If It's Too Loud...

Artist : Gillian Welch and David Rawlings Album : Woodland Quick Thoughts : Gillian Welch continues to be the standard-bearer for mainstream rootsy folk music, and this latest collaboration with David Rowlings does not have the hollow, stark feel of All the Good Times (Are Past & Gone) , but still feels pure and true regardless of what her early or persistent critics may think. If anything, Welch is too good at this, and we should simply be glad we're still getting new music from her on a regular basis again. Songs of Note : "Empty Trainload of Sky," "What We Had," "North Country," "The Day the Mississippi Died," "Howdy Howdy" Artist : Little Hag Album : Now That's What I Call Little Hag Quick Thoughts : The debut release from Little Hag, with "Tetris" and "Facebook," won us over immediately. The debut, Leash , was a favorite in these parts as well. Then comes Now That's What I Call Little H...

Doing Anything this Weekend? is a feature here at If It's Too Loud... where we feature some live shows in and on the far outskirts of the Boston area. Our main rules are that they have to be reasonably priced shows that you can attend last minute. They'll feature If It's Too Loud... approved bands, and we'll provide event links when possible. And since we're in outdoor music season, these events are weather permitting. If you're looking for last minute plans this weekend, we recommend: Friday August 30 The Sheila Divine, Arto Vaun, and Dyr Faser at Deep Cuts, Medford, MA Cakeswagg and DJ Whysham at Sonia, Cambridge, MA The Rock Dwellers, Modern Fools, and Noble Dust at Auspicious Brew, Dover, NH Highwater Haulers, Brightwire, and Wyn & The White Light at Askew, Providence, RI Coral Moons, Talk Chalk, and Lady Pills at The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA Smif-N-Wesson, STL GLD, and Tem Blessed & Blessed Energy at Off the Common, Greenfield, MA Burp, SuckerPunch, ...

Frank Turner Photo by Taylor Hill Selects Saturday's Boston Calling had a bit of a musical theme. Friday's "I Hate Boston" and "Good Tits, Big Heart" shirts were replaced with tie dye and cowboy hats (especially the free Miller Lite ones being handed out). The day was a bit more mellow with a country/folk/jam band sort of theme with some exceptions to the full day of music. Here are some of our highlights. Senseless Optimism Senseless Optimism had a tough crowd to win over, as she was mostly playing to Frank Turner and Trey Anastasio fans making sure they had a spot up front. She quickly won over the crowd with her unique style, and the fact that she's one of the most engaging live artists in Boston today. Her style encompasses so many different genres to make her sound that it almost works in every setting. It fit it smoothly enough for both the jam band fans and the folk-punkers to get into it. She also busted out a wildly unhinged cover of Led Zeppeli...

Ok, so we've probably all seen the line up for Boston Calling this year, and we all feel how we feel about the headliners. But, if you look further down, they absolutely killed it this year for local artists! Friday has hip hop artist Kei (who might legit blow every other artist off the stage this year!), the indie rock/pop hybrid of JVK, and the perfect folk of The Wolff Sisters! Saturday has one of the premier singer/-songwriters in town with Senseless Optimism, the unique hip hop of Cakeswagg, and the country & western meets rock 'n' roll of Ward Hayden & The Outliers! Sunday is no slouch with severely underrated rapper Billy Dean Thomas and the mighty Tysk Tysk Task! Plus, she's not local but Blondshell is back in Boston playing a much larger stage than her headlining set at The Middle East Upstairs over the summer! For more details and to sign up for tickets, head on over to Boston Calling's website .