PRESS
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Akron/Family
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heavyblackframes.blogspot.com | by Joshan astonishingly well-developed debutSeeing strings swing into resonant harmony is such a shrill joy I’ll drone down days with an amp up and a bass down low. I’m a sucker for sympathetic vibration and I’ve been so since the sound of my first forays into amplified exploration. It’s amazing how some tones can coax another note beside them. Even more astounding still is how that sound can soothe by slowly stirring up an empathetic frequency inside a sorrowed soul. Certain songs may get so scratched into our souls, but certain tones can salve those same wide wounds with sonorous solace. The self titled debut from Akron/Family is comprised almost entirely of such concordant comforts. Surely this assessment is somewhat subjective, but within me this record rings so strong and true that these reverberations suggest something universal. Its resonance shares the same depth at which Nick Drake is eternally enchanting and “Good Vibrations†is boundlessly blissful. The invocation of such iconic sounds makes for a most daunting comparison, but Akron/Family holds up well enough against it. In fact, if such a soundscape can be imagined residing in a space between Pink Moon and Pet Sounds, the sonic identity......
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Angels of Light Sing Other People
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musicemissions.com | Mike WoodSooner or later, any review of a M. Gira record is bound to use the word gorgeousSince co-founding and then splitting up the seminal Swans, which pushed the extremities of word and sound, he has gone for a softer approach, weaving semi-acoustic sound-scapes that feel like found songs from someone's attic. His work with Angels of Light, Body Haters, and Body Lovers (he is nothing if not willing to explore all degrees of emotion, Gira has constructed beautiful little missives from the outer reaches of experience. That his work has gotten lighter, in the sense of more hopeful, is a testament that his constant searching is having results. In fact, Sing 'Other People' could almost be a pop record, at least in his catalogue. Brittle, sparce tracks like "The Kid is Already Breaking" and "On The Mountain" feel like observations written on the fly while spying on a stranger; others, like "Michael's White Hands" and "Destroyer", wrestle with personal demons. There is even a sort of children's song, "Purple Creek", which is, yes, gorgeous, though I would never want to meet the child to whom this would be sung. While not as stunning or moving as early......
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Angels of Light Sing Other People
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musicemissions.com | Mike WoodSooner or later, any review of a M. Gira record is bound to use the word gorgeousSince co-founding and then splitting up the seminal Swans, which pushed the extremities of word and sound, he has gone for a softer approach, weaving semi-acoustic sound-scapes that feel like found songs from someone's attic. His work with Angels of Light, Body Haters, and Body Lovers (he is nothing if not willing to explore all degrees of emotion, Gira has constructed beautiful little missives from the outer reaches of experience. That his work has gotten lighter, in the sense of more hopeful, is a testament that his constant searching is having results. In fact, Sing 'Other People' could almost be a pop record, at least in his catalogue. Brittle, sparce tracks like "The Kid is Already Breaking" and "On The Mountain" feel like observations written on the fly while spying on a stranger; others, like "Michael's White Hands" and "Destroyer", wrestle with personal demons. There is even a sort of children's song, "Purple Creek", which is, yes, gorgeous, though I would never want to meet the child to whom this would be sung. While not as stunning or moving as early......
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Angels of Light Sing Other People
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musicemissions.com | Mike WoodSooner or later, any review of a M. Gira record is bound to use the word gorgeousSince co-founding and then splitting up the seminal Swans, which pushed the extremities of word and sound, he has gone for a softer approach, weaving semi-acoustic sound-scapes that feel like found songs from someone's attic. His work with Angels of Light, Body Haters, and Body Lovers (he is nothing if not willing to explore all degrees of emotion, Gira has constructed beautiful little missives from the outer reaches of experience. That his work has gotten lighter, in the sense of more hopeful, is a testament that his constant searching is having results. In fact, Sing 'Other People' could almost be a pop record, at least in his catalogue. Brittle, sparce tracks like "The Kid is Already Breaking" and "On The Mountain" feel like observations written on the fly while spying on a stranger; others, like "Michael's White Hands" and "Destroyer", wrestle with personal demons. There is even a sort of children's song, "Purple Creek", which is, yes, gorgeous, though I would never want to meet the child to whom this would be sung. While not as stunning or moving as early......
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Angels of Light Sing Other People
()
musicemissions.com | Mike WoodSooner or later, any review of a M. Gira record is bound to use the word gorgeousSince co-founding and then splitting up the seminal Swans, which pushed the extremities of word and sound, he has gone for a softer approach, weaving semi-acoustic sound-scapes that feel like found songs from someone's attic. His work with Angels of Light, Body Haters, and Body Lovers (he is nothing if not willing to explore all degrees of emotion, Gira has constructed beautiful little missives from the outer reaches of experience. That his work has gotten lighter, in the sense of more hopeful, is a testament that his constant searching is having results. In fact, Sing 'Other People' could almost be a pop record, at least in his catalogue. Brittle, sparce tracks like "The Kid is Already Breaking" and "On The Mountain" feel like observations written on the fly while spying on a stranger; others, like "Michael's White Hands" and "Destroyer", wrestle with personal demons. There is even a sort of children's song, "Purple Creek", which is, yes, gorgeous, though I would never want to meet the child to whom this would be sung. While not as stunning or moving as early......