Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free, the new album from the American psychedelic global folk rock visionaries is coming out in Europe on Crammed, on May 4th 2009.
[image 1 250x250] After building up a great, word-of-mouth reputation and gathering an ever-growing legion of obsessive fans, Akron/Family are on the verge of a major breakthrough. Their unmissable A/F live show will soon be setting 'em wild across Europe:
AKRON/FAMILY European Spring Tour
May 16 Belgium, Brussels, Orangerie 'Nuits Botanique'
May 17 Holland, Amsterdam, Melkweg Old Room May 18 Holland, Nijmegen, Doornroosje May 19 France, Paris, Nouveau Casino May 20 UK, London, ICA May 22 UK, Glasgow, Captains Rest May 23 UK, Manchester, Ruby Lounge May 24 UK, Bristol, Fiddlers May 25 Spain, Malaga, Teatro Cervantes (with Wilco) May 26 Spain, Madrid, Teatro Calderon(with Wilco) May 27 Spain, Granada, Congress Palace(with Wilco) May 29 Spain, Seville, Territorios Festival (with Wilco) May 31 Italy, Bologna, Locomotiv June 1 Italy, Ravenna, Hana-Bi June 2 Italy, Verona, Interzona June 3 Italy, Milano, Casa 139 June 4 Italy, Torino, Spazio 211 June 5 Italy, Roma, Init
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Here are some great early US media reactions to Set 'Em Wild, and to Akron/Family's recent appearance at SXSW :
Is this what Animal Collective would sound like if Avey and Panda turned down the synth faders and slapped on a fresh coat of Americana?... this psychedelic track is Freaking/Awesome (Pitchfork)
With a rubbery groove and motormouth chanting, the opening track "Everyone Is Guilty" is the album's schizophrenic monster jam (Stereogum)
Let’s just say this up front: Akron/Family killed. They were the best show of the night. One continuous freakout that touched the highlights of their new record, easily their best (Pop Matters)
Akron is fifty bands in one. There's psychedelic rock, folk, free-jazz, hip-hop, punk, dance, gospel and heaps more, and they throw their back into every minute of it, creating a wickedly raw, exposed form of music that is absolutely impossible to cage up and put into a category box (Jambase)
It was Akron/Family that got the venue jumping, though, with cuts from their upcoming Set ’Em Wild Set ’Em Free record, which promises to be huge (Time Out NY)
How come nobody told me this would be my new favorite band? (LA Weekly)
I'd never seen Akron/Family live before. Now I think I want to see them live every day for the rest of my life (Dallas Observer)
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More about the album
Set 'Em Wild... is set to be one of the year’s landmark releases and, as its cover suggests, sees the band effect their own entirely unique and inclusive vision of a United States of Music. From the impossibly slinky ethno-funk groove that kicks off first track Everyone Is Guilty onwards, it’s clear that this band adopts a wonderfully lateral approach to guitar-based rock music (why else, after all, would they be releasing on Crammed?). Aside from the band’s signature close harmony vocal hooks (often found swelling into quasi-tribal ensemble chant ecstasy), the Akron/Family musical vocabulary packs in Fela-like rhythmic momentum, heady Funkadelic guitar chops, intricate Ali Farka Toure chord tapestries, skittering, almost Timbaland-esque electronic percussion, frenzied gusts of Albert Ayler brass... there are, in fact, very few musical styles not to find a place at this Family’s table, and they all come laced with warm, infectious folk-pop melodies.
Indeed, “family” is the word that binds everything about this elemental, forward-pushing music into one huge, magical and digestible whole: for all its thrilling tangents, the message that underscores Set ‘Em Wild... – and the gospel roared from the rooftop of every venue lucky enough to play host to the riotous, chaos-embracing dance party that is the Akron/Family live experience - is one of life-affirming warmth and welcoming: a simple, unpretentious joy in the sense of communion music can bring us, wherever and whoever it’s from. After all: if, as that killer opening track claims, “Everyone Is Guilty”... then we’re all in it together, right?