PRESS
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Akron/Family – Self-Titled
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Neufutur"they are an alternative to the acceptable forms of music"A very sedate style of music that mixes together Radiohead, Neil Young, and David Bowie, Akron/Family begins their self-titled CD with a track that almost seems dated in its delivery. “Before and Again†is much more before than again, an anachronism that is fixed with “Suchnessâ€. The flittering flutes of “Suchness†afford the track some atmospheric relevancy – it honestly feels as if one is outside when listening to the track. Nature is almost another instrument on this disc, and puts a spin on this disc that seemingly all Young God releases have – this self-titled disc hearkens back to the immediate (19th century) past of America. Everything seems randomly-placed on tracks like “Italyâ€, the disc’s breaking-point; an eight-minute epic, “Italy’s†splashy drums and chorus of singers are practically the only things that keep the track from sinking like the “Titanicâ€. The disc seems to be divided into tracks due to purely commercial means. Akron/Family’s output is much more of a forty or fifty minute opera, with a number of movements. When Akron/Family finally goes radio-friendly (in Running, Returning) is where I can begin to understand why the band was signed.......
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Angels of Light – The Angels of Light Sing ‘Other People’
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NeufuturThis is not just an album, but a story, a movie, and above all, it is transcendent.Each time I review a disc, it gives me a little more information about some facet of life which I had not known before the review. This time, I realized that I was listening to the former leader of the Swans. After having mouth agape at the disc, I decided to forge on and was met with another shock – this music is some of the hardest to categorize (pigeonhole), and for that, I thank Michael. Where a track comes out like “My Friend Thorâ€, seemingly dead-pan serious and straightforward, one just has to wait for the inevitable “gotcha!†– this time, a very Beach Boys-esque choir accompaniment. Angels of Light delve through all the different movements of American music and pick and choose on a track by track basis. What results is an incredibly diverse album that is truly experimentative in its designs. Where a track like “On the Mountain†can simultaneously tap the gospel and country elements of American music, Angels of Light do it in such a way that there is no doubt that someone from 2004 was doing patently 1920s......
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Akron/Family
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NY PressblurbAkron/Family is the answer to your most recent downtempo/experimental needs. With a little electronic fizzle, toyed-with vocals, and that lovely acoustic guitar, this quartet creates a dark world for you to linger in...
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Akron /Family - S/T
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SixEyesBlog | by Alan Williamson"glimpses of The Beatles, back porch country choral and Beach Boys harmonies"Well, it appears Young God Records founder, Michael Gira, has done it again -- bringing Devendra Banhart to the fore--giving him a platform wasn't enough? (Can you blame him?) Now he presents us with the gift of the Akron/Family. A quartet from the east and west of the US of A, they were drawn to the bright sounds of New York City a couple of years ago and quickly cloistered themselves in a Brooklyn apartment. This is where they created albums worth of material over that time, working in a hothouse enviroment unfettered by the outside world. The songs selected for their self-titled debut are uncomfortably personal, at times the term eavesdropping doesn't seem too far fetched--and from the array of weird and other worldly sounds that complement the mostly acoustic songs (they do make use of electricity), it seems likely they learned to 'play' their apartment, what is termed 'bric-a-brac' in the liner notes. The music presented here is cornered in an American/Experimental mode, but with it's back to the wall so it may reach out with calloused fingertips into many other genres, giving......
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Akron/Family
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NY PressblurbAkron/Family is the answer to your most recent downtempo/experimental needs. With a little electronic fizzle, toyed-with vocals, and that lovely acoustic guitar, this quartet creates a dark world for you to linger in...