If It's Too Loud...

Artist : PJ Harvey Album : I Inside the Old Year Dying Quick Thoughts : PJ Harvey could rightfully claim an elder statesman status given her importance to the alternative rock landscape of the 1990s and 2000s, but instead, she keeps putting out albums that demonstrate her interest in creating compelling music instead of chasing any particular popularity. This latest album is a very artful effort, equal parts disquieting and attention-grabbing, and showcases a singer and songwriter comfortable in her place. I really loved this album - both as a musical endeavor and as a statement. A mandatory listen this week. Songs of Note : "Autumn Term," "Seem an I," "I Inside the Old I Dying" Artist : billy woods and Kenny Segal Album : Maps Quick Thoughts : Of some of the albums we missed from the first half of the year is this effort, which is a rap effort that isn't what you expect. The off-kilter start of "Kenwood Speakers" and "Soft Lan...

Photo by Steve Gulick The word haunting gets thrown around a lot when it comes to music, but it is fitting for the latest from PJ Harvey. The legendary musician has released "I Inside the Old I Dying," a very lo-fi and beautiful sounding new single. The song is filled with melancholy, and Harvey's vocals are just exquisite on this one. That's despite the vocals being recorded in a way that Harvey sounds distant, almost from another realm. PJ Harvey has been blowing away audiences with some of the most interesting and unique music for three decades now, and it's amazing that she continues to do so while many of her peers or firmly on the nostalgia circuit.  PJ Harvey says of her new single: “This delicate and beautiful song eluded us until the very last day in the studio. Over the previous five weeks we had tried so many times to capture it and failed, and/but then John reinvented the feel of the guitar pattern.  As he was demonstrating it in the control room, Floo...

Photo by Steve Gullick One of my major musical fandom regrets is taking so long to get into PJ Harvey. I even saw her once back in 1995 opening for Live, but I wasn't ready then. I've recently jumped fully on the PJ Harvey bandwagon, just in time for her first new music in seven years. "A Child's Question, August" shows a more mellow side of Harvey. It's a gorgeous and welcoming ballad that is going to appeal to longtime fans. While many of her peers have mellowed out but have seemed to lost what made them so great thirty plus years into a career, Harvey is showing exactly how to make more mellow music that is just as vital as the classics. "A Child's Question, August" needs to be on the very top of your must listens this week. PJ Harvey says of her upcoming album: “I think the album is about searching, looking - the intensity of first love, and seeking meaning.  Not that there has to be a message, but the feeling I get from the record is one of ...

Artist : Thyla Album : Thyla Quick Thoughts : This album not only came out nowhere for me, but fully and completely blew me away. Thyla is a trio that does some really interesting alt-rock, and does it with some of the catchiest tunes I've heard in some time. This was one that I shot Ken a message a few songs in and told him to look it up, and you have songs like "Amber Waits" that just trap themselves in your head. Yeah, it's early, but this is the first great record of 2022 and I'm really looking forward to spending more time with it. Songs of Note : "Amber Waits," "Breathe," "3," "Echo for Ingrid" Artist : Pinegrove Album : 11:11 Quick Thoughts : This hit my radar because Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie produced it, and it's worth hearing in part because Walla's fingerprints are all over it. This is a definite indie rock record, and feels like it came out of the mid-2000s in many regards, but when it h...

A busy week of new music, which seems to be typical for the moment! 1 of 2 as has been the case for a while. Album of the Week : Artist : Sturgill Simpson Album : A Sailor's Guide to Earth Quick Description : Latest album from the buzzed-about country act. Why You Should Listen : If his previous album was his roots breakthrough, this might end up being his mainstream one. Overall Thoughts : We've, to this point, not been on the Sturgill bandwagon here. It's not that he's not good at what he does, but I haven't personally felt the connection to his work the way a lot of other people have. Metamodern Sounds felt very sterile to me in particular, and I was expecting more of the same from this new album this week, and I didn't get it. His sound is still classic (the cover of "In Bloom" absolutely nails it), but there's a little bit of a layer of something here that I felt was missing before, and it makes it much more interesting. Thi...

Another year is here, which means we get another new year of music. There's some interesting stuff on tap: * Kanye West - Swish and School of Seven Bells - SVIIB : I'm combining these together because I was anticipating these for 2015 and they never happened. Kanye's album, now with a name but no release date, is assumed to be released at some random, unspecified time soon, and who knows what the final product will look like or whether it might end up even being a Tidal exclusive. School of Seven Bells, however, finally has a release date for their final album, and we'll get to hear those final pieces in February. It might be a pretty bittersweet listen, to be honest. * Sky Ferreira – Masochism : Sky Ferreira is known almost as much for her music as the crowd she runs with lately, and it's probably worth noting that her album was great and there's a definite chance for her to set herself apart here. We'll see. * PJ Harvey - TBD: I can't sa...