If It's Too Loud...

Artist : Savoir Faire Album : Hopeless Nostalgic Quick Thoughts : I don't know if Savior Faire is making any sort of mainstream moves with their latest record, but this demonstrates once more how absolutely gorgeous this local act's music can be, and how their songs are ready for a larger audience. "Machine With a Dream" feels like a hit, "Think Twice" the sort of pseudo-alt-noir that you come to expect from the act, and I'm just loving everything that's happening here. A great listen for the beginning of the year. Songs of Note : "How It's Supposed to Feel," "Only Fools (Betarseed)," "Machine With a Dream," "In Flux," "Think Twice" Artist : Bonnie "Prince" Billy Album : The Purple Bird Quick Thoughts : I won't lie, Bonny "Prince" Billy hasn't always hit with me. The Purple Bird , however, is very much a traditional country record and it's one that Will Old...

Photo by Devin Oktar Yalkin Sharon Van Etten has put a band together and is releasing music under the name Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory. They've put out a new single that is quite simply a must listen. "Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)" is a monster of a rock song. While Van Etten's music can be typically described as singer-songwriter, this is just big, gigantic alt-rock with a bunch of reverb and lyrics begging to be screamed out by a huge audience. It's hypnotic and is guaranteed to sweep any listener with decent musical taste up in its wake. If you love anything Van Etten does, you're obviously going to adore this. If you've never quite gotten into her music, this could very well be your jumping on point. Sharon Van Etten says that her band's new single is about "...  “trying to understand people with very different perspectives and backgrounds, while also trying to be compassionate towards our past, present, and future sel...

Photo by Ryan Pfluger It premiered last week on the Hulu show The Great , but now we can listen to this cover on its own. Sharon Van Etten and Joshua Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) have joined together to cover Nick Lowe's iconic "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" The duo slows the song way, way down into a nearly haunting version with lots of country guitars. Instead of the joyful sound of the original, Van Etten and Homme's version sounds more like a tearful plea. Homme explains the collaboration:  “ I went to a Courtney Barnett Valentine's Day concert that Sharon Van Etten was playing as one of a veritable buffet of musicians. She opened her mouth and my mind exploded—that voice, like fresh cream... with a hint of fine grit. When a week later the opportunity arose to sing with her, I jumped at it. This was of course  before we had any idea that the world would be going into hiding for months. Recording this song had nothin...

After the holiday lull, it appears we are fully and completely back in the swing of things. Artist : Pedro the Lion Album : Phoenix Quick Description : Reunion album from the indie rock favorites. Why You Should Listen : One would assume it would be good, but it turns out it's great. Overall Thoughts : Dave Bazan's solo stuff never 100% grabbed me, and I admit to never quite catching on to Pedro the Lion back in its heyday. This return album may not be a return to form, and might rock slightly harder than expected, but I will say that it was a super compelling release that grabbed me almost immediately. There are a lot of interesting things happening here, and I think it's one of my favorite listens this week. It's just a solid, mature-sounding indie rock record, and I feel like those have been lacking as of late. Recommendation : A must-listen as one of the best of the week. Artist : Neyla Pekarek Album : Rattlesnake Quick Description : Upbeat-sounding ...

Photo via Facebook At this point in his career, you should know what to expect from Lee Ranaldo. He's the guy formerly of Sonic Youth that brought in the psychedelic noise and was the master of the ten minute solo heavy jam. That's why his latest single, "New Thing," is so surprising. It's a fairly straightforward mainstream almost folk song. I've always said that he was the George Harrison of Sonic Youth, but for this song he's John Lennon. It includes melodic guitar and piano (the piano is very reminiscent of "Imagine"), Ranaldo harmonizing with Sharon Van Etten, and pretty standard verse/chorus/verse format. Sure, every so often there's a burst of feedback followed by some psychedelic guitar, but this is kept to a very minimum. After a 30+ year career, Lee Ranaldo can still surprise, this time by being so normal. You can watch the video for "New Thing" below. Lee Ranaldo's latest album, Electric Trim , will be out Septe...

Photo by Dusdin Condren Best known as a member of Sharon Van Etten's band, Heather Woods Broderick has her sophomore album coming out this Friday, July 10. One of the songs from her album, "Wyoming," is available to listen to now. It starts off as a fairly standard folky kind of track that probably would have been labelled ethereal in the 90s due to a spacey feel with breathy vocals. Towards the end, it expands into the noise rock version of that sound, if anything has ever truly existed. It's not too noisy to turn off the fans of the more laid back roots sound, but it's enough to make it more of a rock song. Heather Woods Broderick's second album, Glider , will be released July 10 on Western Vinyl. You can pre-order it now on iTunes or Amazon . Watch the video for "Wyoming" below, and be sure to check out her website for more information.

An interesting week overall. Jenny Hval - Apocalypse, girl : Jenny Hval is described in a few places as an experimental singer-songwriter, and that's a fairly good description of this album, which definitely balances the line between access and excess. It's got some cool moments, but unless you have tolerance for being firmly off the beaten path, you might not get this. Listener be aware. Morgan Page - DC to Light : I've been a fan of Morgan Page for a while, and his fourth album feels very natural and right in line with the sort of dance music he's good at. What's interesting, though, is how uninteresting it is at times. It does what it does quite well, but the result isn't anything that really stretches any boundaries, as compared to other music in the genre. In such a competitive genre, artists need to do more than this to stand out, and good-but-not-great singles like "Open Road" won't get you there. Ash - Kablammo! : Oh, Ash! Remem...

A pretty sparse plate for the holiday weekend in the States. Zoe Muth - World of Strangers : Pick of the week for me is Zoe Muth's latest effort. There seems to be a glut of alt-country songstresses as of late, and Muth takes the more traditionalist line, but stands out due to really strong songwriting, catchy hooks, and without skimping on the production. It doesn't feel overly twangy, and that's a good thing, too. All her albums are worthwhile, but this is absolutely worth a listen for this week. Babes - Babes : Debut EP from buzzy blog band Babes, the four songs are actually a lot more understated than I expected. Sometimes harkening back to the girl group melodies of 50 years ago, it's a really solid lo-fi affair that has left me wanting more and wondering what a full length might sound like. Worth keeping in mind. Owen Pallett - In Conflict : Owen Pallett, better known by some as Final Fantasy or the guy who does the strings for Arcade Fire, is back with...

When I think of John Denver covers, J Mascis doesn't exactly come to mind. Nevertheless, here is a video for his track off the John Denver tribute album, The Music Is You: A Tribute to John Denver. I expected this to fall into his more acoustic work, but it's a plugged in version that would fit right in on a J Mascis and the Fog album. Sharon von Etten provides backing vocals, and of course there are multiple guitar solos that would melt the glasses off John Denver's face. The video features Aimee Mann and Jon Wurster as Denver fans that find love on a John Denver dating website. And puppets, because why the hell not, right? "Prisoners" by J Mascis and Sharon Van Etten from Aimee Mann