By Ellen Eldridge Like watercolor mixed with wine, Sandra McCracken’s smooth voice resonates like an artist’s paintbrush pulling color through grey on a canvas. “Fire cannot burn the same place twice,” in the first track’s chorus confirms that sensory detail introduces and collates the songs on Desire Like Dynamic. “Go” is one of three sneak […]
Review by Ellen Eldridge The cover art for Holy Fire stands out like a battle call for a new British invasion. The third Foals album follows two gold releases and solidifies the group in a similar fashion to a small business that outlives its first few years. Truth be told, I haven’t heard the band’s […]
By Ellen Eldridge Punk rock and glam metal drove two divergent paths into the forest of music, so, when I hear about a band with a name like Pissed Jeans coming out of Allentown, Pennsylvania, with ‘80s hardcore punk influences I wonder if this is a group of basement dwelling geeks or a project to […]
Review by Ellen Eldridge Getting lost is one of the most attractive aspects of music. Concept albums and stacked up songs that let you lose and then find yourself layer by layer aid in catharsis as much as in solidifying an identity. Who would we be without those songs that sealed our first kisses and […]
By Ellen Eldridge Once again, I find myself trying to explain that fine and shrinking line between gratingly abrasive and heart-poundingly cathartic—the kind of music that lets you unleash a day’s worth of intolerable bullshit from an unrelenting boss or a lifetime’s worth of oppression and misunderstanding. Granted, I less often feel the need for […]
Review by Ellen Eldridge Enticed by the promise of a twist on the same old metal, I opened up Resolution 15’s Svaha with low expectations, but an open mind. Unsure whether or not the description of violins replacing guitars in blistering thrash, punk and hardcore-influenced music could be accurate, I waded through the first three […]
Review by Ellen Eldridge The Coldest Weather debut introduces The Romans as empathetic to indie rock while immersed in influences from wider sources. Atlanta acts as a melting pot for music; so many genres and influences inspire the music from our city’s bands and The Romans belly up to the bar bringing a warm nostalgic […]
Review by Ellen Eldridge Though Dinosaur Jr. and J. Mascis have long been revered as Seattle scene icons, I didn’t get a chance to catch the wave until much later. In fact, the first time I spent a great deal of time with Mascis’ work was his solo release, Several Shades of Why, that I […]
Review by Ellen Eldridge As the chill in the air settles down over Atlanta, fans should carry enough change for a hot cocoa, invest in a flannel and a copy of Sera Cahoone’s Deer Creek Canyon because this daughter of a Colorado foothills salesman knows how to warm both the body and the mind. Cahoone’s […]
Review by Ellen Eldridge A strong well-spoken woman with a curse word for a middle name stands out as a woman I want to love. I’ll admit that I never heard The Dresden Dolls; my first introduction to Amanda Palmer came from her cover of Nirvana’s “Polly,” and my intense curiosity grew out of the […]
Review by Ellen Eldridge The Extraordinary Contraptions, a band founded in 2007, appeared in my world as if by time machine at the Strange Daze festival in August 2009. Shortly after that—by less than a month—the band appeared at DragonCon where its steampunk vide melted into the surrounding framework. Recent appearances for The Extraordinary Contraptions […]
Review and photos by Ellen Eldridge Bluegrass and banjos can cause some to cringe, but Balsam Range backing John Driskell Hopkins (Zac Brown Band) made fans realize these smoky mountain boys blow minds. My pleasurable introduction took place last night in the incredibly intimate (104 capacity) barbeque restaurant, Swallow at the Hollow—an establishment seemingly designed […]
By Ellen Eldridge The chanted beginning of Matisyahu signals a fresh and inspiring take on rock-reggae. The significance of the album title, Spark Seeker, presents itself in the line, “These lies have got me tired; I’m free-falling, I’m done stalling,” that references the idea that music made inspires despite the music maker’s own struggle for […]
Review by Ellen Eldridge Generally speaking, I don’t choose to spend my time listening to others bitch about religious freedom or political injustice. I delete those friends on Facebook who spread horrible pictures of abused animals and children, not because I am insensitive but because that’s the last thing I need upsetting me during […]
Photos by Ellen Eldridge Full Gallery after the jump…
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