ANGELS OF LIGHT AND AKRON/FAMILY CONTINUE TO CONFOUND
Typically, when writing music, one is tempted to look at all the pre-desposed types of music and find one in which they mostly neatly fit in. Whereas the more profound approach is to call into question those very distinctions. With their split album, Angels of Light and Akron/Family do just this. Recorded and mixed in nine eight-hour days after an inspiring North American tour, the two groups give us an album that is Americana and yet not Americana, that is Southern Rock and yet not Southern Rock, that is free-form and yet not free-form. In short, an album that signifies a break with the constant cycle of neatly located music.
The album begins with seven songs from Brooklyn based band Akron/Family. Having recorded a disturbing, yet triumphant debut album earlier this year, Akron/Family take all the experimental textures of their debut in even more unpredictable directions. Listening to Akron/Family is like listening to your grandparents telling you a story from when they were young. You never really know where they are going next.
Akron/Family’s set opens with the gently textured “Awake.” Layers of vocal harmony swell overtop a gently arpeggiated guitar, reminiscent of the darker moments of later Beatles material. Just as you’re about to get the sense that you know what Akron/Family is trying to get at, in comes the second song “Moment” with its big wall of sound. This is no longer a calm and collected album, but instead a dialectic between the tranquil sounds of neatly placed harmonies with the utterly unsettling sounds of dissonant guitars, piercing electronics, and collective yelling. At no point can you say that one has won over the other, Akron/Family are far too clever to allow that to happen. Rather what is created with these songs is a constant conflict that is never resolved.
The paradigmatic instance of this would be with Akron/Family’s last song “Raise the Spark.” Chalked full of stylistic changes, this song can be seen as the culmination of all of Akron/Family’s prior work. The song starts off with a captivating southern rock jam session that would make Duane Allman and Dickey Betts jealous, but is quickly interrupted by a Animal Collective-esque yeah-yeah section, which is far more reminiscent of the avante-garde than anything southern rock. This doesn’t last long as the song then transforms into an all-out Gospel chant with the entire band screaming “Raise the Spark” with such enthusiasm that you are left with little choice but to respond with a big ‘AMEN’. The song then ends cycling back to the southern rock section, yet it is now much more unsure of itself having passed through the rest of the song, almost negating it entirely. Thus, Akron/Family’s section leaves us, in many ways, more confused about who Akron/Family actually is than we were when we first started the album.
This would be enough by itself, but we have five Angels of Light songs to go. If the Akron/Family section of the album displays a young band trying to establish itself, by not establishing itself, the Angels of Light section, although still coherent with the Akron/Family material, offers something different. Here, instead, we have an already established artist trying to explode much of what they have already accomplished. The result is very captivating.
With his five songs, Michael Gira (head Angel, long-time Swan) presents some of his most interesting material to date. He leaves behind the reserved songwriting of his other 2005 album The Angels of Light Sing Other People, and instead invites Akron/Family in, with exciting results. Whether it’s the quiet “Mother/Father” or the haunting “The Provider”, working alongside Akron/Family rejuvenates Gira, allowing him to explore elements of his songs in ways that he has not done in quite some time.
If there is a negative aspect of the album, however, it comes with the transition between the two groups. The Angels of Light section begins by covering the Dylan song “I Pity the Poor Immigrant”, in an attempt to relate back to Akron/Family’s “Dylan Pt. 2”. While being an excellent song on its own, in the context of the rest of the album, the song is far too predictable to be relied upon as a turning point in the album. Instead it sticks out like Paris Hilton at a peace rally. Fortunately Angels of Light are able to respond with four other exceptional tracks that are on par with Akron/Family’s set.
With this album, both groups refrain from merely giving us bonus material. Instead they offer an essential collection of songs that have a dramatic impact on both careers. It displays a young band establishing itself in a wonderfully negating kind of way, while at the same time portraying an already recognized artist who is still able to evolve.
Typically, when writing music, one is tempted to look at all the pre-desposed types of music and find one in which they mostly neatly fit in. Whereas the more profound approach is to call into question those very distinctions. With their split album, Angels of Light and Akron/Family do just this. Recorded and mixed in nine eight-hour days after an inspiring North American tour, the two groups give us an album that is Americana and yet not Americana, that is Southern Rock and yet not Southern Rock, that is free-form and yet not free-form. In short, an album that signifies a break with the constant cycle of neatly located music.
The album begins with seven songs from Brooklyn based band Akron/Family. Having recorded a disturbing, yet triumphant debut album earlier this year, Akron/Family take all the experimental textures of their debut in even more unpredictable directions. Listening to Akron/Family is like listening to your grandparents telling you a story from when they were young. You never really know where they are going next.
Akron/Family’s set opens with the gently textured “Awake.” Layers of vocal harmony swell overtop a gently arpeggiated guitar, reminiscent of the darker moments of later Beatles material. Just as you’re about to get the sense that you know what Akron/Family is trying to get at, in comes the second song “Moment” with its big wall of sound. This is no longer a calm and collected album, but instead a dialectic between the tranquil sounds of neatly placed harmonies with the utterly unsettling sounds of dissonant guitars, piercing electronics, and collective yelling. At no point can you say that one has won over the other, Akron/Family are far too clever to allow that to happen. Rather what is created with these songs is a constant conflict that is never resolved.
The paradigmatic instance of this would be with Akron/Family’s last song “Raise the Spark.” Chalked full of stylistic changes, this song can be seen as the culmination of all of Akron/Family’s prior work. The song starts off with a captivating southern rock jam session that would make Duane Allman and Dickey Betts jealous, but is quickly interrupted by a Animal Collective-esque yeah-yeah section, which is far more reminiscent of the avante-garde than anything southern rock. This doesn’t last long as the song then transforms into an all-out Gospel chant with the entire band screaming “Raise the Spark” with such enthusiasm that you are left with little choice but to respond with a big ‘AMEN’. The song then ends cycling back to the southern rock section, yet it is now much more unsure of itself having passed through the rest of the song, almost negating it entirely. Thus, Akron/Family’s section leaves us, in many ways, more confused about who Akron/Family actually is than we were when we first started the album.
This would be enough by itself, but we have five Angels of Light songs to go. If the Akron/Family section of the album displays a young band trying to establish itself, by not establishing itself, the Angels of Light section, although still coherent with the Akron/Family material, offers something different. Here, instead, we have an already established artist trying to explode much of what they have already accomplished. The result is very captivating.
With his five songs, Michael Gira (head Angel, long-time Swan) presents some of his most interesting material to date. He leaves behind the reserved songwriting of his other 2005 album The Angels of Light Sing Other People, and instead invites Akron/Family in, with exciting results. Whether it’s the quiet “Mother/Father” or the haunting “The Provider”, working alongside Akron/Family rejuvenates Gira, allowing him to explore elements of his songs in ways that he has not done in quite some time.
If there is a negative aspect of the album, however, it comes with the transition between the two groups. The Angels of Light section begins by covering the Dylan song “I Pity the Poor Immigrant”, in an attempt to relate back to Akron/Family’s “Dylan Pt. 2”. While being an excellent song on its own, in the context of the rest of the album, the song is far too predictable to be relied upon as a turning point in the album. Instead it sticks out like Paris Hilton at a peace rally. Fortunately Angels of Light are able to respond with four other exceptional tracks that are on par with Akron/Family’s set.
With this album, both groups refrain from merely giving us bonus material. Instead they offer an essential collection of songs that have a dramatic impact on both careers. It displays a young band establishing itself in a wonderfully negating kind of way, while at the same time portraying an already recognized artist who is still able to evolve.
posted by Unknown @ 1:29 PM
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