If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Puspa Lohmeyer You might know Brian Lopez best as the guitarist for Calexico, but his solo albums have been released to wide acclaim as well. His latest solo single, "3000 Stories," is a gorgeous and lush cinematic song. It keeps his desert roots intact while being a quietly gigantic song. It's a relatively simple song that seems to keep building and building, adding new elements while just keeping the main root of the song completely together. "3000 Stories" is the kind of song that's going to require multiple listens. You won't realize how much is going on after just the first one, and the more you listen, the more there is to discover here. You can listen to "3000 Stories" below. Tidal will be due out this summer on Fort Lowell Records. For more on Brian Lopez, check out the artist's website . Upcoming tour dates are below the song. Feb 14 Tue - Lodge Room Highland Park - Los Angeles, CA Feb 15 Wed - Belly Up - Solana Beach, CA ...

Forgotten Fridays is an occasional feature here at If It’s Too Loud... where we go back and find the lost records of our glory days. We played these on our college radio shows, put them on countless mix tapes, and then forgot they existed. We go back and remind you of their existence, and help decide if they were any good. Bill Janovitz has a handful of solo albums out. Way back in 1996 saw the release of his first solo album, Lonesome Billy. The songs on Lonesome Billy were mostly songs written for Buffalo Tom but didn't quite fit in. It's easy to see why. While the album's opener, "Girl's Club," has some of Buffalo Tom's trademark noise mixed into their 90's alt-rock sound, the very next song, "Think of All," is purely a folk/country song. Looking back, a lot of this sound has worked its way into Buffalo Tom, but in 1996 this was almost a complete departure. "Shoulder" sounds like it could be a demo for a Buffalo Tom song, but...

Artist : NADINE Album : oh my Quick Description : Weird artsy folky stuff. Why You Should Listen : It's going to be different than most of this week's releases. Overall Thoughts : An interesting folkish release this week that kind of came out of nowhere for me. Nadine has an interesting voice, and the songs are well-crafted on a whole. My criticism is that there’s nothing here that makes this record stand out the way similar albums from Bedouine or Julien Baker did last year. It needs to stand out more, and this doesn’t quite get there. Don’t skip this if you like the folkier stuff, but you may end up wanting more. Recommendation : Worth your time. Artist : Silvia Kastel Album : Air Lows Quick Description : Weird, Peaks y electronic music. Why You Should Listen : You're looking for a challenge. Overall Thoughts : I don’t have a lot to say about this one, except as a fan of the esoteric electronic stuff this absolutely scratched my itch in this area this wee...

Much better than last week, for sure, but the gap between the good and not so good is very vast this week. Ava Luna - Infinite House : I shouldn't really trash this week's release slate and then come around with Ava Luna first, as the album is actually pretty decent if not a little/lot difficult. It reminds me as a good extension of their previous stuff, but it's still not entirely for me, if you get my gist. Worth a listen this week, though, you'll know very quickly if it's your cup of tea. Kym Warner - Everything That Brought Me Here : One of the best releases of the week is the debut album by Greencards member Kym Warner, basically an instrumental bluegrass affair that is simply beautiful from start to finish. Balances the stark and the full sounds completely, and is just a really pretty record that is surprising to me in how high-quality it ended up being, especially as I tend to trend a little negative on instrumental stuff overall. It's not a class...

Here in the Northeast, festival season is officially over. The Newport Folk Festival is always a consistent highlight, and I hate having to wait an entire year between festivals. I know some of you aren't local to New England, or weren't able to get tickets since this year sold out months in advance. Luckily for you, there is finally an alternative. Next weekend (October 5 and 6) marks the inaugural Way Over Yonder Festival. This will take place at the world famous Santa Monica Pier. Way Over Yonder is definitely starting out smaller than Newport, but the line up is fantastic, at the very least. I mean, seriously? Saturday, October 5                                           Sunday,  October 6 Neko Case           ...