Elwood Emission is made up one creative-minded individual by the name of Lucy Kalantari.  Her music includes a little bit of everything from elements of rock, jazz, new wave and industrial-goth.  She blends all of these unique styles together by way of electronic synths, piano, strings, original vocals and even distorted ukuleles.  Yes, I did say distorted ukuleles, which is just insane when you think about it.  This is, without a doubt, one hell of a ride in just a short set of six songs.

Kalantari briefly lived on Elwood Avenue in NJ when she was younger hence the title of Elwood Emission.  Music ran through her blood starting in her early childhood.  Surrounded by family & siblings that were immersed in all types of music, she soon developed a love of her own.  At age six, she was already writing up her own little songs and by age eight, she knew she wanted to be a rock star.  Lucy is a self-taught pianist and singer with the exception of some classical piano lessons between the ages of 12-17.  She is now taking her self-taught talents/lessons to the big stage with her exciting new EP, Ode to the Ego.

The CD starts up with a song titled, “The Invitation” with very heavy emphasis on the distortion of sound along with a peculiar singing style.  The whole effect seemed a bit too over the top, in my opinion, and definitely not a level playing field.  I completely agree with The Grouchy Gaijin’s review where he called this first track “a huge disappointment”.  But, I also agree with him where he called song #4, “Despicable”, the best song on the record.  Hands down, this was my favorite cut also due to its emphatically cool beat.  The creative use of sound is so original here and so inventive that it just leaves a good taste of music in your ears.  Track three, “Run”, offers what I’d like to call a lunacy of sound with a ridiculous array of distortion in full effect.  Song five, “Stillness”, is exactly that with a nice & quaint moment on the piano played by Elwood Emission.  The EP ends on a fantastical note with “Divine” where you get a sense that Elwood Emission & Lucy Kalantari are mystic beings here to make enchantingly obscure music for the world.  Overall, I think this EP has some real potential and stands out in a crowd, but I wasn’t quite ready to step forward and meet this head on yet.  Elwood Emission seems to be an acquired taste, but I think in time Lucy K. will satisfy many anxious listeners.  Maybe myself included, who knows???

For more on Elwood Emission and their latest EP, Ode to the Ego, SKOPE out www.myspace.com/elwoodemission.

By Jimmy Rae

http://skopemag.com/2009/09/22/elwood-emission-ode-to-the-ego