If It's Too Loud...

Busiest week in a while, so we're splitting this up a bit. More tomorrow! Album of the Week : Artist : Kitty Album : Miami Garden Club Quick Description : 90s-tinged electro-pop. Why You Should Listen : This is an unexpected delight. Overall Thoughts : I don’t know how I tripped up on Kitty however long ago, but while the rest of the musical universe is tripping over itself for their take on the new Taylor Swift song (short answer: it’s not great, but it's catchy as all get out), here’s Kitty doing some really interesting indie electro-pop with a 1990s-era sensibility that I fear is going to be completely ignored. Kitty isn’t reinventing the wheel at all here, but she is doing a good job working within the existing tropes to develop something worth your time whether you’re a fan of the genre or not. I love this album quite a bit, and I keep thinking about it long after I first heard it. Recommendation : Absolutely worth it this week, one of the best listens of the m...

A supergroup consisting of members of Sleater-Kinney and R.E.M. is pretty much a dream match up around these parts, Jeff being obsessed with R.E.M. and me being obsessed with Sleater-Kinney. Filthy Friends is just that, featuring Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney on vocals and R.E.M.'s Peter Buck on guitar. The band also features Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows, R.E.M.) on bass and keyboards, Kurt Boch (Young Fresh Fellows, Fastbacks) on guitar, and drums by Bill Rieflin (R.E.M., Ministry, Revolting Cocks). The pedigree of this band is insane. Their Record Store Day contribution, "Any Kind of Crowd," is now being offered digitally. If the phrase "Sleater-Kinney/R.E.M. supergroup" appeals to you, you're pretty much guaranteed to like it. The single goes a little more on the lighter, 90s poppier side of R.E.M. instead of the heavier Sleater-Kinney side of things. That's a bit of a disappointment for me (and probably a dream for Jeff), but the b-side,...