Harpoon

Larkin Grimm | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 4, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Secret Eye Records
• ASIN: B000B8GTH4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,857 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Larkin Grimm (now based in Providence) was born in a Memphis commune and grew up in the foothills of the Appalachians with a family of singers and fiddlers. Harpoon Baptism, her debut, reflects these rustic influences through a modern, psychedelic filter. Larkin’s intense, ecstatic voice, with swirling multi-tracked patterns, recalls the richness of Illuminations-period Buffy Sainte-Marie and the sparkle of Linda Perhacs. Her instrumentation includes duclimer, pennywhistle, bells, drums and guitar. Previously a member of the Dirty Projectors (Western Vinyl), Larkin astounded audiences with her mesmerizing voice. She has also played shows with folks such as Entrance, The Microphones, Old Time Relijun and her brother Joe Grimm’s project the Wind Up Bird. Larkin Grimm is a very special artist, and Harpoon Baptism is a truly magical recording.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Debut, October 5, 2005

By 

Asphalt "an_old_head" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harpoon (Audio CD)

I picked up a copy of this a couple of weeks ago at her CMJ show and have been waiting for today to be able to praise it. Larkin Grimm is a young psych-folk singer/songwriter from Georgia by way of Providence, Rhode Island. On Harpoon (aka "Harpoon Baptism") she accompanies her stunning, multitracked voice with mountain dulcimer and acoustic guitar on songs dealing with passion and heartbreak and exploration of the recesses of one's soul. This is a truly beautiful and powerful recording, full of light and darkness at once. An amazing debut.....

5.0 out of 5 stars Crisp, unique and heartbreaking folk album, March 24, 2010

By 

mianfei - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Harpoon (Audio CD)

From a background that is classically "hip" - being the child of a 1960s-era commune - Larkin Grimm in the 2000s became one of the most talked-about singer/songwriters on the underground folk scene. Signed by Secret Eye - home to Spires That in the Sunset Rise's complex masterpieces Four Winds the Walker and This Is Fire, Larkin Grimm developed an equally unique but completely different form of folk music on her 2005 debut "Harpoon". Although she plays the whole record for herself, Grimm uses the studio as an instrument to create overdubs that - utterly unlike those used on conventional radio pop songs - serve to actually enhance the sound as if she was playing several different, yet intimately related tunes.

This characteristic is apparent from the opening song "Entrance", a short piece with a hypnotic, tribal sound through the harsh percussion created both the guitar and the drums. The piercing voice is a delight that has a quite mysterious effect all along. "Going Out" is simpler and really catchy, yet the vocals and percussion create an effect that is paradoxically prayerful, whilst on "Patch It Up", Grimm creates an epic drama and "Pigeon Food" is stunning in her warm vocals that express without any harshness deep emotional despair.

Fifth track "I Am Eating Your Deathly Dreams" is softer but equally sharp to the point of being eerie, yet it is remarkably soothing. Then there is the amazingly dense epic "Future Friend" on which Grimm manages to make a song perfectly out of a number of pieces out of phase, yet still weaves it into a tune of perfect longing for a new friend. "Harpoon Baptism", which serves as the title tune, is equally good and remarkably touching owing to Grimm singing a duet of remarkable contrasts, whilst "I Killed Someone" is really funny in spite of its dark subject matter and "Go Gently" has a cathedral-like atmosphere reminiscent of Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Mary".

To round off a very impressive work there is the slow, sparse "One Hundred Men" with its repeated line "I want to love/Again and again", the beautifully desperate "Touch Me, Shaping Hands", which shows how much doubt Grimm really has about her romantic successes and features whistled vocals more beautiful than could be imagined and which serve to substitute perfectly for an instrumental solo, as do the wonderful "ah"s at the conclusion of the song. "White Water" returns to a softer sound but it is ambient like Linda Perhacs on "Moons and Cattails" without aping it enough to be called anything like copycatting.

All in all, "Harpoon" is a crisp, often dense piece of work that will take time to get used to. Nonetheless, its touching beauty and tribal rhythms are another winner for Secret Eye.