Larsen

Larsen is an Italian band that debuted with No Arms No Legs (1996), and then proceeded to record an odd album of exoteric, hypnotic, brooding chamber rock, Rever (Young God, 2002), that fused This Heat's mathematical structures, Can's cerebral jazz-rock, and the Swans' eerie atmospheres. The album had plenty of intriguing ideas, but was perhaps a bit too indulgent.

Musm (Enterruption, 2004) collects unreleased material.

Play (Important, 2005), somewhat inspired by Autechre's music, is even more austere than the first album, veereing towards the aesthetics of free-form glitch electronica while retaining the post-rock format. The breadth and scope of their pieces is awe-inspiring. The album as a whole sounds like an encyclopedia of new music. Larsen, who had already proven to be a volcano of innovative ideas, now contend for the title of most erudite post-everything ensemble. One can only blame them for being too ambitious.

Ciautastico! (Important, 2005) is a collaboration with Xiu Xiu.

The disorienting mood of Seies (Important, 2006), featuring Jarboe on backing vocals and Julia Kent on cello, is related to This Heat via latter-day Swans: song structures are complex rhythmic and harmonic puzzles, but they float into eerie arrangements. Marzia (a collaboration with Lustmord) portrays the band at its most haunting.

Abeceda (Important, 2007) is a live tribute to Czech artist Karel Teige.

La Fever Lit (Important, 2009) turned to dream-pop, with even songs sung by a female vocalist (Annie Anxiety).

Erroneous - A Selection Of Errors (Important Records, 2010) was a collaboration with Steven Stapleton's and Colin Potter's Nurse With Wound.