If It's Too Loud...

A busier than normal week, so I'm splitting this into two days. Album of the Week : Artist : Sallie Ford Album : Soul Sick Quick Description : New album from a favorite here that will just have you asking "Sallie, who hurt you and how can we destroy them?" Why You Should Listen : Sallie Ford somehow improved on what she was doing, and she was already doing some amazing stuff. Overall Thoughts : Man, Sallie Ford's been through from stuff, huh? That was really my first reaction as I listened to this album, a bunch of songs that feel confessional, that drip with hurt and pain, that just feel really heavy. And yet this ends up being beautiful with a lot of inspirational tones and gorgeous music. The whole sort of bluesy thing she was doing takes a bit of a backseat here, but this isn't some sort of singer-songwritery acoustic "woe is me" record, either. It's something a lot more special than that, and it's something everyone really just n...

Photo by Steve Gullick Folk music can be pretty varied nowadays, but it usually has one thing in common: It sounds nice. It's a pleasant, non-abrasive genre of music. Well... that's not really the case with Duke Garwood's "Coldblooded the Return." That's not to say Garwood sounds bad. His voice is pleasant enough, and it's not like he's mixing folk and noise punk. But... there's just something uncomfortable in his music. It's brooding and dark and just... unpleasant. But it's so good. You want to know how unpleasant his music can feel? Another song, "Sleep," draws from the writings of Werner Herzog. Garwood himself refers to this album as "Beautiful apocalypse love music." Duke Garwood's new album, Garden of Ashes , will be out February 3 on Heavenly Recordings. You can listen to "Coldblooded the Return" below and pre-order your copy of the album here . For more information on Garwood, check out his...