We Are Him

Unclassifiable creations from Michael Gira’s solo project post-Swans. Though Gira has been instrumental in the “anti-folk” movement by signing and giving a voice to the likes of Devandra Banhardt via his Young God Records label, those sounds don’t entirely dominate his music, though elements do. Instead, this stuff fails to be pigeonholed, even likened to other bands (besides later Swans/Jarboe). Distinct darkness, bent creepiness have always been his forte, however, gone is his trademark subsonic baritone. Instead, when he fills the headphones with pretty joy and light it comes across instead like skipping through a dew soaked meadow filled with wildflowers in the warm morning light only to trip over an eviscerated body hiding in the grass, coming face to face with its dead dark eyes.

1) upbeat feel somehow, plods forward
2) folk element to this dark dirge, nice strings
3) “pretty” elelment always ends up ironic, uplifting guitars and angelic voices subvert
4) FCCs
5) starts dark, interjects some melody, dark Swans (post 1990) feel to this
6) slower, singer-songwriter w/ a very out of character middle, w/ trombone and swingy drums, huh?
7) layers of tones in intro followed by almost swingy song, strange mix
8) slow, somber lilting ballad, dark themed
9) full band bursts, twisted shifts into a near 60’s Bacharrach pop, huh?
10) FCCs
11) triplet waltz, folksy
12) slow triplet, dark near shoegaze alt.country