September 24, 2007
Sure, the concept of these Basement Tapes sessions is to get bands we love to come into our studio and do their thing, but when a fresh act like Akron/Family wanted to do it but couldn’t because of a time crunch while on the road, we decided to bring the Basement to the band to capture this unique, genre-defying combo live and onstage.
On only the second show of their recent tour in support of their remarkable new Love Is Simple album, Akron/Family’s performance at the AV-aerie art space in Chicago was a spectacle in itself, with the small stage in a chokehold of instruments, players and audience members lovingly huddled around. The visual of the room’s collective spirit as well as much of the music the band performed gave the sense of a new community of both musician and music lover – often uniting the two, as many in attendance chanted along with some of these newer numbers not even released yet (ahh, the beauty of the Internet).
The band touched on free-jazz, folk, indie & classic rock, world music, ambient, prog-rock, lengthy hippie jams and probably a dozen other genres that evening, but never conveniently fit into any of these boxes (although given the fact that this particular show was a sprawling two-and-a-half hour set with extended improvisation and experimentation throughout, they often gave off the vibe of an art-school jamband second lining through the backstreets of Lagos).
While their music may be polarizing to many, the Akron/Family live experience is nothing short of a mind and time altering trip. A trip we were happy to take and share a small portion of with you here. - Tony Bonyata
LISTEN TO THE SESSION
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FREE DOWNLOADS:
Right-click (control-click on a mac) to save to your computer
Akron/Family - Franny [download]
Akron/Family - Phenomena [download]
Akron/Family – Love, Love, Love [download]
Akron/Family – No Space In This Realm [download]
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VIDEO
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PHOTO GALLERY
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For more info on Akron/Family go to:
http://www.akronfamily.com
http://www.myspace.com/akak
To purchase Aron/Family CDs and more go to:
http://www.younggodrecords.com
This Basement Tapes remote session was recorded live at AV-aerie in Chicago, IL. Engineered by Dennis Martin. Video shot and produced by Gordon Rinda, with additional footage by Phil Bonyata.
Special thanks to Marshall and Pat at AV-aerie for their hospitality, sound and vision.
For more info on A/V-aerie in Chicago go to:
http://av-aerie.org
Audio / Video go to: http://www.woodlandaudio.com/ |
