If It's Too Loud...

SO MANY NEW RELEASES. As a quick note, I am keeping up with the Future albums. I delayed it last week because he was putting out an album this week, and now I'm delaying this week because he apparently has ANOTHER album coming out Friday of this week. So yeah, I'm aware of it. Album of the Week Artist : Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge Album : Mount Royal Quick Description : Gorgeous rootsy folk music. Why You Should Listen : If you like the sort of stuff we get excited about here, you need to listen to this. Overall Thoughts : The one problem with the amount of folk-style music we cover here is that there does tend to be a lot of sameness to the music. This isn't a bad thing at all, but when an album jumps out at you the way Mount Royal does, it forces you to pay attention. For me, the guitar playing is sneaky gorgeous, and the vocals are just as solid (especially as a music listener who tends to struggle with male folk voices). Lead track "Bone Collect...

A lot to get to, and a delay at that? No wasting time! Lady Gaga - Artpop : Lady Gaga has transformed from pop princess to strange cultural touchstone to some sort of avant garde performance art project. Artpop , when taken in the context of her increased interest in a lot of the sort of postmodern, outsider art, is an interesting listen if only because it's so weird in the context of top 40 pop music. I say "interesting" because the album itself isn't really good musically, and I say this as someone who was a fan of her first two albums. This isn't to say there aren't highlights ("Manicure," "Donatella," "Dope") but if you're expecting a "Telephone" or "Poker Face," you're going to be disappointed. On the other hand, I'm probably the only one who would be reading this site and saying "hm, I think I want to know more about the new Lady Gaga album," so maybe I'll just move on... ...