Music

December, or The Tragedy of Laura Linney (2016)

GSRV’s first musical release in 3 years, “December…” was written and recorded over the course of 5 weeks beginning in the first week of December 2015 and concluding in the first week of January 2016.

Musically, “December…” follows in the Urban Folk footsteps of GSRV’s previous albums. Rock and Folk foundations are built upon with harmonizing violins, heavily layered vocals, and blips and bleeps galore while Punk and Beatle-esque pop influences shine through on the last few tracks. The EP’s eponymous final song commences with an existential cry reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens or Glen Hansard.

Lyrically, classic themes of nostalgia, eroticism, and spirituality abound.

An excellent first taste of GSRV if you’ve never heard him before and a welcome return for any familiar with his previous work

Transcendence. Problematic. (2013)

GSRV’s latest album takes rural instrumentation like violin, mandolin, and guitar and marries them with theatre, punk rock, and R&B to produce something probably best described as Urban Folk.

The title Transcendence. Problematic. explores our culture’s obsession with self-help (i.e. politics, religion, tribes) as an escape which polarizes us from the world, rather than acts of compassion, connection, and justice which engage the world.

Lyrical, erotic, and spiritual. Playfully human.

Music for the Living.

Manifestation (2010)

Featuring elements of 90s grunge in “Wrong Organ”, Tom Waits meets New York folk in “Ash’d”, and a touch of spiritually infused Trip-Hop on “Yetzer Hara”, GSRV’s second musical release “Manifestation” delves deeply into sexuality, addictive lifestyles, spiritual angst…in addition to far less pretentious subjects such as romance and avoiding homework.

The title “Manifestation” refers to a series of riots during a food shortage in Haiti. One of GSRV’s friends there described the riots as being “manifestations”. This spirit of yearning for justice and hunger for sustenance was hoped to have been exhibited in the songs on this CD by the stylistic schizophrenia of GSRV’s varied musical “manifestations”.

Under the Sun (2008)

GSRV's debut album. Raw, straightforward rock/folk, with the clean shaven sound of 17 year old angst in full swing.