Gira’d up for Akron
Angels Of Light & Akron/Family
Akron/Family & Angels Of Light
(Young God)
Proof you can get away with just about anything musically as long as you occasionally sing as a choir.
Being one of few (if any) practitioners of their idiom — namely noise spliced by pockets of group vocals — Akron/Family are the only ones getting away with anything. But for all this split album’s patience-ringing chaos — Young Gods ringleader Michael Gira performs five tracks backed by Akron — it ultimately redeems itself in what Gira accurately labels “pure joy.” It feels lazy to concentrate so much on the frequent (and almost literal) instrumental breakdowns, yet pitting such anarchy against exultant harmony provides counterpoints too obvious to ignore. “Moment” crashes through its intro drifting into structured verse, coming apart, and conjoining with everyone holding a note until they’re out of breath (thank God there’s no inward singing). “We All Will” is a Gram Parsons delight, “Awake” inverts the orgasmic bliss of The Beatles’ “Sun King” into lysergic paranoia, which generally lasts through the chant-happy “Raising The Sparks” (and might confuse you into thinking Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock should try his hand at deep soul).
Gira’s offerings, including a cover of Dylan’s “I Pity The Poor Immigrant,” would have been better fated on a separate release. Even though the Akrons bleed through the mix and warm up the joint, Gira’s flaccid, flat tone pulls the plug on an air mattress that steadily, but noticeably, collapses.
Akron/Family: 8
Angels Of Light: 4
— Steve Forstneger
Click here to download Akron/Family’s “Dylan Pt.2.”
