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 Chaser, bring both those elements to their second Christmas CD, Christmas Cheers.
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 some of that pop-punk sound on The Positives, most notably on "Untitled," but mostly this […]
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? Switchfoot is Christian Rock, but they work really, really hard to be thought of as […]
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 is The Cribs fourth CD, but the first in which they try to make a […]
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 Kerouac’s writing to improvisational jazz. Like that form of music, sometimes his words would travel […]
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 state of indie rock in 2009. Yes, it’s all as dour and moody as you […]
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 is also riveting, loud, and, best of all, never boring. In fact, it is downright […]
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 and Switzerland, represented Georgia for the Kennedy Center's 25th Anniversary Celebration, has studied under Bobby […]
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 rants and whines. But even more importantly, R.E.M. stopped rocking and started droning, and each […]
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 recorded by heavy hitters like Kelly Clarkston, Reba McEntire, and good buddy Justin Timberlake. He […]
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 were meant to be played. And then there are those who like the band's just accessible enough […]
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. They are their own category. Call them Industrial Redneck, or Country Thrash. Backed by Brenn […]
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 few seem to care. It's been about 10 years since Built to Spill put out […]
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 can't help think that the line serves as a metaphor for McKeown's musical career; as […]
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 a Miracle," and produced and co-written all of the songs on his 2001 album, Ten […]
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