Geography of Sound

Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free, is akron/family's latest offering. I didn't give their self titled release much of a chance, it sort of slipped through the cracks of 2007 amongst all of the mega-band releases (Radiohead, The National, Spoon, etc.), but this record is undeniably gorgeous . A/F has a unique intellect for musical contradiction, the song Gravelly Mountains On The Moon shifts so violently across genres you sometimes forget where you started - what was once jangly Silver Jews alt-country becomes something grander, a Sondheim musical maybe, and then into a dissident Big Band romp that brings down the house. In many ways they sound like they're an actual family: many voices, emotive sounds, inanimate sounds, and a sort of warmth that wraps the music up like a blanket.


On top of it all, they have a hip website and a blog - a photo blog, that needs an update.