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Lisa Germano | Interview
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pennyblackmusic.com | Sarah JohnsonIt is rare you find an artist that completely breaks the mouldIt's so easy to type cast the female singer/song writers that come out of America. Let's face it, most follow a sure-fire mix of piano ballads, folk-rock and poppy lyrics that often owes a lot to Joni Mitchell. Even those with an obvious style of their own, like Ani Difranco with her distinctive vocal style, or Regina Specktor's new take on the genre, still ultimately follow the grain. It is rare you find an artist that completely breaks the mould, but occasionally there is one bubbling under the surface of this well rehearsed collective. When Lisa Germano was signed to Capitol Records back in the early 90's the label thought they were on to a winner. A multi-instrumentalist with a unique smoky voice and with a song that they managed to put through production until it came out sounding like it fitted the grain. "Basically I was signed for one song I wrote called ŒYou Make Me Wanna Wear Dresses'. This guy at Capitol thought that it could be a pop song so he signed me, but it was really the wrong thing to do because......
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Akron/Family | Review
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Gigwise co UK | Ash McConnellSeriously, what more could you want?April 28, 2006 You've got to feel sorry for Alan Davidson, aka Kitchen Cynics, plagued as he is tonight by technical problems throughout his set through no fault of his own, because in fact his synth-folk songs are pretty and delicate with the wittiest lyrics ever. I wrote this song for my young mate to tell him all the ways in which he could die before me, I took great pleasure in it; he says before beginning the most hilarious song in history, including poisonous magic mushrooms and lying in a coma till your dead. He deserves a much longer set than he gets, which is particularly grating considering what follows, but more of that later. All alone on the stage with a guitar, he has the audience in stitches at his cynical words, whilst still creating sweet little tunes which hold the set together in spite of setbacks. Kitchen Cynics really knows how to entertain a crowd, but at the same time you can tell he's really enjoying himself. Brilliant.The shortness of Kitchen Cynics' set is emphasized by the length of Adem's set, which lasts perhaps 40 minutes but feels......
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Akron/Family | Interview
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www.pennyblackmusic.com | Jamie Rowlandwith Seth Olinsky2006 The best way to introduce Akron/Family is to tell you about their live shows. They're loud and unpredictable, full of drawn out jams, perfect four-way vocal harmonies, gentle folk, full-on rocking out and a heap of psychedelic noise. People have been raving about Akron/Family's live shows for some time now, and I have to say that they totally live up to the hype. The band hail from Brooklyn, New York, and, although they all sing and play various instruments, can be loosely assigned to these roles within the band: Dana Janssen on drums, Seth Olinsky on guitar, Miles Seaton on bass and Ryan Vaderhoof on guitar and vocals. They were signed to Young God Records by Michael Gira in 2004 after sending him a number of home recorded CDs. These CDs were eventually cut down to a select few which made up the band's first, self-titled debut album, which was released in March 2005. In the same year, the band toured with Gira as both his support act and his backing band in Angels of Light, a coupling which lead to the split Akron/Family & Angels of Light album at the end of last year.......
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Akron/Family | Review
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Yorkshire Evening Post | Janne OinonenThe band's psychedelic outer space Americana bridges substantial songwriting with fluid free-form improvisation and dense arrangements 2006 The band on stage, most of whom resemble post-grad music students after a month or two aboard the Grateful Dead tour bus, are seated and crouched over their instruments in deep concentration. You'd expect the resulting racket to reside in the neighborhood of noodle-infested jazz odysseys. Instead, they're unleashing Moment, a sprawling, muscular wig-out with liberal sprinklings of shrieking discord that could originate from on of Led Zeppelin's funkier moments, had the metal mammoths dosed their brash brand of swagger with the disorientating ingredients of the furthest-out psychedelia. The sedate seating arrangements are just one of the ways with which Akron/Family defy expectations. In fact, the New York four-piece are so consistently innovative and successful in flaunting the commonplace and the conventional you'd think they were responsible for nicking all the ideas from a host of vapid bands currently suffering from very public bouts of originality deficiency. Rather than yielding to compromises in choosing which of the members' individual tastes are catered for in the band's output, Akron/Family tackle each source of inspiration; jazz, folk, country, classic rock, outer limits......
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Akron/Family | Review
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Drowned in Sound | Mike Divermusic that can in no way be categorized solely as folkApril 20, 2006Man With Beard sups Guinness, eyes fixed on a television screen displaying moving pictures his mind doesn’t quite understand: there’s running, kicking, John Barnes talking although mercifully not rapping. Pat Nevin. Pat Nevin? Y'know, I’d always assumed he was a Womble in a mask, but anyway: we, Man With Beard and I, are both at Brixton’s gradually-filling windmill. The reason for the steady flow of attendees is a simple on, at least on paper: Akron/Family, Michael Gira approved purveyors of folk-spewed fuzz-hued compositional oddities, are to echo their wares about these surroundings but an hour from now. Man With Beard knows this, for he is a quarter of said NYC-based outfit. Man With Beard takes in the scene, his eyes wandering from the football he cares not for: more and more and more people arrive, the air warms fast, the Guinness in his hand and mine doing likewise. Tonight is going one of two ways: brilliance or indifference. The latter looms with no little evil in its eyes, both beady and bearded with the inevitable sweat such an attendance brings: had......