PRESS
-
Mi and L'au | Review
()
new-noise | Nadeem AliCheese is a dangerous killer.Folk is so hip right now it is being use to sell us cheese in the form of the new folk scene's Charles Manson and Andy Warhol combined, Devendra Banhart. In this day and age of faddish diets and a globally collective case of hypochondria dairy products have become one of the bad guys. Cheese is a dangerous killer. It's a symptom of a modern malaise in capitalist society when war, famine and environmental problems are wreaking havoc around the world that we continue to worry about nothing other than ourselves and trying to defeat death. Rather than AIDS, poverty or homelessness, amongst other problems, we focus on trying to grab onto a few more minutes of that precious commodity we call life. So cheese is vilified and it needs something pretty special to make it appealing to the same fickle people who would start raping their children if the Daily Mail told them it would prevent them getting cancer. What have the people at Cathedral Cheddar Cheese decided to do? Use a catchy little Devendra Banhart song and automatically attach their brand of cheese to a potential zeitgeist. Whoever thought of partnering......
-
Angels Of Light & Akron/Family - Angels Of Light & Akron/Family
()
Deuteronemu 90210 | freq.org.ukAkron/Family are probably Michael Gira's favourite band at presentI don't think it's making too much of an assumption to say that Akron/Family are probably Michael Gira's favourite band at present. Having produced their debut, he then took them on board as his backing band (to all intents and purposes, Akron/Family are the Angels of Light now), and now releases this split album from "both" bands. Insanely eclectic, Akron/Family slip from down-home American Folk to pounding Rock to demented Flaming Lips-style psychedelia without, it would seem, breaking a sweat. Anyone who's caught them live will know just how hard they are to pin down- just as you think you've come up with a context or genre to cram them into, they'll go all slippery fish on your ass and wriggle off into something completely different, gleefully resisting all attempts at categorisation. Switching instruments with gay abandon, they create a sound which is never less than fascinating, and at its best absolutely transcendent. It's not hard to see why Gira fell in love with them- it is bloody hard to describe them, other than in qualitative terms- in which case, what I can tell you is that they're very......
-
Angels of Light | Review
()
Altercation Magazine | Justin HalbersaatGira's stellar songcraft pushes this album from the "interesting" to "must own" fieldIssue #17 Fall/Winter 2005 Michael Gira continues to expand on his already impressive resume with seemingly every consecutive Young God release, and this split between recent signings Akron/Family and Gira's own Angels of Light is little exception. While Akron/Family dominates the recording with seven tracks that make the grade artistically and sonically (think barbershop quartet meets Sigour Ros and you're still barely scratching the surface), it's Angels of Light that truly steals the show. Opening the latter half of the album with a staggeringly great rendition of Dylan's "I Pity The Poor Immigrant" , Gira's emotional baritone resonates soundly and deeply on tracks "One For Hope" and album closer "Come For My Woman". Gira even reshuffles the track "Mother/Father" expertly, a song that was originally recorded with a different arrangement for Swans. While Akron/Family do a fine job, Gira's stellar songcraft pushes this album from the "interesting" to "must own" field....
-
Akron/Family | Review
()
neumu.com | Jennifer Kellytwo distinct sets of talents merge into something larger than its partsA rare, perfect instance of collaboration, where two distinct sets of talents merge into something larger than its parts, this split CD documents the euphoric, live side of Young God's latest discovery alongside the more melodic, acoustic face of its founder, Michael Gira. The disc followed on the Angels of Light/Akron/Family tour of last spring, where the Brooklyn-based experimental collective supported Gira as opening and backing band. It was recorded quickly after the two bands returned from Europe, coming together from start to finish in a little over a week. Both Akron/Family's self-titled debut and Angels' most recent Sings Other People were fine, well-crafted works, and both ranked among the best of this year's offerings. Yet this CD, loose and tossed-off as it is, eclipses both of them. The disc showcases Akron/Family's wide musical range, their ability to move from acoustic musings to free improv jams to campfire harmonies in the space of an eye-blink, and to integrate all these things with no seams showing into freewheeling wholes. Their "Future Myth," epic at eight minutes long, comes in as if from great distance, wordless vocals and......
-
Angels of Light | Review
()
neumu.com | Jennifer KellyA rare, perfect instance of collaborationA rare, perfect instance of collaboration, where two distinct sets of talents merge into something larger than its parts, this split CD documents the euphoric, live side of Young God's latest discovery alongside the more melodic, acoustic face of its founder, Michael Gira. The disc followed on the Angels of Light/Akron/Family tour of last spring, where the Brooklyn-based experimental collective supported Gira as opening and backing band. It was recorded quickly after the two bands returned from Europe, coming together from start to finish in a little over a week. Both Akron/Family's self-titled debut and Angels' most recent Sings Other People were fine, well-crafted works, and both ranked among the best of this year's offerings. Yet this CD, loose and tossed-off as it is, eclipses both of them. The disc showcases Akron/Family's wide musical range, their ability to move from acoustic musings to free improv jams to campfire harmonies in the space of an eye-blink, and to integrate all these things with no seams showing into freewheeling wholes. Their "Future Myth," epic at eight minutes long, comes in as if from great distance, wordless vocals and abstract drumming coming slowly into focus......