Larsen never lacked a sense of beauty. Even on the most catharticrushes of adrenalin guitar mayhem that erupted at opportune moments ontheir stunning Michael Gira-produced album Rever,they always had an air of ritual mystery and a mystical energy thatperhaps recalled other intense Europeans Deity Guns and Neubauten, witha nod to prime New York avant rock. There are ancient monumentalshadows looming over and cast by their muse. Having lost bassist SilviaGross to jazz, Larsen are now a quartet with a more stripped-down,instrumental sound, which is no doubt going to see them get a fewgodspeed comparisons. Every ringing guitar note and accordian dronehits home in an uplifting spirited enunciation of landscapes bothcinematic and emotional. It's no surprise to discover that they'veplayed gigs supporting Thalia Zedek, who no doubt found them kindredspirits. While on Rever there were occasional jousts of LiveSkull dual guitar hellfire, here, heavy ponderous drums hit home withthe same melancholic deliberation as Come and Thalia's more recent solorecordings. MUSM was originally a very limited US tour CD-R butis now getting a wider release on CD and vinyl. It opens with a collagefrom Larsen's long unavailable debut album, No Arms No Legs: Identification Problems and a couple of remastered tracks from that album which set the scene but are soon surpassed. Half of MUSMwas recorded as a soundtrack to Winsor McCay's animation"Cartoanimalettimatti." These five tracks are certainly rivetingstanding alone, more enticing melodic entanglements unfurling withevery repeat listening, yet it would've been nice to have seen some ofthe animations on the computer section of the CD-R. "How a MosquitoOperates" circles inexorably towards some bloody climax, and "TheSinking of the Lusitania" is suitably aquatic, each dramatic pausebetween chords seeming to let more water seep in. There is anunrecognizably mutated version of Syd Barret's "Vegetable Man," whichopens with an accordian drone elegy, before sleigh bells and guitarpangs rise slowly above creaking turnip brains. A short outtake from arecent rehearsal session ends the album with a hesitant question mark.However the highlight of MUSM might well be the film of Larsenperforming a majestic slow building instrumental in a Polish cathedral,not so much for the film itself which fades images of the band walkingthe glowing night time streets of Gdansk with their static stagepresence, but for the music which would have been nice to have had asregular audio. Maybe this is a hint of even better things to come andwill appear on a future album? Larsen have two more albums in thepipeline, including collaborations with Lustmord and Jarboe. If they'reeven half as fine as this, they'll be utterly essential. samples:
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