PRESS
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Akron/Family
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uncommonfolk.net | by J. Honn Akron/Family So, last night it seems I missed both M. Gira and the Akron/Family playing live in Chicago. That's what I get for being on vacation and completely unaware of times, dates and, generally, what it going on around me. I'm pissed, of course, but they will be back. These four young lads straight out of the New York City were "found" by Gira and he recently released their proper debut album. The band shrouds itself in mystery and comedy but are serious about their music. I mean, in my estimation, they have released a viable candidate for album of the year, albeit we are not even in the primaries yet. But people who rank music are silly even though I love to do it. Akron/Family is an album of subtle vocal style sung by all four members with music ranging from the deep to the whimsical. Think of The Microphones on acid. Layered instrumentation is what seperates this album from much of the new folk minimalism. This is also freak folk. All one has to do is first judge the book by its cover to discover that what you are about to put into......
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DEVENDRA BANHART
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trouserpress.com | by Michael BakerOh Me Oh My (Young God) 2002 Black Babies EP (UK Young God) 2003 Rejoicing in My Hands (Young God) 2004 Niño Rojo (Young God) 2004 With his trippy, logorrheic drones and hipster irony, Devendra Banhart, a San Francisco-based former art student, is helping to push forward folk music. The fascination with his work comes not so much from his roughhewn DIY talent, but from his unique view of antecedents and their music. Whereas the likes of Sandy Bull, Bert Jansch and Leo Kottke all held respectful attitudes of imitation and meaning, Banhart and his Blakean universes of symbols are obeisant to no one but himself. As with Joanna Newsome, Preston Reed, Animal Collective, Dead Raven Choir and Jack Rose, Banhart attempts to use lush metaphors to point out their emptiness. But while his music can be movingly effective, it can also be slipshod and narcissistic. The consistency of themes, styles and artistic purpose in his songs is no accident: Black Babies consists of leftovers from Oh Me Oh My; Rejoicing and Niño Rojo were recorded at the same time. Banhart creates with an intense inwardness; as with the work of Leadbelly, Daniel Johnston, Michael Hurley......
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ARCH ANGEL
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MAGNET MAGAZINE | APRIL/MAY ISSUE 05 | by Brandon StosuyFeature/Interview with Michael GiraAs the architect of two key bands (Swans and Angels of Light) and one adventurous label (Young God), Michael Gira has created his very own American Gothic Underworld... Drawn to New York City by anti-rock acts such as Teenage Jesus & The Jerks and Suicide, Los Angels -born Michael Gira arrived on the Lower East Side during the coda of the No Wave explosion. In 1982 he formed Swans, who along with fellow noise pioneers Sonic Youth offered the Big Apple an unrelenting aural assault, pummeling the Bowery with an evil-seeming heaviness. Swans' brutal sound makes Joy Division sound like a pack of happy-go-lucky castratos. Industrial percussion plods beneath visceral chainsaw guitars, and Gira's apocalyptic baritone conveys tales of addiction, love and soul sickness. The band was always more complex than critics cared to admit, and as time went on the palette of dense feedback expanded to include a complex mix of acoustic guitars, strings, Middle Eastern drone and keyboardist/vocalist Jarboe's ethereal intonations. During their 15 year career, Swans issued a number of essential albums, but none is more powerful than 1987's Children of God. The sprawling, epic......
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listen online to an interview with Michael Gira and Akron/Family
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David Garland | WNYC-FM 93.9 and wnyc.orgrecorded on Friday, April 15th, 9-11pmThis extensive interview, conducted by David Garland, will air on WNYC-FM 93.9 in New York, and live streaming on the web at WNYC - LISTEN HERE ...
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listen online to an interview with Michael Gira and Akron/Family
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David Garland | WNYC-FM 93.9 and wnyc.orgrecorded on Friday, April 15th, 9-11pmThis extensive interview, conducted by David Garland, will air on WNYC-FM 93.9 in New York, and live streaming on the web at WNYC - LISTEN HERE ...