AMG's Atlanta Music Blog

Tyler Ramsey CD Review

Tyler Ramsey

A Long Dream about Swimming across the Sea

Echo Mountain Records

By Al Kaufman

Talk about your apt titles. Tyler Ramsey’s A Long Dream about Swimming across the Sea sounds just like what one thinks it should sound. It’s moody and atmospheric, ethereal and melancholy, pretty and delicate. Ramsey’s beautiful guitar strums and finger picks recall the fragile melodies of Nick Drake. His intricate finger picks draw instant comparisons to Leo Kottke. His yearning vocals run the gamut from Neil Young’s gentle whines to Ryan Adams introspective angst. The entire CD has a feel of staring at a giant aquarium on a rainy day.  It is captivating, mesmerizing, and thought-provoking, but, ultimately, it could use a shark or two to keep things interesting. Unlike his band, Band of Horses, which offers a more sonic, orchestral sound, Ramsey’s first solo offering sets a gorgeous backdrop without giving a centerpiece. There are lots of interesting little things going on, both musically and lyrically, but it is missing the one big thing that makes the listener want to keep coming back for more.

Tyler Ramsey plays the Earl on Thursday, May 15^th, with Pat Puckett and The Meeks Family. $10.

9:30 pm

Buy tickets in advance here

Purchase the CD or listen to more from Tyler Ramsey on

James McMurtry -- Childish Things

James McMurtry

Just Us Kids

Lightning Rod Records    

By Al Kaufman

If Bruce Springsteen had grown up in Texas, and not become a disgustingly rich superstar, he would have been James McMurtry. McMurtry knows his way around a six-string, and he sings of people who are disillusioned, on the fringe, growing older, and just trying to get by. His characters are not always good people, but they are always real people, due to McMurtry’s extraordinary storytelling abilities.

In 2005, McMurtry made the foray into political music with “We Can’t Make I Here,” off of Childish Things. Both the single and CD won the 206 Americana Music Awards for best song and album, respectively, and McMurtry, long a critic’s darling, garnered the best critical acclaim of his then 8-CD career.

Just Us Kids is even better. Through his honeyed, world-weary voice, McMurtry gives us more people struggling to eek out an existence. He also gets even more political. “God Bless America” is basically a sequel to “We Can’t Make It Here.” McMurtry, over huge, fuzzy guitars, again points out the huge discrepancies between the rich and the rest of us. He then follows that up with “Cheney’s Toy,” a rather self-explanatory title. Yet McMurtry intersperses his chides of W with stories of soldiers who have become crazy or injured. But, wow, just in case one couldn’t determine it from the title, the shots at Bush are relentless and ruthless.

You’re the man, show them what you’re made of

You’re no longer daddy’s boy.

You’re the man that they’re all afraid of

But you’re only Cheney’s toy.

McMurtry spews bile while maintaining melody. Of the hundreds of anti-Bush songs that have cropped up as of late, it is by far the most satisfying.

That he follows his political one-two punch with the CD’s lightest song, the barroom rocker “Freeway View,” only adds to their depth. For its part, “Freeway View,” with Faces founder Ian McLagan’s rollicking piano, adds some much needed levity. It’s easy to forget that McMurtry is, first and foremost, a guy who just likes to play music. “Freeway View” reminds the listener of that.

The self-produced Just Us Kids is the first release for the new Lightning Rod Records. The label’s president, Logan Rogers, worked with McMurtry on his last two releases for Compadre Records and decided he could think of nobody better with which to launch a new label. He made a wise choice. Thus far in 2008, no CD has been better.

Romantica--America

Romantica
America
2024 Records

By Al Kaufman

Ben Kyle may have been born and raised in Ireland, and he may pine for games of cricket and girls named Fiona, but he is also the quintessential American, if only for the reason that America is a virtually flawless Americana album. Yes, the sound may sometimes be confused with that of Wilco, but if you’re going to steal, you might as well steal from the best. What Kyle and company have crafted is a CD that explores man’s relation to man, nature, and God. Yet they do so in a way that feels true. There is not a pedantic or contrived word. The characters in America drink, fall in love, try to escape, and question their faith. In a phrase, they act like real people. Jessy Greene’s (currently on tour with Foo Fighters) beautiful strings and Eric Heywood’s (currently backing Ray Lamontagne) magnificent pedal steel provide the CD with a richness and depth. They will be sorely missed on the current Romantica tour. These are lush, beautiful, intricate songs that go down surprisingly easy, but resonate long after.

Romantica play Eddie’s Attic on Wednesday, April 16th, with the Bittersweets at 8 pm

$12 ($15 door).

Alex Nackman -- Still Life Moves

Alex Nackman
Still Life Moves
Long Road Records

By Al Kaufman

With his pin-up good lucks and yearning vocals, a la John Mayer and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Alex Nackman is a teenage girl’s dream. He seems like the type of guy who, on a first date, would hold hands during a romantic walk to the pier, then do nothing more than put his arm around the girl as they watch the sun set over the water. He would give her a peck on the cheek as he drops her off, then, while she wrote in her diary, he would go home and write a song about the experience.

            No, Nackman isn’t that sensitive, but he’s close. He writes well-crafted songs about falling in love, staring at the river, and watching fall turn into winter. Sure, the songs are metaphorical, but they’re about as subtle as the Viagra commercial where the football goes through the tire swing. His guitars are pretty and his pianos soar to the point that occasionally, such as on “Banking on November,” he sounds like Counting Crows when Adam Duritz is at his whiniest.

            None of this is bad. This stuff sells. Girls are always looking for that sensitive, non-threatening guy. And, for some reason, there are even some guys who like Coldplay. Nackman has the stuff that should keep the John Mayers and Chris Martins of the world looking over their shoulder. And if he replaced them, nobody would probably notice.

Alex Nackman plays Smith’s Olde Bar on Monday, April 7. 8:30 pm

BoDeans -- Still

BoDeans
Still
He and He LP
By Al Kaufman

For over 20 years, Kurt Neumann and Sam Llanas, the core of the BoDeans, have been doing what they do. They play their Wisconsin rock and roll with a lot of melody, some harmony, a little twang, and a whole lot of sweat. Call it rock from the heartland, alt-country, Americana, roots rock; none of it really fits. What it really is, is music that goes great in a hot stinky bar when you have a cold beer in one hand and a pretty girl in the other. Never in their 22-year history have the BoDeans even tried to offer more than that. While for some this may lead to stagnation, for Llanas and Neumann it is achieving the essence of rock and roll and not wishing to stray from it.

Still offers more of the same. After experiencing difficulties with various record labels in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, they released Still on their own He & He label, but called in mastermind producer T-Bone Burnett, who also produced their stellar debut back in 1986, Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams. Neumann and Llanas have continued to write about those same four topics to this day. They may not rock as hard as they did back then, but the guitars still jangle, and Neumann’s gruff vocals still wrap lovingly around Llanas’ nasal tones. “Round Here Somewhere” is as infectious as “Closer to Free” (the Party of Five theme song and the BoDeans only top 40 hit). The rest of the CD maintains the happy groove, which still goes down well with a beer and girl.

The BoDeans play the Variety Playhouse Tuesday, March 24. 8 pm. $23 - Find tickets

Sarah Bettens -- Shine

Sarah Bettens
Shine
Cocoon Records
By Al Kaufman

Back in the ‘90s, Sarah Bettens fronted the Belgian alt-rock band, K’s Choice. Their biggest US single, “Not an Addict,” celebrated sobriety so darkly that it would only seem upbeat to heroin addicts. Since that time Bettens has made more than a few transformations. The band broke up (although plans are in the works for a reunion album), Bettens got divorced and came out as a lesbian, and she made the change from dark, brooding rocker to emotional pop songstress.

On Shine, her second solo release, Bettens proves that, like the Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray (a band K’s Choice opened for on one of their first tours), Bettens still has enough grit to ensure her songs will not be played in elevators anytime soon. She shows off her rock and roll chops on her cover of Ray’s “Put It Out for Good,” but, oddly enough, that is probably the least Amy Ray sounding song on the disc. Opening track, “I Can’t Get Out,” sounds like a leftover from her debut solo CD, Scream, in which she documented her divorce and her experiences of coming out.

The song focuses on a woman who feels trapped and hopeless in her marriage. Many of her issue songs appear a bit heavy handed; a soldier gallantly writing a dying letter to her mother in “A Soldier’s Song” and a child asking for forgiveness after accidentally shooting his friend in “Daddy’s Gun,” but Bettens is able to pull them off with her honeyed vocals, gentle guitars, and lyrics that ring true. The only time she really goes over the top is on “Pave the Way,” in which she reminisces about her lonely teen years and stridently pronounces she will pave the way for any lesbians that come behind her. “I’ll wear my rainbow flag with pride,” just sounds a bit too self-important and overt, although for the teenage girls it is no doubt intended for, it is more than likely manna from heaven. Listening to Bettens is often akin to reading someone’s diary. It is raw and emotional, and the listener may feel a bit dirty for peeking in, but at least this diary, unlike most, is beautifully crafted.

Sarah Bettens plays Eddie’s Attic (with brother Gert Bettens of K’s Choice) on Sunday, March 23rd, 8 pm. $15 ($18 door).

Built to Sustain

Built to Spill
You In Reverse
Warner Brothers Records
By Kim Burdges

This week Built to Spill will hit the road through March to promote their most recent album, You In Reverse. The indie rockers will be playing at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta on March 12.

You In Reverse is a refreshing release from the Boise based band. The purely rock infused album is a testament of true musicianship. While listening to You In Reverse spinning in the stereo, it is hard to grasp that it is not on genuine vinyl. The record plays like a hidden gem of lost early 1970s rock. Built’s classic rock sound accompanied by simple but poignant lyrics makes it hard to turn off. Songs like “Goin’ Against Your Mind” and “Liar” provide a constant yet soothing traveling beat that evoke images of a cross country trip in a 1967 VW bus.

The raw sound on the album, due to the concerted effort of the group not to over produce, make Built’s signature “jam” style shine, including a great guitar solo by new member Brett Netson on “Just A Habit.” For “Conventional Wisdom,” the group ups the tempo and beat for a pop-rock anthem that can be applied to the problems of the past as easily as to the problems of today: “some things you can’t explain/ Like why we’re all embracing conventional wisdom/ In a world that’s just so unconventional.”

Borrowing from reggae, soul, and pop, You In Reverse broadens Built’s rock sound into a new maturity which will continue to gain the group fans, due to its escapist sound. And if you can’t immediately grab your Birkenstocks, hop into a VW mini, and head west, this album is a nice alternative.

For more on Built to Spill and their upcoming tour, visit their website.

Lez Zeppelin: Getting the led out

Lez Zeppelin
Emanation Records
By Al Kaufman

It sounds like too much of a gimmick to be any good; four women get together and form a Led Zeppelin cover band. Maybe good for a laugh or two, but that’s about it.

Except these girls rock. Sarah McLellan can croon and caterwaul just as well as Robert Plant. Steph Paynes manages to match Jimmy Page’s guitar note for note, not only technically, but passionately as well. Whether it’s the old time bluesy “Since I’ve Been Loving You” or the straight ahead “Rock and Roll” and “Communications Breakdown,” the girls pack all the fire, fury, and swagger of the ovarian-challenged originals. Their two original instrumentals, the Allman Brother’s influenced “On the Rocks,” and the softer “Winter Sun,” in which Lisa Brigantino’s mandolin recalls Zeppelin’s gentle “Going to California,” demonstrate that these girls are damn fine musicians in their own right.

Yes, they’re fun, but they are also real. Producer Eddie Kramer originally worked with Led Zeppelin (as well as Jimi Hendrix and Kiss), and George Marino, who mastered the CD, also digitally remastered, with Jimmy Page, all the original Led Zeppelin recordings. These are guys who would not sully their names by teaming up with some kind of gimmicky freak show. These are four great musicians who happen to love the testosterone fueled music of Led Zeppelin, and play it with just the right amount of creativity and reverence.

The only real question about them left to ask is, “Will they ever play ‘The Lemon Song’?”

Lez Zeppelin plays at Variety Playhouse on Friday, June 29th. 8:30 pm. $15. Find tickets

Hellogoodbye Review

Hellogoodbye
Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!
Drive-Thru Records
By Kim Burdges

If you have misplaced your ultimate 1980s mix-tape, don’t worry Hellogoodbye is to the rescue. In their first full-length album, the southern California quartet has created a blend of power pop ballads fit for any John Hughes or Cameron Crowe coming-of-age movie soundtrack. The breakout single “Here (In Your Arms)” with its swelling electronic score and catchy lyrics captures the excitement and uncertainty of new love. Tracks “I Saw It On Your Keyboard” and “Touchdown Turnaround (Don’t Give Up On Me)” are dance ready hits, in which these California boys are trying everything from heartfelt to comedic lyrics to woo the girl. In “Touchdown Turnaround (Don’t Give Up On Me),” lead singer John Kline proclaims, “little league ’93 taught me how to take defeat/ good thing there’s no mercy rule in love ‘cause I would long be beat”- keeping up with the nostalgic teenage sound of the entire record.

Hellogoodbye breaks from their electronic pop sound on a couple tracks, including “Oh, It Is Love”- in which the synthesizer is released with a mandolin. With or without synthesizer there is no mistaking Hellogoodbye’s California sound. “Oh, It Is Love” and “Baby, It’s Fact” are two great summer songs that could have been unreleased tracks from The Beach Boys Pet Sounds. Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! ends on a musically not lyrically mature note with “Two Weeks In Hawaii.” The song is reminiscent of The Postal Service’s electronic pop sound, but with lyrics like “you’ve got Polaroid/ and you even know how to rhyme/ I’d be overjoyed/ if we could just hang out sometime;” the song is rooted in 1989. Whether wanting to muse over first love or looking for a new summer soundtrack, Hellogoodbye has created an album of pure music candy that will have kids of all ages wanting to indulge.