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Mi And L'au | Review
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evilsponge.org | Mr PharmacistThe whole package is most bewitchingRating: 5 out of 5 Though I'm sure it's a term much loathed by label founder Michael Gira, Young God Records seems to be a major flag flyer for the new breed of "Weird Folk" that is gurgling up from the underground. Since Gira tapped into similar tributaries during the latter half of Swans' career, there's a solid connection between Gira and the current crop of new sort-of-folkies. It sure ain't your father's folk. These are the sounds of Dylan filtered through Syd Barrett's fractured psyche, sounds married to idiosyncratic personal reflection and just plain weirdness. It's all a bit odd, oblique and experimental. Those expecting Peter, Paul, and Mary cuddliness need not bother. However, Mi and L'au don't fit firmly in that label. They do have what seems to be a prerequisite odd back story. In this case, model Mi meets sensitive musician L'au, they flee to the backwoods of Finland and, safe from the cruel world, are free to weave a delicate little world of song and melody. I suspect they don't bathe much. Comparisons head various points of the compass from there. On their self-titled debut, whether it's Mi......
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Mi and L’au | Review
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Dream Magazine | George Parsons they make some sweetly, earthly, and achingly beautiful music togetherIssue # 6 Fall 05 Mi and L’au Mi and L’au (Young God) She is Mi, she is Finnish; he is L’au from France. They met in Paris, and they make some sweetly earthly and achingly beautiful music together. Delicate acoustic organic instrumentation. He sings less often, and sounds ghostly, soft spoken and Nick Drake-like; a humble narrator confessing. Her singing sounds a bit like a younger warmer Finnish Suzanne Vega crossed with Brigitte Fontaine. Adding up the small details; the shape of light seeping through a room, the movement of the leaves as they worship the sun; and seeing it all at last as sacred. Feeling alive, mortal, compassionate and loving, as they pass out secrets and keys to the bewildered and bewitched. Gently beguiling folk lullabies for the end of the world....
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Mi and L'au - Mi and L'au | Review
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Www.babysue.com | absolutely beautiful, haunting tunes September 1, 2005 Soft, sparse, reflective minimalistic pop. Mi and L'au originally had normal jobs and lived in Paris before eventually retreating to the woods of Finland. Now they spend their time in peace...getting to know one another better and tapping into their creative juices by making music together. This album sounds rather out of place in today's musical climate, and that just may be its greatest appeal. Mi and L'au write some absolutely beautiful, haunting tunes that feature slow gliding melodies. Produced by Michael Gira, these tracks have some wonderfully subtle arrangements that add real meat to the proceedings. If you want upbeat danceable music, you won't find it here. But if you're in the mood for some provocative, sensitive music...you will benefit greatly from this CD after a few spins. Top picks: "They Marry," "Older," "A Word In Your Belly,""New Born Child." Recommended for fans of Azure Ray. (Rating: 5 out of 5)...
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Akron/Family : "Raising the Sparks" | Review
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www.cokemachineglow.com | Clayton Purdom whodathunkit that the A-Fam could fucking wail? August 29/05 from the Angels of Light / Akron/Family Split LP (Young God; 2005) These guys are fearless. After releasing the most sprawlingly brilliant debut of this whole freak folk fiasco and backing Michael Gira on this year's sublime Angels of Light record Akron/Family are refusing to rest. This track, culled from the forthcoming split LP with the Angels of Light, showcases a restless band at its imaginative peak, moving stridently forward into sonic territory that seems unimaginable in light of the album they released just earlier this year. Where that album was reserved and reflective, this track is a pulsing bit of classic riff rock. Yes, riff rock: whodathunkit that the A-Fam could fucking wail? The track opens with grandiose, flailing guitars; one pictures pre-sobriety Clapton, back when he was probably too trashed to realize he was in more than one band (Cream, Blind Faith, the Yardbirds). Akron's guitar lines defy era like a flashback, all waxing hypnotic and sweating on drums that careen forward into a manic, foot-tapping, withdrawal-suffering, thumping hallelujah recovery. I mean this literally: after two and a half minutes of conjuring the stonedest rock......
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The Angels of Light Sing: Other People | Review
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HOUSTON PRESS | John Cramerthe beauty of the overall work comes through loud and clearAugust 25, 2005 On Michael Gira's fourth studio release under the band name Angels of Light, he continues to lay out the same naked and personal material he explored on 2003's Everything Is Good Here/Please Come Home. The big difference on this recording is the use of Akron/Family as his band. Gira has also dispensed with drums almost entirely, thus allowing the songs to carry their own weight without the adornment of a traditional rhythm section. Also gone are the brutal electric guitars of his early Swans material. What are left are honest, emotionally dense songs. On the first listen or two, the Akron/Family's exuberance creates a strange, uncomfortable backdrop for a voice as menacing as Gira's. At times, the music and backing vocals are downright bouncy, and if you're familiar with Gira's work, this prospect may send you running away in fear. But the more you listen, the less the record seems schizo. Oddly, there's a hint of the Beach Boys sneaking around below the surface, or maybe Gram Parsons, and even stranger than that is the fact that the music gains from these unusual......