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Akron/Family | Tractor Tavern Live | Review
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Creemmagazine.com | Kim Leidich raw, foot-stomping collective quality The venue a band plays often says a fair bit about the music. After all, would you expect Josh Groban to play CBGB? On their first time around in Seattle, Angels of Light played the old Fenix Underground, a bar synonymous with booking the likes of Switchblade Symphony, Pigface and The Genitorturers. The crowd was predominantly the Goth set lingering over conversation and musings on M. Gira's former band, Swans. There was much conversation through the entire set and more than a few people trailing out after the first few songs of the set. Even more flocked to the merch table, bought a t-shirt and left. This time around Gira brought Angels of Light to the Tractor Tavern, an entirely different beast. Well, not even a beast, more like a mustang. The Tractor has seen the likes of bands like The Handsome Family, Low, Neko Case, Rex Hobart and the Misery Boys. And it seems altogether a much more appropriate venue for his music. Touring behind Angels of Light's latest release, Sing Other People, Gira brought with him his latest musical discovery/project Akron/Family as both an opening and backing band. The Family......
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Angels Of Light | Tractor Tavern Live | Review
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Creemmagazine.com | Kim LeidichGira's demeanor is serious but not without a sense of humorThe venue a band plays often says a fair bit about the music. After all, would you expect Josh Groban to play CBGB? On their first time around in Seattle, Angels of Light played the old Fenix Underground, a bar synonymous with booking the likes of Switchblade Symphony, Pigface and The Genitorturers. The crowd was predominantly the Goth set lingering over conversation and musings on M. Gira's former band, Swans. There was much conversation through the entire set and more than a few people trailing out after the first few songs of the set. Even more flocked to the merch table, bought a t-shirt and left. This time around Gira brought Angels of Light to the Tractor Tavern, an entirely different beast. Well, not even a beast, more like a mustang. The Tractor has seen the likes of bands like The Handsome Family, Low, Neko Case, Rex Hobart and the Misery Boys. And it seems altogether a much more appropriate venue for his music. Touring behind Angels of Light's latest release, Sing Other People, Gira brought with him his latest musical discovery/project Akron/Family as both an opening......
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The Angels of Light Sing Other People
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sfweekly.com | Mike Rowell...some of the shortest, prettiest, and friendliest Angels of Light works to dateThe hazy, out-of-focus portraits gracing the cover packaging of the fourth studio CD from Angels of Light -- current project of former Swans frontman Michael Gira -- illustrate well the 12 tracks of cryptic narrative within. Reportedly inspired by specific individuals, including some of Gira's personal associates, these pseudo-biographical vignettes follow a fantastical dream logic wrapped in the darkly ominous lyrical imagery that has coursed through Gira's work since the Swans' earliest bludgeon. "Michael's White Hands," for example, is allegedly based on a certain pop idol who's been spending a lot of time in court lately, but enigmatic lyrics like "feed the gas into my lungs" take things up an unsettling notch. Yet this album's three-minute songs are some of the shortest, prettiest, and friendliest Angels of Light works to date. Gira has long excelled at making uncomplicated compositions weirdly catchy and ornate, in part because he surrounds himself with talented collaborators, and the members of recent Gira discovery Akron/Family accentuate "Other People" beautifully with chiming, folksy instrumentation and some Brian Wilson-ish arrangements. Who / What: The Angels of Light Music Label: Young God Details:......
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The Angels of Light Sing Other People
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sfweekly.com | Mike Rowell...some of the shortest, prettiest, and friendliest Angels of Light works to dateThe hazy, out-of-focus portraits gracing the cover packaging of the fourth studio CD from Angels of Light -- current project of former Swans frontman Michael Gira -- illustrate well the 12 tracks of cryptic narrative within. Reportedly inspired by specific individuals, including some of Gira's personal associates, these pseudo-biographical vignettes follow a fantastical dream logic wrapped in the darkly ominous lyrical imagery that has coursed through Gira's work since the Swans' earliest bludgeon. "Michael's White Hands," for example, is allegedly based on a certain pop idol who's been spending a lot of time in court lately, but enigmatic lyrics like "feed the gas into my lungs" take things up an unsettling notch. Yet this album's three-minute songs are some of the shortest, prettiest, and friendliest Angels of Light works to date. Gira has long excelled at making uncomplicated compositions weirdly catchy and ornate, in part because he surrounds himself with talented collaborators, and the members of recent Gira discovery Akron/Family accentuate "Other People" beautifully with chiming, folksy instrumentation and some Brian Wilson-ish arrangements. Who / What: The Angels of Light Music Label: Young God Details:......
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THE ANGELS OF LIGHT, AKRON/FAMILY, DEAD SCIENCE (Berbati's, 10 SW 3rd)
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The Portland Mercury | by AGshow previewAkron/Family are not from Akron, and they're not a family, but they do make great music. Bearded like Rip Van Winkle, possessing a wild sense of inventive, innovative creativity, the boys of Akron/Family do things like scrape wooden chairs on the floor to "play solos" and beat their chests like mountain gorillas to make percussion. It's childlike, kinda hippie, and totally gripping in its unpredictability. Besides playing a set of their own nature-boy folk, they'll also be Michael Gira of Angels of Light's backing band. Go to this show. Get there early. Don't miss a thing. And tug on those beards. Make sure they're real. Because that'd be the one thing that would ruin this for me. Vote "No"on Fake Beards in indierock....