutal industrial noise to a softer & seductive but deeply subversive style found true expression. Those who like the music of artists like Nick Cave, Peter Murphy, John Cale, Nick Drake, Mark Eitzel, American Music Club and Leonard Cohen etc will love Angels of Light. New Mother is the proper place to start investigating their magic.

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This is such a great album

Justin | New Jersey | 05/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i think this is the best album that Gira has done since Swans, and i suppose it really does live up to what he did in the past. with fifteen songs ranging from quiet to discordant (but never to the degree that some Swans stuff was) the record has variation. the best part of it however is the band in back of Gira, just read the credits list and you'll see how many people were involved with this project, there's accordion, glockenspiel, steel guitar, mandolin(!), dulcimer, banjo, mellotron, B3 organ, double bass, violin, and more in back of Gira. when you hear the way this record is produced you'll understand how well all of these instruments add to the record, it is rather subtle. the song writting is very good on this album, Gira really has reached the level of Dylan and Cohen in my opinion, and it is evident here in each song. my favorite songs are probably Inner Female, which boasts a real thick interesting atmosphere and Forever Yours. Get this is if you are a fan of Michael Gira or similar stuff."

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