Angels of Light & Akron/Family - Split - Young God
When all is said and done, 2005 will go down as the year of the musical collaboration. The year has already seen the synthesis of the talents of Iron and Wine and Calexico, Animal Collective and Vashti Bunyan, and the Notwist and Themselves. Although those releases yielded expectedly interesting and enjoyable results, none of them match the emotional heft and sheer ambition of Akron/Family and Angels of Light, which will be released this Tuesday.
The stripped-down “Awake” starts the album off deceptively with slowly-plucked minor chords and melancholic, reflective vocals. However, the quiet tension is quickly broken by the cacophonous guitar squall and pounding drums that open “Moment”. The band thankfully abandons the racket after about twenty seconds and transforms “Moment” into an epic mash up of alt-country and experimental pop. “Future Myth” somehow manages to top the heights of “Moment” and showcases Akron/Family’s affinity for balancing noisy experimentation with structured songwriting. Akron/Family’s set of seven songs is nearly flawless and concludes with the album’s centerpiece, “Raising the Sparks”. The song is driven by a chunky guitar groove and features an insane a capella midsection.
The second half finds Angels of Light mastermind Michael Gira reining in Akron/Family’s sound. With the Dylan cover “I Pity the Poor Immigrant”, Gira does a better Johnny Cash impersonation than even Walk the Line star Joaquin Phoenix. Gira’s set unfortunately veers into predictable territory with “One for Hope” and “Mother/Father”, but ends on a high note with the haunted country of “Come For My Woman”.
Whether borrowing from the sunny pop of the Beach Boys or exploring the more countrified folk of Johnny Cash, Akron/Family and Angels of Light proves to be an exciting and inventive homage to Americana that is anything but forgettable.
-Traviss Cassidy
