CD Review: Lost Animal – Ex Tropical

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 […]

CD Review: Tegan & Sara — Heartthrob

Tegan & Sara Heartthrob Warner Brothers By Al Kaufman The indie pop darlings have discovered the ‘80s. The goal of the seventh album for the Canadian twin sisters was to write a batch of fun ‘80s synth-pop love songs, but add an undertone of darkness. They succeeded. Ditching their producer from the last two albums, […]

CD Review: Phinehas – The Bridge Between

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 […]

CD Review: Adam Ant – Adam Ant Is The Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner’s Daughter

On Tuesday, Adam Ant released his first album in 17 years – a collection of songs that are largely autobiographical in nature, with several nods to places and people he’s encountered along the road to pop stardom. After cutting his teeth at some of the UK’s toughest punk clubs,  Adam’s first gigs gave way to a striking Top of […]

CD Review: Resolution 15 – Svaha, Released Today, Jan. 15

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 […]

CD Review: Erin McKeown — Manifestra

Erin McKeown Manifestra TVP Records By Al Kaufman Longtime fans of Erin McKeown have watched her evolve from introspective folky, to pop hell raiser, to swinging mama.  While her music has grown and changed, so has she as a person. With each album she has been more and more outspoken in regards to social justice. […]

CD Review: Sarah Tollerson, “Wherever We Go”

By: Shelby Lum Last month, singer-songwriter, Sarah Tollerson, released her second album, Wherever We Go.  The indie, folk player out of Winder, Georgia and now a Nashville resident, turned to award-winning, producer Neilson Hubbard to record her latest album. The country music capital’s influences are certainly reflected in her most recent work. The love songs […]

CD Review: Faithless Town — American Refugee; Playing @ The Earl Wednesday, Nov 28th

Faithless Town American Refugee By Al Kaufman Atlanta’s Faithless Town harks back to the ‘80s, when people like Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp sang of small town struggles in the USA. At that time, millions of other bands tried to cash in on the sound, only to  fall as fast as the poor characters they […]

CD Review: The Romans – Coldest Weather

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 […]

CD Review: Ben Folds Five — The Sound of the Life of the Mind

Ben Folds Five The Sound of the Life of the Mind Legacy By Al Kaufman It’s been 13 years since the last Ben Folds Five album, The rather lackluster The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. In the intervening years, Folds has cobbled together a rather successful solo career, including the brilliant Lonely Avenue, a collaboration […]

CD Review: Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra – Theatre Is Evil, CD Release Tuesday, September 11th

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 […]