If It's Too Loud...

Sorry for two weeks of quick hits in a row - I was out of town at a wedding, so I was unable to do as much prep. Should be back on course next week. Must-Listens : * Dusty Stray - Estranged * K Michelle Dubois - Harness * The Watson Twins - Duo * Yowler - Black Dog in My Path * Arc Iris - Icon of Ego * Anna St. Louis - If Only There Was a River * Matthew Dear - Bunny Of note : * Adwaith - Melyn * John Hiatt - The Eclipse Sessions * Tom Morello - The Atlas Underground (very polarizing) * Ben Katzman's DeGreaser - Quarter Life Crisis * The Persian Leaps - Pop That Goes Crunch * Haley - Pleasureland * Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - Rocket * Jess Glynne - Always In Between EPs : * Young Jesus - The Whole Thing is Just Here * Live - Local 717 * Alexa Melo - Mute EP Also out : * Blues Traveler - Hurry Up & Hang Around * Tom Robbins and Ben Lee - B is for Beer: The Musical * Django Django - Marble Skies * Young the Giant - Mirror Master * Elvi...

We've got a lot of albums out this week! Enough where we're gonna split this onto two days... Album of the Week : Artist : Thalia Zedek Band Album : Eve Quick Description : Latest album from an artist widely considered to be an underground legend. Why You Should Listen : Best release of the week from an artist that should be heard anyway. Overall Thoughts : I blame myself for not having any prior knowledge of Thalia Zedek or any of the bands she was in. Ken sent this over, though, and wow . This is a methodical, enjoyable listen from start to finish, feeling both complex and straightforward in its structure. The term "underground" often carries harder punkish connotations, but this feels more like some well-structured indie rock than anything, and it hit just right for me. Absolutely worth your time this week. Recommendation : A must listen. Artist : AJJ (Andrew Jackson Jihad) Album : The Bible 2 Quick Description : Latest album from the folk punk a...

The Green River Festival is now less than 4 weeks away, and they've announced their daily schedule, and as always, there are some decisions to be made. While I love the multiple stages of festivals, and I love having options for when there's an artist on I can't get into, I hate  having to decide between two favorite artists. The biggest for me is deciding between J Mascis and Lydia Loveless. J Mascis is a decades long favorite of mine, and Lydia Loveless is a year long absolute obsession. I've seen Mascis solo a handful of times, and I've never seen Loveless, so you'd think this would be an easy choice. But this is J Mascis  we're talking about. Luckily, they only have a 15 minute overlap so it'll just have to be a last minute decision on what to miss.  Of course, there's also the overlap between Polaris and Langhorne Slim & The Law, which is almost a complete time for time overlap. I discovered The Adventures of Pete and Pete  in my 30s, ...

Some of the albums we missed over the last few months... Mr Little Jeans - Pocketknife : Mr Little Jeans has been a blogosphere favorite for a while, largely due to her cover of Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" a few years back. I loved "Runaway" when she released it as a single a while back, and we finally get a full length that is very techno-aligned along with the songs that have put her on the map. If there's a downside to the album it's that some of these songs have existed for a very long time now and thus the album doesn't feel terribly new from start to finish, but it's still a minor complaint for what is really a solid listen from top to bottom. Future Islands - Singles : Chances are you've probably already heard of this album, or at least the single "Seasons (Waiting on You)" via their fairly incredible David Letterman performance . While the sort of dark new wave thing doesn't always do it for me, this album is rea...