Atlanta Concerts, Photography & News Since 2002
Atlanta Concerts, Photography & News Since 2002
Straight No ChaserChristmas CheersAtco/Atlantic By Al Kaufman Christmas and a capella go together as well as Halloween and chamber music. Both are bright and festive, but at their heart are beautiful and meaningful. The 10-man a capella group, Straight No…
Person LThe PositivesAcademy Fight Song By Al Kaufman Kenneth Vasoli left the heavily influential The Starting Line because he found their pop-punk sound to be too limiting. With Person L, he clearly does not have that problem. There is still…
SwitchfootHello HurricaneAtlantic By Al Kaufman What the hell is Christian Rock anyway? When Bono sings, "And the battle's just begun/To claim the victory Jesus won" on U2's "Sunday, Bloody Sunday," is it Christian rock? Why can't it just be rock?…
The CribsIgnore the IgnorantWarner Brothers By Al Kaufman Britpop is fun, isn't it? Lots and guitars, tight melodies, and lyrics that balance cleverness, strangeness, and all out passion. If The Cribs are anything, they are good Britpop. Ignore the Ignorant…
Jay Farrar & Benjamin GibbardOne Fast Move or I’m GoneF-Stop/Atlantic By Al Kaufman Beatnik Jack Kerouac was all about rants and raves. His sentences had no structure and, often, no coherent thought process. Jar Farrar, in his liner notes, compares…
New Moon SoundtrackAtlantic By Al Kaufman What a difference a sequel makes. Now that the first Twilight movie has made its millions, everyone has signed up to be on the sequel’s soundtrack, creating a nice time capsule piece for the…
The Low AnthemOh My God, Charlie DarwinNonesuch By Al Kaufman The Low Anthem recorded Oh My God, Charlie Darwin in a log cabin in the middle of a harsh Rhode Island winter. And while it is bleak at times, it…
Elise WittValiseEMWorld Records By Al Kaufman Elise Witt is one of those local treasures that nobody knows about. The multi-linguist from Switzerland, who has called Atlanta home since 1977, has been a cultural ambassador to South Africa, China, Italy, Nicaragua…
R.E.M.Live at the OlympiaWarner Brothers By Al Kaufman For most people outside of Georgia, R.E.M. stopped being relevant around 1997, when drummer Bill Berry left the band. Also around that time, Michael Stipe's lyrics went from oblique imagery to blatant…
Matt MorrisWhen Everything Breaks OpenTennman Records By Al Kaufman You can only hang in circles for so long before you release your inevitable CD. Matt Morris wrote five songs for Christina Aguilera's Stripped album, and has also had his songs…
The Flaming LipsEmbryonicWarner Brothers By Al Kaufman There are two sets of Flaming Lips fans. There are the ones who went out and bought extra CD players so that they could play all four CDs of Zaireeka simultaneously, as they…
Left Lane CruiserAll You Can EatAlive By Al Kaufman Left Lane Cruiser is called a lot of different things. Most say it's a blues band, but they are also a hard rock band with a lot of Southern fried attitude.…
Built to SpillThere Is No EnemyWarner Brothers By Al Kaufman The good news is that Built to Spill, the godfathers of the indie rock scene, are back in fighting form after a few meandering missteps. The bad news is that…
Erin McKeownHundreds of LionsRighteous Babe By Al Kaufman "You can't deny me my kingdom" asserts Erin McKeown on "You, Sailor," a hushed ballad that recalls early Suzanne Vega. And while the song deals in more of a maritime theme, one…
By Al Kaufman; photo by Greg Gold Sharon Robinson is best known as a collaborator with Canadian poet, folk singer, and cultural icon, Leonard Cohen. She has co-written some of his most popular songs, including "Everybody Knows" and "Waiting for…
