If It's Too Loud...

There's already been an excellent documentary about Daniel Johnston (2005's The Devil and Daniel Johnston ), and now we're getting a short film starring Daniel Jonhston. Directed by Gabriel Sunday, Hi, How Are You will be "...  a musical tale of an aging artist encountering psychedelic dreams, nightmares, and characters from his past." What's getting the most attention on the interwebs have been the celebrity backers. Frat rapper Mac Miller coughed up $10,000 for an executive producer credit. Lana Del Rey (she of insane internet overhype followed by insane internet hate over a mediocre at worst SNL appearance) also donated huge. Johnston has always had huge supporters in the world of music, and it's actually great to see a younger generation embrace him so strongly. For more information on the film, head on over to the Kickstarter page .

A slow new release week with the holiday season in play. Billie Joe & Norah - Foreverly : The oddest, best release this week is a team-up between Billie Joe Armstrong (of Green Day) and Norah Jones called Foreverly , a collection of old-time country songs popularlized by the Everly Brothers. As someone who hit his teen years around the same time Green Day's Dookie hit the top of the charts, I didn't really know what to make of this when I first learned of it, and the fact that it's not only competent, but actually pretty great, is a shock to me. Armstrong really turns down the punk affectations and Jones, who has already done some genre hopping of her own, feels as if she's driving the car in this one. This is absolutely worth a listen, it's definitely one of the more interesting pieces of the last year. Ken also noted his surprise at the quality in a post about a month ago given the announcement of the single. Alt-J - Summer EP : Alt-J had my favorit...

Ten years ago, Boston rapper/producer/ex-WFNX dj D-Tension had a conversation with Aaron Perrino of The Sheila Divine and Dear Leader , and came up with the idea for Secret Project. Secret Project  is an album produced by D-Tension featuring vocals from many Boston area indie rockers. The idea is about to become a reality, with the video for the first single, "Can You Stand It," being released. With vocals by Ad Frank, it's a synth and keytar heavy song with a cool, fun groove. It definitely makes me want to hear more, especially since the rest of the album includes tracks featuring Aaron Perrino, Alex Stern of Big D & the Kids Table , Kevin Stevenson of The Shods , Stephie Coplan , and more. There's also a Kickstarter to help finish the album which also contributes to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Definitely check it out!

I've mentioned here and there about my mid-to-late 1990s electronica/techno addiction I went through. I enjoyed groups like Orbital quite a bit, but it was ultimately the more difficult/interesting artists like Aphex Twin that stuck with me as I transitioned to more of an indie rock listening trajectory. I always kept some of the electronic love in my back pocket (Of Montreal's electro phase was a solid time for me), but it's only fairly recently that I've come back into the fold a little more significantly. I was never much into trance or big beat type stuff. I enjoyed a good deal of house music, and today's house-influenced pop is really great, but the dubstep/brostep thing leaves me cold. Meanwhile, a band I knew of but never ever listened to, Boards of Canada, released their first album in eight years this year with Tomorrow's Harvest . I was interested in listening to it, but since I'm more or less an exclusive Spotify listener and basically none...

I was beginning to think I was destined to never see Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside. I missed their set at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival, and even though they had played in Massachusetts 3 times this year, none worked out with my life. I was thrilled to see they were playing the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge . It seemed like an odd venue that would be way too small for them (it allegedly holds 80 people, but it always seems more like 30-40 to me). Sure, it was a Wednesday night, but I obviously had to go. On their Dirty Radio and Untamed Beast , Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside are an amazing amalgam of white girl soul, rockabilly, and indie rock. Live her voice is absolutely striking, with more than a hint of Eartha Kitt’s sultry purr to it. At the Lizard Lounge, there really is no stage, just an area surrounded by reserved seating tables where the band sets up. The intimate setting feels more like you’re hanging out and watching people you know play, so the few mista...

A slow new release week as we start looking toward the holiday season. Various Artists - Rockin' Legends Pay Tribute to Jack White : Out of left field for me this week was this tribute album to Jack White (The White Stripes, The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs) with cover versions by old country rock artists. You might not think you want to hear Gary U. S. Bonds performing "Salute Your Solution" or Sonny Burgess doing "Steady As She Goes," but this is a surprisingly fun collection of cover songs, and really highlights the bluesy, rootsy origin of Jack White's songwriting. It's pretty solid, and it's worth a listen if you're a fan of Jack White in any permutation. I'd personally love to see a Volume 2. Beady Eye - BE : In the War of the Oasis Brothers, I am firmly on Team Noel. I'm Team Noel to the point where I really don't want to like Beady Eye, and got disproportionately angry when Beady Eye performed Oasis songs at the Olympi...

When we started this blog, I was worried we'd turn into a Boston-centric blog, since so many of the bands Jeff and I like are from Boston, it's so much easier to discover new bands from where you're from, and being from the Boston area leads to an insane level of homer-ism. Lately I've been receiving so many submissions from fantastic Minnesota bands, I'm starti ng to have the opposite concern. What is going on in Minnesota that is birthing all these great rock bands? Singer/guitarist Drew Forsberg used to record under the name The Persian Leaps for years, but never shared his music until 2012 when he joined with Brad Hendrickson, Michael McCloskey, and Neil McCloskey.  Back in August, The Persian Leaps released their debut offering, Praise Elephants. It's five songs of fuzzy, heartfelt rock with its roots in predecessors such as The Afghan Whigs or The Sheila Divine. "Silent Treatment" is by far my favorite. With its gang vocals saved for verses...

A lot to get to, and a delay at that? No wasting time! Lady Gaga - Artpop : Lady Gaga has transformed from pop princess to strange cultural touchstone to some sort of avant garde performance art project. Artpop , when taken in the context of her increased interest in a lot of the sort of postmodern, outsider art, is an interesting listen if only because it's so weird in the context of top 40 pop music. I say "interesting" because the album itself isn't really good musically, and I say this as someone who was a fan of her first two albums. This isn't to say there aren't highlights ("Manicure," "Donatella," "Dope") but if you're expecting a "Telephone" or "Poker Face," you're going to be disappointed. On the other hand, I'm probably the only one who would be reading this site and saying "hm, I think I want to know more about the new Lady Gaga album," so maybe I'll just move on... ...

I'll admit it: I really knew The Cockney Rejects more as a name than as an actual band before watching the movie. East End Babylon: The Story of the Cockney Rejects  works perfectly as a primer for people just discovering the band as it does for die hard fans looking to hear the whole story. It starts off focusing on West Ham, the area of London the band is from, and the economic hardships it was facing around the time the band formed. The Rejects got started off in one of the most classically punk ways possible: They claimed they were a band even though they had never played and didn't have a drummer, but somehow ended up with studio time to record. The band's rise to popularity coinciding perfectly with West Ham United winning the FA Championship in 1980, right when they recorded a punk version of West Ham's fight song, "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles." Think Dropkick Murphys recording "Tessie" in 2004, but the one difference is The Dropkick co...

Back in the 90s, Ben Kweller wasn’t a solo artist, but the lead singer/guitarist of Radish, a Texas based grunge (for lack of a better term) band. I don’t remember really having an opinion on Radish at the time, except that I didn’t like them, and I just lumped them in with Silverchair. On a lark I decided to give their major label debut, Restraining Bolt , a listen. It’s far better than I remember it being. Most reviews at the time call Radish some variation of “Weezer Jr.,” based mostly on the fact that Kweller was 16 at the time, and they play crunchy alternative rock. They’re far more aggressive and nowhere near as quirky as Weezer were at the time, so that’s really where the comparisons end. Radish also pull apart from the 3 rd generation Pearl Jam rip offs of the time by not being quite as moody and being far more upbeat. However, Radish just lacks the fun of Kweller’s solo music. I’m guessing that stems from being 16 and wanting to be taken seriously as an artist, but ...

Monday night shows are always iffy, especially for “classic” bands. Most of my Sebadoh loving friends (ok, ALL of my Sebadoh loving friends) have passed the no going out that early in a work week stage, and I was curious how the show would go, especially after hearing about a Fountains of Wayne/Soul Asylum/Evan Dando triple bill back on a Monday night in September that ended up being ½ full. All 3 of those acts had more commercial success than Sebadoh, but apparently Sebadoh breeds more loyalty since The Sinclair was roughly ¾ full, with the majority being older fans, so luckily the Creepy Old Guy Factor was non-existent. I had never heard of Octagrape before seeing that they were opening for Sebadoh. I meant to pop into The Sinclair maybe half way through their set just to check them out, but ended up in the area earlier than I expected, so I wandered in early while they were still setting up. Seeing as how they sometimes write out their name as “Octa#grape,” I assumed they ...

Chicago trio Circles (featuring members of Ponys, France Has the Bomb, and Radar Eyes) released their debut EP over the summer called Are You Watching the Masters? Because the Masters Are Watching You. It features some of the jangliest indie pop I've heard in a long, long time, reminiscent of bands like Guided By Voices and Apples in Stereo. You get a great, upbeat mixture, followed by a wall of distortion and noise that is seemingly unexpected. Melissa Elias and R. Srini share lead vocal duties and complement each other quite well. "Curses" is without a doubt my favorite, nodding heavily to Regretfully Yours era Superdrag. If you long for fuzzed out indie pop, definitely check them out. There's not much info available online for Circles, but they do have a Bandcamp where you can stream/download Are You Watching the Masters? Because the Masters Are Watching You.

Another slow week for those uninterested in pseudo-comeback albums from your favorite white rapper from high school/college. We'll avoid that in favor of a few others: Midlake - Antiphon : Midlake is back after a while with Antiphon . I got into Midlake thanks to an Amie Street sale way back when, and they are a deceptively complex indie rock/folk group with an extremely recognizable sound. No song jumps out at me as something above and beyond for Antiphon , but no single Midlake song ever has for me. They've always been an album experience, and this is no different. I'm not sure if I like it or love it or I'm just glad it's there, but it's one of the highlights of the week. Cut Copy - Free Your Mind : I am embarrassed because I thought Cut Copy was Hot Chip (of "Ready for the Floor" fame), and they're not. In a way, I might actually like Cut Copy more based off a first listen of this album, which is 80s electro-pop done right with some c...

I had kind of forgotten about Magik Markers, kind of assuming they had broken up a few years ago. I first discovered them opening for the first Dinosaur Jr reunion tour back in 2005. Back then, they played a 20 minute set consisting of exactly one free form song. Photo credit Art-Utility "Bonfire" is a complete departure from that era of Magik Markers, seeing as the video clocks in at 2 minutes, 40 seconds. They lost a bit of their charm for me once they started releasing traditional albums with, you know, songs, I got over that relatively quickly and embraced their newer material. "Bonfire" is about as mainstream as Magik Markers can get, being the catchiest noise rock I've heard possibly ever. Drums an frontwoman Elisa Ambrogio 's vocals take the forefront which results in something you can almost dance to. Magik Markers' new album, Surrender to Fantasy , comes out on 11/19. Head on over to their page on Drag City Records' website for more d...

To say Yoko Ono isn't my thing is an understatement of epic proportions. However, her video for "Bad Dancer" deserves some attention, just because of the guest stars it features. I'll take any peek into what Ad Rock and Mike D of the Beastie Boys are doing, and when you add Ira Glass of This American Life, Questlove of the Roots, Roberta Flack, and others into the mix, you'll want to watch it at least once. The video features Ono and her cohorts all dancing badly, which sounds (and is) super cheesy, but it also ends up being a lot of fun, which isn't a side of Ono you get to see a lot. Will the song make anyone's best of 2013 list? Nope. Is it worth checking out in between cat videos on a Tuesday morning? Yeah, sure. Why not?

Every month, Amazon.com puts up 100 albums for $5 each. Ones that may be of interest to readers: * The 1975 - The 1975 * Mazzy Star - The Seasons of Your Day * Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man * Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around * Foster the People - Torches * Collective Soul - 7even Year Itch * They Might Be Giants - Nanobots * Cake - Fashion Nugget * Childish Gambino - Camp * Ice Cube - Greatest Hits * Silversun Pickups - Neck of the Woods * A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory * Sea Wolf - Old World Romance * Andrew Bird - Fingerlings 2 * Minus the Bear - Infinity Overhead * Butch Walker and the Black Widows - Spade * Editors - The Weight of Your Love * The Vaccines - Come of Age * Destroyer - Kaputt * T. Hardy Morris - Audition Tapes