If It's Too Loud...

Busy week this week, apologies for the half-effort First Listen. Just WAY TOO MUCH MUSIC. Album of the Week * Esme Bridie - Today It Rains : Out of nowhere came this absolutely gorgeous album. A little on the pop folk side, Esme has a really strong and confident voice and presents a series of songs that remind me so much of some of my favorite folk acts. If you haven’t become enamoured with what she is doing by the time “Tower of Regret” comes along, I don’t know what to tell you. Easily the best of the week, and right at the top of my list for 2018 so far. Must Listens: * Squirrel Nut Zippers – Beasts of Burgundy : Back after what feels like forever, and it doesn’t appear that they’ve missed a beat. * Dom Flemons – Black Cowboys : An album of standards and old-timey roots music, a great indication as to why he’s one of the best going right now. * The Tillers – The Tillers : Traditional bluegrass with a more modern attitude. Extremely enjoyable. * Cavern of Anti-Matter ...

This is a weird week of "Very Good." Album of the Week : Artist : Carrie Rodriguez Album : Lola Quick Description : Veteran rootsy singer-songwriter goes a little political and a lot bilingual in a collection of originals and Mexican classics. Why You Should Listen : You enjoyed, for example, Leyla McCalla's album from a while back, and don't mind some Spanish language in your Tex-Mex. Overall Thoughts : I won't lie, I do tend to struggle with non-English lyrics in my music. I don't pay attention to lyrics much as it is, but the ability to sing along even if I'm not paying too much notice to the words is always a plus. I've been a fan of Carrie Rodriguez for some time now even though I'm not great at keeping up with her output, and even the album cover alone demands some attention. The English language songs shine through quite a bit here, for sure - "Z" is a smirking take on racial perceptions and country music in general, ...