If It's Too Loud...

Artist : Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Album : Weathervanes Quick Thoughts : Jason Isbell is considered one of our great modern country songwriters for good reason, but this new album is a real step up across the board. Easily my favorite thing he's put out - if you can't listen to "Death Wish" without feeling something, anything at all, I don't know what to tell you. One of the best of the week, best of the month, maybe even one of the best of the year. Just a tremendous effort. Songs of Note : "White Beretta," "Death Wish," "Save the World," "Cast Iron Skillet," "This Ain't It" Artist : TEKE::TEKE Album : Hagata Quick Thoughts : We've been progressively more obsessed with TEKE::TEKE upon each new release. This latest effort is just wonderful, with a great parade of great songs right off the top that don't let up. TEKE::TEKE is likely one of the best kept secrets in music right now, so don...

I've been praising Prescott Park Arts Festival since the very beginning of If It's Too Loud... They always book a bunch of artists we love, and there's just something great about watching a world class artist play for a $7.00 donation on the Portsmouth, NH waterfront in the summer. It's especially great since a lot of artists they book tend to normally charge more than I'm comfortable paying for a concert. In the past I've seen Carolina Chocolate Drops, Nikki Lane, Deer Tick, David Wax Museum, Shovels & Rope, Steve Earle, and Mavis Staples here, and every show is always a highlight of my summer. This year year they've only announced three shows so far, but all three could easily be the highlights of the entire season: Jenny Lewis: June 16 Drive-By Truckers: June 30 Conor Oberst: July 17 For more information on the Prescott Park Arts Festival, be sure to check out their website .

Photo via Facebook An absolute favorite here at If It's Too Loud... since our very beginning has been Tristen. News started spreading earlier this year that she had an album coming out at some point this year, and we're thrilled to have a new song from it. "Glass Jar" is a little more like her 2011 alt-pop country album Charlatans at the Gate than 2013's more dance friendly Caves. (Has it really been 4 years since we got a new album from Tristen???) There are still some of the more dance and pop friendly elements left over from Caves  to make anyone who discovered her with that album happy. Plus, "Glass Jar" features vocals from Jenny Lewis, so the new album could be what finally makes Tristen an (almost) household name. You can watch the video for "Glass Jar" below. Trsiten's new album, Sneaker Waves , will be out July 7 on Modern Outsider Records, so we don't even have that long of a wait. For more on Tristen, be sure to check o...

Not a very long release list this week, but still some goodies. Jenny Lewis - The Voyager : I cheated a bit on this one, folks. My goal with this is twofold - to highlight new releases and to give a quick judgement of sorts on them. I couldn't do that with this album, as it's a pretty layered affair with a lot of moving parts, and I discuss The Voyager , Lewis's third solo album, with three listens under my belt so far. This album absolutely gets better as more time is spent with it - Lewis's crystal clear voice can be a little jarring depending on the song, and it takes a while to really settle in for what it is. In the end, this is an album that really balances out the sounds from her first two solo albums with some of the better pop sensibilities of the Jenny and Johnny project from a few years ago. There are a number of great songs here, and this is an album that's probably going to end up on some year-end lists. Definitely recommended if you like music....

Newport Folk Festival is quickly shaping up to be the event of the year. They've only announced six acts in all, and all six are absolute winners. Joining the aforementioned Mavis Staples and Houndmouth are Jenny Lewis (making her Newport debut), Shovels & Rope, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and the reunited Nickel Creek. This makes three holdovers from last year (Houndmouth, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and Shovels & Rope, but Newport might be the only festival that can pull it off without seeming repetitive. The Newport community is more like a family than a concert festival, so seeing the same bands there numerous times just feels right. Plus, I skipped Shovels & Rope last year to watch all of Frank Turner's set, and while I didn't exactly regret it, the two songs I saw them do made me need more. The Nickel Creek reunion was on my personal prediction list, so I'm thrilled to see that they're officially playing. Nickel Creek is a reminder to keep your eyes o...