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Lisa Germano | Live Review
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Times/Albany | GREG HAYMES, Staff writerCat-death-inspired ditties and other melancholy offerings First published: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 ALBANY -- Lisa Germano's songs are so hallucinatory that you becomeconvinced that she's singing the soundtrack to your dreams. And nightmares. Her music is so visual that there must be a thoroughly strange movie that goes with it. And at times you swear that the movie is playing inside your own head -- directed by David Lynch, Guy Madden or, perhaps, the Brothers Quay.On Tuesday evening at Valentine's, Germano created her own little universe with a timeless brand of music that was both antique and in the moment. There's a Japanese word, sakura, that doesn't easily translate into English, although it's often defined as "the beautiful sadness of things." Germano's music has sakura to spare. Her new album, "In the Maybe World," is a haunting song-cycle about death. She described the songs as "little stories to help me - and hopefully anyone else - deal with loss." And although half of Germano's set list on Tuesday featured songs from that album, it was not a particularly grim concert. "Here's a song about an alien watching us from above and laughing at our silly planet,"......
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Akron/Family | Review
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Suite 101 | Brett HootonAkron/Family continues to surprise and astonish listenersMeek Warrior | Album ReviewOctober 06 4/5: New York-based Akron/Family returns with a stellar sophomore effort, Meek Warrior, an album that mixes traditional and avant-garde elements. Folk music is not often a genre that is associated with innovation and experimentation. That is why Akron/Family and their new album Meek Warrior deserve special recognition and support by those who follow traditional forms of music.The sophomore record from this New York-based quartet represents a thoughtful, challenging musical accomplishment. Following 2005's critically-acclaimed eponymous release, this album recaptures the band's uncanny ability to seamlessly mix traditional and avant-garde elements in songs that also retain a knack for being irresistibly hum-able.Tracks like "Gone Beyond" and "Lightning Bolt of Compassion" are indelibly catchy with their inspired combination of acoustic guitars, tireless percussion work, and unorthodox, but intoxicating vocal harmonies. In addition, the album's final track "Love and Space" captures the listener's imagination with slightly surrealistic lyrics and beautiful four-part harmonies. The melody is a fragile lullaby over what is almost a Gregorian chant of "love and space" repeated over and over again. It is a truly hypnotizing track.The only drawback to this album comes in the form......
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Akron/Family | Review
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Washington Square News, NYC | Matt Gornick, Staff Writer 'Meek' to inherit the earth Arts and Entertainment: MusicOctober 17, 2006 "They hide drugs underneath these benches," Dana Janssen, the propulsive force behind much-acclaimed folk-rock quartet Akron/Family, said about the wobbling leather booth we were sitting on. "Yeah, this is an Italian drug-laundering neighborhood."I glanced around Brooklyn's Gimme Coffee! in disbelief, eliciting a belly laugh from the habitual customer. "No, I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding."It's the same kind of jokey relationship with naiveté that draws a line in the sand between listener and performer for Akron. Sometimes they play the Zen Buddhist teacher, proclaiming paradoxes unintelligible to the unpracticed student. Other times, they're just four guys bemused by the impracticality of their own wit. At a Manhattan show earlier that week, guitarist Miles Seaton yelped, "Come on, you know this one!" over the impromptu tune of "Happy Birthday." On their studio recordings, though, this wit is almost nonexistent.Meek Warrior, the latest addition to the family, plays like an invigorated meditation on metaphysical forces capable of expression only through song. A variety of contributors, ranging from legendary jazz drummer Hamid Drake to members of Broken Social Scene, assist the band in condensing their......
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Akron/Family | Review
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Drowned in Sound UK | Sam LewisThey pound. They scream. They strip. They howl.Meek WarriorRelease date: 25/09/2006Label: Young God Records Live, Akron/Family are a mammoth affirmation of the glorious physicality of existence. Like swimming in the sea and wiping the saltwater from your eyes after breaking the surface. They pound. They scream. They strip. They howl. (See more of my eulogising here). Their comprehension of the world around them seems to be grounded in a spirituality that puts emphasis on the power of the universe, on the need to head the moment before all else. On their split LP with Angels of Light they sang: "This moment is over the idea that you / were the same when it started as when it was through"; a sentiment almost (whisper it) hippie-ish in its go-with-the-flow-ism.At the same time, the band are capable of great moments of vulnerability and introspection; their eponymous debut was sprinkled with them. On a tour CD they sold in England earlier this year, a track called "Mic Check" included the memorable line: "Your ass is a carrot / and I've got to have it". Working with Michael Gira seems to have liberated the group, creatively speaking: the music......
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Akron/Family | Review
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www.bejeezuszine.com | Kent Thompson there is so much jaw dropping stuff in this first track that it leaves your brain violatedOctober 17 06Meek Warrior(Young God records)This, the newest Akron/Family odyssey, is possibly the most beautiful and non-cohesive record of the year. One moment it's taking a hatchet to your leg and the next it's warmly embracing your entire body with pillow arms. Dear lord it's a charming formula.All four members share vocal duties throughout, often crossing and connecting their voices in chants, yelps, and lullabies. Whether it's in the context of a dense psychedelic outcry ("The Rider") or an acoustic hymnal ("Love and Space"), it is these mingling voices that keeps Meek Warrior sharp, jubilant, and overwhelmingly entertaining throughout.Opener "Blessing Force" is the busiest tune, switching direction numerous times, the whole while abusing scatterbrained guitars and downright filthy percussive rhythms courtesy of master free jazz drummer Hamid Drake. Again, the vocals are a playful masterpiece in their own right, sounding like harmonized playground laughter. The song begins by luring like a post rock bender, and then switches into a bizarre vocal call, then a natural, straight rock surge, followed by an Afro beat percussive breakdown before finally settling on and......