the Trouble Starts: Daniel G. Harmann - Vocals, Guitar Forrest Haskell - Bass, Vocals Shea Bliss - Drums, Vocals
On Various Recordings: Daniel G. Harmann, Forrest Haskell, Graig Markel, Brandon Miller, Ozo Jaculewicz, Shea Bliss, Mike Honcho, Trent Moorman, Robert Deeble, Marcus Howard, Corianton Hale, Jacob Fasel, Louis O'Callaghan, Tom Baisden, Drew Ringo, Steven Toff, Bob Smolenski, Seth Howard, Alison Wesley, Lesli Wood, Bryan Thunstedt, Rosie Thomas, and more beautiful people.
Influences
Low, Ryan Adams, Quicksand, the National, Bruce Springsteen, Constantines, Stars, Max Richter, Nick Cave, the Smiths, Notwist, the Early Years, Spain, Cat Power, Sparklehorse, Lungfish, Face to Face, Sigur Ros, Blur, Kid Dakota, John Vanderslice, Fugazi, Idlewild, David Gray, Wilco, M83, James, My Morning Jacket, Wheat, Pulp, Jawbreaker, Stereophonics, Interpol, Gravity & Henry, Fine China, Cursive, Guided by Voices, Keane, Dear and the Headlights, Calla, Mineral, Brand New, Strike Anywhere, Willie Nelson, Hood, Adem, Snow Patrol, the Weakerthans, Crumb, Mojave 3, British Sea Power, the Twilight Singers, Sun Kil Moon, Swod, Morrissey, Robert Deeble, the Dears, Doves, Mew, the Long Winters
Reviews for Anthems from the Gentle War:
Show Review for 09.06.08 - Tractor Tavern: "What freezes you about Daniel G. Harmann’s music is the expanse. A quietly loud expanse. It scans across a highway bridge at night. Someone driving realizes the perfectness of hands. Harmann cuts from quiet and clean to loud and distorted with a crafted sense of timing. When he gets loud, it’s more a movement to volume. His higher range vocals coat the shift and the rhythm steadily drives. Though it grows in volume, the music doesn’t seem louder. The quiet – loud, loud – quiet transition is one that Harmann and his band (the Trouble Starts) wield deftly. It’s a use of light and dark that Harmann has figured out. When he goes louder, it only deepens. Sound at the Tractor for Harmann was particularly dialed in. No earplugs were needed and that may have been another reason the high end of the band’s clean sounds were so pristine. Harmann’s lyrics add a layer to his gentle use of distortion and volume. You are paying attention to his words and there is association. In “Beer from a Bottle” he sings, “I’ve been known to drink far too much. And to spend the day washing off the night before. This is not a swan song, this is not a memory.” The way he sings “drink” I hear “drift”." - Line Out | the Stranger Music Blog
"It's hard to get ahead in Seattle's highly saturated pool of singer/songwriters. Rocky Votolato, PWRFL Power, Tiny Vipers, Sera Cahoone—they're all doing well for themselves. But for each successful acoustically inclined artist, there's three dozen hopefuls waiting in line. Daniel G. Harmann knows the struggle; he's been waiting his turn for years. But his new album, Anthems from the Gentle War (his fourth studio release produced by Graig Markel), is his best yet. The songs are bigger, filled with lush strings, chimes, and vocal harmonies. And though its themes are still deeply rooted in the "sad bastard" category, the album's triumphant guitars and Markel's sparkling production make it glow with optimism. Harmann might get his day yet." - the Stranger, BAND OF THE WEEK 05.22.08 - 05.28.08
"Over the last several years and releases, Daniel G. Harmann has collaborated with many fine musicians including Head Like A Kite’s Trent Moorman and beloved songstress Rosie Thomas to name a few. There are few signs more indicative of talent than bringing in other talent. Most striking is Harmann’s sweet falsetto and backing melodies, which add up to an emotional breadth approaching that of Sigur Ros. The lush soundscapes are big enough to fill an arena and personal enough to whisper in your ear. Every song on the album is clean but not squeaky, consistent but never contrived. Upon first listen you may have a I know where he’s going with this moment, only to be proven wrong every time." - KEXP, February 2008
"At first blush, your expectations are quite low for Daniel G. Harmann’s eleven-song Anthems from the Gentle War; on a label never heard of, ok album design, and the simple fact that very few acts with someone’s name as the moniker are any good. Yet, after you progress past the opening number “I Swallowed Twelve Grenades,” where you think Harmann is just seconds away from launching into generic rock, your whole perception changes. There is no shift to crap and soon enough the six-minute atmospheric “The Trouble Starts” hooks your ear and lowers your pulse to create a simple joy of pleasure. This is Harmann’s fourth album and he shapes songs into a cross of Sigur Ros taking a more indie rock path to songwriting. Joining Harmann on this recording are Forrest Haskell, Brandon Miller, Trent Moorman, Graig Markel, Louis O’Callaghan, Robert Deeble, and Mike Honcho (the porn star from Talladega Nights). Not all of the songs exist as ethereal, atmospheric soundscapes with diversions to more standard song structures, but all provide a mellowing sheen that could easily be reworked to float you into space. Among the fantastic are – well the entire album to be honest. Even spots where you think there will be a downturn, Harmann turns it around and re-envisions the spectacular. Exhibit A is the third track “Beer From a Bottle” that opens as ordinary fare before moving to the compelling chorus that reshapes your imagine of the song. Others that follow suit include the beat-driven “A Dying Dove,” “Every Song is I Need You Tonight,” and “Wrists.” The more instrumental driven atmospheric haunts come courtesy of “I’ve Turned to a Life of Crime,” the uber slow mover “Go Now, Rush Ashore,” the unique riff under “Last Swim of the Year,” and quirky closer “Barnburners.” Finding Daniel G. Harmann is an absolute treasure and hopefully it’s a joy that you’ll spread to others.
" FEBRUARY '08 ARTIST OF THE MONTH - Exoduster.com
"The second full-length release from Phoenix native & current Seattleite Daniel G. Harmann goes on to follow the same blueprint that he has followed his entire career: just be patient, and good things will happen eventually. They do, as is made clear on “A Dying Dove”, which recalls Radiohead, if that band were willing to fit their sound into a nightclub. Harmann and his cast of rotating characters picks up speed quick. Thankfully, he doesn’t ape Thom York, but he does have the coveted gift to only speak when necessary. When he does, you always feel inclined to listen." - Sound Magazine, November 2007
"Stuffing Daniel G. Harmann into the emo/indie genre would be a slap in the face to this compassionate artist. Just as heartfelt as rhythms from New Order, Daniel G. Harmann is a solo man that makes his music out of pure honesty. Harmann’s voice quivers with the melodies of his songs. In “A Dying Dove” his gentle voice conveys the stage of his life as someone who is searching for their place in a world full of turmoil. Daniel G. Harmann brings subtle beauty through his songs, something that should be admired. Harmann’s simple, sometimes repetitive lyrics like in “I’ve Turned To a Life of Crime” make the album flow from track to track almost as if weightlessly. Harmann whispers, speaks softly, takes deep breaths and blossoms throughout this album. It is hard not to appreciate an album such as this on a day spent out in the sun on a blanket just for you or inside sipping coffee while it sprinkles rain. The album can apply to many stages of life, which is masterful even if Harmann meant to or not. I’ll go to sleep tonight listening to “Go Now, Rush Ashore” and in the morning I’ll wake listening to Harmann’s gentle anthems. Luckily for us, Harmann provides the perfect soundtrack to help pull us through good and bad times in his fourth CD that I beseech anyone who is a self respecting music lover to pick up!" - IndependentClauses.com
"Beautifully woven atmospheres and crafty textures of sonic bliss greet the ear immediately as Anthems from the Gentle War waves its way over your body, lending a sensation not much unlike the best orgasm ever. Art rock that is unafraid of taking challenges to heart, “Anthems…” escorts you through the hallways of indie pop, rock, and post-rock with passionate catchy hooks. The long lost descendant of Sigur Ros and Low, Daniel G. Harmann waves his magic wand of awesome songwriting and invites you inside for a cup of tea and a good talk. Energetically subtle and sincere with emotional vocal deliveries presented with imaginative ethereal sonic spaciousness." EDITOR'S PICK - Smother.net
"This album is full of musical landscapes that are lush, sincere, and diverse. He's a singer-songwriter, but one who writes songs with a larger palette of emotions than most songwriters. This is the kind of album that would be perfect to listen to if you were taking a relaxing drive around the countryside, wanting to escape from, while keeping your mind focused on, a larger life." BEST OF SEPTEMBER 2007 - The Wheel's Still in Spin
"Daniel G. Harmann’s songs drift and ache, sad but uplifting. I’d say they’re brave, but they’re more subdued than that. Feels like fall. His latest release, Anthems from the Gentle War, came out September 4th and was recorded at Recovery Room Studio in Greenwood. If the Cure were from the South, they’d sound like Harmann. Anthems rolls scenes from your memory back to when you used to lay on the grass and look at the sky. When you used to run away and roll marbles down a path of tamped earth. It’s muted and loud. A match to a moth wing." - Line Out | the Stranger Music Blog
"This is a lovely, lilting record, but to call them songs isn't accurate. For his fourth studio album, Seattleite Daniel G. Harmann has crafted nine lush dreamscapes that plod along in a slow and midtempo trance. Track to track, the playbook doesn't change much: twinkling guitars, melancholy minor chords, distant vocals that -- regardless of the words he's actually crooning -- echo a distant despair or some far-off loneliness. While this may not be the best sales pitch, "Anthems" is actually a very gratifying and certainly hypnotic meditation on woe." - Shawn Telford, the Seattle P-I
"Ambitious rock and roll. Harmann has a fine sense of melody, and part of that sense is to emphasize melody over rhythm. His guitar lines, in particular, ring out with almost impossible clarity. His traditional songwriting style (anthemic; that part of the title isn't ironic) probably informs that part of the mix, but it's effective in any case." - Aiding & Abetting
"The problem is getting past the first impressions -- the plodding monotonous rhythms (a la Red House Painters), the mossy falsetto that becomes easy to ignore after the first few songs, the chiming, echo-filled guitars that show an adoration for shoe-gazers. It'd be easy to discard it as not tuneful enough, but downbeat hey-look-at-me anthems like "Beer from a Bottle", "Last Swim of the Year" and "I've Turned to a Life of Crime," (which ends with Harmann "beggin you to stay") catch your gaze and holds it. Produced by Graig Markel of New Sweet Breath (remember those guys?), taken as a whole, it soars more than plods." - Lazy-I.com
Kind Words About the Books We Read Will Bury Us:
“Quietly Beautiful." - Hannah Levin, the Stranger
“Do not miss out on this beautiful piece of art. This album definitely will be on my best of 2007 list." - IndependentClauses.com
Praise for the Lake Effect:
“The Lake Effect grabs a lock of your hair and teases you willingly through the lush valleys of sonic bliss with its atmospheric soundscapes. Not often does an album waltz through and demand to be noticed in such a subtle way... Indeed [it] will ripple through you and unlike a skipping stone won’t eventually sink in—it sinks immediately into your soul in a place reserved for your favorite lovers and best of friends as a perfect invasion of your most private of emotions." EDITORS PICK - Smother.net
"...Brimming with wistful songs that address disappointments and farewells... Harmann writes wonderful songs where aching melody and minimalist structure provide a sturdy platform for his plaintive voice. At times Harmann's vocals recall a young Art Garfunkel or the late Elliott Smith." - the Oregonian
"Big music--you know, crashing chords, warped string arrangements, breathy vocals, etc. This could be pretentious and dull, but Harmann's energy is unflagging. He never fails to give a song the last bit of gas in his tank, and that's what sells this for me." - Aiding & Abetting
KEXP "SONG OF THE DAY" PODCAST - 02.08.08
KEXP chose "Beer from a Bottle" as their song of the day for 02.08.08, and included it as part of their Song of the Day Podcast.
Subscribe to KEXP podcasts on iTunes by clicking HERE. You can also go to iTunes and search on individual songs, where you'll find "Beer from a Bottle" listed under 02.08.08. For other podcast options and more info, see KEXP.
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