Akron/Family :: Collected Recordings

It’s been six years since Akron/Family went on an indefinite hiatus. Following the release of 2007’s epic Love is Simple, founding member Ryan Vanderhoof quit amicably to live in a Buddhist Dharma commune, while the band ventured on into even more psychedelic and experimental territory.

Akron/Family toured heavily during the Vanderhoof era, at times pulling double duty as Michael Gira’s backing band, Angels of Light. Ever prolific, they also sold self-released CD-R’s at their merch table. One of the stand-outs was 2006’s Collected Recordings. Featuring 25 mostly home-made tracks recorded between 2002-2005, and limited to 1000 copies, it showed a band brimming with ideas, and in top form. Nothing best exemplifies this era than the sprawling “Onward, Trainstop, Bookmark”. Driven by a hypnotic trance inducing beat, and backed with looped vocal harmonies and synthesizers, the track swirls with kaleidoscopic psychedelia throughout. words / z biggs

Akron/Family :: Onward, Trainstop, Bookmark