Akron/Family
Akron/Family, 2005
That mix though! Listeners who fear compression are advised to steer clear of Akron/Family’s 2005 debut album, though not for the usual reasons. Far from the typical “Loudness War” salvo where extreme manipulation is used to shove an outdated radio rap-rocker’s hot verse right-up-in-your-fucking-face, the production on A/F boosts the levels on songs that would otherwise sound intimate in a natural setting. With this approach, “Italy’s” quiets get loud and its louds approach deafening. Again, not for everybody, but there’s something to be said for way those boosted lead vocals grab the listener on the early verses. This kind of thing used to be called “freak-folk;” for our purposes, it’s simply The Best Song You’ll Hear All Day.
[audio https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14312140/04%20Italy.m4a]
The Best Song You'll Hear All Day 