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Akron/Family | Review
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PopMatters.com | Mike Schiller an incredible little release from this mind numbingly talented (and prolific) four-pieceSeptember 26/06 Meek Warrior (Young God) Akron/Family has, since the start of its career (which, in recorded terms,was a mere 18 months ago), always been a study in contrasts. Never quite willing to rest on any of their many strengths, their quiet moments have always been soon followed by loud ones, their most chaotic moments soonfollowed by complete and utter peace. This is a big part of what makes them unique, setting them apart from their mostly-content-to-be-quiet-and-strange contemporaries from last year's so-called "freak-folk" explosion they have an innocence and naïveté about them that allows them to explore the entire spectrum of their thoughts and emotions rather than simply the innermost. Meek Warrior, a 35-minute, seven-track "special album" (as per Young God label head Michael Gira), spends its first two tracks taking Akron/Family's proclivity for contrasting moods to its logical extreme. Naturally,these two songs are the high points of what is otherwise still an incredible little release from this mind numbingly talented (and prolific) four-piece. The disc starts with an extended, difficult splat (a term I use in the nicest posible way) in the nine-minute-plus "Blessing Force", pummeling......
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Akron/Family | Review
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Time Out NY | Mike Wolf collection of rolling drums, chants, hand claps and melodySept 06Meek Warrior (Young God)Album No. 2.5 for local quartet Akron/Family begins with "Blessing Force", a steadily morphing nine-minute collection of rolling drums, chants, hand claps and melody that lives up to its title. Further along on Meek Warrior is a seven-minute piece called "The Rider (Dolphin Song)," a howling, engaging track that well serves the avant-garde rock tradition.Joining those are five expertly executed songs that hew faithfully to‹or you could say are shackled by‹the precepts of the freak-folk genre (which are harder to name than they are to recognize). At least a few of the tracks sound like the Animal Collective on a songwriting holiday‹you know, out in the country somewhere, clapping and chanting.Meek Warrior is quite pleasant but doesn't seem to want to do much. In a genre where a good deal of the musical appeal lies in the desire to go far and dig deeply (or at least try to suspend time gracefully), the album is rather unambitious‹it's happy to imply various ecstatic experiences but doesn't want to engage in them. The guitar work on "Gone Beyond" is wonderful and warm; the four-way......
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Akron/Family | Review
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The Wire | Tom Ridge expands the restless folk rock sound Sept/Oct '06 IssueMeek Warrior(Young God)Meek Warrior is a short but powerful follow-up to the Akron/Family's self titled debut and split release with Angels Of Light. The strikingly loud opener "Blessing Force" compresses an album's worth of ideas into one song. After an extended intro of pounding percussion and oscillating guitar riffs, the group shifts into revivalist chants and handclaps, then take a plunge into a full on, before playing out to flying cymbals and the frenetic parping of free saxophone. The gentle waltz of "Gone Beyond" reinstates the delicate melodies and careful layering of the debut album. "Meek Warrior" takes a dip into slurred, psychedelic folk and sounds rather too generic, but the loose jamming and chanted harmonies of "No Space In This Realm" and the acoustic langour of "The Lightning Bolt Of Compassion" both spotlight Akron/Family's dynamic combination of communal muscle and deceptively simple songwriting. "The Rider (Dolphin Song)" expands the restless folk rock sound of "Blessing Force" with a complex polyrhythmic base over which the group chants it's mesmerising harmonies. "Love and Space" returns things to basics with a becalmed, hymn-like finish. Meek Warrior lacks the cohesiveness......
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Akron/Family | Review
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Columbus Alive (arts weekly in ohio) | Chris DeVille the record is something close to a revelation9/25/06Akron/FamilyMeek WarriorYoung GodHere's the trouble with this record: It demands you come to it on its terms, terms that call for less of a negotiation than a complete surrender. A very specific mood is required to get down with Meek Warrior, and when that mood sets in, the record is something close to a revelation. The problem is, at least for me, that crazy, hazy state of mind comes around rather infrequently, so it took quite a few listens to work my way inside the weird world of Akron/Family. Now that I'm here, I see that it's a lovely place, even if its interior could use maid service and its inhabitants a barber.Though I'm averse to labeling every off-kilter album with acoustic guitars "freak-folk," there's no escaping that Akron/Family sounds like a bunch of freaks who also happen to play folk music. They are not from Akron, but Brooklyn, hotbed of all that is trendy, though their conveniently timely psychedelia seems like a genuine labor of love, not some wagon hitched to Devendra Banhart's star. Meek Warrior starts out in a somewhat misleading manner. "Blessing......
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Akron/Family | Review
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mxdwn.com | Raymond Flotat Space, The Final Frontier Meek WarriorWednesday, September 27, 2006The four members of Akron/Family (Seth Olinsky, Miles Seaton, Dana Janssen and Ryan Vanderhoof) are back, this time with a space-age rumination on life, love and spirituality. This interstellar voyage entitled Meek Warrior is a short venture through rambunctious free jazz and beautiful near-folk ballads. Akron/Family begins the journey on a turbulent note. The cacophonous "Blessing Force" rushes by like a meteor shower, pausing only for a brief group chorus of "Blessing force / the blessing force" before scattering back into an onslaught of improvisational drums and guitar. Once the frantic rhythms and rollicking saxophones pass by, the pleasant jumping-acoustic melody of "Gone Beyond" sets a peaceful mood. The group sings, "Gone, gone, gone beyond / gone completely beyond" repeatedly before transitioning through the folk strumming of the title track, "Meek Warrior," into the choral rendering of "No Space in this Realm." It's a nocturne as beautiful as a quiet night spent stargazing on a hilltop; gentle percussion and brass descend into a subtle drone as the track concludes. The subdued, acoustic "Lightning Bolt of Compassion" continues the floating ease of the prior three songs with comforting vocals and......