Posted on: December 25, 2008 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

Larkin Grimm will join Young God record chief Michael Gira on the bill of the
Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN

http://www.bigearsfestival.com
Sun Feb 8th

Larkin released her third full length, Parplar, her first released on Young God a short while ago and this has gotten an incredible amount of critical kudos right from the git go and continues to, including the latest sampling which you’ll find below. If you haven’t covered this artist yet, I hope you will, via feature or CD review.
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No doubt this year’s only folk album to sound like it was made by a witch huddled over a bubbling cauldron, Grimm’s debut on Michael Gira’s Young God label was by turns creepy, feral, and evocative. James Reed/Boston Globe 12/14

Can’t let the year end without giving a nod to three sleeper sets. On her new album, “Parplar” (Young Gods, A-), Larkin Grimm strikes as the most innovative and compelling (verging on the possessed) female singer/songwriter since Laura Nyro. Jon Takiff/Philadelphia Daily News 12/16

After sharing bills with Espers and Devendra Banhart, commune-raised Larkin Grimm makes her debut with an album whose imagery often echoes the voluptuous prose of Angela Carter. The core trio of “Dominican Rum,” “Ride that Cyclone,” and “Blood and Golden johns” in particular are quasi-surrealist in their bend of sensuality and dark humor. Pasquale Iannone/Under The Radar Year End issue

Born and raised in a cult, an Ivy league art scholar then a dropout, Larkin
Grimm has a life story that is either a recipe for genius or extreme
indulgence. There are glimmers of both here. At her most wilfully eclectic,
Grimm draws on eastern mantras (‘Durge’), minstrel folk (‘The Dip’) and,
seemingly, helium-voiced trio Alvin and the Chipmunks (‘Mino Minou’). But if
on paper that sounds wincingly kooky, Grimm has the talent to make it feel
bracingly eclectic. A record that throws up surprises at every turn. Ally Carnwath/Sunday London Observer, 12/21/08

Who are you?
Larkin Grimm.

Describe yourself in three words.
decadent, compassionate, reptilian.

Who – dead or alive – would most you like to meet?
The Prophet Muhammed. I’d ask him to play drums on a musical tour of the modern Islamic world with me and I’d ask him how it all compares to his original dream.

Who would you most like to slap in the face?
A young Marlene Dietrich. But first I would tie her to the bench in Marilyn Monroe’s crypt, lying in a bed of Joe DiMaggio’s roses.

What song do you wish you had written?
“Death of Samantha” by Yoko Ono.

Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley?
Elvis Presley on stage, but I’d rather sit next to Elvis Costello on an airplane to Vegas.

LP, CD or MP3?
Heavy Vinyl is a sacred ritual, dude!

If you could start one trend, what would it be?
Mandatory Psychic Etiquette classes for all school-aged children.

If you could end one trend, what would it be?
The chronic cynicism of educated people in my generation

With whom would you most like to play a game of spin the bottle?
The cast of a great John Stagliano BDSM film called Fashionistas. Chad Radford/ /blogs.creativeloafing.com/cribnotes/ 12/16/08

Larkin Grimm is embarking on her first tour of the Southeast this month. Born in Tennessee and raised in Georgia, Grimm is finally able to bring her eerie and peculiar , but oddly satisfying, music to the region of her youth.

Her music is vocally driven, with a backdrop of instruments, from the dulcimer to the human body, that flood your ears with “pleading soul-blues,” as Grimm puts it.

Her background has paved the way for her crooning philosophies. Her parents were members of the religious group the Holy Order of MANS, and Grimm was briefly raised by multiple parents in a commune. Her life has taken her to Yale (where she studied art), to Thailand (where she learned Thai healing massage), and to Alaska (where she hitchhiked and camped in a tent for months). This cultivation of herself is the very foundation of her music.

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