If It's Too Loud...

Album of the Week : Artist : Mal Blum Album : You Look a Lot Like Me Quick Description : First album on Don Giovanni from the indie rock singer-songwriter, produced by Marissa Paternoster of Screaming Females. Why You Should Listen : It's unlike anything released as of late; you enjoy up-front vocals and confessional-style songwriting. Overall Thoughts : This album surprised me in part because I didn't know what to expect, and in part because what I ended up with was something a lot more interesting and enjoyable than I anticipated. You won't find a lot of Screaming Females influence on here, and it's perhaps closer to Courtney Barnett than your standard indie rock women, but this is still a must listen for this week overall. One of the better albums I've heard of late. Recommendation : Solid release, definitively my favorite of the week. Artist : Eagles of Death Metal Album : Zipper Down Quick Description : Fourth album from the Queens of the Stone Ag...

We kick off our Best of 2014 coverage today with a look at my favorite EP releases of the year. I'll count down a few highlights and leave a few others: The Red-Headed Indian - Honey : I was really, really excited about this EP when it was first released, and I'm still really into it today. Every time I listen to it, whether in full or to the individual songs, I find something new to love and a new favorite song on the release (today it's "January"). Overall, this is my favorite non-album release this year by a wide, wide margin and I'm really excited to see what Caroline Kingsbury has coming up next. Robyn & Royksopp - Do It Again : "Do It Again" might be one of my favorite songs of the year regardless of anything else, but this whole EP is a great mix of electronica and pop music that hopefully sets up more great collaborations like this. A great little dance EP that is just long enough to boot. Lewis and Leigh - Night Drives : Every...

Allison Weiss's Say What You Mean is not the best album of 2013 in my view, but it's absolutely my favorite. This was another Spotify discovery recommendation, as I was fully engrossed in Jenny Owen Youngs at the time and the app recommended I try this album. I'm so glad I did. The album is wall-to-wall indie power pop, alt-rock chick at its finest. Much like the Lisa Loeb album discussed earlier, the album is just pitch-perfect from the start, with both slower songs and more upbeat tunes landing in the right spot. Spotify has been great for this album, as there's an entire alternate take of the album available as well as some EPs with early versions of the songs. If you want a good hint as to what you're getting into, "I Was An Island," "Making It Up," and "One Way Love" are all solid choices, but this album should really just be in your standard rotation regardless. You can stream the whole thing below:

As I'm prone to do four or so times a year, I like to highlight some of the best music to come out in recent months. While I was really high on the first quarter of the year , the spring season of releases honestly left quite a bit to be desired. While we got a great song out of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky," I feel as if it's been slim pickings on the music front as of late. Even if the new Jay-Z and Kanye albums are interesting , that doesn't necessarily mean I rank them as great , after all. With that said, some highlights: * Allison Weiss - Making It Up : I'll usually give any female-fronted alt-rock a listen, and Allison Weiss is a total 90s power-pop throwback. She's toured with Jenny Owen Youngs, which makes sense, and she makes some of the catchiest songs I've heard in some time. If you're a fan of Fountains of Wayne, or Veruca Salt, or excellent guitar-based rock with a female singer (or heck, even a good singer), you're not go...