If It's Too Loud...

How familiar am I with The Fleetwoods? I had assumed it was a shorthand for Fleetwood Mac. Turns out The Fleetwoods were a late 50's/60's vocal/doo wop group. Their song "Mr. Blue" has been covered by the pairing of Nicole Atkins and Marissa Nadler. The pairing of Atkins and Nadler is perfect for a 60's doo wop song. Atkins has a more pop sound while Nadler's ethereal folk-ish music combines naturally for a song like "Mr. Blue." This new cover isn't a note for note perfect version of The Fleetwoods' original, but it's as close as you're going to get while updating the song for 2021. It's a gorgeous cover that is going to send you diving into the catalogs of Nicole Atkins, Marissa Nadler, and The Fleetwoods. You can listen to Nicole Atkins and Marissa Nadler covering "Mr. Blue" below. Right now it's available as a single via Nadler's Bandcamp , but we can't help but hope this is the start of a larger collabora...

Midweek lunchtime tunes for you. Artist : Lady Gaga Album : Chromatica Quick Description : Latest album from the pop megastar. Why You Should Listen : It's Lady Gaga, she's the Madonna of our time. Overall Thoughts : We've come a long way from wearing lunch meat as a dress, but the new Lady Gaga is very much a back-to-basics effort that reminds us why she's the top of the heap when it comes to pop music. The two lead singles from this have both been great, there are other solid parts throughout, and it's just one of the better pop efforts out there this year so far. The question will be whether it ultimately has legs, but for now, it's a great listen. Recommendation : Don't miss out. Artist : Jake Blount Album : Spider Tales Quick Description : Raw roots effort. Why You Should Listen : It's a great record from a local-ish artist. Overall Thoughts : I never had Providence as a hotbed of folk music, but I should really change my perspectiv...

I feel like this was a slow release week, and yet I wanted to listen to most of what came out. Album of the Week : Artist : Nicole Atkins Album : Goodnight, Rhonda Lee Quick Description : Pitch-perfect classic country-pop. Why You Should Listen : Nicole Atkins is always solid, and this is her best yet. Overall Thoughts : Nicole Atkins is always great, and she goes full retro-country with a pitch-perfect love letter to singers of old. It’s such a fun and refreshing listen with a lot of really great songs on it, and is easily my favorite listen of the week. Recommendation : Just give this a shot. You won't regret it. Artist : Dizzee Rascal Album : Raskit Quick Description : UK grime rapper's latest. Why You Should Listen : I've never really listened before, and if I'm this glad I did... Overall Thoughts : I missed the boat on Dizzee Rascall, so I don’t know how this compares with his albums from his popular prime, but if this is anything close to his b...

A fairly interesting new release week this week. Les Claypool's Duo De Twang - Four Foot Shack : All this album taught me is that I really don't care much for Primus, even when they're strange acoustic twangy renditions. The highlight for me was a fairly amusing take on the Bee Gees's "Stayin' Alive," but beyond that, this is really just for fans of Claypool and Primus and not much else. The Haden Triplets - The Haden Triplets : The Haden Triplets are exactly who you think they are: Petra Haden (of That Dog and various a capella renditions), Rachel Haden (also of That Dog), and less famous sister Tanya Haden who has done cello work for various indie and alt-rock bands. The three got together and did a collective album of folk standards for Jack White's Third Man Records, and it's pretty solid. I'm a big fan of Petra Haden in particular, and this was fairly anticipated for me and largely delivers. If you enjoy a lot of good folk music, ...