2007 : 38-39 Aught Music Roundtable: Love Is Simple by Akron/Family

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Roundtable Part One: "Ed Is A Portal" When this album was released, I wrote that Love Is Simple is "[t]he latest entry in the attempt to write the great American psychedelic folk roadtrip album, and one of the most successful I've ever heard. This album is the triumphant album of experimental folk-rock that acts like Califone, Wilco, and the Flaming Lips have been almost-making for a decade now (and that Camper Van Beethoven were almost-making 20 years ago), but it also breaks from that framework periodically, expanding into ecstatic mind-expanding jams—jams that locate the choice middle ground between the sloppy, shambalic, "No Neck Blues Band" type and the more polished, technically-efficient, "Phish" type, and consequently are more effective than either. Mystical in orientation, singular in vision: at its best, it's like a backwoods Americana version of the Boredom's Vision Creation New Sun." I don't actually think that I have anything to add to that, beyond saying that this track, "Ed Is A Portal," nicely sums up what I'm talking about. You can spare the seven and a half minutes. Trust me. —Jeremy Bushnell Roundtable Part Two: "Phenomena" Phenomena, phenomena, phenomena. There are two kinds of songs that get stuck in your head, the kind that you can't wait to get rid of and the kind that you want to stay there stuck for as long as you can. "Phenomena" is in second category for me. I love the kind, flowing sound of the instrumentals and the dreamy tone of the vocals. It really makes me want to sing "Phenomena" over and over again. I found Akron/Family's third album Love Is Simple because eMusic suggested it to me. Love is Simple is the perfect title for this album. I can hear a love for the music and a simple approach to making the music. The songs on the album have a deep, rich sound without sounding over produced. This album really caught me by surprise when I first heard it. Phenomena, phenomena, phenomena. —Rich Thomas Listen: Akron / Family >> "Ed Is A Portal" | "Phenomena"