The Angels of Light "Praise Your Name / God's Servant" 7" Stripmine Recordings / Young God YG 10 1999 (9:53)
Praise Your Name (5:08)
God's Servant (4:45)
Michael Gira re-invented himself once again with his new post-SWANS project The Angels of Light and their superb debut album, "New Mother". This 7" is a limited edition single available direct from the artist for $5 via their web site. "Praise Your Name" is the same as the album version: a beautiful blend of gentle vibes, percussion, accordion, piano, acoustic guitar and Gira's deep, evocative vocals. The "I praise your name" and "glorious!" chorus chants are utterly uplifting. It sure is nice to hear it via the warmth of vinyl. The B side, "God's Servant", is exclusive to the 7" and would fit right in on "New Mother". It has the same sort of instrumentation as the other songs and is relatively quiet and slow. Gira once again delivers a beautiful and poetic vocal and lyric, a few excerpts: "your self hatred is a beautiful cancer ... and I encourage you to feed it", "and our love is a thick red ocean ... swollen with lust and fatigue". Wow. There's just something about a picture sleeve 7" ... it's the perfect size to do the artwork justice. The front cover is another Wim van de Hulst landscape photo and the back cover is the same photo of Gira from "New Mother", which is signed by Gira in gold ink. The 7" also comes with a credits insert and SWANS postcard with a handwritten "thank you for supporting the artist" courtesy of Jarboe. One odd thing, I think this is the only 7" I own that plays at 33 rather than 45 rpm ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order direct via SWANS.