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Press Sheet
Download Press Sheet PDF: privateeleanorpress08.pdf (124KB)
Print-Quality Photos
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Band Full Color: |
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Band photo credit: Marian April Glebes
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Sweethearting cover image |
PRESS QUOTES/REVIEWS
Reviews of Sweethearting (2007):
Baltimore City Paper: "The drizzly, cinematic sweep of Stahl's road-weary, twentysomething heartbreak is more sharply observed than ever... Each song works beautifully as a little standalone slice of baroque indie-pop."
Noise (CP blog): "Easily the band’s best sounding album to date... There are some new kinks in the band's sound, like the jangly "Weeds," with its 7/8 time signature and tasty high-hat patterns."
Big Takeover: "Baltimore's best surprisingly top their quietly sparkling No Straight Lines. Sweethearting ups the ante... behind production so lush, firm, and warm, it takes over rooms." [also see Big T site]
Palebear: "Godamn this band is really good... Topping the list of bands they sound like is American Analog Set, [but] actually, in some instances, PE’s songs sound even prettier and more delicate."
QROmag: "Baltimore isn’t exactly a renowned city, but Private Eleanor could help change that with their fourth album of nu-gaze harmonies, Sweethearting."
BrightestYoungThings.com: "Built upon sturdy melodies and the type of harmonies rarely practiced these days, they dared to be genuine and pretty, hurt and poppy, confused yet direct. They made pop that the likes of Teenage Fanclub and Mojave 3 would happily call their own."
Pasta Primavera: "...savvy folk pop melodies with genuine lyrics and heartfelt performances. Truly a gem of 2007."
Instrumental Analysis: "Subtle folk-pop that could be the soundtrack for early in the morning or a rainy day."
Any Given Tuesday: "Born of a poetic talent, the words to the story that is Sweethearting evade the wooden quality of common pop lyrics... Put this album on, and remember why it's fine to feel down once in a while."
Smother.net: Editor's Pick: "Sort of an indie pop answer to Yo La Tengo and Wilco, Private Eleanor shines through the murky dark waters of folk-pop with whispers of emotion and raw attitude. Baltimore’s finest? You betcha."
Olympus Mons: "It’s mildly refreshing to hear a dreamy pop band these days... These 5 Baltimoreans are really adding something to the music of this diverse city."
MetroMusicScene: "This shimmering indie-pop confection gets its sweet goodness from the ethereal male/female harmonies of Austin Stahl and Marian Glebes, along with those glistening keyboard lines."
On Tap: 3.5 out of 4: "Private Eleanor evoke the confident, mature sound of artists such as Red House Painters and the late Elliott Smith... The new record is an assured display of subtlety and craftsmanship." [also see On Tap site]
Independent Clauses: "Private Eleanor is a cut above... Their songwriting is precise and poetic."
Delusions of Adequacy: "Sweethearting is self-assured and lively, exhibiting both sonic depth and a multi-faceted, engaging lyrical style."
Reviews of No Straight Lines (2005):
75orless.com: "In the most complimentary sense, this could have been the final album Elliott Smith should have made."
The Big Takeover: "Hushed yet adamant whisper-folk-pop... Not far from where [Teenage Fanclub] have only now alighted... Recommended."
Baltimore City Paper: "No Straight Lines is an exceptionally well-produced record, 40-plus minutes of long-drive-with-nothing-to-talk-about mood food... Pretty darn affecting."
Dagger: "A serious new talent... The sound they have created is spare and lovely. No Straight Lines is a gentle, moving pop record that needs more ears listening to it."
Independent Clauses: "An infectious, engaging indie rock album with a certain something to the sound that is all their own... For anyone who is into indie rock in the vein of Death Cab for Cutie or Bright Eyes, but with a soothing undertone like that of The Shins, Private Eleanor’s No Straight Lines is not a CD to be missed."
Narrowcast: Top 10 Baltimore Albums of 2005; Top 20 Live Shows of 2005
Urbanite
Magazine
Smother.net
babysue/LMNOP.com
Mundane
Sounds
IndiePages
IndieLaunchpad.com
Palebear.com
Copacetic
Zine
Space
City Rock
Reviews of An Audiography of Prohibited Sounds (2004):
Left Off The Dial: "...something increasingly rare and special: music that is as intensely personal as it is strange and different."
Splendid E-zine: "...a veritable garden of indie delights. Hushed and noisy, organic and machine-like, contemplative and volatile, An Audiography of Prohibited Sounds is the kind of record home-recording equipment was made to produce."
Reviews of My Pious Friends and Drunken Companions (2003):
Splendid E-zine: "...a beautiful piece of understatement that propels itself forward without bowling us over... Compelling, intimate and undeniably worthy of repeated listens."
Baltimore City Paper: "[With] his precocious knack for finding an irresistible hook in shards of swirling noises - as on the sublime surge that revs up the cautionary tale 'Photocopy of a Photocopy of a Photograph' - Stahl hits a pleasure center in the brain that's his and his alone."
Reviews of Deciduous (2002):
Splendid E-zine: "Deciduous is an album full of elegant grace, intelligent lyricism and subtle structure. Stahl has strung together a long thread of small, warm gems, each one full of miniature poetic treasures and compact, elegant melodies."
The Big Takeover: "...an obviously talented singer-songwriter that has rekindled my faith in home recording artists."
Articles and Interviews
• Interview: BrightestYoungThings.com, 2/08: Read
article
• "Meet the Band" feature: Baltimore Sun, 12/05:
Read article
• Feature article: Baltimore City Paper, 5/04: Read
article
• "Best of Baltimore" winner: City Paper,
9/03: Read
article
• Article/Critic's Pick: Columbia (SC) Free Times, 2/05: Read
article
• Interview: Columbiatunes.com, 2/05: Read
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• Interview: Howard County Times, 10/03: Read
article