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THE BEST BAND YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF
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Metro (NYC | Weekend, March 11-13, 2005When folk gets experimental In the famously temperamental rock 'n' roll community- aworld of high bandmember turnover, label shake-ups and cat fights over missing eye liner( and that's the men) - its nice to see four pleasant, close-knit guys get up on stage and play really interesting music. It's also really freaking wierd. But, then again, weird is what Akron/Family does best. Like many starry-eyed rockers who move to the city from rural America, Akron/Family's band members Miles Seaton(bass), Dana Janssen(drums) and Seth Olinsky(guitar) found themselves living in a cramped apartment in Brooklyn. Instead of immersing themselves in the scene, they grew inexplicably long beards and recorded enough music for three albums, developing what they like to refer to as their "religion" or "sonic world view". The finished product from this happy, fun time in musical cultville is their impressive first, self-titled full-length album. Deeper and deeper into the album, the group's breathtaking folk music morphs into experimental noise rock. They make this transition so seamlessly that one almost doesn't realize it's happening. It's like following a path of bread and ending up with steak. Keep in mind that Akron/Family's soundscapes are very unique,......
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Akron/Family | Review
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Blogcrtitics.org | Caryn RoseThis is some freaky shit. It's like Syd Barrett if he didn't go insane and start climbing trees, it's early Pink Floyd if they didn't suck, there's Nick Drake. It sounds like someone found these guys somewhere in South Dakota, because these songs sound like South Dakota, they sound open and clean and clear, like a life in which you can actually hear silence, and like the people who wrote them get up every day and have nothing but horizon stretching for as far as they can see. They do NOT sound like they were written in Brooklyn, it almost breaks my heart in a way to find out that they were, although I imagine that being confined to a small Brooklyn apartment for days on end might result in the same kind of mind-altering qualities that a life in South Dakota would. I am not entirely sure I am ready to buy into the entire aesthetic, here, of Akron/Family, and knowing that there were three albums' worth of material ready to release is a little frightening, in a way. But I can see this being a record that both Thurston Moore and Steve Earle could like,......
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AKRON/FAMILY MATTERS
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TIME OUT NY #493 | E. MEISTERjoyful, passionate, and intenseThree words most often used by the members of Akron/Family to describe anything are joyful, passionate, and intense, so it¹s not surprising that those adjectives apply to their self-titled debut: An ecstatic amalgam of found noise, instrumental noodling, and off-kilter harmonies, the Family¹s heavily textured sound is born out of a childlike (but not naïve) love of life, each other, and ³silly hippie music.² The ordered chaos of the record is thanks in part to Michael Gira, the Young God records label chief who became something of a spirit animal for the band during the recording. Guitarist Seth Olinski says the art-punk icon ³has this amazing passion that he poured into us. He showed us how to play with conviction and courage.² That confidence shines in the band¹s work on on Gira¹s latest Angels of Light record, Olinski says. ³Michael was willing to take a chance. We don¹t sound like what people think Michael Gira sounds like.² Live, the Family improvises freely (and loudly), but not without admitting an obligation to an audience. ³We have a responsibility to express not just our personal feelings, but something big that people are trying......
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Angels of Light
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TIME OUT NY #493 | Steve SmithFAMILY MAN Michael Gira surrounds himself with old friends and new acquaintances on stage.(FULL PAGE LEAD MUSIC FEATURE, W/PICTURE) MARCH 10-16 '05 ISSUE It¹s radio promo mailing day at the Carroll Gardens headquarters of Young God Records, and label head Michael Gira is a busy man - busy stuffing envelopes. Sitting at a sturdy wooden table, the imposing former front man of industrial-rock pioneers Swans packs padded mailers with new CDs by his current group Angels of Light, and his new signing Akron/Family, (They¹re the same band, more or less, but we¹ll get to that later.) Apart from the hours spent in the studio or on the road, Gira, 51, estimates that running Young God occupies 80 percent of his time and energy. For a working musician, that doesn¹t seem like an ideal arrangement. ³No,² he agrees, ³but it¹s not like I expect to be treated like some precious artist. I have a label, it¹s a responsibility, and I enjoy it. There are tedious aspects²  he gestures towards the CDs and envelopes  ³but it¹s better than hanging sheetrock, which I couldn¹t physically do anymore anyway.² It¹s also fair to say that Gira......
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Angels of Light
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TIME OUT NY #493 | Steve SmithFAMILY MAN Michael Gira surrounds himself with old friends and new acquaintances on stage.(FULL PAGE LEAD MUSIC FEATURE, W/PICTURE) MARCH 10-16 '05 ISSUE It¹s radio promo mailing day at the Carroll Gardens headquarters of Young God Records, and label head Michael Gira is a busy man - busy stuffing envelopes. Sitting at a sturdy wooden table, the imposing former front man of industrial-rock pioneers Swans packs padded mailers with new CDs by his current group Angels of Light, and his new signing Akron/Family, (They¹re the same band, more or less, but we¹ll get to that later.) Apart from the hours spent in the studio or on the road, Gira, 51, estimates that running Young God occupies 80 percent of his time and energy. For a working musician, that doesn¹t seem like an ideal arrangement. ³No,² he agrees, ³but it¹s not like I expect to be treated like some precious artist. I have a label, it¹s a responsibility, and I enjoy it. There are tedious aspects²  he gestures towards the CDs and envelopes  ³but it¹s better than hanging sheetrock, which I couldn¹t physically do anymore anyway.² It¹s also fair to say that Gira......