If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Tim Bugbee To commemorate Indigenous Peoples' Day yesterday, Medicine Singers released a brand new single. The collective started by Eastern Medicine Singers and guitarist Yonatan Gat enlisted Lee Ranaldo on "Honor Song." The new song is dedicated to loved ones who have passed, particularly vocalist Arthur Red Medicine Crippen's wife Kathleen and frequent Medicine Singers collaborator jamie branch, who died two weeks before the song was recorded. "Honor Song" is an unbelievably powerful track, combining traditional Eastern Algonquin powwow music with jazz, psychedelic punk, and electronic music. Combining such a traditional form of music with newer more experimental ones could have gone very wrong, but Medicine Singers have created one of the most vital songs of the year with "Honor Song." Even if traditional powwow music doesn't sound like your typical thing, I implore you to take five minutes out of your day to listen to the entire s...

This one slipped by me back in 1998 despite being an obsessive Sonic Youth fan. As members of Sonic Youth are spending quarantine digging up rarities, Lee Ranaldo has unearthed his 1998 release AMARILLO RAMP (for Robert Smithson). This release ends with a cover of John Lennon's "Isolation." This song suddenly has new meaning in 2020, so Ranaldo decided to make a new video for the song. Lee Ranaldo has this to say about the song and video:  "During this time of enforced global confinement – the ‘planetary pause’, as I’ve been calling it, I’ve been sorting thru some old releases, and came across my version of John Lennon’s ‘Isolation’, which was recorded back in 1991 and released on the 1998 album Amarillo Ramp (for Robert Smithson). Our dear, departed friend Epic Soundtracks (Swell Maps, These Immortal Souls, Crime and the City Solution) played drums on the track, and I’ve always loved both the original and the version of the song we made, almost 30 years ago no...

I love Halloween, but even I think I may have gone a bit too far on this year's If It's Too Loud... Halloween playlist. Starting on November 1, 2017, I started a playlist and tossed just about any song I thought would be good for a Halloween playlist on it. What we end up with is a forty five song, nearly three hour playlist. Just about every style of music we cover is included on this. You get indie rock legends (Luna, Buffalo Tom, Lee Ranaldo), heavier artists (The Jesus Lizard, Clutch, Faith No More), Americana/roots (Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, Lucero, Murder By Death), current indie rockers (Caroline Rose, Melkbelly, A Place to Bury Strangers), some hip hop (Mr. Lif, Cypress Hill), and a whole lot more. It's perfect for this weekend's Halloween parties (which is why we aren't waiting until Monday) and to listen to while you hand out candy on Wednesday. Enjoy!

Photo by Ken Sears For someone as obsessed with Sonic Youth as myself, I was uncharacteristically hesitant about going to his show at ONCE in Somerville last week. His latest album, Electric Trim , just hasn't been working for me. It's being billed as his Beatles influenced album, and while I hear that influence, I'm also hearing far too much jam band in it for my taste. Plus, members of Sonic Youth typically focus on their newer work than their older work, so there was little chance of him busting out any of my favorites from the Sonic Youth days. There might not have been a performance of "Cinderella's Big Score" that night, but the songs from Electric Trim  worked much better in a live setting than on the album. Ranaldo was armed exclusively with acoustic guitars, and had a bare bones line up of a drummer and a keyboard/electric guitar player. The most interesting part of the evening is that the typical noisy guitar solos were played by Raul Fernandez...

Photo via Facebook At this point in his career, you should know what to expect from Lee Ranaldo. He's the guy formerly of Sonic Youth that brought in the psychedelic noise and was the master of the ten minute solo heavy jam. That's why his latest single, "New Thing," is so surprising. It's a fairly straightforward mainstream almost folk song. I've always said that he was the George Harrison of Sonic Youth, but for this song he's John Lennon. It includes melodic guitar and piano (the piano is very reminiscent of "Imagine"), Ranaldo harmonizing with Sharon Van Etten, and pretty standard verse/chorus/verse format. Sure, every so often there's a burst of feedback followed by some psychedelic guitar, but this is kept to a very minimum. After a 30+ year career, Lee Ranaldo can still surprise, this time by being so normal. You can watch the video for "New Thing" below. Lee Ranaldo's latest album, Electric Trim , will be out Septe...

Photo by Alex Rademakers If you've been listening to anything Lee Ranaldo has done musically over the last 20 or so years (both with Sonic Youth and solo), his new single "Circular (Right As Rain)" isn't going to surprise you. Ranaldo has been gradually moving further away from the raw, aggressive post punk sound of Sonic Youth into a more swirling, psychedelic, nearly jam band sound this entire century. That makes sense: His songs were always the hippiest on any Sonic Youth album. "Circular (Right As Rain)" is even further in that direction. It might be his trippiest song yet, and even has harmonizing vocals. It's at the point I'm half expecting his next album to be a collaboration of Grateful Dead covers with Ryan Adams. You can watch the video for "Circular (Right As Rain)" below. Lee Ranaldo's new album, Electric Trim , will be available on September 15 via Mute Records. For more on Lee Ranaldo, including tour dates, check out...

Kino Kimino is a supergroup, of sorts. It's a project featuring singer Kim Talon and Melinda Holm on bass, neither of which I am familiar with. But, it features Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley formerly of Sonic Youth on guitar and drums, and that will always get my attention. Their first song, "Passion," is this really interesting mix of sugary sweet, almost pop vocals and Lee Ranaldo's guitar with Steve Shelley's drumming, giving it a Sonic Youth Tries to Go Pop sound. Of course, it can't be too mainstream sounding with a chorus of "Passion is a mashed potato of my love." Kino Kimino's debut album, Bait is for Sissies, is due out June 3rd on My Favorite Chords. You can watch the video for "Passion" below. For more information on Kino Kimino, head over to their website .

What I find most interesting about each member of Sonic Youth's post Sonic Youth output is how diverse, yet still within the Sonic Youth universe it all is. Thurston's Chelsea Light Moving is the heavier, more punk side. Kim Gordon's Body/Head is more experiemental element, much more like their SYR series. Lee Ranaldo's first album with The Dust (which features SY's Steve Shelley on drums) takes and expands on the more psychedelic output SY had been playing with. There is still some of the noise and aggression, but he adds a melody little seen before. Given my own personal taste, I'm surprised I like this more than the other two Sonic Youth releases this year. Maybe since Lee always had kind of a third songwriter role in Sonic Youth that he feels less obligated by or bound to a previous style.  Head on over to Lee Ranaldo's website to get some more information, including current tour dates. You can also listen to the full album Lecce, Leaving  below. ...

Photo by  Catherine Ceresole This level of amazingness pretty much never happens. Lee Ranaldo, Rolling Stone 's 33rd greatest guitarist of all time, ran a guitar clinic in NYC last month. At Other Music he gave a demonstration showing some of his more unusual techniques he has utilized for playing a guitar. Everyone who was able to attend got an up close look at how he uses pedals, drum sticks, a bow, hanging a guitar from the ceiling, etc. Video has surfaced of the event, which you can watch below. The highlights for me were the bored teenager who had to have been dragged by his dad, and Lee telling the crowd not to be precious with their instruments. Check out Lee Ranaldo's website here . Also, make sure to see Lee Ranaldo and The Dust supporting their fantastic new album when they come to your town. Dec 10 San Jose, CA — The Blank Club,   w Bill Orcutt/Jacob Felix Heule duo Dec 11 San Francisco, CA — The Chapel,   w Bill Orcutt/Jacob Felix Heule duo Dec 1...

A little more than a week before Lee Ranaldo's 2nd post-Sonic Youth album   comes out, there's a new song to help build excitement before Last Night On Earth  comes out. "Ambulancer" heads down the direction that Sonic Youth had been heading with A Thousand Leaves  and Murray Street.  It's equal parts post punk noise and psychedelic jam band rock. It's noisy while staying absolutely lovely, and might just be the perfect jumping on point for Deadhead friends you may have. Lee Ranaldo has always been Sonic Youth's George Harrison (less songs than the ones you get most of the credit, but with some of the most solid songs in the catalog) and Last Night On Earth  is shaping up to be his All Things Must Pass. It's unfortunate this album will get less attention than Body/Head or Chelsea Light Moving because it lacks the potential for tabloid-like lyric analysis when it's shaping up to be such a solid release. Last Night On Earth is due out on 10/18 on...

As if this fall wasn't already packed with anticipated releases, it looks like Lee Ranaldo has a new album coming out October 8 (a month after Kim Gordon's Body/Heat) on Matador. Last Night on Earth  is his first band with The Dust, which features Steve Shelley on drums. From the first track to come out (also the first song on the album, this could an extension of last year's Between the Tides and the Times.  It starts off sounding like Sonic Youth relaxing into middle age, and then just as "Lecce, Leaving" sounds like it's winding down, it veers off into interesting territory, with hints of country twang mixed into the wall of noise. As much as I did like it, Between the Tides and the Times disappointed me a bit with it's middle of the road leanings. Last Night on Earth has increased my anticipation. You can pre-order Last Night on Earth over at Matador's website. Check out "Lecce, Leaving" below, as well as some upcoming tour dates for ...