Holy Sons

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Holy Sons
Emil Amos.jpg
Amos c.2011
Background information
Origin Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Genres Avant-garde
Labels Partisan Records
MembersEmil Amos

Holy Sons is a one-man solo band built around American songwriter and drummer Emil Amos. Amos is notable for releasing "genre-bending" albums, according to LA Weekly music reviewer Chris Martins, [1] and for being a prolific songwriter; one account in Spike Magazine suggests he has written over a thousand songs. [2] Amos is also a multi-instrumentalist for groups such as Grails [3] and Om and Lilacs & Champagne. Amos was born of the lo-fi home recording movement of the '80s and early '90s. [1]

Contents

Amos described the mission of his music as "facing your personal reality". [1] Amos said in an interview that, beginning at age 16, he used drugs every single day and did not let up for years. [1] A music critic for The Guardian described him as a prolific songwriter and as having a "great voice". [4] Reviewer Rob Cullivan of the Portland Tribune described Holy Sons' album Survivalist Tales to be an "ode to the dime novels in the early 1900s that peddled the stories of wilderness explorers," and described the music as "sonic wanderings" with "strange song structures". [5] A review in the Portland Mercury described his music as "dark, languid psychedelia" and commented how Amos has "habitually been kept underground" with few live performances up until the last few years. [6] His vocals have been compared to Neil Young but change personalities quite often. Willamette Week described the album Decline of the West as "a varied, meticulously constructed piece of avant-folk that stands alone by its own merits." [7]

Discography

Albums

Year [8] Album details
2000The Lost Decade
  • Released: January 2000
  • Label: Pamlico Sound
2002Staying True to the Ascetic Roots
  • Released: May 2002
  • Label: Pamlico Sound
2002Enter the Uninhabitable
  • Released: October 2002
  • Label: Red 76
2003I Want to Live a Peaceful Life
  • Released: July 2003
  • Label: FILMguerrero
2005 Decline of the West
2009Drifter's Sympathy
2009Criminal's Return
  • Released: October 2009
  • Label: Important Records
2010Survivalist Tales!
  • Released: October 2010
  • Label: Partisan Records
2013My Only Warm Coals
  • Released: April 2013
  • Label: Important Records
2014Lost Decade II
  • Released: April 2014
  • Label: Chrome Peeler
2014The Fact Facer
2015Fall of Man
  • Released: August 2015
  • Label: Thrill Jockey
2015Decline of the West Vol. I & II(deluxe reissue)
  • Released: December 2015
  • Label: Partisan Records
2016In the Garden
  • Released: October 2016
  • Label: Partisan Records
2018Lost Decade III
2020Raw and Disfigured
  • Released: OCT 2020
  • Label: Thrill Jockey

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Chris Martins (March 10, 2011). "Sober People Scare the Shit Out of Me". LA Weekly. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  2. Mark Oliver Everett (2010). "Holy Sons: Survivalist Tales (Partisan Records)". Spike Magazine. Retrieved April 28, 2011. Actually the songwriting count for this project is at the 4-digit mark...
  3. "Grails – "Almost Grew My Hair" (Stereogum Premiere)". NPR / Stereogum. February 16, 2011. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011. Seasoned Portland instrumental out-rock quartet Grails are set to release their fifth album, Deep Politics. It the first in three years. During the time off, drummer Emil Amos (aka Holy Sons) recorded God Is Good, his first album with his other...
  4. PJ Harvey and John Parish (April 1, 2009). "Holy Sons - Evil Falls (from Decline of the West)". The Guardian. Retrieved April 28, 2011. Another track from a Portland-based musician....
  5. Rob Cullivan (March 24, 2011). "Live Music!". Portland Tribune. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  6. "My, What A Busy Week!". Portland Mercury. March 26, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  7. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER (September 29, 2008). "Holy Sons, "Gnostic Device," Decline of the West (Partisan Records)". WWeek. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  8. "Records | Holy Sons".