CD review: Rob Blackledge, Inside These Walls (One Revolution)

By Adam Baer

Mississippi-born singer/songwriter Rob Blackledgehas a problem. He’s in love and he sucks at it. At least that’s what’s to be taken from the majority of tracks on his piano-laden whine-fest of a debut record. While being inept in matters of the heart is an easily relatable subject (at least to most of us), Blackledge falls flat in conveying the emotion of such a situation. (more…)

CD review: Carolyn Mark and NQ Arbuckle, Let’s Just Stay Here (Mint Records) and “Terrible Hostess: Recipes for Disaster, Volume II, Road-Tested by Carolyn Mark”

By Rachel Heisler

Carolyn Mark has a flair for the dramatic, and it’s this flair that makes her music so damn fun to slosh around in. Her musical base is a kind of light, twangified country, but she expands it to include raunchy twists and mysterious turns. You jump into a song thinking you know what’s coming, only to be flicked off course when you least expect it. It’s difficult enough to keep up with the wicked little nymh when it’s just her, but Let’s Just Stay Here is doubly tricky to track because it is a collaboration with musician NQ Arbuckle, a playful chap in his own right. (more…)

CD review: Hollis Brown, Self-titled (Vibe Theory Music)

By Adam Baer

“Show Love”, the opening track to the debut of Queens, NY, foursome Hollis Brown displays the type of pop/rock hook that can turn heads. Just don’t turn too quickly or you’ll miss the good stuff. It’s easy to be fooled by the borderline bubble gum of “Show Love”, but it’s when the bubble bursts that you realize that these boys have some sawdust and whiskey pumpin’ through their veins. Take part Old 97’s, mix with a splash of Drive-By Truckers and garnish with a pinch of Exile-era Stones and you’ve got a helluva cocktail of bar band noise. (more…)

By Adam Baer

I gotta admit, the story of a haunted recording studio caught the attention of my inner music geek. With rock’s long history of mystery and mythology: tales of brave Ulysses, stairway to heaven and sympathy for, of all things, the Devil, what’s another log on the pyre? The studio in question belongs to former Primus drummer, Tim Alexander, and the presence residing therein, is how these boys get their name: Into the Presence. The spook-fest vibe can be felt throughout this debut, but the most chilling moments come when singer/guitarist Luis Maldonado parts his lips. (more…)

CD review: Phish, Joy (JEMP Records)

By Rachel Heisler

If I had my way, Phish and I never would have crossed paths. The tidbits I heard here and there over the years at parties were enough to keep my Phish quota quite filled. But sometimes life doesn’t work the way one plans, and when I met and started to hang out with this really cute Phish-Head, I found myself unwillingly submerged in music that I, up until that point, lovingly referred to as The Jam Band from Hell. (more…)