If It's Too Loud...

Without any new releases to speak of, we still have a few albums left over from this year that we didn't look at: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Paper Mache Dream Balloon : I'm always intrigued with bands that do the psych rock thing, if only because the Elephant Six pastiche was so well-rooted in that tradition. Out of nowhere comes King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and I think the best way I can describe them is like a throwback to late-1990s/early 2000s Of Montreal in all the best ways. A fun, frolicky acoustic affair that deserves a listen, it's something I wish I heard a long time earlier. Maybe the best of the batch of stuff we missed initially. Absolutely give this a shot this week. Babes - Untitled (Five Tears) : I was obsessed with " ATMO ," a song from Babes's debut EP (and a video that's probably NSFW for most places), for some time. I had missed that they had finally put out a proper album. This band of siblings does the whole ...

With what is a basically empty new release week, we may as well do a quick hit of some of the recent albums we missed. There was one release of note this week, though: Ty Segall - Ty Rex : Ty Segall is an artist we don't cover here a lot, but this is a pseudo-record-store-day compilation release of some of his T-Rex covers along with a cool version of "20th Century Boy" that hasn't seen the light of day yet. I'm a big T-Rex fan, and these takes are garage-muddled enough to be their own pieces in a way, but when it works, it works. As a covers album it's interesting, as garage rock album it's what you'd expect. Also out this week is a new Danzig album , but the less said about it the better. Anyway, we don't always catch the new albums when they first come out. Here are some highlights we missed along the way: Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love : To be completely honest, I wouldn't have sought this out to listen if it weren...

Here are some of the highlights of things we missed over the second quarter of 2015. T. Hardy Morris - Hardy and the Hardknocks Drowning on a Mountaintop : T. Hardy Morris had a great solo record a few years ago, stepping out from his bandmates with the great Dead Confederate. This album...well, I don't know. It's super weird and strange, and I don't even think I have a lot of good things to say about it. It feels like a sort of project/thematic project that just doesn't click for me at all. If you're a huge fan of his, give this a listen, but you might want to let this one slide. Pomplamoose - Besides : Internet darlings Pomplamoose offer up a new collection of covers and what might be originals/original takes. I feel like they've been around forever, and I still love a lot of what they do, but taken as a full set as opposed to one-off videos can sometimes feel a little grating or tiring. Throw this one on shuffle, maybe. Fist City - Everything is a...

Because we can't hear them all? Diana Krall - Wallflower : I'll listen to almost anything, but jazz always seems to get away from me. Diana Krall is a noteworthy exception to this for whatever reason, though, and her latest album, a cover record called Wallflower , is both a step in a more accessible direction as well as somewhat less interesting as the smooth jazz takes on some classics are...not great. I love a good cover song, but too many of the tracks here end up being more dirgey than anything else, and that's not always a welcome thing. Worth a listen, but beware. Jenny Owen Youngs - Slack Tide : Most musicians, when repackaging their music for an EP, tend to irritate me. When Jenny Owen Youngs does it, for whatever reason, I keep getting hooked over and over. I listened once for the new song and the curiosity, and I must have replayed it at least 6 times within a few days of that first listen. It's a solid EP anyway, more fun if you're a fan of her...

Clearing the deck on 2014 continues with a look at some 2014 albums we missed covering along the way. While I'd normally do a First Listen-style recap, the simple reality is that there are just far too many this go 'round to give the proper attention to, so instead, I'm going to split them into a few different buckets. Either way, while we wait for new releases to come back around in the new year, this might be worth some time for you to try something new: Give these a listen : * Ages and Ages - Divisionary * Steve Dawson - Funeral Bonsai Wedding * God Help the Girl Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (a different feel from the album from a few years ago) * Quiet Life - Housebroken Man * Lily and Madeleine - Acoustic Sessions * Drab - Unicorn EP * Olivia Jean - Bathroom Love Killings * Knife Party - Abandon Ship (arguably the best electronic album of the year) * Hem - The World is Outside Might be worth a try : * Hozier - Hozier ("Take Me to Church...

As releases are slow to hit Spotify, or if we just miss an album here and there, it's always fun to take a look back at what we missed. Here are some from the last few months: Self - Super Fake Nice : Of the bands that sort of drifted off and that I didn't expect to hear from again, Self might have topped the list. This seven song, super short EP sounds like Self, which is, at least to start, exactly what I'd want. While songs like "Hey, Hipster" are a little grating, it's more than made up for with "Runaway" and "Splitting Atoms," and, well, the rest of the EP. Here's to hoping we have more Self music to look forward to. Wussy - Attica : Wussy sounds like that classic 1990s alt rock band you loved. Yeah, you know - that one. Attica is their fifth release and it straddles that line of polish and more indie sensibility very well. The louder songs, on a whole, are better than the quieter ones, but this album has a lot of soli...