If It's Too Loud...

A busy release week, but also a busy weekend for me, so this is somewhat truncated. Still, some real highlights: Album of the Week : Artist : !!! Album : Shake the Shudder Quick Description : Latest from the dance-rockers. Why You Should Listen : !!! is always amazing, and they've really hit their stride as a band. Overall Thoughts : It's rare for an album to both be album of the week and for me not to have a lot to say about it, but here is the new !!!, and they've got a pretty solid sound going at this point. They're not weird anymore, and they kind of have a great type of sound that doesn't take a ton of risks anymore. So, while we don't get legendary tracks like "Pardon My Freedom," we do get songs that hook you in immediately like "Dancing is the Best Revenge." !!! are a band out of time in a way - I'm into it. Recommendation : Always wonderful, and this is a must-listen like all of their stuff. Artist : Cayetana Al...

I know, I know. It's Monday, not Friday. But sometimes life gets in the way of us letting you know about great free music. The Mountain Goats are bringing Oh Pep! out on the road with them next month and they've teamed to bring us the free We Who Walk Behind the Rows: 2016 Tour Sampler. It features four songs from each band, including Oh Pep!'s fantastic "Doctor Doctor" and The Mountain Goats' odes to wrestling "The Legend of Chavo Guerrero" and "Foreign Object." Oh Pep! and The Mountain Goats are a great pairing for a sampler and a tour. Oh Pep!'s dreamy take on folk pop is just different and similar to The Mountain Goats' more standard mainstream Americana to keep things interesting. You can get your copy of We Who Walk Behind the Rows: 2016 Tour Sampler for free via Noisetrade . For more information on Oh Pep!, check out their website . The Mountain Goats also have a website you should check out. We've also included the...

The good news is that we're finally out of the summer doldrums in terms of new releases. The bad news is that, even with a lot of new releases this week, they kind of run the gamut from average to disappointing. Probably best to go in order: The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas reissue : It's weird to do a reissued "remastered" version of an album originally recorded on a boombox, but All Hail West Texas is probably in my top three Mountain Goats albums, and Head Goat John Darnielle apparently found some songs from the session to justify the reissue. At the very least, the reissue provides a good reason to revisit the album, and the bonus tracks are pretty good, too. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes : I may be the only person who wishes Alex Ebert would cease with the hippie rock and go back to Ima Robot, but the reality is that "Home" was a killer song a few years ago, and while I didn't love the...

Old Crow Medicine Show Friday As you’re most likely aware, Saturday and Sunday for the Newport Folk Festival have been completely sold out for months now, long before the line up was revealed. Friday tickets are still available, and I’m surprised since Friday might be the most stacked day of the entire festival with Feist, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Mountain Goats, John McCauley, Amanda Palmer, JD McPherson, Kingsley Flood, and more. Saturday and Sunday are amazing in their own right, with The Avett Brothers, Jim James, Colin Meloy, Justin Townes Earle, Jason Isbell, Shovels and Rope, Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls, The Lone Bellow, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and more on Saturday, while Sunday features Beck, The Lumineers, Andrew Bird, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Dawn McCarthy, The Felice Brothers, Beth Orton, Black Prairie, Spirit Family Reunion (last year’s break out band), and more, including the just added Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. The only disappointment I’ve had with t...