The year 2005 will go down as the year of the obscure folk-band collaboration. The year has already seen the synthesis of the talents of Iron & Wine and Calexico, as well as Animal Collective with Vashti Bunyan. Although those releases yielded interesting, enjoyable results, none of them match the emotional heft and sheer ambition of the simply titled 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-up74 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,” a chunky, guitar groove-driven song that features an insane a capella midsection.
The second half finds Angels of Light mastermind Michael Gira reining in Akron/Family’s chaotic sound. On the Dylan cover “I Pity the Poor Immigrant,” Gira does a better Johnny Cash impersonation than even Joaquin Phoenix in the new Cash biopic Walk the Line. Gira’s set unfortunately veers into predictably glum territory with “One for Hope” and “Mother/Father,” but it 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. It is occasionally overwhelming and anarchic, but is ultimately unforgettable.
