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Mi and L'au | Review
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By -Deuteronemu 90210 In Moominland-their self-titled debut is a wondrously fragile structureFebruary 06 Label: Young God Format: CD Mi and L'au are the latest discovery by Michael Gira, whose Young God label is fast becoming a guarantee of quality. They're a male/female duo (Finnish and French respectively) who live, apparently, in an isolated cabin in the woods in Finland, where they work on their music. (Muso trivia- "Gentle Soul" by Devendra Banhart is about L'au, so one can only assume he's a very nice chap). Now it seems to me there's two ways you can go if you're making music in a cabin in the woods. Either some kind of righteous redneck gunfuck frenzy, or something more organic and magickal. Mi and L'au have taken the latter route, and their self-titled debut is a wondrously fragile structure, Mi's plaintive vocal, balanced with L'au's more strident, though chilled, tones, riding over minimal acoustic tracks, largely guitar with the ghosts of trebly piano, bells and what have you lurking behind, with the occasional burst of birdsong and the like. By turns lovely and sinister, there's something very... wintry... about this album. In short, it sounds like the kind of thing you'd listen......
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Akron/Family & Angels of Light | Review
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Alternative Press | Kenny Berkowitz a whiff of greatnessJanuary On the first half of this CD Ohio avant-rock collective Akron/Family play their own songs: on the second they're the backing band of Angels of Light leader Michael Gira. It's a cross-generational collaboration that cuts both ways, giving Gira a rapturous sense of abandon and Akron/Family a greater sense of gravity than usual. The musicians are gently playful one minute and wildly cacophonous the next, bushwhacking their way through folkadelic Americana and happy to be losing themselves in the process. The collaboration is far from perfect ( the noise often makes a bigger impact than the lyrics), but the players take plenty of risks, ultimately emerging with a new sense of discovery and a whiff of greatness. ...
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Mi and L'au | The World
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www.theworld.org Click on the link below for the archived Mi and L'au segment on the BBC/NPR show The World: http://www.theworld.org/globalhits/2006/02/index.shtml ...
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Akron/Family | Interview
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DAILY BRUIN (UCLA) | David Greenwald Akron/Family brings unique version of folk music to CooperageWednesday, February 01, 2006DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF Akron/Family may be known as a folk group, but its four members have exactly one thing in common with the average folk musician: beards. The quartet, which will perform tonight at the Cooperage in a concert sponsored by Campus Events, makes adventurous music full of multi-instrumental layering and unexpected sonic detours. In 2005 alone, Akron/Family has been remarkably prolific in carving out its niche, releasing a self-titled debut LP as well as a split LP with Michael Gira's Angels of Light and serving as his backing band on Angels of Light's "Sing Other People" album. "(Gira) just had this idea (that) to get us some exposure, he would take us out on tour opening for him and also starting as his backing band. ... We ended up(recording) his whole album with him," guitarist/singer Seth Olinsky said. "It never really was planned to do that; we were just supposed to play a little here and there and ended up just doing the whole album. He was really open to our creative input." Former Swan front man Gira is the......
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Akron/Family | Review
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www.scenepointblank.com | ShaneAkron/Family has found a balance between being complicated while being simple that any band would kill to have.Akron/FamilyAkron/Family (Young God, 2005) Michael Gira is a genius. Swans and Angels of Light will undoubtedly be remembered as great bands years from now. Playing music is not all Gira is good at though. Discovering talent is another of Gira's gifts and if he keeps up with his track record, it might even become more renowned than his songwriting abilities. You may know the name Devendra Banhart by chance. He only released two critically acclaimed albums last year and has single handedly revived a folk revolution. Yeah, Gira discovered him. A name you might not be so familiar with is Akron/Family, Gira's latest discovery. Akron/Family is four guys who convened in New York City in 2002 to make music together. They locked themselves in an apartment for years, honing their skills and writing an incredible number of songs. Enough to release a 3-CD set for their debut. After all was said and done though, only one CD was served as their debut and it is undoubtedly one of the best of the year. 'Before and Again' is the first song on......