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Akron/Family and Mi and L'au | Live Review
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The Memphis Flyer | Andria LisleYoung musicians let their freak-folk flag fly. Jan 20/06A New AgeOver the last decade, indie rockers have used albums by Skip Spence and the 13th Floor Elevators as a barometer of hipness. An already mainstreamed Bob Dylan has become even more commonplace. Woody Guthrie was unearthed by Billy Bragg and Wilco, who cut the fawning -- but wonderful -- tribute Mermaid Avenue, while films like O Brother, Where Art Thou? and A Mighty Wind threatened to hijack an entire movement. Folk music, it seems, has never gone out of style. But no one predicted the arrival of so-called free folkies -- musicians like Devendra Banhart, who favors a full-on Manson beard, minor tunings, and murmured vocals, and elfin harpist Joanna Newsom. Both seemingly materialized from thin air to confound rock journalists with their psychedelic ramblings.Critics have used Banhart's and Newsom's success, the highly acclaimed reemergence of genuine '60s folkie Vashti Bunyan, and the popularity of contemporary groups like Animal Collective and Iron and Wine as the signposts of a new movement, variously given monikers such as freak folk, free folk, and outsider folk.Yet many of the musicians, including Akron/Family and Mi and L'au, who are......
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Akron/Family | Live review
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chartattack.com/ | Noah Love all four members trekked into the centre of the crowd for an unplugged singalongChartattack.com TorontoCanadian radio websiteLIVE: Akron/Family Tear The Great Hall ApartThursday January 12, 2006 @ 04:00 PMBy: ChartAttack.com StaffJanuary 11, 2006Great HallToronto, ON ...Akron/Family hit the stage and proceeded to defy every performance convention they possibly could. Riding on the strength of their split album with Angels Of Light frontman Michael Gira, the band played mostly shirtless, on the stage and off it, and spent most of their set pulling chaotic noise into perfectly comprehensible, excellent rock.In true Young God (the label that gave Devendra Banhart his start) fashion, their second-last song descended into complete Sonic Youth-like feedback before all four members trekked into the centre of the crowd for an unplugged singalong. The applause upon their return to the stage was so thunderous that playing the fantastic "Raising The Sparks" as an impromptu encore was icing on a gigantic cake.......
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Akron/Family | Live Review
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SUNY New Paltz Oracle | Monica Ayres, Contributing Writer Explosive Akron/Family Show At Bard CollegeDecember '05ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT I never knew that singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat' in a garage with 50 strangers could be so much fun. I never fully appreciated the magic that came with each rattle of an egg shaker. I had never tried to catch a crowd-surfing singer from a stage that was a mere twelve inches off the ground. I had never done any of this until I joined a small crowd of Bard College students at the Akron/Family show on Dec. 2.Akron/Family.is.a.band.from Brooklyn with a sound all their own. Their music ranges from melodic folk songs, complete with four-part harmonies that send chills through your body, to electronic noise that, well, sends chills through your body. Ryan Vanderhoof, Dana Janssen, Miles Seaton and Seth Olinsky each play a multitude of instruments ranging from the typical bass, guitar, and drums, to the xylophone, recorder and kazoo. Accompanying them on stage are also stuffed birds that chirp when squeezed and a variety of rhythm instruments that are sent out into the audience throughout the show.Akron/Family's onstage presence is astounding. I had previously seen them, somewhat accidentally,......
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Akron Family/Angels Of Light | Review
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www.stinkweeds.com | RussI was literally speechless after the show Jan 06Akron Family/Angels Of LightSplitDisclaimer: I have never written a review of music before. It's not because I'm not passionate about music, or I'm too lazy to write anything. It's just that my opinion on most albums is boring and redundant. You don't need hear me use tired adjectives like "hook-laden" and "transcendent," or to tell you that so-and-so sounds like Pavement. I don't want to talk about the songs or the artists hairstyles and why you should buy it, or not. That's what Magnet and Pitchfork are for.I've been a fan of Michael Gira's for a while now‹Swans, Angels of Light, you name it. I was fortunate enough to see him play with the Akron/Family in Tucson not too long ago. It was so beyond anything that I had come to expect of shows that I was literally speechless after the show and ended up making a fool out of myself when I tried to speak to Gira at his merchandise table. I won't talk anymore about that. Akron/Family's set reminded me of what it was like to have a connection or relationship to someone so close that words are......
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Akron Family/Angels Of Light | Review
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www.stinkweeds.com | Russ I was literally speechless after the showJan 06Akron Family/Angels Of LightSplitDisclaimer: I have never written a review of music before. It's not because I'm not passionate about music, or I'm too lazy to write anything. It's just that my opinion on most albums is boring and redundant. You don't need hear me use tired adjectives like "hook-laden" and "transcendent," or to tell you that so-and-so sounds like Pavement. I don't want to talk about the songs or the artists hairstyles and why you should buy it, or not. That's what Magnet and Pitchfork are for.I've been a fan of Michael Gira's for a while now‹Swans, Angels of Light, you name it. I was fortunate enough to see him play with the Akron/Family in Tucson not too long ago. It was so beyond anything that I had come to expect of shows that I was literally speechless after the show and ended up making a fool out of myself when I tried to speak to Gira at his merchandise table. I won't talk anymore about that. Akron/Family's set reminded me of what it was like to have a connection or relationship to someone so close that words are......