PRESS
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Angels of Light …Sing Other People
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MOJO, NO. 138, MAY 2005 | by Sophie HarrisGentle folk sounds from one-time Swans man and ear-bully Michael Gira.There’s long been a mesmeric quality to Gira’s work, where the subtlest sounds interlock to build something hypnotic (and often uncomfortably loud). While that same buzz permeates these latest songs, there’s a new peacefulness that seems to sit and sigh from the bottom of Other People. Gira says it’s largley thanks to his involvement with NYC modern folk troupe Akron/Family, who play as his backing band. Whatever the cause, the result is a collection of brittle, twinkling songs, inspired by ‘other people’. Some are nightmarishly fantastic (the Michael Jackson/Saddam Hussein chimera of Michael’s White Hands), others are simple thank-yous (the Johnny Cash-inspired, arms-open waltz, On The Mountain). On all these fabulous tales, Gira’s voice remains reassuringly salty – and as with the best fairy tales, you can’t quite tell if he’s friend or foe....
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Angels of Light sing “Other Peopleâ€
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UNCUT, Take 96, May 2005 | by Rob YoungCharacter studies and convulsive beauty in Michael Gira’s portrait albumMichael Gira says a song is “just something that passes through meâ€. In Swans it passed like a bowel motion, but in Angels of Light, he allows himself greater reflective space. Gira keeps things drumless, employing members of Akron/Family in a rich, acoustic chamber odyssey, sketching a procession of characters at once familiar (Michael Jackson, Saddam and Bush) and mythic. The pace and register of the record seldom alter: the soundscape is always more baked earth than lush foliage....
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AKRON/FAMILY CD- Young God
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subba-cultcha.com | by John BrainloveThis is dizzyingly inventive music-making.Well, this is a nice surprise. Not knowing what to expect is fun - but much more fun when it turns out to be something good... The Akron/Family CD was composed and home-recorded by four 20-something guys in a Brooklyn apartment. But you wouldn't guess to listen to it - this sounds like it was recorded somewhere between a Nashville porch and the surface of the moon... gentle folk clashes with spaced out electronic noise, guitar ballads disintegrate into tangled guitar webs only to rise again in a completely different shape. From the first listen, it's clear that this could be a really special record. Subtle creaking fades into simple strummed strings and sweet campfire vocals... ambient washes mingle with electronic beeps and whirrs, and melt over delicate slide guitar and tinkling glass sounds. These songs have a crafted feel - like you are being led by the hand through the Akron/Family's sonic world - like there is a coherent masterplan that reveals itself to you, a little at a time, as you listen. The Akron/Family CD is composed of the kind of beautifully simple melodies that will stick in your head......
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Akron/Family | review
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junkmedia.org | Joshua Errett a band that embraces found-sounds as much as folk traditionsWith three albums' worth of material from which to choose, Brooklyn's Akron/Family go with the hushed "Before and Again" as their debut song. And based on the rest of the Akron/Family album, the choice was well considered. Some parts electronic and more parts soft acoustic guitar, the song proves to be a fitting introduction for a band that embraces found-sounds as much as folk traditions. While the rest of the album doesn't quite impress as much as the opener, Akron/Family do weave an intriguing spell on their debut. Perhaps the most noticeable hurdle for Akron/Family is melody, which is sometimes downplayed to a fault. But given the four-piece can be heard banging on their chests during "Rainforest," maybe conventions like melody are not such a concern. With that in mind, Akron/Family makes for a pleasant, though not entirely memorable, listening experience....
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Akron/Family | review
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junkmedia.org | Joshua Errett a band that embraces found-sounds as much as folk traditionsWith three albums' worth of material from which to choose, Brooklyn's Akron/Family go with the hushed "Before and Again" as their debut song. And based on the rest of the Akron/Family album, the choice was well considered. Some parts electronic and more parts soft acoustic guitar, the song proves to be a fitting introduction for a band that embraces found-sounds as much as folk traditions. While the rest of the album doesn't quite impress as much as the opener, Akron/Family do weave an intriguing spell on their debut. Perhaps the most noticeable hurdle for Akron/Family is melody, which is sometimes downplayed to a fault. But given the four-piece can be heard banging on their chests during "Rainforest," maybe conventions like melody are not such a concern. With that in mind, Akron/Family makes for a pleasant, though not entirely memorable, listening experience....