CD Review: Stone Temple Pilots — Stone Temple Pilots; Playing Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, October 3

Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots
Atlantic

By Ellen Eldridge

The biting announcement of Core’s “Dead and Bloated,” released in 1992, has been replaced with the underhanded pinch of “Between The Lines,” which, along with lyrics in several songs including the chorus to “Hazy Daze,” could be a reflection of feelings expressed toward Mary Weiland’s book Fall To Pieces about the bipolar depression and drug addiction she suffered while married to frontman Scott Weiland. Certainly, the single acts as a love song riddled with references in the chorus to “taking drugs” and it speaks as one of the harder rock songs on Stone Temple Pilots and has climbed its way up the charts quite quickly. … Continue Reading

CD Review: The District Attorneys — Orders From

The District Attorneys
Orders Form
Self-Released

By Eileen Tilson

It is highly unlikely that someone who sat for the bar exam would be considered a laid-back individual. Thus it is ironic that when a band from Athens dubbing themselves The District Attorneys, they have the ability to transport you to the hazy days of summer where all you need is some PBR, good friends, and the road. These non-lawyers have accomplished just that. On their latest EP Orders From, The District Attorneys have created a seven-song EP that would easily make them an appropriate opener for The Rolling Stones circa 1963. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Miniature Tigers — Fortress; Playing Star Bar, August 20

Miniature Tigers
Fortress
Modern Art/LG

By Eileen Tilson

Once upon a time there was a woman who ate her very first pot brownie. This “space cake” as she so cleverly called it, took about 45 minutes to effect her, starting at her tingling toes, and riding her blood waves, until her entire body felt like it was in slow motion. Everything was funny, everything was mellow, and for a brief period of time, everything seemed right in the world. This same orbit can be felt by listening to Brooklyn-via-Phoenix band Miniature Tigers’ latest album Fortress. The record is produced by Morning Benders’ Chris Chu, who brings a certain je ne sais quoi to the project through his eclectic use of echo bits, snappy snare, and twinkling synth effects. This is the lovechild of the Monkeys and the Beach Boys growing up in the Heart of Hipster Cool, Williamsburg. … Continue Reading

CD Review: M.I.A. – /\/\/\Y/\ (Maya); Playing The Tabernacle, September 16

M.I.A.

/\/\/\Y/\ (Maya)

N.E.E.T. Recordings

By Giles Turnbull

This album has everything, from paranoia to power tools, and that’s just the first 60 seconds. If you loved Arular and Kala, then Maya, M.I.A.’s third studio album, won’t disappoint! It’s full of the same quirky lyrics, infectious tunes and banging beats that’ll keep you dancing along, but the more you listen, the more you’ll find. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Steve Miller Band — Bingo!; Playing Verizon Wireless Ampitheater, July 30

Steve Miller Band
Bingo!
Roadrunner

By Al Kaufman

Steve Miller has sold exactly 1.6 gazillion copies of the Steve Miller Band Greatest Hits 1974-78. In the ’80s, every single person in the United States either owned a copy or knew a person who owned a copy. For college freshmen, the album came in the orientation packet. If you turned on a rock radio station, you heard “Space Cowboy,” “Take the Money and Run,” or, mostly, “The Joker.” … Continue Reading

CD Review: Kylie Minogue — Aphrodite

Kylie Minogue
Aphrodite
Astralwerks

By Cory Albertson

Critics and the public alike enjoy comparing pop’s various princesses in an effort to see who’s ripping off who with what outfit or which one’s beating the other on the charts. But when you’re Kylie Minogue and you have over two decades of experience as pop royalty, releasing new material becomes not so much a competition with the likes of Madonna or Lady Gaga, but rather a competition with your own hits. Twenty-two years after her debut album Kylie (which gave us her cutesy version of the “The Loco-Motion”) and nine years since her worldwide smash “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” Minogue has outdone even herself (and, yes, many of her contemporaries) with her latest album Aphrodite. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Future Islands — In Evening Air; Playing 529, July 19 (Tonight!)

Future Islands
In Evening Air
Thrill Jockey

David Courtright

It’s only so often an album comes along that so entirely captures the imagination, so resolutely devours the listener, exists in its own time and place in a state of almost perfect stasis, free from time. The indie music blog world is often a cauldron of cynicism, and in turn, those who additively read music reviews often find themselves applying that same vitriol to whatever they hear. There is, of course merit to this – there’s a lot of junk out there. So it’s refreshing when a relatively obscure album comes out of the clear blue sky and slaps the crap out of you. … Continue Reading

CD Review: The Junior League Band — Jelly Roll; Playing Eddie’s Attic, August 13

The Junior League Band
Jelly Roll
Beaver Records

By Jim Simpson

The Junior League Band’s third full-length release begins with the most promising and enticing invitation to a party as ever there was one: “Give me some sugar and hold me tight/The whiskey’s out, don’t be a stranger tonight.” With banjo player/lead singer Lissy Rosemont’s breathy and mesmerizingly original vocal style, it’s hard to resist the offer. The Atlanta native and current Washington, D.C. resident has assembled quite a tight and confident band, including – check this out – Levon Helm’s horn section. The woman is, in a word, connected. … Continue Reading

CD Review: Trances Arc — TA

Trances Arc
TA
Self-Released

By Eileen Tilson

Twice in my Atlanta music life has my dear friend “The Pirate” sat me down at Six Feet Under to talk music. The first time he did this, he told me about The Constellations, which of course I instantly loved. The second time he told me about Trances Arc, the Atlanta based foursome whose sophomore album, TA, is released today on iTunes. This time however the conversation went something like this: … Continue Reading

CD Review: The Chemical Brothers — Further

The Chemical Brothers
Further
Freestyle Dust/Parlaphone/Astralwerks

By Ellen Eldridge

From its static opening – described as “alien morse code” on the website – throughout well-blended songs, The Chemical Brothers’ seventh release, Further, holds true to its title taking listeners further into the experience of music. The cover art shows a woman not only diving into a body of water, but it appears she actually becomes part of the body of water due to the material of her dress. This instantly becomes an artistic and moving metaphor for the album when the first track, “Snow,” elegantly glides into the second track, “Escape Velocity.” The repeated lyric, “Your love keeps lifting me higher,” extends through the second track and the backing music doesn’t change until about the second minute, when the song takes on a completely different feel. … Continue Reading