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Lisa Germano | Review
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Illinois Entertainer | Steve Forstnegerfull of lo-fi charm and her acerbic witOctober 18th, 2006 In The Maybe World(Young God)In her return to the recording realm, Lisa Germano is all about the ambience on In The Maybe World. There are some attention-getters, however. Specifically "Red Thread," whose "Go to hell/Fuck you" mantra clashes brilliantly with her "I love you, too" pledge. She began her career on tour with fellow Indiana-native John Mellencamp, though while he's attaching his "Our Country" protest song to Chevy Truck commercials, Germano has followed her own muse falling in and out of favor with record labels, fans, and critics alike. In The Maybe World is her seventh album and second since temporarily renouncing her gig in the late '90s. It's predictibly full of lo-fi charm and her acerbic wit, hidden stealthily in breathy vocals and a baroque, Tori Amos-like sensibility. References to lullabies and fairy tales have absorbed Germano this time out, whether attacking them in a hallucination ("In The Land Of The Fairies") or deciphering symbollism over a lilting arrangement. If only there were no waking up....
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Akron/Family | Review
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stylusmagazine.com | Ethan WhiteThe secret is in the vocals: voices emerge, separate, rejoin2006-10-10Meek WarriorYoung God 2006Akron/Family's self-titled debut was a stunner, a misshapen stuffed animal of indistinct origin you couldn¹t help but love, dancing around the postmodern rubble that is the contemporary music landscape. A quilt patched together from field recordings, homespun acoustic jams, and gorgeous, unpretentious vocals, with just a touch of studio cohesiveness. A subsequent split with patron Michael Gira's Angels of Light left behind the half-dreamt bedroom psychedelia of the everyday, sharpening their songwriting focus and paring down the low-budget eccentricities for a more cohesive, if not exactly conventional, sound that¹s exactly what new music should be: cognizant of the past but not imitative, listenable but not pandering, exciting without resorting to shock tactics.The group has come a long way from cobbling together the late-night apartment sessions of their debut. They're constantly touring, recording what appears on Meek Warrior during a pit stop in Chicago to work with legendary jazz percussionist Hamid Drake, another stop in Toronto to work with some of the Canadian indie music mafia (Do Make Say Think/Broken Social Scene), and some sessions in their home base of New York City. But if nobody......
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Akron/Family | Review
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30music.com | Kyle Undem Meek Warrior is a testament to their commitment to continue to push their so-called "weird" envelopeOctober 11th 2006,"Meek Warrior" (CD)Label: Young God Surely the Akron/Family could write a relatively straightforward record and be hailed as some of the best folkies in the modern day indie rock world. Really, they could. They have all the key components to create such a record. But, they're not going to. To this, we give thanks to God or some other higher power - regardless, we give thanks. Meek Warrior is a testament to their commitment to continue to push their so-called "weird" envelope, which has dutifully been tagged on them over the past year or so, to brand new levels/heights/echelons. And it is a complete success.Beginning with possibly their most daring track yet, the nine-plus minute "Blessing Force" rambles, roll, and rants through its entirety, expanding on this quartet's already impressive back catalogue. It literally sounds like 15 tracks compressed into one giant collage of noise, complete with odd time signatures, vocal parts, and a really fucked up sounding horn towards the end. It almost has a trance-like quality and while it isn't the most ideal opener to a......
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Mi & L'Au | Review
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Yorkshire Eve Post (UK) | Janne Oinoen It's refreshingly singular stuffSept 06As Finland and France have so far failed to donate much of note to the annals of top-notch music, you'd be forgiven for presuming that a duo consisting of both nationalities would be a bit, well, rubbish.You'd be dead wrong, for the self-titled debut of Mi & L'Au, who take to the stage at the Faversham on Sunday, proves an alluring addition to the bulging portfolio of wonky odd-folk. The Partnership was launched when the Finnish Mi met the French L'Au in Paris. The pair fell waist-deep in love and dropped the metropolitan clatter in favour of a cabin in the pure, unadulterated backwoods of Finland, where every minute not spent smooching was devoted to putting beguiling music on tape. You'd expect the results to drip with enough syrup and sickly sweet sugar to earn a warning sticker from the BDA. Instead, the hushed songs on Mi & L'au offer a frosty treat not unlike a musical equivalent of a slow stroll through wintry woods at night unsettling, but beautiful nonetheless. It's refreshingly singular stuff, equal parts Devendra Banhart's finger picking whimsy (albeit with the psych-folk pixie's wobbly-voiced......
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Akron/Family | Review
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Rockarolla (UK) | Clyde Bradford "Love and Space" finishes thing off nicely with its Carter Family-esque harmoniesSept 06"Blessing Force" kicks off this affair with its close choral harmonies and Tool-like drums and guitar until it falls apart halfway through into a mass of arrhythmic hand-clapping and hollerin' only to form into a cohesive lump again rising to the occasion to kick off this new album from Akron/Family. Then "Gone Beyond" goes off on a Nick Drake/Tim Buckley tip and "No Space in This Realm" sounds like a downbeat Kinks until the vocal harmonies and flute kicks in. Then it just gets strange. Then "Lightning Bolt of Compassion" brings back the Nick Drake again. Then it all goes a bit weird again and finally "Love and Space" finishes thing off nicely with its Carter Family-esque harmonies. Nice....