The Angels Of Light
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The Angels Of Light
Angels of Light were an American folk band that was formed circa 1998 by singer-songwriter and musician Michael Gira after he disbanded Swans, the group he had founded in 1982. The band has marked a distinctly different style for Gira since he left Swans, most noticeably being musically more melodic and less brutal than his previous efforts and with emphasis on acoustic instruments and folk and country influences. Before the band was formed, Gira intended to call his post-Swans acoustic/song-based project The Pleasure Seekers. This name was discarded because there had been a group with the same name in the 1960s. The first two live performances of what would become the Angels of Light (the Tonic/Bowery Ballroom benefit shows) were billed as "Michael Gira with guests". The revolving lineup up Angels of Light included a wide range of musicians from New York City and elsewhere, including Dana Schechter of Bee and Flower, Kid Congo Powers of The Cramps, Larry Mullins (a.k.a. ...
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New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the List of United States cities by population density, most densely populated major city in the United States, and is more than twice as populous as second-place Los Angeles. New York City lies at the southern tip of New York (state), New York State, and constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous Megacity, megacities, and over 58 million people live within of the city. New York City is a global city, global Culture of New ...
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Michael Gira
Michael Rolfe Gira (; born February 19, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author and artist. He is the main force behind the New York City musical group Swans and fronted Angels of Light. He is also the founder of Young God Records. Biography Early life Michael Rolfe Gira was born February 19, 1954 in Los Angeles, California to Alice (née Shulte), originally from Iowa, and Robert Pierre Gira. His mother was an alcoholic, and Gira spent much of his early life caring for his younger brother. Gira has commented that his parents were "not around much" during his early childhood. As an adolescent, Gira was arrested in California several times for petty crimes. Facing the risk of being incarcerated in a juvenile hall, he relocated with his father to Germany following a short stay in South Bend, Indiana. While in Germany, Gira ran away and hitchhiked across Europe, lived in Israel for a year, and spent four and a half months in an adult jail in Jerusale ...
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Shearwater (band)
Shearwater is an American indie rock band from Austin, Texas, led by multi-instrumentalist and lead singer Jonathan Meiburg, a singer-songwriter. The band's music is notable for its imagery based in nature, cerebral yet intimate melodic songs, as well as Meiburg's vocals. History Early years In 1999, Okkervil River band members Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff founded Shearwater as an outlet for quieter songs on which they were collaborating. The band's name comes from the shearwater, a tribe of seabirds related to petrels and albatrosses. Meiburg, who holds a master's degree in geography with a focus on ornithology, picked the name mostly for the sound of the word. Shearwater's debut, '' The Dissolving Room'', introduced Kim Burke on upright bass; shortly after, drummer and vibraphonist Thor Harris joined the band. The addition of multi-instrumentalist Howard Draper plus tours and support dates with The Mountain Goats, Akron/Family and Blonde Redhead brought them exposure. S ...
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Thor Harris
Thor Harris (born February 7, 1965) is an artist, sculptor, musician, painter, carpenter and handyman. He was the percussionist for Swans (2010–2016). He has performed with Shearwater (2001–2010), Bill Callahan, The Angels of Light, Lisa Germano, Yonatan Gat, Gretchen Phillips, Devendra Banhart, Rebecca Cannon, Xiu Xiu, Flock of Dimes & Amanda Palmer, Whalesong, and the Grand Theft Orchestra. He has recorded at least six instrumental albums with the Austin producer Rob Halverson. He also contributed to Ben Frost's 2014 album, ''Aurora''. He joined the touring lineup of Xiu Xiu as a percussionist in February 2017 and he has enjoyed touring with Thor & Friends since 2015. In the early 21st century, Harris wrote a short outline on "How To Tour In A Band Or Whatever". This set of '21 rules' spread widely across the internet. Harris also wrote and illustrated the 'zine/pamphlet, ''Ocean of Despair'', about depression, as a companion to his recorded album of the same t ...
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Bliss Blood
Bliss Blood is an American musician and songwriter. She has written and recorded two albums with virtuoso guitarist Al Street, five albums with New York jazz band The Moonlighters from 2000 to 2009, and six albums from 1988 to 1995 with Houston noise rock band Pain Teens. She has also recorded with the Melvins and many other groups. Current projects Bliss Blood is primarily a songwriter who began her career in 1988 in Houston, Texas psychedelic noise rock group Pain Teens, she currently writes songs and plays ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ... in the 1920s and 1930s jazz-themed New York City group The Moonlighters, formed in 1998. She writes original songs, rare in the "retro jazz" genre, and The Moonlighters released four CDs on their own label, Onliest ...
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Larry Mullins (musician)
Lawrence Edward Mullins, also known as Toby Dammit, (born 13 December 1966 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American musician, record producer, and composer. A multi-instrumentalist (primarily drums, percussion, and keyboards), Mullins is best known as a member of the bands Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Swans, as well as a former member of The Stooges and other incarnations of Iggy Pop’s bands. He has also worked extensively in music for films and television, and had a performance role in the German cable series ''Babylon Berlin''. Music career Mullins played drums in Iggy Pop’s band from 1990 to 1999, recording three albums and additional works created specifically for films. In 2011, he joined Iggy and The Stooges in England, and remained their live drummer until their final performance in 2013. Mullins joined Swans in 1995 and continued working with Swans frontman Michael Gira in Angels of Light into 2001. He rejoined Swans in 2019 for the recording of their album ''Leav ...
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The Cramps
The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2006. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. The band are credited as progenitors of the psychobilly subgenre, uniting elements of punk rock with rockabilly. The addition of guitarist Bryan Gregory and drummer Pam Balam resulted in the first complete lineup in April 1976. They released their debut album ''Songs the Lord Taught Us'' in 1980. The band split after the death of lead singer Interior in 2009. History 1970s Lux Interior (born Erick Lee Purkhiser) and Poison Ivy (born Kristy Marlana Wallace) met in Sacramento, California, in 1972. In light of their common artistic interests and shared devotion to record collecting, they decided to form the Cramps. Lux took his stage name from a car ad, and Ivy claimed to have received hers in a dream (she was first Poison Ivy Rorsch ...
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Kid Congo Powers
Brian Tristan (born March 27, 1959), better known by his stage name Kid Congo Powers,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 25, 41, 359 is an American rock guitarist, singer, and actor best known as a member of The Gun Club, the Cramps and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. He has also played with the Divine Horsemen, the Angels of Light, Die Haut, and Knoxville Girls. As of January 2015, Powers' primary musical project is the band The Pink Monkey Birds.Marszalek, Julian (2009)Kid Congo Powers Pays Tribute to Mentors, ''Spinner'', 30 November 2009, retrieved 2010-01-30 Early life Born in La Puente, California, Powers is a second generation Mexican American. His earliest childhood influences were the Southern California Chicano rock band Thee Midniters. In 1976, he was president of The Ramones fan club, then ran a fanzine for The Screamers.
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Bee And Flower
Bee and Flower is a band founded in New York City in 1999 by singer-songwriter, bassist, animator, illustrator, composer and producer Dana Schechter. Schechter formed the band while being a member of Michael Gira's band Angels of Light. Bee and Flower's co-founding band members include Ani Cordero on drums and backing vocals, Roderick Miller (Richard Ruin, Kitty Solaris) on piano and keyboards, Jon Petrow (Cordero, And the Wiremen) on viola and violin, and Lynn Wright ( James Hall, And the Wiremen) on guitar. They recorded their first demo in 1999 with Sam McCall. Later members include Ethan Donaldson (And the Wiremen) on drums, Joni Heine ( The Ocean) on bass, and Thomas Fietz (Richard Ruin) on drums.Sourced via published photographic images of the band's releases (not relying solely on user contributions) and releases on individual artist's pages oDiscogs Touring members included Jeff Conaway (The Psychic Paramount) and Rainer Baumgartner ( The Durgas) on drums, Thimo Sander (Poe ...
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Dana Schechter
Bee and Flower is a band founded in New York City in 1999 by singer-songwriter, bassist, animator, illustrator, composer and producer Dana Schechter. Schechter formed the band while being a member of Michael Gira's band Angels of Light. Bee and Flower's co-founding band members include Ani Cordero on drums and backing vocals, Roderick Miller (Richard Ruin, Kitty Solaris) on piano and keyboards, Jon Petrow (Cordero, And the Wiremen) on viola and violin, and Lynn Wright ( James Hall, And the Wiremen) on guitar. They recorded their first demo in 1999 with Sam McCall. Later members include Ethan Donaldson (And the Wiremen) on drums, Joni Heine ( The Ocean) on bass, and Thomas Fietz (Richard Ruin) on drums.Sourced via published photographic images of the band's releases (not relying solely on user contributions) and releases on individual artist's pages oDiscogs Touring members included Jeff Conaway (The Psychic Paramount) and Rainer Baumgartner ( The Durgas) on drums, Thimo Sander (Po ...
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Bowery Ballroom
The Bowery Ballroom is a New York City live-music venue located at 6 Delancey Street in the neighborhood of Bowery in Manhattan. The Bowery Ballroom holds something of a cult status among musicians as well as audiences. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine has awarded it #1 Best Club in America. "It's both intimate and grand, with consistently great sound and sightlines, and touches of old-school class, like 84-year-old bronze rails." It has a capacity of 575 people. A detailed scholarly account of the venue and its place in the wider music and cultural history of New York City was published in 2020. History The Bowery Ballroom was founded in 1998 by Michael Swier, Michael Winsch, and Brian Swier, who still own and operate the business. The club was the team's second music venue after The Mercury Lounge. The building at 6 Delancey Street was built to be a high-end shoe store and haberdashery just before the devastating Wall Street Crash of 1929. It stood vacant until the end of World W ...
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Tonic (music Venue)
Tonic was a music venue located in New York City founded by Melissa Caruso Scott and John Scott. First opened in 1998, it described itself as supporting "avant garde, creative and experimental music" and known for its commitment to musical integrity.Requiem for a Club: Saxophone and Sighs
Nate Chinen, ''The New York Times'', April 16, 2007, Retrieved September 29, 2007
Tonic was a former kosher winery and after opening quickly became a focal point of the downtown avant-garde scene. The small and unassuming building provided a sense of intimacy by setting the performers within arms length of the audience. Tonic also doubled as a place for a variety of musicians to record live.Federico Cribiore (2000). "Tonic is a special place.". ''Tonic''
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