SON OF THE VELVET RAT
live @ BalconyTV. Com | Dublin, april 1st, 2008
SON OF THE VELVET RAT
live @ Chelsea | Vienna, march 25th | La vache qui rit
GRAVITYdirected by Stephan Bergmann
"The Son of the Velvet Rat has presented his masterpiece: 'Loss & Love' — heart-rending songs blending US folk-rock and chanson."
(Christian Schachinger, Der Standard, June 27, 2007)
"The featured performer is Altziebler's voice, singing with radical melancholy of love, of its loss, and of everything of beauty and importance in between. As beautiful and important as this album."(Sebastian Hofer, Profil, 26, June 25, 2007)
"An album like a river that one follows, spellbound, from the source through placid stretches and turbulent ones, until at some point you completely lose yourself in it. Absolutely great." (Sebastian Fasthuber, Now!, No.60 Jul/Aug 2007)
"Georg Altziebler remains the master of using minimalist means to achieve maximal results. (.) Skeletal songs, fleshed out with optigan, Hammond organ and cello, between folk, alternative country and indie Dire Straits, having more tension, charisma and captivating atmosphere in their little fingers than most songwriters do in both hands." (Oliver Uschmann, Visions, 173 08/07)
"Melancholy songs, full of tension to the point of bursting, eating away at the very substance of the capacity for cheery exuberance. Minimalist instrumentations, soft melodies, strokes and caresses as light as a feather. Each of these 11 songs possesses its own very special magic that gently spews subdued sparks and fans them into a blazing conflagration. Listening to the tender Lovesong 8 or the hideous Bad Screenplay/ Bad Karma /Are you ready to shoot? (whose dramatics inevitably evoke recollections of the great devastations) is enough to take your breath away."(Christian Preußer, plattentest.de, June 2007)
"Playground, another Altziebler masterpiece of introspective and cathartic European folk music."
(Sahar Oz, Delusions of Adequacy, August 2006)
"Altziebler is right in step with the multitude of minimalist artists who have come to redefine the new age folk genre. Playground offers brilliance in bursts. Musically, the tracks are tight and sparse, and this album draws you in with its haunting imagery and overarching themes of alienation and abandonment."
(Jeff Stevens, Avoid Peril, June 2006)
"If I had to describe this album in one word, that word would be 'haunting'. Not that this album will haunt you, but it will cause you to be haunted by those times when you were small and the dull pain of living was feeding on your young fears. . In the end, Georg Altziebler manages to put you in a certain mindset by using his thoughts to lead you through certain memories in a way that will make you identify with this entire album on a personal level. I found the song, 'I am a Jet Pilot' very ironic, because as this album leads you along near its end, you hear the line 'I am a jet pilot, I listen to voice from the tower, and not the voice in my head'. As unsettling as this all sounds, it is a beautiful process and you will be grateful for the experience."
(Jason Hall, one times one, June 2006)
"Son of the velvet rat reach back to . the bottomless pain of Leonard Cohen and the mordant reflection of Tindersticks there's some dark majesty at work here."
(Suzie Q, logo magazine, London, April 2004)
"The sound is simple and stark . There's nothing more arresting than a single note echoing against the darkness. Altziebler seems to have figured that out and he's written songs that accentuate the isolation of the sound. Or maybe he found a sound that matches his songwriting. Either way, this album kills."
(Jon Worley, aiding&abetting 252, Durham, NC, USA, 2004)
"The vocalist carries on the tradition of Leonhard Cohen as filtered through the modern sensibilities of Tindersticks' Stuart Staples - all moody mumbles and heart-wrenching poetry ."
(Listen.com, Rewiew XII/2001)
"Few albums focused on loneliness and lost love have hit as accurately with the immediacy of Son of the Velvet Rat's By My Side. Altziebler has crafted a warm LP of gritty songs about life's worries and darkest hours. His words, his melodies, his voice all complement one another and simultaneously welcome listeners into his world while soothing their emotional scars. By My Side is not a collection of depressing singles; rather, it's a fluid, cathartic, aural masterpiece."
(Sahar Oz, Delusjons of Adequacy, Picks of the week, NY, June 2004)
"Thirty seconds into the album it's easy to imagine that you would hear these exact sounds seeping from a basement of a gothic cathedral as you happen to walk by. By My Side provides sounds that, although dark and brooding, seem to lure you further into an exploration of love, or perhaps just to pick deeper a little at its wounds. Son of the Velvet Rat's first full-length album is lo-fi indie rock singed at every seam to bare minimalist arrangements that somehow manage to contain an array of emotion."
(Rian Rochford, Performer magazine, June 2004)
". those that enjoy the nuances of singer-songwriter experimentation will enjoy the vivid instrumentation and drawl-like vocal delivery that pervades BY MY SIDE. This disc surely is not for everyone, but those that like a bit of adventure may enjoy trying this release on for size."
(Mike SOS, Americore Magazine, May 2004)
". Austria's Son of the Velvet Rat is in fact a solo project cracked from the scary-smart brain of songwriter Georg Altziebler. The music here burns so slowly that you'll blacken your thumbs just plucking the disc from its tray. By My Side is full of gorgeously minimal torch songs and noodling dirges ."
(Mike Baker, Splendid, May 2004)
"Audible breaths and the scratch of Altziebler's fingers on his guitar create the uncanny feeling that you're in the studio with him. . his lyrics emanate directly from his heart and their honesty and urgency give the songs a gorgeous hue."
(Katrina M. Davenport, Sponic zine, June 2004)
"Heartbreakingly beautiful, slow, minimal folk. Think Will Oldham, mellow tracks Iron and Wine, quiet Sun Kil Moon, but even more low key. Pretty, meditative, slow, stripped down, slightly distorted, and with lots of acoustic guitar picking and haunting harmonium sound. Can you believe something so pretty came out of the land of the Schwarzenegger? (no, I don't mean California)."
(Mor, KZSU Radio, Stanford/CA, June 2004)
Son of the Velvet Rat w/ Richard Mc Graw Live @ Sidewalk Cafe, NY
Are the Angels pretty?
directed by Fordbrothers
SAME MONKEYdirected by Nikolaus Jantsch
**** Prior releases ****
'Animals' 2009 (monkey./hoanzl);
'Gravity' 2008 (EP/monkey./hoanzl);
'Loss & Love' 2007 (monkey./Hoanzl/Broken Silence);
'Playground' 2006 (monkey./Universal);
'Alpha suite' 2004 (starfish/ixthuluh);
'By my side' 2003 (starfish/ixthuluh);
'Spare some sugar [for the rat]' 2003 (starfish/ixthuluh);
